our first day in disney world

it is really remarkable being here. most folks speak english. many folks know why we're here so they don't stare. and many of the folks here run shops specifically to cater to us being here. so the laundry gal, sherry, comes to our room and gives us a special discount. she takes our laundry and delivers it the next day. all the folks at the restaurants ask us, in english, to come in and eat in their place. some are pretty decent at western food. i had a bean burrito tonight. and it feels like walking around in some quaint tourist town, because, that's really what it's like.

we started the day today attempting to order some congee for joy at breakfast but the hotel gal wasn't understanding my "chenglish" so we had breakfast thanks to 7-eleven. we've been awake extremely early in the mornings so getting ready on time hasn't been a problem but this morning we all slept in plenty well and were rushing around to meet the group. it was good for joy to see because that's what the rest of her life is going to look like.

our first stop today was at the chen clan academy. a school started for people with the last name chen and one of the top tourist spots in guangzhou. it's actually kinda nice going to the tourist spots because then it's not just white people walking around with cameras. i've seen the stereotype that japanese people in the states always have their cameras out snapping pictures. i think in asia it's always white people running around with their cameras. i also learned today that guangzhou is one of the top 3 populated cities up there with shanghai and beijing. back the academy. neat place. very peaceful. looks like a set from crouching tiger hidden dragon. neat stuff. took lots of pictures.

from there we went to a famous buddhist temple where it was arranged for the group to be blessed by a monk in front of a woman buddha. we opted to just take pictures. got the ceremony on tape. a bit strange seeing something that is essentially centuries old, including how the monk was dressed, mixed with obvious 21st century stuff. after the ancient ceremony the monk checked his messages on not one, but two cell phones. see the pictures on flickr. it was here where the beggars first came out of the woodwork. being a touristy spot and all. and some of these folks were in really bad shape having some fairly severe deformities.

next stop was a jade and other unique store type place. i have some great pictures of pickled snakes in a jug, could be some kind of snake liquor, too? and a really neat guy who will calligraphy your child's name for you on two big scrolls and will even create a poem about the name. don't know what he said yet but it looks good. he even can do calligraphy with both hands at the same time, with his feet, and with his eyes closed. and we had a good time playing good cop/bad cop with the guy selling some jade necklaces.

we piled back in the bus and headed to this amazing 3 story restaurant in the suburbs that's owned by a single individual and is part of a chain of places he has across the city. there was squid and octopus on the table for this meal. morgan is quite the tour guide. and joy just eats and eats and eats. all these girls are good eaters but, of course, ours is the best.

then off to this massive mall. cavernous. labrynth like. when i say cavernous i mean having 6 or 7 levels and labrynth like means row after row after row of individual booths tucked into the middle of what i would call the typical western type mall where stores outline the outside walls. the girls stopped at a pearl store where morgan gets us a discount and the guys headed to a store where they sell dvds. pretty much any dvd you want, even for movies that are still in the theaters or aren't even quite yet for about $2. and this building was one of 10 morgan told us.

we got a taste for how massive this mall is and for how crowded this city is as we walked across the 2 mile shopping street. i took pictures. people everywhere. see the pictures on flickr. then back to the hotel where joy should be ready to sleep but is just happy to be alive, living up to her name and all. at this point, let me give you a quick tour of our room. it looks like a pretty standard hotel room. the light switches are all a bit strange. the bed is lower to the ground and smaller than in the west. the tv doesn't work. and everything is in chinese with some strange broken english translations underneath. for example. the little card that tells us to dial 88 for room service also says:

friendly tips
- welcome to our hotel. please kindly note that gun, explosions and any other lawless or dangerous items are forbidden to be taken here for the safe reason.
- we recommend you to use the latch to avoid the disturbance.
- please do not let stranger into your room to avoid the accident or unpleasant situation may be possibly occurred.
- please beware the fire and do not smoke in bed and dry your clothes on lamps.

that's it word for word. i'm still waiting to meet the safe reason and thank it for speaking up so there are no guns or explosions in the hotel. and i must be doing a good job avoiding the disturbance because we haven't seen hide nor hair of him as of yet. but the fire. there's another sign on the back of the room door to know how to deal with him. here's what it says:

keep calm if fire break out
plese (sic) phone to the Fire Control Centre (inner line No.59) at once to point out the fire position and you can scatter from the safe passageway on the map but don't use the lift. if you can't go down from the stair, please scatter to flat root at once. please shut all windows and switches when you leave your room. don't go back the room to take your any thing.

now, there are many things that concern me about meeting the fire. and i'm generally confused about the proper way and direction to scatter. what if the safe passageway and the fire are on opposite ends of the hallway? how can i possibly scatter from both? but the hardest thing i can figure out is which comes first, the scatter or the shut all windows and switches. good thing we didn't bring our any thing because it would be out of luck if the fire were to show up.

so joy wasn't having any of this napping business and we all headed out to canvas the island. beautiful place and fun to be for all the above reasons. you can even get diet dr. pepper on the island. we met some neat people. friendly. and headed back home shortly after dark which is around 7p or so here. there is only one time zone for all of china. by 8:30p joy was passed out. after i finish typing this i might just watch one of my new movies . . . but will probably fall asleep.

not much planned for tomorrow. medical check up, picture at the white swan of the whole group. then tomorrow night another group massage. in case you hadn't noticed, joy is a big baby. my back could use a little working over.

much love to you all.