Hallelujah, It's Christmas!

I talk about my family with pride, my appreciation and love for them goes beyond what I can conjure. We have grown up, expanded out and in numbers, and as a result now meet as a nuclear whole less often than all of us would prefer. So it goes, a Friesen Christmas.

The little one, who's littledom has been usurped by a littler one.


Shae!


Two Grandmas


After present train wreck


After train wreck card games

Beijing Minute

I arrived in Beijing, where I was to layover for 23 hours, anticipating draconian cramps and full-body plastic chair induced vertigo on account of having to, well, spend 23 hours in the airport. I learned at customs, however, that I was granted a day-visa, making possible a saucy sojourn downtown; realizing a long-time wish to return to the mainland. In a mad dash I stowed my bags, recovered a lost bag, exchanged yuan for RMB, found a place to stay, and hopped on a downtown bound bus, all in the span of a couple hours.


It happened quick, with nightfall pressing and little time to lose, my hot minute had begun.


What was to be my prison, now a wisp of transience.


On a macro-level, and by the same way that most houses can be characterized by a particular smell, so too can cities in China. Beijing smells good. Maybe it is just the smell-memory I have associated with the elation of my first visit, but something about the city is olfactory paradise. 'Earth Gourds' as they are literally translated, or potatoes to the layman, are being baked atop charcoal filled tin bins on almost all streets, their musk trumps the smog. I walked from the bus terminus further inland to the epicenter.


TianAnMen Square. The atmosphere is thick here: residual political animosity, power struggle, revolution, and the tread of tourist feet weigh in heavy.


I found this hostel largely by chance, with my idea of its whereabouts being tenuous at best I walked for nearly two hours before arriving.


The Chinese couple who runs it are very genuine.


Roofs that dot the windy HuTongs, or alleys; a Beijing must-wander.


It was the perfect amount of cold in Beijing. Dry and nippy, grey and dusty, the concrete jungle never felt so good.


'LanZhou' Muslim restaurants usually have these great pull-noodles, this particular restaurant was just mediocre though. I went because I couldn't find any in Taiwan, where as far as I know is nearly entirely void of Muslims. Despite being really cold outside and in, and 8:00 in the morning, it is tough to pass up 50 cent beer!


Then things got mega Chinese, Red Army Chinese. I caught these soldiers in-training training.


The imperial housing of bureaucratic giants.


Well, now it's just for tourists.





Heavy artillery


Few places have gripped me the way Beijing has, and this less than 24-hour stay proved to again ratchet that feeling.