I am writing for the Stagone Boutique Hotel in Beijing, China. It is snowing. The time difference is 12 hours. The mind difference is more. I have a 20 hour layover, so an overnight in a hotel would do me good. And they have Internet…but not Wifi, which is all this little IPad will run on. It sounded like a big hotel from the service specialists at the information desk, so they must have an exercise room, right? They do, and it’s called the hallway, which is where I did my running. But it was carpeted and I had sneakers, so I didn’t make too much noise, at least not for me. And the Chinese are polite. Note to self, you have to ask the right questions if you want helpful answers.
We had an uneventful flight, although sitting on a plane for 15 hours is somewhat of an event for me. I can sit in a fishing boat on the ocean for 10 hours and have fun and relax, but on a plane for that long, well fun would not describe it. I probably have dual ADD, meaning physical and mental. But God is working on my patience and flexibility, and this is a good start. And things really are good. I am excited about getting down to work in Mongolia, and meeting the people at Vet Net, which is the local portion of the larger Christian Veterinary Mission group.
I already miss my wife Nancy. And my 4 girls, even though they are all away, with Emily being a freshman at Emmanuel College in Boston. And my 2 Golden Retrievers, Lexi and Sam, and my grand dog Maddie who we had while Megan was in Florida visiting grandma. We had a routine going: take them out running, I would jog, Lexi would investigate, Maddie would fetch (yea that is right – the little maltese poodle would retrieve while the retrievers watched her and sniffed all the youknowwhat that is around), and Sam would do what 6 month olds do, which is try to bug the other 2 as much as possible doing whatever he can to disrupt their ability to walk unimpeded. He is very good at what he does.
Well 1 more flight to Ulaanbataar, the capital of Mongolia, where I will be staying. And then maybe I can report something actually important, instead of hotels and dog behavior and flight paths. The quickest way to Beijing from Boston? Why over the north pole of course. And I thought I would have a nice view of the Pacific ocean, not that it mattered because you had to keep the shade pulled down the whole time anyway. Like I said, maybe I will have something important to write tomorrow.
Until then, God Bless
Dr Mike