Let me check my Casio

25 MAY 2010 Apparently 5am Beijing




Well, we are officially in China! I’m still in disbelief- I don’t think it will hit me until we actually start walking around the city and go see all the tourist sites. We’re all settled into our hostel, which is surprisingly nice. I’ve never stayed in one before, but I imagined it to be a large room full of bunk beds, with a bathroom outside the room. Here, we have the bunk beds and the bathroom, but there’s only 4 beds, the room is quite small, and the bathroom is inside the room. It’s great.

Driving into Beijing was an interesting experience, to say the least. We managed not only to find a taxi (I know it’s not really that hard to do outside an airport) but communicate where we needed to go. And we made it, no problems! I haven’t been in many taxis before (read: I’ve been in 2 my entire life), but our driver definitely wins the A+ award for best driver.

The drive from the airport felt strangely familiar. Apart from the Chinese road signs, it looked as though we could have been anywhere in the US or Europe- large highways, lots of trees. I suppose the whole method of getting from the airport to a city is pretty standard worldwide. Even the city itself was pretty normal. We drove past a bunch of skyscrapers, and our hotel is in an area that’s much smaller and dingier (be assured, it’s still a nice hostel). Urban planning, much like the roads from the airport, seem to be pretty standard worldwide.

Finally, 2 thoughts: 1) The people outside our room are being quite loud. I think if the Americans are telling you to be quiet, you’re too loud.

2) If it really is May 25, what the hell happened to the 24th? Where’s Monday? An entire day went missing! Send out the search parties!