Beijing...Day 6...and back to Fukuoka!

We were up at dawn because our flight left at 9 am. We checked our luggage and ate breakfast. I tried rose milk tea for the first time. There were roses in the bottom of the cup. There was some guy who was DRUNK at 8 am in the restaurant who kept giving the server US dollars. At first, there was another guy with him but I think that guy just left him there. It was sad. In the states, they would have called security on his behind. At customs in the Qingdao airport, the agent kept asking Maggie in Japanese and English if she was Korean after she gave him her U.S. passport and California driver’s license, telling him that she was born in America. The funny thing is that she’s Chinese American. Then he proceeded to ask both Michelle and I if Maggie was Korean with a look of disbelief on his face the whole time. CRAZINESS!!! We were all knocked out on the flight back.

We came back to my town and hung out for a bit. That, evening Michelle and I donned our weekend hair, took all her stuff to the city, put it in lockers and headed out for a night on the town…a whole night! I took her to the Jamaican restaurant then to Sam and Dave’s, a foreigner/Navy haven…we were there until like 5 am. Then some Kenyans spotted us taking pictures, jumped in and invited us to walk with them to the after party spot that doesn’t close until like 7 am. By 6, we were EXHAUSTED! So, we went to the Internet Café for a bit of silliness and a 6-hour nap before her train left. We grabbed some croissants and coffee and ate near the platform. I was sad to see my vacation end, but I am glad that we chose to return on a Friday so that we could have a couple of days to get some rest.

I’m glad that I got to experience the good and bad in China. I seriously doubt that Chinese society will be ready for the tidal wave of foreigners that will be there in a year for the Olympics. Not that other cultures are better, but as far as sanitation and formalities are concerned, I’m sure that folks (Chinese and foreign) will be in for a rude awakening when 2008 rolls around!!!