Day 8 Laundry on the Yellow Sea

Day 8: Laundry on the Yellow Sea:

A gray but calm day at sea, resting up for the days ahead. It is difficult to take a nap as foghorn goes off every few minutes.

If the most exciting thing to report is that I either sprained or broke my middle toe then you can tell it is a down day…especially since that happened 3 nights ago, when the ship was rocking, knocked Gpa’s cane over and I jammed my toes into it in the dark when trying to walk from the bathroom to my bed. But I am fine.

Yesterday the sun was shining and we could watch various fishing boats and ships pass all day. We kept wondering how those small fishing boats could be out there and were glad we were on this big ship. “Today we continue crossing the Yellow Sea on a north westerly course, through Laotieshan Channel into Bo Hai, This is the most innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its proximity to Beijing, the capital of China, makes it one of the busiest seaways in the world. “

There is an internet special this afternoon for half price credit so I’m writing ahead to we can send it during the Internet “Happy Hour”. And beings you will all be asleep then I didn’t think it would make a difference.

We began the day starting our laundry in the self-serve washers. Then ran up for breakfast then Dad went to the exercise room, Kriss and Ed to do laps on the cold promenade, and I chose to do laps in the pool. (I felt like I needed to use my swimsuit at least once since I packed it.)

Our Exploration Speaker subject today is on “Korea: Is it still The Hermit Kingdom? Or is it the Land of the Morning Calm?” Then another class this afternoon on the Highlights of Dalian. Then tonight Showtime is a Magician. Dad will enjoy that.

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning brings Xingang, then to Beijing and The Wall of China. Apparently we will be taking a 3 hour taxi ride to get there. (They say that is the cheapest most direct.) But actually it sounds like it is too good to be true. We hire the taxi for the whole day for $100 American so for $25 per person he will drive us wherever we want to go for 12 hours. So we are planning on The Great Wall and the Ming Tombs tomorrow. But if we don’t get it all done, as Beijing is 3 hours from Harbor we are planning on packing a small overnight bag and trying to hunt down another Marriott to stay overnight. (Kriss said there are 3 in the city.) Then Sunday trying to see “The Hidden City” then must be back to the ship before it leaves at 7:00 pm. Thanks to my lds.org knowhow we found an address and time for an LDS Branch in Beijing. (One problem with trying to stay at a Marriot is Kriss forgot to pack all the Courtney Friends and Family papers, so we are hoping they will just copy the last one that I have that we need to use in Tokyo. (I’m really glad we made that last stop on the way to the airport to pick up the 2 extra ones Courtney gave us just in case of emergencies.)

We did have to laugh as Kriss and I kept saying we needed to look for a cheaper internet café on land, but as she was at her question class yesterday and another lady was asking where one was he said,” Do you speak Chinese? Do you know the Chinese Characters? Have you ever typed on a Chinese Keyboard?” Hmmm….all of a sudden my ship internet didn’t seem so bad. If Marriott has a English keyboard I will try to send a short note tomorrow night if possible.

Dixie: haven’t heard from you in 3 days. How is Mom is doing.? If you send a message it would help Dad.

Love to you all. We are having a wonderful adventure but miss all of you.

Pam, Dad/Gpa, Kriss and Ed