why we work -- journal

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

At the end of May, I'm volunteering on the Photography Crew for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. As a crew member, I'm not required to fundraise but I've chosen to do so anyway. Please consider making a contribution to the Avon Foundation. Your donation will help to support medical research into the possible causes of and cure for breast cancer, education and early detection programs, and clinical care and support services for women with breast cancer in communities across the country. Go ahead - click the link!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

A day in Beijing

And why some things should not be exported.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Sunrise on Sunday morning

After quite a long haul, I have arrived in Beijing for my marathon (actually, it's more of a sprint) work week.

From Chicago I flew to Vancouver - hands down my favorite airport world wide. No chaos, no crowds, and lots of natural light (even though if was overcast outside). My two favorite parts are the natural environment vignettes that flank the walkway to customs and the oversized aquarium. I didn't even bother going to the business class lounge because the main airport was so pleasant.

The Air China flight from Vancouver to Beijing was 11 hours, but it wasn't horrible. I had no seat mate which meant plently of room to spread out and plenty of pillows to steal. The food wasn't anything blogworthy but I wasn't starving. The seats reclined almost flat, but remained at a luge-like angle that made it imposible to sleep without inducing dreams that involved sliding, slipping, or being on the olympic skeleton team. I slept about 4 hours.

Movie choices were "the one where Nicholas Cage is an arms dealer", "the one where Cameron Diaz is a bad sister so she goes to live with her Grandmother at an active adult community", and "the one where Will Smith is the 'Date Doctor'".

The new Beijing Airport is quite impressive but barely open. It might just be the largest airport in the world. There was some film crew filming B roll of "inspector interviewing incoming foreigners" so maybe I'll wind up on Chinese TV.

I'm at a different hotel this time, in an effort to reduce communte time between the office and the musuem and the hotel. I'd driven by this one (The Swissotel) in the past (never hoticed the lack of "h"). The lobby is nice, rooms are average. They were out of king rooms so I have two twin beds (grumble) but at least it's non smoking. The first room they showed me STUNK of cigar smoke so I called downstairs to inquire about an alternate.

Me. Hello. I was wondering if there are any other rooms available
Desk No, no king, only twin
Me. Right, I understand, I was guaranteed a non smoking room. This room has a substantial odor.
Desk. You want smoke?
Me. No, I want a no smoking room
Desk You have no smoking room
Me. Can I speak to a supervisor?
Desk Yes, they can get you a smokey room

I finally got someone to understand that I wanted a non smoking room that didn't smell like smoke. The new room is ok, though the hall way smells like burnt hair but I will just keep my dorm door closed :) The air conditioning made a loud clicking noise, but they got someone to come fix that - so overall not a good Swissotel experience but maybe it will be better tomorrow when I've slept and am not spending hours in traffic.