Darrol on the Great Wall between Simatai and Jinshanling
Darrol at the Forbidden City
Links
CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet
Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman
University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
I finally arrived in Beijing on the evening of August 16 th.
Though I had come to Beijing to volunteer as an English teacher last
summer, I was still anxious about going through customs and
immigrations. Fortunately my apprehensions were ill-founded
and both of them were a breeze.
I then made my way to the international arrivals lobby where a friend
was waiting for me. Anyone planning on going to Beijing in the
future, once you get out of the airport lobby, make your way past the
swarms of people trying to get your attention by offering you
"inexpensive" taxi rides to town. Once outside they will
still vie for your attention, but you will then notice there are
numerous busses that head to various places in town. If you know
where you are going (preferably in Chinese or written out in Chinese)
you can then check with each bus driver to see if that route goes near
your location. You can then get a taxi from where you are
dropped off in Beijing. This simple step can save you a lot of
money since the busses going into town are only 16 Yuan ($2) per
ticket, while many of the "taxi drivers" will be charging anywhere from
160 – 220 Yuan ($20 – 27.50). If it is absolutely
necessary to go by taxi, make sure you get one of the regulated taxis
with posted prices on them. These are usually the red, or yellow
and blue taxis, and they will have either 1.2, 1.4, or 1.6 posted on
the window, which is the number of Yuan per kilometer one must pay for
the ride. Since 1 Yuan is only $0.12 there is not much of a
difference price wise for us between the 1.2 and 1.6 rates. The
main difference is that the highest rate taxi is bigger and will have
air conditioning (regardless of whether or not it is being used.)
After making it into town my friend took me to my apartment. I
feel that I am very lucky. Compared to the apartment I was
in last summer, this apartment is spectacular. Indeed it is very
nice for any large city. I have my own sizeable room, and I share
a bathroom, living room, kitchen, and laundry room with my
roommates. It is a furnished apartment, so I already have a
desk, vanity, bed, fan and lights in my bedroom. The apartment
has an instant hot water heater giving us hot water 24hrs a day which
is very nice. My roommates are a very friendly young
Chinese couple. They are both computer engineers and are gone all
day during the workweek. Additionally they can both speak a
little English, so we can communicate, but still learn each others'
languages.
I am located at the end of a residential district not to far from the
Old Summer Palace. There is a large two-story grocery store
nearby with fixed prices for fruits and vegetables, and numerous other
small shops and convenience stores. I also found that there
are a few busses (coming every few minutes) at the nearby bus stop that
go directly to Beijing University. In addition, a few days ago
one of my friends helped me to get a bicycle and we rode to Beijing
University. It took us only 15 minutes to get there, so I am sure
that this apartment will be close enough for me to get to my classes in
a timely manner. And, when it rains or snows, I can take
the bus. There is also a light-rail stop nearby that I can walk
to in 5 minutes and which I can use to go downtown. In
fact, it is located only three stops north of Dazhongsi, where I was
living last summer.
My friend Mike has come into Beijing for a few days, so we have been
going to the many historical and cultural monuments in
town. Since we are both Asian Studies majors these outings
have been very rewarding for us.
I am now trying to wrap up things such as finding the nearest post
office, learning the correct way to write my address, and getting a
phone number. As soon as I finish some of these tasks, I
will pass on my contact information to those of you who want it.
In addition to these errands I am working on the many tasks that I need
to complete before classes start. I am also preparing for
my classes by studying my Chinese textbook. Orientation,
registration and class will begin soon. I am glad that I
arrived early so that I could get over the jetlag, become familiar with
my surroundings and get many things done before classes start.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol in China
