China Day 3

Today's agenda was to go see The Great Wall of China in Dandong.  This location is not as well known or as popular since it had been destroyed and rebuilt.  Good thing I brought along my workout clothes for this activity, tho I still wore my flip flops.  My feet are still so sensitive that I can't wear regular shoes for a long period of time without getting major blisters.

Of course, since it was still morning, I had to use the restroom before climbing the Great Wall, so we all caught the tram and the driver took us to the restroom.  I was happy to see that there was a western style toilet, but was quickly disappointed to see there was no seat attached to the bowl.  Guess it was still better to hover above rather than use the squatty toilet??  Was a tough feat since I left my bag on the tram and I needed toilet paper.  Someone ran to get it for me, but I ended up getting my squatting exercise in while waiting.  One thing for sure, I will not miss the Asian restrooms and searching for western toilets or the major smells of it all...ugh, enough, I'm making myself sick just typing about it again.  I don't do well with public restrooms anyway.

After we all used the restroom, we jumped into the tram so it could take us to the entrance.  We all had a good laugh because it was literally right next door!

Here we all are getting ready to climb:

You can see the wall behind me:

The steps leading up were very steep and varied in height which made it even more of a climb!  Needless to say, I was exhausted and hot, so I had to rest and couldn't make the rest of the climb.  I was very over heated and was thinking I need to burp or fart, something to make me feel better so I wouldn't throw up.  I know, so lady like, but I did't want to throw up!  Once I drank some water, I felt better and finally burped.  I also had a wet washcloth on my neck and worked my handheld fan to cool me down along with my hiding under my umbrella.  Such the ajumma!  Old Korean lady, but that's ok, I have labeled myself that.

My hubby did make the last of the stairs to the top and here is the view:

I was so close, but really, I know my limits and was happy just to have gone as far as I did.  Not everyone can say they have been to The Great Wall of China!

By the time we sat down for lunch, I was more like myself, but still hot.  We had to pack up our luggage and load up the van as we would be traveling to a different city after lunch.  As we sat at the table at lunch, my hubby was busy texting our son, who was on his cruise in Rome, rough huh?  The Director of the China program was explaining some things to us and the van driver came in to join us for lunch after he packed our luggage into his van.  As my hubby is busy texting and not paying attention, I notice the van driver, who is sitting to the left of my hubby, sitting with his shirt rolled up his belly to cool off.  I nudged my hubby to look, but he thought I was nudging him to pay attention so I nudged him again and tilted my head towards the driver and when he noticed, we started laughing.  We just thought this was a funny way of cooling down, but had seen many of the Chinese men doing this thru/out the day so of course, my hubby had to join in and say he was going to bring this practice back to the states and make it a trend and call it 'Hansoning' like the pic trend, 'T-bowing'.

Another couple in our group thought this cooling method was pretty funny too and they had noticed the driver doing this and we all started laughing, as in the church laughing because we were all trying to be respectful of the Director talking.  My hubby was laughing so hard, I told him to take the wash cloth that was provided for cleaning our hands before the meal, so he took it and covered his entire face so he could laugh into it.  Seriously, it was the funniest thing, but guess you had to be there.  Here's hubby Hansoning on the bus:

Time to load up the van for our trek to Meihekou, a five hour drive, tho the driver said it would be more like 3 1/2 hours.  Let's just say it was a very LONG five hour drive being all cramped in a ten passenger van, tho two of the seats were taken up for the luggage...ugh!  And to top it off, my hubby needed to use the restroom and was depending on getting to our destination in 3 1/2 hours.  And to top off the whole trip, the driver was getting sleepy and began swerving and driving slower so we all told the Director to keep him awake!  We made sure to keep an eye on him the rest of the trip.

Reading the road signs of how much further, he thought he was ok waiting, but the waiting dragged on and on and on.  I kept asking him if we should stop and he kept saying no!  Once in the actual city, it took forever to find the hotel.  I informed everyone once we pulled up to the hotel to stay clear of the door so my hubby could get out quickly.  I felt so bad for him!

And the 'fun' continued as we checked into our hotel rooms...let's just say the hotel was not up to our standards, really anyone's standards as our room was smoke filled, the carpet leading into the bathroom was wet and moldy with the black mold very obvious on the wall.  The bed was as hard as the floor, no wifi or internet.  This hotel was in place of our original hotel we were booked at, but the government was holding a meeting at that hotel and took over the entire hotel so we got bumped to this hotel...our loss for sure...

Having dinner at the hotel was a shock when we walked into our own private room, this is what we saw:

The food was amazing and there was so much of it! After dinner, we all had to sort thru our donations we brought and sort into gift bags for the next day.  During the business, I made sure we would be moved to a different room since I knew my hubby was not a happy camper with our current room.  While I was busy packaging bags, hubby moved our things to our new room.  Once I was done and saw our new room, it was amazing to see such a difference.  The one annoying thing about hotels in China, smoking is allowed in the rooms and the smell is horrid!  But at least we had a better room than previous.  I then got the other person a different room since her room was horrible too with the wallpaper torn and shredded halfway up the wall, seriously?  Why would they even consider giving these rooms to guests??  So disgusting.

