Day 3: ...and then it rained...

Greetings Everyone,

I hope to blog about my experiences in China on a pseudo regular basis (translation: “whenever I think about it”). So, here is a brief summary of my last couple days in country.

Day 0: Tuesday, 10 June: I landed at Beijing International Apt approximately 4 hours late due to maintenance problems prior to leaving Dulles. It took about an hour or so to get through customs before I found my new co-worker waiting to take me to my apartment… Once I got to my apartment, my “social sponsor” had left a message for me to call once I got in. I called and she cooked me some dumplings before I staggered half asleep to my apartment. I was exhausted; 13 hour flight and 12 hour time difference equates to being up for approximately 25 hours before hitting the sack. Guess I should have slept more on the plane…

Day 1: Wednesday, 11 June: After approximately 6 hours of sleep, I wake up at 3:30am local time… Which is also 3:30pm Washington DC time, but who is counting. First day at work, I was severely jet-lagged, good thing one of the office’s drivers picked me up at 8:00, because I had no idea how to get to work. Needless to say, it was a rough day – and – unfortunately it was not bad enough to get fired… Maybe I can tell you more about it over a beer. The good thing about “Day 1” is that my soon to be “new boss” was kind enough to split a taxi with me to get home. Between the two of us and calling our translator, we were able to find the neighborhood where my apartment is… That night my “social sponsor” showed me around the neighborhood a little bit and allowed me to vent about my day…then sent me home early for bed.

Day 2: Thursday, 12 June: Still stressed out concerning the messed up “Day 1.” So much for first impressions. I walked to work in the morning, the weather was nice (not too smoggy). I made it there in about 45 minutes and only had to ask directions three times. I think I can make it in 30 minutes if I really tried hard. After work, my “social sponsor” (Angela) and I met some of my old Chinese classmates (Ryan and Pauline) for dinner. Angela and I took the buss to Ryan and Pauline’s apartment and had a delicious dinner as well as a couple of beers. After dinner they went to watch some Chinese BreakDancers, while I went back home still suffering from jet lag…

Day 3: Friday, the 13th… Much better day at work, the jet lagged coma I have been walking around in for the last couple of days is starting to wear off. After work, the office had a retirement party for one of the staff members. We had beer, hamburgers, and hotdogs…yummy. About the time it was time to go home, it started to RAIN… Originally, my new boss, his wife, and another co-worker (Clay, Lori, and Bruce) were going to try to catch a Taxi on the street corner… after about 10 minutes of standing in the rain watching the gridlocked traffic, we decided to go to a taxi stand and wait for a taxi…after 20 minutes standing at the taxi stand waiting for a taxi, I decided to catch my bus instead; unfortunately I just missed it and had to wait another 10 minutes before another one arrived. Now this is the first time I rode the bus by myself, so as luck would have it I got off the bus stop to early and had to walk about 10 more minutes to my apartment… Did I mention it was raining? Now, my buddy Ryan just called and it looks like we are going out for beers… I wonder if it is still raining…