Where did wednesday go?

Robert: These two days were a blur. Everything was mixwd up with drowsiness and strange tv shows.

Cara: Penetrating through the small oval porthole, a blinding beam of light reflects off snow barren mountains below. The clean stillness of Siberia.

Sitting in our terminal a group of 7 ladies offered me a bunch of brown reddish balls on a stick covered with sticky syrup and rice paper. Then they all started taking pictures with me, making peace signs, with a jumble of Chinese words.

Miss Shea: The woman next to me initiated a caring friendship by tugging the loose end of my seatbelt for take off.
Mr. Ransom and i noticed that the attendants are all equally tiny and proportioned like carbon copies of each other. They wear either red or blue pencil skirts, fitted white blouses, trim vests, and smile graciously through the isles, rearranging overhead bins with expertise, like professional tetris players.

We stepped off the plane at sunset. The airport in Beijing has a ceiling so high it makes you feel like an ant. The signs on the escalators are pretty graphic as stick figures demonstrate how NOT to ride an escalator. Our first sign lost in translation was in the bathroom: "Warm Tips: please flush." Friendly suggestion, perhaps?

In the Beijing airport we were flanked by a pair of giant Chinese scrolls with paintings of rural life. A pair of terracotta warriors and their 2,000 year old trusty horse greeted us before security. The officer scowled at the passports and yelled "OK!" as he dealt a blow on each passport with his stamp.

Domestic Chinese TSAs were all laughs and about as jolly as if their main job was at the North Pole with Santa. After that, all the Chinese attention we drew came in smiles and earnest gestures of welcome.

This morning, our first glimpse out the window revealed a Kunming of intersections, high rises, giant neon signs, and fog.

Breakfast was meant to accommodate palates from all over the globe. We tried steamed rolls, rice soup, and milk that tasted, "like ice cream" in jonathan Finch's words.

John is our contact man from the Carolinas, an expert on agriculture, and has lived and worked in Lingcang in business for 10 years. He acquainted us with our role and put us in context with his overall vision for this area. 92 percent of Chinese are Han in erhnicity, and his primary focus is on helping the 23 ethnic groups in Lingcang. He outlined the history of the area since the Cultural Revolution in the 60's.

Things we appreciate about America: freedom to open one's mouth in the shower, reading signs, not worrying about pick pockets.

Jonathan finch observes that strangers are much friendlier to each other: "Asians DO have more fun. They are always laughing and smiling."