So I’ve been in China for about a week now (writing this sunday night), and I figure it’s about time I start putting some thoughts down. Currently, it sounds like Beijing is under siege, but that’s just the Lantern Festival – the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. People here love fireworks something fierce. You’d think, having invented them centuries (millennia?) ago, they’d be sick of them by now, but you’d be wrong; there have been smatterings of fireworks every day since we’ve been here, and it’s been pretty constant today since 8am. I’m not talking about bottle rockets, either – many of them set off nearby car alarms, and it seems like every few blocks there’s a kid with an arsenal that would put the DC July 4th show to shame. Fortunately, this all ends tonight. In the meanwhile, I’m just waiting for the climax.
Last Sunday: Flew out of Dulles, and really appreciated United’s service there. You know what I didn’t appreciate? JFK airport. Short for Just-Fucking-Kill me. In order to catch a connecting flight, you have to leave the terminal, board a train to another terminal, and go through security AGAIN. When I have to take off my belt in two airports in three hours, the terrorists have already won. “Concrete jungle where dreams are made of” indeed, Alicia Keys. Your airport is as busted as your grammar. Air China was fine, and the 13+ hour flight just zipped by. Oh, then it was Monday.
Monday: Arrived at 7pm-ish. Lena’s co-worker picked us up at the airport, brought us to our hostel and helped us buy cellphones. That was a nice touch, and I'm not ashamed to say that having a cellphone makes me feel a lot more comfortable here.
Tuesday: Lena was gone much of the day doing work stuff, so I had two goals: 1) Get an IC card (transit farecard), and 2) Find an apartment. #1 was easy, #2 was not. I got spooked by the first place I went, because it was very sketchy and I had all my valuables on me.
Wednesday: Found an apartment that I actually liked, showed it to Lena and she liked it, too. (Side note: When I say "found," I mean "was shown" and I also mean that I walked around for about 12 hours today. Lower back massacre. We ate lunch at a pretty solid Japanese place - big lunch for 60rmb (~$9). Still aiming cheaper.
Thursday: Lena had her demo lesson at her school today, and did great! They gave her the job on the spot. Also, we signed our lease and moved in. Slept on a bare mattress because stores aren't open very late here.
Friday: Registered at school, which was really quick and easy. Thanks to the scholarship, I got to skip most of the hours-long lines. Stipend won't be disbursed until later, of course. Went to La Bamba for dinner - 10rmb burritos and 5rmb beers until 7pm! Jackpot. Also, Wal-Mart was an odd little trip, but we outfitted pretty much our whole place for 700 rmb.
Saturday: Actually got to relax today. Helen's cafe had good coffee (with one free refill) and free wi-fi. Ran a couple errands after that and watched Julie&Julia. Charming movie, good night.
Sunday: All I got done was buying a 5-gallon jug of water. Tap water here is "safe" to drink but really heavy on the chemicals, so everyone drinks bottled water. I found a guy who will trade you a full one for an empty one AND deliver it, all for 12rmb. Since our apartment came with a 5g-jug-dispenser (with hot AND cold taps), I figured this was a no-brainer. Lots of ramen in the coming year, I think.
***END RECAP***
Thanks for reading the long first post! Further posts shouldn't be this long or dry, but people have been asking what I've been doing here and this is the short version.
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