Oh right! I'm Here to Study...

Our classes started today at Tsinghua University. The professors are great and I'm loving the subject matter. But, I won't bore you with the details.



What I think you will find more interesting is what my walk to the school looks like. With the Olympics on the horizon the entire city is really just one big massive construction zone. There are people working around the clock to fix up the city. So, while I'm sure it will look fantastic in a month, at the moment there is construction dirt everywhere which just kind of sticks to you thanks to the crazy humidity.



What I find interesting is that they don't block off areas that are being worked on and pedestrians will literally walk on a brick that was just laid one minute before.



Since I'm not back in the class mode yet, a few of us ran out to see a market when class was done in the afternoon. Wangfujing Dajie is a street lined with outdoor vendors selling any food you can think of (and several I would like to forget) on a stick. I couldn't bring myself to try any of the food that was being offered though, since I lost my appetite seeing the fried rats, centipedes on a stick, scorpions on a stick and many other items I just didn't want to identify.







In a nearby area we were able to find some food more acceptable to our stomachs.



Obviously the Olympics are being advertised everywhere and on everything we touch in Beijing. These seem to be the official mascots of the Olympics although I don't remember them being shown in the U.S. before I left.

First Full Day in Beijing

Thanks to the time difference I have instantly become an early morning person here in Beijing. I was able to wake up early and try out the public exercise park that is right outside our hotel entrance.



And a quick demonstration for you...



A few of my new classmates and I decided to visit the Temple of Heaven which is a top tourist attraction located in the central area of Beijing.











I'd like to point out that from my pictures you would think it was a cloudy day - but although I never saw the sun it was very apparent that it wasn't clouds but smog that is causing the overcast sky. You can really tell in the above picture how thick the smog is from just a short distance from the Temple.

Also, at the Temple complex we ran across a student run art show and one of the student artists gave us a great guided tour. Although you would think she was just trying to sell the art she was much more interested in sharing the stories behind the art with us and was very surprised and excited when several of us decided to buy some of the works.



We had an opening dinner where we met all the students and professors for the first time at an authentic Chinese restaurant. You can see a traditional formal dinner on the table and the custom of sharing many different dishes. The meal was very good and I especially liked the cooked lotus root which was stuffed with rice and was very sweet.

Arrived!

Hello Everyone!

I've finally arrived here in Beijing after a very long 14 hour flight. Here are some photos I was able to take from the plane as we were flying over the polar ice cap.







Upon arrival, the airport was surprisingly uncrowded and quiet which quickly changed once I was in the city. Here is a picture of the hotel I'm staying at:



I don't have much else to share at the moment because I need to sleep before I can go exploring.

I apologize for the boring design of the blog and promise I will spice it up very soon!