Wednesday July 20 10:00 am

After a very long trip I am finally here. Sheraton Hotel in Wuxi China. We had a delay in Tokyo so I didn't get in until almost 1:00 am last night. :(

The hotel is pretty good - nice bed. Crappy shower :( The water temp just does not stay the same so that will be interesting.

Breakfast is pretty good - eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon - pastries. Mostly pretty good - but always just a bit different than back home. The sausage tasted more like beef jerky to me.

I can never seem to get used to the fact that you have to put your room key in a little slot by the door in order for power to work in the room. Smart idea - but hard to break the habit of just walking in and putting my key on the table. I also know that I will forget it in the slot and close the door behind me soon!

I got unpacked last night - books next to the bed, clothes hanging up, camera in the safe :) Tonight I may look for a grocery to stock up on some water. There is only one bottle in the bathroom and that won't last long. I am not sure if I need to use it for brushing teeth, but I'd rather not take the chance that the tap water is safe. I don't want to get sick and make a long trip even longer!

The view from my room is ok. I can see the river a few blocks away (will post a pic) and many apartment buildings. I'll have to take a walk tonight and get out front of the building. I just don't feel much like doing that this morning - but I do have a bit of time still before I have to go to the office.

last night driving here from Shanghai I slept a lot, which was probably good. The few times I did wake up and look at the driver - or rather the speedometer, we were going 140km! There is a lot of construction (well there is construction everywhere, but the highways too) and you have to switch sides of the road pretty often. We did make pretty good time though and I was happy with that.

Coming into Wuxi we passed what must have been a large apartment community. There were many busses leaving filled with people (this is at 12 midnight!) most likely going in to work somewhere. I know that the Wuxi GE team has shuttle busses that take people to and from work. It is strange to see so many people out at that time. There were many people riding bikes and I saw a lot of people gathered at little tables around corners. It looked that there were food stands there that people were eating and talking. It is unusual to see at that time.

I am already missing home. It seems like the length of time I was going away for didn't really kick in until the plane ride to Tokyo. It seems just unreal that I won't be home until August 12. I am already counting down the days.

more tonight after a day at the office...
Tina