A quick rundown...

Hello there everybody.

 

Sorry about that sudden posting hiatus. I've been adjusting to the excitement of living in a foreign country. I have some images (actually, a lot) here, but I can't view my blog right now (only post to it), so forgive me if they're poorly arranged. Hopefully the following posts will be more interesting, but here's what's going on:

 

What I eat: I usually eat in the cafeteria - it's a good place to struggle with not speaking the same language as your food. I usually have a couple baozi (deliciously stuffed steamed buns) for breakfast, maybe some sweet, soupy rice stuff. I'm still struggling to come up with a good lunch routine, but dinner is amazing so long as you don't order the food that comes out on the metal trays. The restaurants out here are great too. Of course everyone loves "Peking Roasted Duck", but right now my favorite dish is spicy Xinjiang noodles. This culinary delight comes from China's predominantly Muslim, northwestern province. Lamb, bell pepper, tomatoes and onions go on top of these awesome chewy noodles...oh god, my mouth is watering. Best part: If I eat in the cafeteria, I can do so on a dollar a day. If I go out, three dollars a day.

 

My friends: There's Justin, of course (see prior post). There's a half-chinese girl from Iowa named Elysia (she loves shopping and noodles, just like me). There are amazing Korean people all over the place (I need to learn Korean - the food is great), some cool Japanese kids. Occasionally I party with my Korean and Japanese classmates - it's a good way to practice Chinese (they don't really speak English). There are also a bunch of awesome fun people down on the 8th floor (I live on the 15th), they're with a program called CET.

 

My dorm: is something of a hotel. I have a nice roommate (Aileen, from the Phillipines), we have our own bathroom (western style), a computer, tv, phone, magical water heating pot, and a woman who comes in to make our beds and clean the place (we usually make theds first so that she won't - I feel too spoiled here!) The pictures I've posted are of the view of my dorm block from a nearby pedestrian bridge, a typical room (very clean, very new), and the view from my bedroom window (on a bad smog day - I promise prettier ones later)

 

All right, that's enough tedium for now. I love Beijing, and can't wait to write something interesting about it tomorrow.

Oh yes...

This is what coolness looks like in China.

Here in China

Sorry for the delay in posts everyone. I finally have consistent internet access, but I'm going to put you on hold for a couple more days, because I don't want to give you posts without pictures!