Day One -Travel to China

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We're as ready as we'll ever be. Our friend, Kim, whose daughter is having to travel alone, picked us up and drove us to the airport. Upon our arrival, there was a crowd gathered. We learned that Leonardo DiCaprio was there filming scenes for a movie called Body of Lies. I didn't see him, but my girls did and the experience pumped up the excitement even more. Our studio director and her daughter came to the airport to see us off. She has a family wedding to attend and will join us later.
After boarding, the girls all switched around and made themselves comfy. Many of them worked on their schoolwork-my two girls included. The flight was 14 hours long and after about 3 hours everyone was ready to be there. We did look out the window and see the North Pole at the pilot's urging. (Someone joked they saw Santa Claus).
Beijing is exactly 12 hours in time difference so upon arrival I didn't even have to change my watch. It was 3 pm but my body definitely felt like it was 3 am. We had a long bus ride to the hotel and then only an hour and a half before dinner at 7. Dinner was interesting. The tables were set with a saucer, a bowl and a small glass. It was unclear if we were to wait for a plate or help ourselves at the buffet. Eventually, the waiters bought several dishes of food to our table and poured warm soda in our glasses. We discovered our saucers were our plates which wasn't disastrous as many of us were worn out and not really very hungry. As soon as feasible, my family went up to bed.