I didn't get to write when we touched down in Beijing because my journal was in my backpack, which was in the overhead compartment. And I've been too tired to write the past two nights.
After we landed, we walked through the gynourmous Beijing airport to customs, which was really easy and uneventful. We didn't even have to claim anything. Both of my checked bags arrived safe and sound. I changed money, and after a little searching, Zach and I found our Waiban, Maggie, who was there with somebody else from the school. Maggie speaks English very well, but the other person doesn't speak a word of English. Zach says he keeps expecting him to turn around and say "Surprise! I can speak English and I've been understanding you all along!"
From Beijing, we went straight to Shijiajuang in Hebei Province, where Maggie told us we would get our work permits and complete our medical examinations.
Shijiajuang is very polluted, one of the most polluted cities in the world. In Beijing, you could see that it was polluted about a mile in front of you. In Shijiajuang (The Shizz), it is so polluted, you can see the haze starting fifty feet in front of you. We are two hours outsied of the city right now on the way to Chengde, and there is still a haze that could almost be fog, but it's not. Zach and I determined that Shijiajuang would be a good city for weekend visits, but not for living in. We're glad we're living in Chengde.
Yesterday morning, Zach and I were obliged to skip breakfast in lieu of the impending blood test. On the way to the medical exam, the driver started taking the back streets. They were so narrow we almost couldn't get the car through. On either side of th street, we passed countless shops and houses, often with broken windows and rusty metal screens. Faded pictures from too much lights (I can't say sun expures because it's permanantly grey from polluti
on) adorn the windows of shops. Most are pictures of hair models in salon windows. I'm sure what was once a vibrant, in-style picture seems a little old and outdated, but maybe that's just the effect of the fading.
Zach and I were worried that our exam would be on one of these back streets, in which case Zach woud have refused to go in. Luckily, we came out onto a main street where there was a nice clean building labelled "Foreign Affairs Examinations." The only scary thing was when the Flombotomist (blood draw person) took his gloves off to put the needle in because he couldn't feel the vein. It took two practitioners to draw my blood because the first couldn't find my vein. I got poked in both arms and now I have a beautiful purple bruise where they drew blood. Amusingly, the hospital had labelled rooms like "Surgery" and "Internal Medicine," but were just a standard hospital room circa 1920with a few updates. There was a room called "Facial Features," which I thought might be facial mapping, but it was just an eye test.
Maggie, Zach, and I wen't shopping for cell phones. It was really hard to find a good cell phone that didn't take all or half of my cash. I found one eventually, a legal one I can take to a service center in Chengde, should I need. After this, Maggie left us to fend for ourselves in the shopping center while she went to pick up our medical exam results. We now wonder if we might not have gotten a better deal on cell phones if we hadn't taken Maggie with us because then she wouldn't have been threto tell us all the features of a phone and why it was so expensive. Zach alo says the stand owners think we are rich enough to hire a translator, so they won't lower the price. Once Maggie left, Zach and I wandered the shopping center in search of appliances. We got around using my phrasebook and asking "Duoxiao qian?" in which the worker would answer with a number (in Chinese) which we would have to translate, or pull out a calculator. We would then haggle down the dealer by offering half,who would then come back with another offer and so on. The cool thing about the shopping center was that it was arranged by product, and everything in that store was electronic. First floor was cameras, MP3 Players, and large electronics. 5th floor was cell phones, 4th was printers and burnable CDs, 3rd was computer stuff. I don't remember what 2nd was. Most of the things we got were less than half of what we would have bought it for in America. I found and AWESOME Nikon D40 for 6300 Yuan (930 USD) and maybe if I save enough from my paychecks and I can haggle enough, I can buy it near the end of my stay.
Chinese food in China is nothing like what it is in the USA. You order it because you think it is one way, but it tastes completely different. Chinese cuisine is mostly a guess and check game. Guess what it is and try to check. We did go to a Pizza Hut last night, which was very similar to Pizza Hut in the US, it just had different types of pizzas.
Zach and I almost became the proud owners of a new puppy (we were for about 45 minutes), but we decided there were too many unknowns, so we gave it away. It couldn't have been any more than two weeks old. Sad thing is, I was probably it's best chance of surviving that young. Maybe we'll get a dog in Chengde.
People in the Shizz seem to just bunk down for the night wherever they can. On a deserted door step, in front of a hotel. We passed one man who was sleeping on the marble railing that led down to one of the street underpasses. I don't know how he could sleep with all the honking and people passing by. I'd be scared someone would do something to me in passing. But I guess when you do it enough, you become accustomed.
By the way, drivers in the Shizz use their horns ALL THE TIME. Talk about desensitization. They honk when they pass, they honke when they come to an intersection, they honk when they want you to get out of their way. A bus nearly blew my ears out when he honked right next to me because we didn't get out of the way fast enough. It gets really annoying after a while because it seems so futile. I hope it isn't like this in Chengde.
