Life in Beijing - One Week In

Hi everyone!

We thought it was about time to get our blog up and running and fill everyone in on our life in Beijing so far! Don't expect any life-altering thoughts and opinions here...but for a homebody from Western Mass and a jet-setting Ohio native, this is our perspective on life in Beijing so far....

Will and I arrived last Tuesday evening, after a wonderful weekend celebrating Mike and Melissa's wedding!

It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend - after seeing friends and family, saying goodbye, lots of photocopying, dinner in the North End and a night at the swanky Langham hotel, sad goodbyes to my Mom and Mark, mean security workers at Logan stealing all my liquid valuables - we boarded the plan to head to San Francisco, and then to Beijing.

We arrived at our apartment late Tuesday evening - here are some pictures of our complex and apartment. It's very nice, clean and safe. We definitely lucked out with our apartment, having never seen it before our arrival.

Our apartment has all the comforts of home - 2 bedrooms, full bath, kitchen, living room - and even more comforts than we're used to - a doorman, a gym, a pretty courtyard with a lake and rocks...even an Irish pub!

The neighborhood outside our is filled with street vendors, noodle shops and hutongs.

I went with Will to his school, Tsingua University, last week. The campus is really beautiful and very green, with lots of nooks and crannies to think big thoughts. I was just thinking/praying that I wouldn't get lost while Will was in class...

We spent a lot of our first week getting settled, going to Walmart, exploring our neighborhood and eating! Next week is the National Week holiday, which both Will and I have off and plan to spend exploring Beijing....so look for more posts next week!

Here are some intial thoughts so far...

The Food
The food so far has been very good! We've enjoyed Peking Duck - we went to this really cool restaurant where you can watch the chefs roast the duck. We went into the roasting room and selected which duck we wanted to eat! Unfortunately we don't have any pictures...

On the night of the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival we went to a wonderful Schezuan restaurant, where we sat outside in a courtyard, under a date tree. We stared at the moon and thought of our friends and family so far away....

The Commute

Ahh yes, the commute. Imagine the green line after a Sox game, with the extra bonus of subway officials who help shove you on the train. My commute actually isn't too bad, just under an hour. Here is a picture of Will navigating the subway, and me, when we finally found my office!

Will's commute is a bit longer - it take a little under two hours to get to school, but luckily it's a bit quieter when he leaves so he can do work on the train.

The People

It's of course very hard to generalize, but the people we have met and encountered so far have been extremely nice. One example....after a very intense Walmart shopping experience, Will and I proceeced to the check-out line with our credit card in tow, only to learn that it didn't work on the store's system (note to self: bring CASH, a lot of places don't take int'l credit cards.) We didn't have enough cash to purchase our goods, and unfortunately the ATM wasn't accepting my card either. Then...the woman behind us asked in English if we needed help. She said she had once lived in Boston and was very thankful for all the people who had helped her along the way. She offered to take my U.S. dollars in exhange for RMB. Luckily by this point the store manager had figured out our credit card, but nontheless here was a complete stranger who was willing to help us out. She gave us her card and asked us to contact her if we ever needed anything.

So...I guess here is one lesson learned so far - believe in the kindness of strangers and help people out when you can, you never know when or where your kindness will be returned...maybe it will be at a Walmart check-out line in Beijing!