Now writing from Beijing.

I arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon. I’m staying with a thirty year old couple and their four year old daughter. I’ll spend the year living at their apartment, which is about fifteen minutes by bike to Beijing Language and Culture University.

The campus of BLCU is really nice, I think. I’ve heard this part of the city is a pretty fun place to live too. Right now, I’m working through the school registration process, which is really tedious. I will hopefully finish with registration this Monday, and begin school sometime this next week.

When you hear stories about life in China being difficult for foreigners, its definitely true. The first thing that happened when I got off the plane was get to baggage claim and find one of my bags missing. I used what little Chinese I knew to get some help. I agreed to pay a luggage carrier five dollars if he found my bag then he started running around baggage claim looking for it. After a few minutes, he came running back with my bag. I was probably paying him a lot, but I didn’t care. It was worth it. So without letting all the taxi drivers see, I handed him a five dollar bill and that was that.

Among other things difficult, it’s just really hot here and the air conditioning is weak. So, it’s always sticky. I can’t wait until winter comes. If I want to shower, the water just goes on the floor or whatever the shower head is pointing at, so it takes a little more focus, without getting the whole room wet. Then, you have to squeegee all the remaining water down the drain when you’re done.

The people seem very friendly around here too. Of course though, some people try to exploit the foreigners since we tend to be unfamiliar with everything. Some guy came up and asked me to buy his big grocery bag full of tea. He said he didn't want to carry it home. It was kind of funny. I didn't want to carry it home either. I don't really get stares from people since there are a lot of foreigners around here. Only the little kids look at me funny sometimes. I went to the Beijing zoo today. Even in the monkey section, I felt like an exhibit since some children looked at me with more curiosity than the monkeys.

On Friday, I met some Chinese students who wanted to practice their English, and they helped me buy a cell phone and a bike. Traffic laws are practically non-existent here though, so the roads are just a big free-for-all. I'll have to practice with the bike. Everything is definitely very different here. For example, the shopping malls are just a pain. They have such tight security to prevent theft. We had to have the guards check or stamp our receipts about four times before we could get out the door. Then, as soon as we got out, we realized the bike chain was broken. My friends took me to a bike repair shop down in some little alley to get it fixed up. Imagine, buying a brand new bike, which requires repairs before you can use it. An old man fixed the chain, and installed two good bike locks and a carrying basket for about $6. Great deal, I’d say. I think I should have plenty of money. Altogether, I bought a good cell phone, a bike, bike repairs, and lunch for three people for $120. I can buy a really good lunch for about a dollar.

The family I'm with gives me breakfast and dinner. They seem to be pretty good at cooking. For breakfast so far, I've mostly been served milk, porridge (rice and beans in water, or something), sweet muffins, and some hard boiled eggs. The dinner is also good. All the food is very healthy. We usually have a main course of some meat, and then maybe various vegetables, nuts, fruits, bread, and rice.

It’ll probably take another week or so before I’m really settled in here. Right now, I’m just kind of hanging out with nothing to do until Monday. Right now, I don’t have a stable internet connection either so I the things I post might be a little old. And feel free to send me emails or comment on this site.