It was a rough night, to say the least. I really missed everyone at home and things about the US that I guess I take for granted. I tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't, so when it was finally a reasonable hour, I got out of bed and got ready for the day. My host family's daughter, Jing Jing, took me to school this morning. I had a placement exam at 8AM, and she was kind enough to take me there, which I really appreciated.
The test seemed pretty easy, and I was done quickly, so after that I roamed around the campus to familiarize myself with everything. After that, I decided to head over to my program's office. I rode the bus all by myself and didn't get lost!! People here are crazy drivers--worse than New York. They really don't care if they run you over, and it seems as if there is constant beeping.
When I got to my office, one of the program coordinators went with me to exchange money and buy a bus card. Every time I have to interact with Chinese natives I am just shocked by how much I don't know of the language. In school it is different because we only stick to certain topics that involve words I know how to say. But here in Beijing it's a real challenge to understand anything, especially since people talk so fast.
After I got some money and bus card, we had a welcome lunch at the office and a small orientation before a few other students who have been here a few weeks joined us for a trip to the Capital Museum. I would have enjoyed the museum a lot more if it wasn't for the hot, long trip to get there, and the fact that I was carrying a backpack full of books and papers.
When we got back from the museum, I waited for Jing Jing to meet me and we went out for dinner. I got some really good soup with noodles, tomato broth, tomatoes, some other vegetables, and eggs. Then we took the subway home and went to the grocery. On the way home, we stopped at this little side stand where a man made a copy of my family's house key for me. When we went up to him he was putting new pedals on a child's bicycle. It's amazing the kinds of things you see on the street, the random services offered and the interesting food sold.
There are hardly any Americans or white people here. But strangely, I don't feel out of place. It's so interesting to be in this situation where you don't know what anyone is saying. People go about their daily business and don't even give you a second glance. I wish I was fluent in Chinese so I could understand what they are all talking about, but for now I hope that fluency will come in time.
To end my day, I took a shower in the interesting bathroom here. The shower isn't in a separate room. You walk into the bathroom and there is a sink to the left, a toilet in front of you, and to your right is the shower head. The water just runs across the floor and down a drain on the other side of the room near the sink. It was kind of confusing when I saw it, and I had to do a double-take. But it works fine and it gets you clean, so nothing to complain about. Again I think it just brings to the forefront the differences in our cultures and the fact that some can live with what most Americans would consider less luxury, but find it perfectly suitable.
Until my next post, here are a few pictures of what I've seen so far.
The bathroom/shower area sounds perfectly funtional, no waste of space or utility. Pretty cool.
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