the quaint nanluoguxiang. just realized there are a lot of bikes in these pictures. well, i like bikes. i remember kicking myself after not shooting enough bicycles on my europe trip. so yeah, i’m overcompensating. (check out michelle’s awesome shoes in the last pic!)

finally got my little space furnished and set up, so i took some pictures! sorry for the crappy quality again. i actually managed to go out with my camera today so i’ll have the pretty ones up soon. :)

here’s the kitchen! i haven’t cooked anything yet.

living room and bathroom. we have our own washing machine, which is extremely convenient!

my room! cozy. and i adore the view. i leave the curtains open at night (of course, this makes for quite an early awakening :P)

and the last few days, in a nutshell:

• had my first couple days of work! i didn’t do much, just got acquainted with the place. pretty excited for the opening of the new kindergarten, it’s going to be so cute. for now i’m working on the website (what’s new in life…) and writing out the teacher’s guide to the curriculum.

• my bike lock broke (expected this to happen since the lock cost $1) so i was bike-less for a couple days. walking a mile to the subway station is such a drag that i sort of splurged on a taxi a couple times (oh, the shame).

• ripped my jeans while riding my bike a few days ago so i went to the store to get new ones, and i kid you not, i have dropped 2 pant sizes since i got here. probably the combination of biking/walking everywhere, being sick, and general laziness about eating… it requires a lot of walking or biking to get to dinner hehe

• meeting people is interesting. i think being alone all the time leads to the most interesting interactions. i’ve exchanged numbers with people as random as the person sitting next to me at mcdonald’s to a girl who dropped by my apt to pick up her friend’s luggage.  it’s fun :) and most of them are european! which, you know, gives me the excuse to visit europe… :D

• one of my favorite (albeit quite non-kosher) things in this city are BOOK CARTS. these ladies ride these bicycles around avoiding the police and if you find them, you can buy $1-2 (pirated) paperback books… all new bestseller stuff. i’ve been picking up quite a collection of the books i’d wanted to read all year but didn’t have the money to buy.

• did i mention english people are adorable? especially when they’re all affectionate and then realize you’re american and then apologize for being english.

okay that’s it i’m exhausted. i spent today in nanluoguxiang again with michelle, audrey, jason and suwen, and got some cool shots so i’ll post those tomorrow. :)

oh gosh it is hard to go back to point and shoot. i apologize for these crappy pictures, but i just haven’t gotten used to walking around with my SLR yet. next time :)

here’s auntie karen’s house. trippy huh? is this america???

the local market where i bought my bike

and there it is! BEST $20 i’ve spent here, and an awesome way to see the city. and i’m telling you, if you can bike in china… you can bike anywhere.

beijing subway, the emptiest i’ve ever seen it. and they have the nifty lights telling you which stop you’re at, like in hong kong!

shopping at carrefour on the national holiday.. umm.. never again.

the quaint and cozy bridge cafe in wudaokou

probably the best meal i’ve had in beijing, in a little sichuan place off of nanluoguxiang.. and this girl i had barely met for a day treated me. one of the loveliest nights i’ve had here :)

gah, excuse the bad lighting/angle.. but it’s the only time i remembered to snap a pic of my apartment building

i think i’ll try to get some more on facebook.. i’ve finally moved into my real room so i’ll post pictures of my apt as soon as i get all my furniture tomorrow :)

two weeks in!  today is the last day of our 8-day national holiday.  tomorrow will be my first official day of work. so i figured i MUST update today.  i should have updated more frequently with my time off. i would say i’ve been busy but that’d be a lie; really i’ve just been sick and not feeling up to it.  i’ve gotten over the worst part of the sickness and now i’m just trying to get rid of this cough that only shows up at night. i used to scoff at people who brought over american first aid kits & medicine, but now i must eat my words. i have searched high and low and oh, what i wouldn’t give for a bottle of robitussin right now.

anyway! despite my physical condition, i’ve been having a pretty good time in beijing.  i was afraid i’d be super bored over the holiday since i had no plans for a week straight, but i’ve been discovering new things everyday. my friends who have stayed in the city over the break have been extremely gracious in taking me in and showing me around.  without going into great detail, a couple of highlights from the week:

• meeting a girl named jie while apartment-shopping who i just happened to super hit it off with. she went to college in france and works at oracle. she took me to this amazing spot called nanluoguxiang, an old alley near the center of the city that’s been converted into a street of bars, shops and cafes. it is just ADORABLE. exactly what i envisioned before i came to beijing (the good parts).
• buying a bike for $20 at a local market, and somehow figuring how to ride it home.
• going shopping in wudaokou with michelle, and riding on the back of her bike (terrifying, a little bit). meeting michelle’s friends and going to an adorable cafe called the bridge.  wudaokou is sooo cute!
• eating hotpot at auntie michelle’s on mid-autumn festival.  she makes her own mooncakes at her bakery! amazing. on the holiday she invited her other divorced single women friends who are just absolutely HILARIOUS. they spent the whole time telling divorcee stories. i have never felt so weird and out of place, and all the same totally amused. it was an experience.
• watching a variety show with jacky’s family.  this was a hilarious, albeit bewildering experience. it’s just like those cheesy talent shows you see on chinese tv channels. an immaculately dressed man and woman come out, tell lame jokes, and introduce singers, dancers, and comedians.  let’s just say….. chinese humor is different. really different. hehehe
• biking to the bakery in the morning and buying bread for the day. i can’t get over asian bakeries. soooo delicious and cheap.
• getting stuck somewhere after the subway has stopped running at night, and having to get a taxi to go all the way across town ($$$$)
• shopping at carrefour during the holiday. do not try this at home. it is the most ridiculous thing ever. it’s like thanksgiving weekend black friday morning rush except with rude chinese people.
• seeing the parade floats and watching fireworks with jacky’s family from near tiananmen square… they pulled out ALL the stops for this celebration.

in other news, i’m finally going to be moving into my real room tomorrow. it is a really long story but basically, we’re doing this musical chairs thing with our rooms in our apt because someone’s in the process of moving out. so i’m currently living in my landlord’s room while she’s on vacation. unfortunately her room is not totally soundproofed from the room next door, which belongs to this dutch playboy (the one who’s moving out getting kicked out by my landlord) who leaves and comes home at ridiculous hours (read: 4am) with a different chinese girl each night. EACH NIGHT. (it doesn’t just happen in movies?!?!) this didn’t go down very well with my sick, sleep-deprived body. so after a couple days of this i actually moved back into auntie karen’s just so i could sleep through the night. finally, he left for vacation so i came back with the apt to myself and rested happy. PHEW.

a post is only good with pictures but honestly i’m beat… so pictures tomorrow. that’s a promise.