Ni hao, Beijing. I’m here.
The flight was fantastic. Business class with a lay flat seat. Flat screen tv with movies and games. Met a wonderful person named Ralph on the plane and talked about China, the U.S., and wine as we are both wine enthusiasts.
Just arrived at the Beijing Airport!
This is a picture of my brother’s wife, Shan Shan, and me right after she met me at the gate. She’s been helping me to become settled and it is going well. At this point, I’ve been up for about 20 hours, with only a 30 minute catnap, and am actually feeling pretty spry.
The weather is overcast, somewhat muggy, but cooler than usual. My brother’s apartment is very nice and I have a room to myself until I find my own apartment in a few weeks. It is wonderful to come to a foreign country and have family already present and there to support me. Make this transition so much easier. And this will be a major transition. I am leaving behind a lot of family, many friends, my communities and my culture. I’m looking forward to this experience and seeing how it makes me question my own beliefs and thoughts and how it will help expand my way of thinking. I enjoyed living in Australia and Japan and definitely feel living overseas allows me to be much more open-minded and malleable to conditions that I would not have to deal with if I only lived in America. Lots to learn in a very short time since I start work on Friday, which means I only have Thursday to relax, get rested, and unpack.
Hui liao!