From the Beijing cabby file:

"So what do Americans eat besides steak, bread and milk?"

"Um, lots of things..." *Chapter 14 of first year Chinese flashes before my eyes*

"What, like McDonald's and KFC?"

I made my way down to Tianjin yesterday to see Mandi, who has a (really nice!) apartment in the dead center of town near the Hai River. I get in the cab in Beijing thinking, "Hey, I took this train before, I know what I'm doing...'To Beijing Station, sir!'" But lo and behold, they have a new train between Tianjin and Beijing that runs at 340 km/h and gets you there in 30 minutes of ride time for an eight dollar ticket. The same cab driver who was confused about American eating habits helpfully informed me that I actually wanted to go to the *new* train station, which was built since I was here in 2006. This runs to the still under construction new station in Tianjin, of course. I can't say I envy the young female employees assigned to attempt to herd the Chinese into lines, though. 

This morning Mandi and I hit the local grocery store. Blueberry potato chips. Delicious. 

Thanks for all of your comments so far!

Hello all.  I safely arrived in China last night and spent today moving into the foreign student dorm at Qinghua.  It's a decent enough facility and I'm glad to be on campus.  Unfortunately, I get the feeling that I'm living in the North Campus (UM) of Qinghua - unattractive modern architecture, far away and lots of foreign students.  That's ok though.  Parts of this university are really beautiful, with a canal cutting through it that allows for some lovely bridges, overhanging trees etc. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance to get my camera out. 

I did buy a cell phone today, so if you absolutely must reach me you can do so at (86) (151)  0160-5044.  The commercial area just outside of Qinghua (basically Wudaokou) has a nice mix of stuff.  I had lunch at a bakery...some sort of bruschetta sandwich that has yet to be invented in the US I think.  Delicious after the airplane food.  

We drove through the Olympic park on my way to the university with everything lit up. Even more stunning than on TV - I look forward to getting over there as well.  Beijing has been very un-Beijing like so far with pouring rain, fewer cars (though still plenty) and cleanish air, though I'm no atmospheric scientist.    

I'm waiting next to the elevator in my hotel this morning with this Chinese guy and his son who looks about 12, pondering the fact that I have no idea how to say "check out," what to do to get a cab on this back alley or where I'm going on the Qinghua campus.  "You study English - ask him something," says the Dad.  "I'm not prepared," responds his son.  Yeah kid, me either.

Hello dear friends and family. This journal will be my main way of posting updates on my time at Qinghua University to the outside world, and I hope some of you enjoy reading it. I'll try to offer things of more interest than my daily activities, though I'll probably talk some about that as well. I don't expect to update much more than once a week. My ego isn't yet so big as to expect your constant readership, but drop me a note once in awhile if only to help me keep up on my English :)

To be brief, I leave Tuesday at 3pm and am all set to move into the Qinghua foreign student dorm the day after I arrive. I'm excited to finally get going and to spend some real time in this place that I've studied for so long. Thanks to everyone that I've seen over the last few days for dinner, basketball, video games, general hanging out and every other form of farewell amusement. I'll look forward to seeing you all next summer.