July 29th

Modesto and Beyer High arrive at the International Airport in San Francisco. The flight departs Monday afternoon.

We were the lucky ones. We have a non-stop flight directly to Beijing. The Downey kids left on from Los Angeles to fly to Bankgok and endure a four hour lay over. Although they departed Modesto a day before us, they only arrived at the hotel 2 hours before us.

The flight was uneventful. I sat next to snack boy. He had a large carry-on and displayed his beef jerkey and red vines with glee. I ate more than I should. He also shared his iPod songs with me. I didn't get much sleep, nor did I finish my paperback novel.

Day 2-

We lose a day and arrive Tuesday night.

Beijing Airport is enormous and gorgeous. "George", the guide for Modesto High, informed us that the road out of the airport opened just last month. The guide for Beyer is "Wally". He shared with us that he was just given his name and his initial reponse was "who is Wally?"

The Hotel is in the "Citic Guoan Grand Epoch City International Conference and Exhibition Co.". It was built in 1991 as a replica of the ancient capital Peking. It is surrounded by a wall. The bus had to negogiate a narrow enterance to enter.

The first dinner was buffet style in the hotel basement or "floor -1". We all crashed. The mattresses are rather firm, and don't exceed a depth of 1/2".