It was only minutes into my first expedition to one of Beijing's supermarkets that I received this grave news. It's going to be a long summer without candy drink.
Seriously though, it is 3:21 in the afternoon and I've spent the entire day exploring the BLCU campus. I managed to get a cell phone, internet access, and a gym membership all for about $130, which isn't bad by any means.
First impressions of Beijing...
1) It's a one-of-a-kind feeling to look up at a "clear sky" and not be able to see the sun... at all.
2) Tomorrow I sign a pledge saying that I won't speak in any other language besides Mandarin until the end of the program. This means one of two things at this point. Either I'll get really good at communicating through hand gestures, or I'll really have to improve my Chinese in a hurry.
3) I can only imagine the things going on in the local peoples' heads as they watched my friends and I pull out our cameras to take pictures in the supermarket.
4) At certain times today I literally felt like a martian.
That's all for now, jet lag has turned me into a zombie, so much so that I can't really tell if I'm tired or not. I have a feeling I'm running on fumes right now and in about three hours I'll just pass out wherever I am.
fresh to def,
Jamey
Martian. Good analogy. Take the pictures anyway. =)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making the looong journey! Can you post a photo or two? I'd love to see you in your new surroundings! We miss you :)
ReplyDeleteI can't help wondering how some of our signs must come across when directly translated into Mandarin. For example, how would "On-Coming Traffic Does Not Yield" be rendered? Uncompromising? Belligerent? Inflexible? Who knows--except you maybe.
ReplyDelete