Settling

It is five PM. Jet lag is beginning to cause my brain to fade. Not too bad for only 48 hours from departure from the other side of the world. The good thing about arriving late in the day halfway around the globe is that you hit the bed soon after landing and wake the next morning to a new day, half a day ahead of your other world. Friday has not yet dawned in Michigan, but it will begin to wane here in Beijing very soon.

The bags are completely unpacked and all the clothing stowed in wardrobes and shelves. A supermarket run yesterday yielded fruit, bread, milk, and a few other things for the little fridge in my room. Another shop on the way back was for water – 24 bottles at about 15 cents a bottle. Since we don’t drink the tap water, it’s good to know it’s cheap. The furniture is rearranged to suit me for the next month, and I’m feeling almost like I’ve come home.

Yesterday was a day of connections. We did the obligatory lunch with three of the administrators to establish communication. In this part of the world, food is the glue that builds relationships. Lunch is far more than eating. A round table and a succession of interesting dishes simply facilitate the business at hand. Conversation flows easily as all of us speak English, and these men are comfortable enough with us to also sidebar off into Chinese by themselves. Often they translate back to us but equally often it’s a conversation of their own that we don’t need to hear. A good meal takes time because food is important, and conversation is more important. One does not eat and run.

Five of the team has arrived in stages from three different starting points. Last to come was our token Canadian who called us at 5 AM trying to find the hotel. His plane was delayed some hours last night but he’d assured us that he didn’t need to be picked up as he speaks Chinese and could find his way with the directions on the contact info he had. My husband ran the phone downstairs and found someone who could talk to the taxi driver in Chinese and bring him in for a landing. On arrival, the team member, a man who has led many teams himself, confessed he’d broken his cardinal rule of team leading – he’d left all his contact information at home in Canada!

It’s just beginning to get interesting! Time to go find some dinner and then let the jet lag settle in over my cloudy brain for a good night’s sleep.