August 7

We've officially moved into the Ruyi business hotel here in Beijing. :D
Our parkas are flaked out in the closet, our handwashed clothing hang on the line in the bathroom, and the hum of the Chinese news goes on in the background as I think back on these past few days.

This morning we enjoyed our daily buffet breakfast in the hotel with three of our teammates (we have a total of eight on our team). We were encouraged to hear that even though it may be cold in Harbin during the winter, the heat inside is abundant. We heard we will be living in a foreigner's dorm on campus, 15 min. away from our classrooms.

We've had 2 full mornings of culture classes with about 50+ English teachers meeting in the hotel conference room. We've discussed and analyzed our own worldviews and how to live and be immersed in a new culture and way of thinking with the attitude of a learner. We ask ourselves, how can we be respectful to those around us as we learn to adjust to the new language, new way of doing things, unfamiliar sights, interactions, smells, and experiences? Our learning curve has been exponential because of our ability to communicate with the locals. This is a blessing!

After lunch with three of our families near the hotel, we enjoyed some ping pong (with our new paddles) in the fitness center in the hotel with a couple and their son. Afterwards, we continued our venture from yesterday to find a cell phone for both of us. The same lady we saw yesterday helped us in the electronic appliances shop and her salesperson friend seemed surprised that I couldn't read the Chinese, much less understand some of the lingo they used! HAHA. We thoroughly enjoyed bargaining down the price from 530 RMB to 450RMB and got a Nokia phone that has an English/Chinese dictionary on it.

So the day before yesterday, our first day out in Beijing, we were sent out to do the "Beijing Amazing Race." Our team consisted of another couple in our organization and two other Chinese students. We had an assignment to visit our assigned neighborhood, observe the traffic patterns, the fashion, and public social interaction, and other activities in an effort to gain the most points and win the prize of eating at a teahouse with our teacher. Guess what?! Our team won! Actually, there was a three way tie and the tiebreaker was that whichever team wrote down the most expensive tea was the winner. So we won with finding the most expensive tea to be 30,000 RMB for 500 grams!