Greetings from China!

Good morning friends!

Well, I have made it to China in good order. It has been smooth sailing! The long flight to China is always daunting, but once you get off the plane and a new world unfolds, you forget the pain.

I stayed in Shanghai my first night. Traveling from the airport to the city was really cool! Shanghai at night is amazing! It reminds me of Las Vegas and New York City combined. The traffic is always interesting to watch. It was a bit unsettling when I found out that the seat belt was broken. Linda told me that no one uses seat belts in China. "All of our drivers are experienced",she said with a smile.

Yesterday I traveled by train to Nanjing. This was really fun! The thousands of Chinese friends looking at me with eyes of curiosity made me blush and giggle. I wish I knew what they were thinking as they passed by. Linda said, "They think you look like a Barbie doll. We always want what others have, blue eyes, blonde hair, etc."

The hotel boy that helped us with our luggage wanted to know how Americans felt about President Obama. He also wanted to confirm the name of our Phoenix Suns basketball team.

The cute little kids on the street are so happy to see me. They smile and try to engage me by practicing their hello in English. SO CUTE!!!!

Today I am meeting with Linda (my China Program Director) to discuss the itinerary for our event at the Jiangsu Provincial Children's Center tomorrow. I have finished my presenation and I look forward to meeting all of the kids in our Kids Care program. I will post more about this later.

Tonight, I am getting treated to an authentic homemade Chinese meal at Linda's house. Her husband Vincent purchased silverware and plates for me as they do not use silverware here, they use chopsticks.