"It can only get better from here because it CAN'T get any worse!"

Wednesday June 30, 2010
BLCU, Dorm #17, room 825.

The flights were fine. I barely remember them. The majority of our group traveled together from Columbus to Minneapolis to Seattle to Beijing, getting to know each other more as we discuss how much we packed, money brought, classes, the campus, etc. Everyone gets along really well; its a relief that turned out to be an enormous benefit when we arrived to a number of letdowns (stay tuned). The 11-hour flight will not even have been my longest one, when I do Tokyo to New York for 13 hours on the way home. I'm not worried about it though; because in the 11 hours, sleep, When In Rome (waste), and jumbled thoughts kept me..well, not bored out of my mind. Mentally, being in a foreign country (not counting Canada) is absolutely exhilarating. I just tried for 5 minutes to describe my thoughts while landing, and I could not without sounding ridiculous. One of the best parts of the trip, however, will probably be Mark yelling "Oh shit!" to a quiet, mostly Asian plane, when we hit the runway. It was a little hard. Physically, well, being here is definitely an adjustment. Which is working out in our second day in Beijing, I believe. First of all, I packed WAY too much. I am so very angry with myself. Then again, I really might not be later when I have all these options to choose from. It might've been worth having Michael switch suitcases with me to carry through the airport. We'll see. I'm also nervous I'm going to have to check another suitcase to fit the souvenirs. Eeeek. So we walk outside, (about 12 am local time) and its just a smoggy smoggy world. You can smell it, and you're breathing it. And it's ruining your night pictures. The time difference is also baffling me every day. Despite being so exhausted still, I think I'm adjusting to the 12-hour time difference fine. It's so crazy to think it's 5 AM at home right now. We arrive to our dorm to find out we would all have to room with other international students. This was a big letdown to me just because I had planned to live with Erika since like.. January. The dorm life in general has been.. not horrible, but really really close. My Korean roommate was not happy to see me when she came home at 4 in the morning that night and she was not very nice. She speaks a little English, but I can tell doesn't really understand me, and also Chinese, but she knows it a lot better than I do. It's gotten better but its just awkward, and I hate being in my room. Many students are leaving in about a week or so, so Erika and I will hopefully get a room soon. So, along with a not so great roommate, there are no towels and there is no bedding, which were claimed as being provided. The beds are wood, an inch of mattress pad, and a dirty sheet. They took care of the bedding by like 2 am, fine, but the so called towel.. was the size of a hand towel..and the only one we got. Some other things that bother I and my American self are going to complain about- a shower head basically put on the side of the bathroom wall; paying for the internet by the month- free wifi in the lobby but it rarely works, very thin walls, mosquitos in the elevator, not one English speaking channel, definitely not enough coffee available, having to boil the water first,

Some not so bad things- The furniture, size of the room, 2 elevators, the exchange rate, CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP everything, great people, great city. Another great thing is that I know this program is already benefiting me because I've had to use Chinese so much already. I really suck but, class starts tomorrow.

*can't usually access my blog site, so I'll be posting & writing at different times.