Liu Fei(Nalson) & Wu Fei (Mike)

Two of my students who are studying in Beijing during their winter holiday to prepare for the GRE exam. We are at the entrance to China Agriculture University

Making the Transistion in Beijing

Today I will go to my language school to register and start what should be an interesting chapter for me. I think gaining more language ability will not only be exciting and challenging, but ultimately will open more doors and opportunities. I should find my schedule ... the timesof my lessons, my teachers, and meet some classmates too.

So far the transistion is progressing smoothly. I am finding my way around this part of Beijing which is a HUGE city. I am in the northwest corner near the 4th ring road in an area called Zhongguancun. there are many universities located nearby and this is also the site of China's silicon valley with many technology companies nearby.

I still need to find a place to live . . . so that is something you can continue to think about. While I am not anxious about this, it still causes me some concern. So far there are not many open doors.

Saturday, I met two of my students from last term . . .they are in Beijing completeing a GRE prep course during their winter vacation. We met for some coffee and then lunch later... and had a great time talking. The remainder of my time has been to overcome a severe case of jet lag, continue with all the details of relocating to another city, and exploring this massive city. I have been waking up around 4 or 5 am and find that i am ready to crash by 9 at night.

Please add your comments or send me an email. I think this will be a good way to stay connected.

Return to China

I am trying something new . . . a blog . . . . to record my experiences here in China. I hope this will serve as a better communication tool to all my family nd friends about what I am doing here in China. I think that it will take a little time to figure all of the bells and whistles about blogging. Additionally, I hope to post some photos so you can have a glimpse as to some of the people, places, and things that I encounter in my daily life.

I will welcome your comments and feedbck too. I think this can be a great way to stay in touch with each other.

I arrived in Beijing thursday evening after a very long and tiring flight from the US. On left Indianapolis and fly to Chicago, but it was very stressful. Thata more there was very heavy fog making the drive difficult and slow. I arived at the airport with only one hour to spare and then the check-in line was very long. Soemhow 'customer service' did not mean much as there was only one agent who only dealt with one of 15-20 passengers in 30 minutes. I had doubts i would make the flight.

But thankfully, I did and the connection also went smoothly too. I was fortune to have an entire row to myself, but the bad news was that i could not sleep. So the journey seemed to go on and on. After my arrival in Beijing, I took the Airport Bus and Ben met me. I am staying with him temporaily till i can find a place.

Yesterday (Friday), we began taking care of the many details required to make a smooth tranisition.... buying a bus pass, securing a SIM card and local number,etc.

So far everything seems to be going well. Monday is registration and classes gefin on Wednesday