day 1

I've arrived in Beijing and i'm pretty spaced out from the jetlag.
Last night the first stop was Starbucks. It was great to be spoiled, but it made me feel like I stood out more...which
is not something I would go for in China.
In the taxi on the way to their place we chatted about justin's business prospects (he'll be working at the local
microsoft soon and otherwise is an entrepeaneur) , sebrina's plans (to find people to conduct surveys in Yunnan province
for her grant studies), and what exactly
i intend to do in China (check out the contemporary art scene, work on my independent study, learn more chinese, learn
more calligraphy, and figure out the rest as it comes.)

When we got to their place, stepping out the car, I smelled what I remember China to smell like.
Apparently dumpsters across China have a very particular smell, because justin said I was smelling their dumpster
we were let out next to. It was like being back in Linyi.
They live in an apartment complex around foreign things like McDonalds and Dairy Queen(Justin said there is one, but
I haven't seen it yet. That'll be a strange sight.) but they don't live around a lot of foreignors.

Walking into the buliding there were people hanging out in the hall, so justin introduced me as his 'mei mei',
little sister.
We got to the place and Sebrina and Madison/Sumaya/Hai Chi came to the door. Madison has grown curly blonde hair now
and she's even cuter. She's the perfect aryan baby, oddly enough.

We had dinner with the 'Aye'(literally translated as auntie, but she's a hired nanny/cook/maid), who made it. She
really is around 20 years old, like Justin said. She lives here, cooks
lunch and dinner, and occasionally watches Madison. The main dish last night had what is called 'ma,' commonly used
in Sizhuan province. It's a certain type of spice, in the form of a seed, that numbs your mouth. They said it's not
allowed into America because it's a narcotic...so you can imagine how intense the feeling of eating whole pods of it
might be.
Through dinner the three of them were speaking Chinese to one another, while Madison and I quietly listened. Fortunately
and to my suprise, I understood most of what they were saying! I didn't join in though, because I'm not confident
enough in my fluency, and I had the excuse of being exhausted from the trip.

My room is nice. It's completely furnished and well, it's my own room!
The city is so busy. I woke up around 5 am this morning and there were already kids yelling, horns honking, and a
variety of unfamiliar noises.

I dont' think I've got culture shock so far, but I am a little suprised by how much I'm looked at, and how blatantly
it's done. I forgot about that, or assumed in the city it would be different.
It'll take me a while to get used to that. I generally like to be in the background observing other people, so to get
forced into a different role is going to be hard to adjust to.


The picture is the view out my window. I'll take some pictures today if I go out and post them. I talked to Sebrina about the baby blog, and they'll let me post on there, and today one of them will post something of Madison.