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One Week in Beijing
OK...now that Tokyo is finally dispensed with, I can catch you all up on my first week here in Beijing. For those of you that don't know, I am interning with the US Department of Commerce here this summer - and for security purposes, I probably won't be talking about work much on the blog. Not that I am doing anything secretive, it's just sort a thing to do when you are working overseas for any government AND posting on a public website!
Anyhow, the first day here was perhaps the most dramatic of the week. Before I got here, I had secured (I thought) an apartment online - and my office had checked it out to ensure that it was real and not a hellhole. Well, my landlord had explained that it was bit difficult to find, so rather than attempt to give me directions, he suggested I just call him when I arrived in Beijing and he could explain how to get there to my driver. Well, complication number one was that I wasn't able to be picked up by our office's driver, as all cars were tied up due to a visit from the Secretary. SO, I had to cab it. Not a problem - I know Beijing well enough and my Chinese is passable enough to get around in a cab.
The cab driver nearly didn't want to take me though, because I wasn't exactly sure where I was going (true) and he didn't think I spoke Chinese (false). The guards at the airport reassured him that I could - one claiming that I spoke excellent Chinese! Like he knew anything! Anyhow, I call the landlord and I get a big "bu hao yi si," which in Chinese means "so embarassing" and usually means something has gone wrong. Not a good sign! Apparently, the current tenant had not moved out yet! He had asked for more time to stay in the place, and per some sort of Chinese ettiquette, the landlord felt it was rude to make him leave on his previously stated moveout day, even though a waiguoren was arriving to take his place! SO - I had no apartment. This was all in Chinese of course, while I had to deal with the cab driver on the expressway, who still wasn't sure where we were going!
I was able to discern from the landlord that he wanted to meet me at a hotel and then figure things out from there. I asked him to just give me a street so I could calm my cabbie's nerves. He gave me an address and a hotel name, though I didn't get it clearly. In the meantime, I had called my boss to inform him of what was going on and he offered to let me stay with him if needs be. We got to the part of town where the hotel was, and we started searching. The driver didn't know the hotel, and all I knew was the first character was "Hua!" Still, we did find it and about 10 minutes later, my landlord appeared. Around the same time, he got a call from my office (!) which was checking up to make sure I was alive and well. My office explained that my landlord was willing to pay for a hotel room for me for 2 nights until the other guy moved out of my apartment. I took him up on his offer and stayed at the hotel - which was a typically shoddy Chinese budget hotel, but I could deal for 2 nights. And, I wasn't paying!
That weekend, I just sorta slept, checked email, wandered the city a bit and got ready for move in.
On Sunday, I took a cab over to my new apartment which is actually pretty decent. It's in a newer highrise, modern looking building and there are quite a few similar buildings nearby. I have A/C, hot water, a decent bed, Chinese TV and a washer, though no dryer. I later learned that there is also a small gym in my building, which I think I have access to. I've walked in twice and no one has stopped me, though today I did see a counter that does seem to have a price list on it. It was deserted though, so who knows. My landlord took me to lunch (very nice of him - he is actually a very nice man), and we had Peking duck and eggplant! Woo hoo! Then I went to my local department store to buy overprices sheets for my bed. Ick.
On Monday, I started work, which is in a nice high rise office building. My co-workers, both Chinese and American, are very kind and I have a few cool fellow interns. It's a pretty nice setup and I think I'm going to get to work on some interesting and potentially substantial stuff. Time will tell.
We had some crazy weather (thunder and lightning) here a couple of nights, which kept me indoors and I turned into sort of a hermit. I downloaded the finale of Alias, because I'd missed it and did some laundry. I also tried to make some instant noodles and nearly burned my left thumb off when I microwave-boiled some hot water. Dumb, Richard, very dumb.
I did buy a new digital camera here! Yay! I got it for basically US prices, which is actually good, because they were selling it most places for about a 25-30% markup. I shopped around, bargained with a couple of folks (one of whom wouldn't go low enough and actually didn't follow me when I left!), and I finally got it for around 880 yuan. Not too bad, though after bargaining in China, you always leave feeling like you got cheated or that you could have done better. Now, you can see more of my exciting photos! I actually want to put up a few pics of my apartment and neighborhood, but I need to finish my laundry first!
Last night, we went to the Marine House at the Embassy and they had a spaghetti dinner. It was supposed to be 50 kuai but they let the interns in for free. They seem like some nice guys, and there were a lot of American staffers there. Unfortunately, we didn't mingle much. Maybe next time. I have a few more lunch meetings and happy hours coming up next week, so hopefully I'll get to network a bit more.
Today, I went and got a decent lunch and went over to Tiananmen to remind myself I was in Beijing! It was smoggy, but it was nice to be back. Not much has changed, though the People's History Museum now has a countdown clock for the Beijing Olympics. It was really hot today, though (surprise), so I headed home to do laundry and blog.
I was going to go out last night but I got tired. Tonight, though, I am meeting my intern colleagues for drinks in the famous Sanlitun bar area - Beijing's traditional expat hangout. Should be interesting. I haven't been there in 6 years, and it seems to change all the time. I also wanted to go to the Houhai area, which is supposedly the new hip place to go.
Tomorrow, I may try and go down to the Temple of Heaven and/or the Old Summer Palace. We'll see.
Hopefully, now that I am settled, blogging will resume in a regular fashion. I am finally starting to adjust - the first few days, I wasn't too excited about being here for some reason. I think it was just culture shock and my apartment issues. Now, I am happy about it. Anyhow, that's it for now. Miss you all! |