It looks like a duck, it must quack like a duck.

I

t started the second I got on the plane to Beijing. I look Chinese, therefore I must speak Mandarin. Sadly to say, I neither speak Mandarin nor read Chinese characters. As Lei would say, I am a *bad* Chinese....so sad :-(

My response whenever someone tries to speak to me is to say "Sorry, English" to which I get a look back like "Whaaat? You don't speak Chinese?" Luckily, I have been to so many places where I don't speak or read the language, I've figured out how to get around. Hand signals are the way to go though I am always worried that I will make one that will get me scoldedd, slapped in the face or thrown out of an establishment. So far, so good in China.

I'm off in a bit to get some breakfast and I'm headed for the street market so we'll see how good my hand gesturing is. I'm hoping to get some dumplings....let's see what I end up with :-)

Shanghai, here I come!!

My travel itinerary for Day 1 was Dulles to JFK to Beijing to Shanghai. Despite a long check in line at the United counter and a long line for the security check, my flight to JFK went off without a hitch. I arrived in plenty of time to check in at the Air China counter and go through the security lines at JFK. As I sat in the departure gate, the skies outside were getting more and more ominous. I started to worry that we would be delayed by bad weather and we eventually were. By the time the plane taxied down the runway and lifted off, we were two hours late leaving – that was my two hours of layover in Beijing so as we took off from JFK, I already knew I had missed my connecting flight to Shanghai.

Swine flu.

S

igh. International travel is not easy these days as there seems to be so much turmoil in the world that makes some folks (not me) think twice about leaving the safety of their surroundings.

The day I flew back from Lima, Peru in the summer of 2006 was the day the US announced the ban on carrying liquids in hand luggage. I had no clue what was going on until I got back home. No one in Peru was panicking and so there were no restrictions when I boarded the plane with my usual bottle of water.

The packing list.

P

acking for this trip will be relatively easy - not much climate change and no real cultural restrictions like must keep shoulders covered, no shorts, etc. Even so, I'm going for six weeks and the last 2+ weeks in Mongolia will require me to be prepared for travel to some really remote locations though no sleeping bag or trekking gear will be required. Lei tells me that Shanghai will be sweltering hot while it looks like nights in the Gobi will be cool so I have to bring along a mix of clothing that I can layer on. Most importantly, I will be bringing along a good medical kit - I don't see quick easy access to medical facilities in the Mongolian countryside.