Anyway, once in the terminal it was very easy to get luggage. The immigrations lines were very speedy, no conversation, no glances, just an electronic rating system for ease of getting through. Only after i pushed the button saying "very satisfied" did I get a glance and a smile! Customs was luggage through the scanner and leave. I'm told that there are some sort of high tech temperature scanners that work automatically and if it shows you have a fever, you're pulled out of line. Then it was straight to the waiting lines where Mr Qin (pronounced something like "shin") was waiting with the pink MSB sign. So off we went to his very nice Nissan sedan - pure comfort from cushions, sound and most of all AC
We drove down long stretches of empty 6 lane highways (by now it was 1AM) He drove with low beams all the way and flashed them at ramps, whether anyone was coming or not. a different approach! When we turned left into the large highrise development the roads changed. The very wide boulevard was only partly finished and much of it is dirt. There are no street lines at all. All the bldgs were dark (and we're talking here about 60-70 high rise bldgs - all dark. It was eerie. There were a few fires burning alongside the wide road, tended by random people. I'm not sure what they were doing with fires, but there they were. (I just found out that the fires are likely in respect to the dear departed. It's a tradition to burn paper or money to speed them on their way. Sounds Egyptian!!)
It wasn't until we reached my tall, dark highrise, that i realized that my glasses steamed up as soon as i got out of the car. It was brutally hot (104 F during the day with 200 air quality index AQI, which is above dangerous and near hazardous.) This is a record book heat wave in Beijing right now. Just as it was a record cold winter last winter. That part is the worst. The best is yet to come!
Elisa Liang met me at the entrance to her bldg. I will be living with her. We got my stuff inside and started to talk - about everything... She is also a former nurse turned Montessori teacher. She is the salt of the earth type of person. Very funny, very curious and very straightforward. A joy to know and very easy to live with. I couldn't have landed more comfortably on my feet! Once we figured out a way to soften my mattress, even sleep is a joy.
Now to school. The International Montessori School of Beijing is beautiful, well equipped and friendly. Today was Open House so I've been here a week doing set-up and trying to understand how ESL is taught here. This is a totally bilingual school with an English language base. There are both immersion English and immersion chinese classes. It is a fascinating new world for me. Apparently my team (eng as an add'l language EAL - because so many children already speak 2 other languages) is responsible for really beefing up the EAL program and generating lessons with very high standards and good report-back mechanisms. In the short time I'll be here I will certainly be giving it my all. I'll be very interested in seeing what 4 months with all new EAL staff can do. Everyone on the team is pretty excited too.
Today I organized the first meeting of the expat travel club. Purely selfishly, I want to do the maximum amount of travel with friends as I can. The rest I'll do by myself. It appears that several of us might join together in a few weeks and take a high speed train to Shanghai and adventure around a little. The first week in Oct I hope to go to Taiwan for at least part of the week long holiday. The following weekend it appears that Xian is on the agenda. I'm really excited. Appreciation to all my travel partners in Peru for helping me realize what fun group travel can be.
I feel VERY welcome here and I'm excited by the energy I feel about being in Beijing from all the expats. It is a city in the throws of dynamic change and high salaries and great benefits (though apparently that's beinginning to decline) Young people are flocking to be part of it. I like to think I'm one of those! :~)
Traffic not bad on my first trip into town! Pollution not too bad.
Heat - excrutiating, but I waited too long to notice, I was too excited.
I was stopped in my tracks by this taxidermist's cart at the side of the road. It took me several minutes to figure it out
Shops filled with amber and jade, coral, ivory, turquoise, pearls, wood and stone beads. Quite brilliant displays.
Meticulously carved stone items. This is STONE food!
Bright embroideries
Stacks and racks of them.
Gorgeous ethnic finery.
competing with one another for the 50%+ markup on every possible item of need or luxury you could imagine.
Metal teapots ansd swords.... Clay teapots and items for tea ceremonies..... Wooden trays, beads, sculptures..... Calligraphy scrolls and landscapes...... Calligraphy brushes of all sizes and the ink stones to go with them. Some calligraphy is done with 4 ft tall brushes with huge bristle ends and a bowl of water or a pond - the task being to make a beautifully flowing calligraphy on a pavement in the morning before any of it evaporates! (I hope to see that some early morning!)
The market was astounding. All of life is happening there - eating, sleeping, playing, having family time, helping toddlers with their split trousers (specifically so they can do their business without taking off their pants. Parents just have to be attentive to clean up afterwards!) Throughout all this everyone is hustling for a yuan (equivalent to RMB or kwai - about 6 = $1)
Taht was my morning! I learned to use the subway (easy, breezy) and found maneuvering the market much harder. I made it through without speaking any chinese. Amazing. But that meant I couldn't ask where to find a seat (of which there are very very few) or a decent restaurant or extra water. Fortunately it was so hot I didn't need the bathroom, but the heat is another story.
Grabbingthewave@gmail.com
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