Well, it finally happened. I'm in China. I just arrived this afternoon after a 13.5 hour flight from Chicago. It's about 12:30am local time, and I'm actually kinda tired. I'm hopeful that the jetlag won't be too difficult to overcome, but I'm sure I'll be awake in 3 hours tossing and turning in bed.

I left home on Wednesday morning, and I have to admit I was a little scared about this trip. Being the seasoned traveler that I am, I know this comes as a shock. I couldn't get the thought out of my head that this is the first time that I've traveled anywhere that doesn't use the same alphabet (let alone the same language), and that it's also the farthest I've ever been from home. I knew the trip would eventually happen, but it's still taking my head a while to wrap itself around the idea that I'm actually here!

So far things have gone smoothly. The ride from the airport to the hotel was okay (that's a whole other blog entry), and the hotel is quite nice and very Western-oriented. I'll be visiting our plant tomorrow, and will then probably spend a good part of the weekend touring around Beijing to visit the sights. I'll try to keep you guys updated on the goings-on, and I brought my camera in hopes of getting some good pictures.