China Trip Day 1

After two weeks in Korea, I flew to Shenyang, China. 

 I needed more time in Asia, don't ya think?! But I would be meeting my husband in China so was well worth the extra trip.  My husband flew to Beijing to meet the rest of the group and then fly out to Shenyang.  The start of his trip in Beijing was frustrating for him.  I received a text from him while I was in Korea stating the shuttle had not showed up to pick him and another couple up at the airport as stated in the itinerary.  I had about a 15 minute window to communicate with him and try and help him before I left for dinner.  The person I was traveling to China with was also in Korea with me...but he wasn't answering his hotel room phone.  So now what??  I sent a message to our tour guide in Korea via Facebook.  If all else fails, try Facebook right?  At least she had cell phone numbers, but still no answer immediately.

Communicating via text from Korea to Beijing in a short amount of time is feeling of helplessness.  The situation for my husband was not getting any better.  Now the hotel was saying there was no reservation for them, no listing of foreigners were listed...oh good lord...AND all the contact numbers listed on the itinerary, for such occasions, were not working and there was no contact number for anyone in China.  Not looking good at all...After about 40 minutes of frustration and no one in the hotel speaking English, they found the reservation.  It was written in Chinese and not in English...REALLY??

But now we were finally on the same time zone, almost.  At least we were on the same area of the world.  Also at this point, my family was spread out on four different continents: Asia, South Africa, Italy, and the United States.  Just a typical summer for the Hanson's!

I didn't mention that prior to leaving for Korea, our original flight from Seoul to Dandong had been cancelled and thus the rest of the group's flights from Beijing to Dandong were also cancelled, so more scrambling occurred to get us all to Dandong!  Hence, the reason the flight into Shenyang.  Guess the Dandong airport was undergoing renovations so was closed.  Good timing!

After arriving in Shenyang, I finally reunited with my husband, crazy to meet my husband in China after two weeks of separation!  I met the rest of our group and we were all loaded into a 15 passenger bus to travel to Dandong.  A three hour ride along with a tour guide.  Dandong was considered a small village since the population was a mere 900,000 people!!

After getting settled into our hotel rooms, we were off to find some dinner.  Thank goodness we had someone along that spoke Chinese and knew what to order for us.  This was the first of our round table meals.  Walking into the restaurant was an intimidating experience when faced with the fresh seafood laid out in front.

View out our hotel is the bridge connecting into North Korea, yes, we were that close:

Jet Lag

So many things are doing a number on my psyche.  With jet lag, there has also been other factors leading me to be very confused.

First of all, my window in my hotel room faces another building.  And it's very close.  And it's black.  So all I see, all of the time, is black.  I had a tough time thinking it was actually morning yesterday when I was to wake up.  I kept looking out the window and it was just black.  No light coming in and it made me question if it really was morning.  I checked the clock in my room, checked my cell phone and checked my computer.  They all stated it was morning...but still.

Then there's my calendar on my cell phone.  On the home page, it states the correct day and date, but when I click on the calendar icon, the date showing is the day before.

And one more thing, my fitbit flex that is on my wrist.  It has been recording crazy sleep patterns and the steps taken show up then disappear. This has been going on for two days now.

But don't fret, I figured out the calendar and the fitbit.  The time zones do not change automatically...duh thought it would since my cell phone changes automatically.

Needless to say, I am not the brainiest of people, but I'm also not the dullest knife in the drawer.  This whole jet lag stuff on top of these things just really did a number on me.

Travel Tips 101

I don't count myself as an expert on traveling, but I have traveled enough to give a few do's and don'ts. I have traveled to quite a few cities across the U.S. and I have traveled internationally to Korea several times, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Do pack your own pillow for the plane.

Don't use the ones that are available, even on the international flights, they are used over and over again.

Do use the blankets provided by the airlines, if they are wrapped in plastic, should be ok, but I still don't use them.

Do use the slippers provided by the airlines on international flights because when you have to use the oh so big restroom, walking in there is something you would see in a men's locker room and who wants to have that mess on your own shoes!!

Do use the toothbrush and toothpaste provided by the airlines on international flights for yourself and for God's sake, for the sake of the person almost sitting right on top of you in your row.

Do bring a tiny portable fan with you for international flights, why must they keep the temperature at a balmy humid temperature to stir up all the body heat and odors of 300+ passengers even in the middle of summer??

Don't be shy about disturbing the person next to you to use the restroom, you don't want to be miserable the whole flight!

Don't drink anything if you cannot do the above.

Do wear compression socks or sleeves, these are the footless ones.  They are life savers for cankles.  I wish I could wear a head to toe body sleeve!

Do use a backpack for carry on items.  The stylish throw it over your shoulder or across your body bag just gets too heavy and really cuts into  your neck and shoulder!

