You are Teaching Where!?: First Day in Beijing

My first day in China has been sensory overload! The smells and sounds are all so different here! Even the plane ride here felt as if I was already in China. There were only a few Americans on the huge plane. The culture is amazingly different from ours. Even the smallest things, such as waiting in line is done so differently than in the States.

I got here around midnight, and a Chinese assistant from Romp N’ Roll, named Ashley, picked me up at the airport. She was super sweet! My roommate Rebecca only had to go to work for a couple of hours, so when she got back we went out to get some of the basics.

For lunch I jumped right in and order some rice with all kinds of crazy vegetables in it! The smell of the food courts here are insane. It is hard to describe…almost like an overwhelming smell of all kinds of Chinese sauces put together. Anyways, my rice was very spicy and it was a huge portion. However, I couldn’t finish it all because I ran out of water. Oh yeah…and so by the way, it is completely okay to take outside drinks inside some restaurants around here.

After lunch, I bought some fruit and snacks for the room from the market. Then, we were both ready for a nap. After our nap we went back out and bought a power strip for my computer and dinner. I had to buy a completely new blow dryer and straightner, because even with a converter here, my blow dryer and straightner will blow up. The markets here are like mazes. There is not circular or square motion. The market actually turned and twisted all kinds of ways. Without Rebecca, I would have completely gotten lost in there!

Anyways, tomorrow I start work and full days at work until Monday! Check out some of the pics below!