Beginnings

Hello from China!

The last few days {weeks!} have been a whirlwind, and so much has been happening!

I arrived here last Thursday {that's Wednesday to those of you in the States} and have been doing a lot of exploring, trying new food, and training for my job. Training occurs in Beijing, so I'm here for a little bit until I transfer to my new city {Tianjin}.

So what, exactly, have my days looked like?

Well, on Friday my new group went to the hospital for the foreigner health check. I won't detail the process here, but this account is accurate. It was chaotic, interesting, and an all around new experience. There wasn't a whole lot of privacy {that's normal here} which I had to get used to, and it was a bit weird running around with foreigners from all different countries at a hospital, but in all it wasn't a bad experience at all.

Saturday and Sunday were fun days where we learned to use the subway system {LOVE the mass transportation! So cheap here. Subways are 2RMB or about 30 cents and busses at .4 RMB with a card, so... 10 cents, maybe?} and generally wandered around. We got lost a few times, and ate some delicious street food, and got our pictures taken by random people.

Saturday was also the very first day we did something touristy: The Temple of Heaven. Gorgeous does not begin to describe this place. Breathtaking is a start. It is the center of the complex {and is in a beautiful park!} and I kept wanting to take more and more pictures of it because it is so beautiful.

In the next few weeks I'll be ticking something big off my bucket list {can you guess?} and generally doing many tourist things, especially during the Moon Festival holiday coming up!