Do use said backpack as a footrest while seated.  This is for short people, they'll understand.

Don't leave the window shade up when it's blasted sunny out.  It's hot and it's burning my retnas.  Just because I wasn't able to get the window seat to do it myself doesn't mean you have be selfish and blind others.

Don't, no matter how much you hurt, please don't release your gas while sitting in your seat.  That's just plain disgusting and I don't want to breathe that awful stench in.  I hold my gas in and I even had a plate of nachos before the flight!

Do place your hand around a lemon when squeezing it onto your food.  Or it will end up on the leg and arm of the person next to you.  Thanks, kid at least I was lemony fresh for the remainder of our flight.

Aging

Now that I am three years away from being 50, I'm trying my best to age gracefully. I'm actually using sunblock on my face after years of baking in the sun. I've also switched to using Korean cosmetics because who would know best to treat Korean skin?! I have to admit, two years with the Korean cosmetics and my face has felt awesome. 

Now to try and reverse the sagging without cosmetic surgery because I've had enough surgery in my life, no facial surgery unless you count my brain surgery which encompassed half of my face so a slight half facelift?

I have started using this:

Copper is said to help regenerate the elasticity of your skin. I've been using it for a month now and yes, I do feel a difference in the texture of my skin. Maybe it's because I've really been taking extra care of my skin, washing twice a day and the sunblock and the Korean cosmetics combined with this new treatment. Who knows, but I will continue using all of the above and see what happens. 

Nail Polish

So lately I've gone back to doing my own nails rather than getting them done at the nail salon. My original nails have paid the price from all the shellac and acrylic nails. Plus, think of all the money I'm saving!

I'm actually pretty good at doing my own nails too. Must be in my Asian genes! I'm guilty of peeling off my old nail polish tho. And that activity ruins your nails too. Then this came along:

Of course I HAD to try it! A base coat where you can then peel off your old nail polish, seriously?? First of all, total time saver from having to use nail polish remover and secondly, save my critical a from drying out due to the remover. 

So here's proof that this works!

Peels off so nicely!! The one bad thing about this, the polish doesn't last very long on your nails, but hey, if all I have to do is peel it off, I can paint my nails again. 

Depression

I just watched an interview on GMA regarding a person going thru cancer treatments, going thru remission, but then being depressed even in remission.  This brought back memories of myself feeling this way after I got the all clear for driving after six weeks of no driving due to brain surgery to remove an AVM.

One would think that a person would be too happy to be depressed after going thru a traumatic life event, no matter what the life event is/was.  That's the thing.  Once a person has gone thru the diagnosis, the treatment and procedure, the recovery, the full blunt of what you have gone thru finally hits you.  Even when everyone else has gone about their day, the reality hits.

This is what happened to me.  I was very busy with dealing with the diagnosis, what treatment to choose, the meal schedule for my family, how I would tell my kids, writing my will, more medical scans and appointments, getting thru the procedure, recovery, and post recovery appointments.  There was so much to do that I had no time to even think of what I was going thru.  I did have a great sense of humor thru/out all this tho, my saving grace for all things in life.

Then the all clear came so I could drive again.  Life went on as before for everyone so this is when it all hit me.  I JUST SURVIVED SEVEN HOURS OF BRAIN SURGERY!!  I could have lost my life or come out of surgery paralyzed or I could have lost some of my memory and I had three young kids and a husband!  And how was it that people could go back to the way things were when life was way too short and could be taken away from them in the blink of an eye?? And why didn't my husband see that life wasn't going to be the same again??  And how could he go back to life as it was??  And holy cow, why was I feeling like this??  And what was it that I was feeling anyway??  I really had no clue what it was I was feeling, so I tried to go about life like 'I was supposed to'....

But that wasn't working for me.  I wasn't sure what I was to do with my life.  I went about being a mom to my kids, but I felt like I was in a fog.  It took me awhile to see that I was actually in a depression.  No one tells you this, plus, the word depression is depressing in itself and depression has such a negative stigma attached to it and so people don't like to admit they are experiencing it.  And a person doesn't have to have a drastic or traumatic event in life to be experiencing depression.  Sometimes it just occurs and people shouldn't be ashamed of this.  We shouldn't have to hide in shame.  There's help out there.  But most aren't aware of how to identify being depressed.

I wish there wasn't a stigma attached to depression, it happens to the best of us.  It took quite a few months for me to work thru this.  My home life suffered, my kids and my husband.  Life on the outside looked ideal, but I wasn't happy, I was just going thru the motions.  Life hit rock bottom before it got better.

I am writing about this because I want others to realize that you don't have to be ashamed if you have, are, or going thru depression.  There is help out there and to please seek help.  I wish I had known that going thru such a life event would bring about depression even after given the all clear.  That's when it would have been nice to have been told by my doctors that this could happen, then maybe I could have been better prepared.  But yes, life experiences like this made me stronger, but for some, it can cost them everything.