Welcome to Beijing!

Welcome to Beijing!
Today is my fifth day in China, and it’s still a little crazy to think that I’m actually walking on the streets of Beijing. I am still in that state of amazement at all the new sights and sounds and smells (ok, most of those are not enchanting) and wonderful tastes. This first picture shows the view from my window on the 15th floor of the international student dormitory of the campus where we are living for this next month.
We are currently taking classes about English teaching and Chinese culture. It’s amazing to me that this whole huge complex civilization has been around for thousands and thousands of years and we (in the west) know so little about it. So far I have concluded that China is a very complex society. As our teacher told us, “Nothing is what it seems. As soon as you think you understand something about China, you find out that’s not really how it is at all.” Anyway, it’s hard to explain, so let me show some more pictures and tell about a few of the fascinating things I’ve seen.

Is that a Chicken Head?
I know you are probably wondering, what kind of food are you eating? In general, I would say, “very good food.” Well, even though rice is the typical, stereotype Chinese food, I’ve probably eaten more noodles than rice, and I’ve had some excellent jiaozi (boiled dumplings with meat filling). The food is marvelously cheap. Today I had a great $.75 lunch. About the only thing I’ve had a hard time finding is coffee. L
And now I know you are dying to hear about the “less traditional” aspect of the food. The other night I went to dinner with my teammates and we had some sort of chicken concoction. As we were digging through the dish, we found the cute little chicken head seen on the right side of the plate - beak, comb, and all. It was pretty exciting, but I must say, I didn’t eat it.




Night on the Town
The other night, one of our teachers told us about the place to go for the “Beijing night life.” So about a dozen of us piled into taxis and went downtown (we are more on the west side of the city). There were crowds of people everywhere. Some were dancing to music on the sidewalks while others gathered around to watch. People were eating in street-side restaurants, browsing through little shops, taking boats out on the lake, and just hanging out. It was so rich and colorful and alive. After wandering around for a bit, several of us decided to go out in a boat on the lake. We drove around and tried to catch little paper-boat candles floating in the water. We floated past an island restaurant with lighted weeping willows hanging over the water. There were a number of boats out on the lake, everything from graceful wooden gondolas to duck-shaped paddle boats. Some people were eating or playing cards by lantern-light and being serenaded by some sort of string instruments. The colored lights from the shops and restaurants flickered around the edges of the lake, and the music floated distantly over the water. Enchanted. That’s how I would describe it. And did I mention that I got some Starbucks as well?

Early Morning in the Park
This morning my friend and I went out at 6am (can you believe it?) to view of the early morning activity in a nearby park. At the edge of the park, everything was calm and quiet. Some people were walking or sitting or chanting beside a lily pond. As we got into the middle of the park, we were surrounded by waves of early risers out to get their morning exercise and socializing. It was six o’clock in the morning, but it looked like a US park on a happening summer evening. A lot of people were practicing Tai Chi, either alone or in groups. Some people were practicing with swords, while others were slapping themselves all over (I guess to increase circulation? We didn’t really understand it). People were working out on the “exercise equipment” (it looked like an adult playground), walking backwards, dancing, eating breakfast, playing instruments, fishing, playing cards, and reading newspapers posted on bulletin boards. By the time we left the park a little after seven, I felt like I had already seen enough for a full day. I’m telling you – a Chinese park at six o’clock in the morning is a fascinating place.