It’s been too long since I’ve updated, I have been having way too much fun and a lot of visitors. This is the first installment of updates that I have due.
This weekend, AmyB, AmyG, and Lili are all coming out for a visit. Amy B’s flight was delayed a couple days getting in. I took her out for a wonderful dumplings meal at one of our favorite (or at least most frequented) restaurants. The menu is in all Chinese, and getting there I quickly realized that I was in trouble. Normally I’m with friends who speak Chinese, but I didn’t know all the different vegetables and what not (I can recognize meat types). That wasn’t too hard to look up, though the real difficulty was not knowing how much to order. We ended up ordering a meal for about 4 people, though it still only came to $4 with drinks.
I went out afterwards to an Improv night. We went to the most Bohemian bar I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s called the Loft. It’s a three story bar, and has beds, elevated lofts, couches on a rooftop, etc. for seating. It was great, it also overlooked a lake in Beijing. I met several expats there.
Being an expat is really an interesting feeling. In a place as foreign as Beijing, there’s really a bond between you and any other western expat here. I met a Swiss girl, an Australian girl (ethnically Chinese), an American and a Chinese Canadian. Race really isn’t the issue, it’s culture and language barrier that pushes all expats together. I’ve heard in the past many times people complain that foreigners stick to themselves and do not associate as much with Americans in America. I really see how important it is for the locals to be the ones to reach out to meet people who don’t otherwise feel as comfortable adjusting to a new language and culture.
Lili and Amy arrived Saturday night, I picked them both up from the airport. I miss my college buddies lots. It was great to see the two, Lili has since become Dr. Akin. We went out for hot pot, my favorite Chinese meal. We ate lots and I had my favorite “Dream Cow” ice cream bar that comes with each hot pot meal. They were both tired and went to bed early.
The next day Eden invited me out with a few of his friends. Two girls from Google (fraternizing with the enemy), a French Chinese student, and another couple girls, Eden, and I all went hiking to Ba Da Chu. I loved talking to the French Chinese guy, who you would expect to have a Chinese accent when speaking in English, only when he switched over the thickest French accent would come out of his mouth in English.
The hike was amazing. We went up a mountain (big hill really) to see a few Buddhas, and get a little ways away from the thick smog of Beijing. The air really is terrible, just as bad as Mexico City, the worst air I’ve ever experienced.
More updates to come soon, I promise
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massage, that long, you would expect to pay around $160 USD. Here it was less than $20.
