JD in China - first full day (well, not even a full day yet)

So far, so good. Who knew a 13 hour flight could be so agreeable, and I didn't even imbibe in a single sip of alcohol to make it more entertaining or palatable. China Air's performance and customer service was in-line with expectations. I hoped an affordable price for an airline ticket would render mediocre, but not disgusting accomodations and service and it did.

Capital Airport (PEK) was absolutely immaculate. I was expecting it to be slightly chaotic, but it really wasn't. I checked a single bag, and that bag made it to Baggage Claim. Sweet. Found an ATM and took out money without it eating my card or any other issues. Sweet. Waited in line for only approx 90 seconds for a taxi. Another victory for me. Showed the cabbie the address of the campus hotel I am staying at, he seemed to know where it was, tossed my bag in the trunk, and we were off. Once all the doors were sealed the aroma of Jameson's Irish Whiskey dominated the air. UH OH. Drunk cabbie? That wouldn't be cool. It really did uncannily stink like whiskey in his car though and I was nervous for a few moments... but I monitored his driving for the first few miles and he wasn't swerving or anything so I figured what the hell.

We did have to stop 2x and ask for directions, or rather Whiskey Wang asked for directions and I waited in the back of the cab hoping I wasn't getting screwed. Alas, he was a sound businessman as the fare was 12 CNY (or about USD $1.72) more than the guidebook said it would be so I know I didn't get taken for a ride (pun intended, JD's first joke from Asia... right in everyone's face (or perhaps no one's face depending on readership of this blog)).

Check into the hotel @ sometime between 8pm-9pm I would guess. I am given room 212, and I think how appropriate that the guy from 212 on the isle of Manhattan gets room 212. An omen? Sheer coincidence? Who cares, it was just the first thing that popped into my head. I walk up to 212, and I hear someone inside. Ah, probably the maid right? WRONG! It was Daichi (sp?) one of two Japanese roomies I have who don't speak a lick of English. Classic. So we have a 3 bedroom suite (the term suite is uber-generous, but I'm a generous guy). The bedrooms are tiny. I will upload some pics of my current accomodations after I actually take some pics, but envision a 10x12 room with a desk, twin bed, a pair of shelves and a decent sized closet. I think it's only costing me around USD $12/night, so I guess I'm cool with it for the time being. And hey, maybe I will know some Japanese at the conclusion of my travels with the help of Daichi and the other guy who's name I already forget.

I was up and showered by 7am this morning (thanks Daichi or other guy for letting me use your body wash unbeknownst to you... sneaky American). Next order of business - - call Verizon to see if they can help me adjust my phone's settings so that I could make international calls. Took care of that in a matter of minutes and I was off on a 2.5 hour self-guided tour of campus. The campus is about the same size of Villanova's. I think I covered about 90% of it, dipping into various nooks and crannies. It is a pretty campus. They have done their best to incorporate many gardens and lakes within the campus's walls that sharply contrast the urban exterior surroundings of the campus which slightly remind me of a mix between a commecial center in what would be a hybrid SF-NYC.

NOTE: To this point I still have not seen a single other caucasian person or heard anyone speaking English.

So I wrap up my 2.5 hour walkabout and and I see a young American looking guy in the business center of my campus hotel. Low and behold it is Deke from the University of Nebraska. Deke's a 22 year old that didn't feel like leaving school quite yet, so he signed up for a year of classes over here in Beijing. We shot the breeze for a few minutes, he answered some of questions I had. Deke is the one that pointed me in the direction of this Starbucks that I am currently typing my inaugural blog post in because I needed to find a place where I could access a wireless network. How lame is it that on the campus of the "Harvard of China" that I can't get online wirelessly without some special password and being subject to internet censorship.

So I guess for now Starbucks will be my blogging locale of choice. I am not sure how often I will post new entries, but at least I got 1 up there. I think my goal will be 1 posting per week with links to public photo galleries on either Flickr (yahoo's photo site) or Picasa (google's photo site).


I snapped a few pics this morning of the campus. See them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334/BeijingMay9102008
-jd

P.S. I have a "to do" list with 2 items on it today. 1) wait for my buddy Jonathan from Fordham to get here today and track him down, and 2) buy a towel so that I don't have to use my laundry bag to dry my sexy bod off as I did this morning after my shower. Classy.

P.P.S. Please keep all comments appropriate as there are family, old friends, new friends, ex-colleagues, etc that will be reading this blog. Thanks in advance.