when in rome (oops china)

...do as the Chinese do - and that means starting your day with a healthy dose of stick to your ribs carbohydrates (rice,noodles, buns, sticky and steamed dumplings) have your veggies too - fried kale, fava beans, white beans, soybean curd. fruit - watermelon, pineapple, oranges (the canned mandarins of course!) Ah... tea. I belieive I was the only American in the restaraunt (the waitress said "but this is chinese restaraunt" to which i replied "yes and breakfast included in price" - economics actually

Back upstairs I awaited the certain phone call of Mr. L - but I didn't need the phone to ring to know the flight today to Jinan was cancelled - which means - trains full. Outside (I can see from my beautiful picturesque window) the fog is still as thick as Chinese pea soup. Even the Beijing airport flights are cancelled. It is quite eerie looking with visibility probably less than 200 feet.

AND the added luxury of this 4star hotel - NO ELECTRICITY for today. The hotel slipped a piece of paper under the door last night which I glanced at casually and basically ignored (something about maintenance) then on the money 7:30 am - out go the lights, the TV the hot water pot, AND the heat!!

I grabbed the letter, and checked the time of the "sorry for the inconvenience" until 5:30 pm.

so... I meditate on the relative ease we assume all will be smooth and working. These things will take place in an orderly fashion. I've been here less than 24 hours and I've been overcharged for internet, have no electricity, and I am STUCK in the middle of a freak weather occurence that has halted air travel, congested trains and made roadways extremely hazardous!!

Toto we are not in Kansas anymore!

I'll just sit, read, pray and wonder as I wander what this special repreive is about. No real certainties from my Mr. L ... he is as helpless to know what to do with me as I am. But... there is a plan at work - but the "fog" is keeping it invisible!!