Big Move

3 days, 14 hrs & 36 mins ago
17th May 2026 07:20It finally happened!! I now live in Beijing China. I???m so glad to be close to my daughter again. The move was taxing. It was hard, exhausting & difficult. That said, the trip over went off without a hitch. My back barely hurt on the 14+ hour flight & my cat ?????????? took it like a champ. We made it through immigration & customs without an issue.
I stayed with my daughter for about 2 weeks then we found me a place of my own. I have small studio in the Hutongs! She has one as well. She???s about .75 miles from me or about a 15-20 min walk.
I only know a few words of Mandarin which makes it tricky. The food situation is hard. I don???t like ginger, vinegar, cilantro, mushrooms or tofu. I have been trying to at least taste some things like tofu noodles. The taste, or rather lack of, isn???t the issue. It???s the texture. It???s like chewing on a chamois! I think I will adjust. I also tried a wood ear mushroom. Zero taste but the texture was bizarre. Oddly crunchy. I will work on that too. I have no spice tolerance. My daughter will say ??? oh here, try this. It???s not spicy.??? Geez was it spicy.Last evening she ordered us food & she got me some chicken dish. She said she told them to make it not spicy. Chili’s a plenty. I powered through it anyway. I knew the food situation would be tricky but I didn???t expect to lose so much weight. None of my pants fit me now. My activity level used to be zero. But now I have to walk everywhere several times a week. The drastic change in my eating & increase in activity has really shown.
I got sick a few weeks back & had to go to the hospital. That was quite the adventure! I was allowed to go home after treatments but had to go back 2 more days for more treatment.