After we landed, we walked through the gynourmous Beijing airport to customs, which was really easy and uneventful. We didn't even have to claim anything. Both of my checked bags arrived safe and sound. I changed money, and after a little searching, Zach and I found our Waiban, Maggie, who was there with somebody else from the school. Maggie speaks English very well, but the other person doesn't speak a word of English. Zach says he keeps expecting him to turn around and say "Surprise! I can speak English and I've been understanding you all along!"
From Beijing, we went straight to Shijiajuang in Hebei Province, where Maggie told us we would get our work permits and complete our medical examinations.
Shijiajuang is very polluted, one of the most polluted cities in the world. In Beijing, you could see that it was polluted about a mile in front of you. In Shijiajuang (The Shizz), it is so polluted, you can see the haze starting fifty feet in front of you. We are two hours outsied of the city right now on the way to Chengde, and there is still a haze that could almost be fog, but it's not. Zach and I determined that Shijiajuang would be a good city for weekend visits, but not for living in. We're glad we're living in Chengde.Yesterday morning, Zach and I were obliged to skip breakfast in lieu of the impending blood test. On the way to the medical exam, the driver started taking the back streets. They were so narrow we almost couldn't get the car through. On either side of th street, we passed countless shops and houses, often with broken windows and rusty metal screens. Faded pictures from too much lights (I can't say sun expures because it's permanantly grey from polluti
on) adorn the windows of shops. Most are pictures of hair models in salon windows. I'm sure what was once a vibrant, in-style picture seems a little old and outdated, but maybe that's just the effect of the fading.Zach and I were worried that our exam would be on one of these back streets, in which case Zach woud have refused to go in. Luckily, we came out onto a main street where there was a nice clean building labelled "Foreign Affairs Examinations." The only scary thing was when the Flombotomist (blood draw person) took his gloves off to put the needle in because he couldn't feel the vein. It took two practitioners to draw my blood because the first couldn't find my vein. I got poked in both arms and now I have a beautiful purple bruise where they drew blood. Amusingly, the hospital had labelled rooms like "Surgery" and "Internal Medicine," but were just a standard hospital room circa 1920with a few updates. There was a room called "Facial Features," which I thought might be facial mapping, but it was just an eye test.
Maggie, Zach, and I wen't shopping for cell phones. It was really hard to find a good cell phone that didn't take all or half of my cash. I found one eventually, a legal one I can take to a service center in Chengde, should I need. After this, Maggie left us to fend for ourselves in the shopping center while she went to pick up our medical exam results. We now wonder if we might not have gotten a better deal on cell phones if we hadn't taken Maggie with us because then she wouldn't have been threto tell us all the features of a phone and why it was so expensive. Zach alo says the stand owners think we are rich enough to hire a translator, so they won't lower the price. Once Maggie left, Zach and I wandered the shopping center in search of appliances. We got around using my phrasebook and asking "Duoxiao qian?" in which the worker would answer with a number (in Chinese) which we would have to translate, or pull out a calculator. We would then haggle down the dealer by offering half,who would then come back with another offer and so on. The cool thing about the shopping center was that it was arranged by product, and everything in that store was electronic. First floor was cameras, MP3 Players, and large electronics. 5th floor was cell phones, 4th was printers and burnable CDs, 3rd was computer stuff. I don't remember what 2nd was. Most of the things we got were less than half of what we would have bought it for in America. I found and AWESOME Nikon D40 for 6300 Yuan (930 USD) and maybe if I save enough from my paychecks and I can haggle enough, I can buy it near the end of my stay.
Chinese food in China is nothing like what it is in the USA. You order it because you think it is one way, but it tastes completely different. Chinese cuisine is mostly a guess and check game. Guess what it is and try to check. We did go to a Pizza Hut last night, which was very similar to Pizza Hut in the US, it just had different types of pizzas.
Zach and I almost became the proud owners of a new puppy (we were for about 45 minutes), but we decided there were too many unknowns, so we gave it away. It couldn't have been any more than two weeks old. Sad thing is, I was probably it's best chance of surviving that young. Maybe we'll get a dog in Chengde.
People in the Shizz seem to just bunk down for the night wherever they can. On a deserted door step, in front of a hotel. We passed one man who was sleeping on the marble railing that led down to one of the street underpasses. I don't know how he could sleep with all the honking and people passing by. I'd be scared someone would do something to me in passing. But I guess when you do it enough, you become accustomed.
By the way, drivers in the Shizz use their horns ALL THE TIME. Talk about desensitization. They honk when they pass, they honke when they come to an intersection, they honk when they want you to get out of their way. A bus nearly blew my ears out when he honked right next to me because we didn't get out of the way fast enough. It gets really annoying after a while because it seems so futile. I hope it isn't like this in Chengde.
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