Return of the Sprit!

was the name of the Chinese Acrobat show I saw tonight. They were aiming for "Spirit." It reminded me of the Cirque, but lower budget, with a super-awesome synthesized soundtrack. The Senior Citizens group in front of us were fighting over a flask and started to leave 20 minutes before the show was over. And by "started to leave," I mean they stood up in front of us, looked around, and talked to each other at full volume. No actual leaving took place until the show was over.

blabla, look what I can do, watch me throw this girl in the air, who cares...


omg 12 people on a bike!

Seriously, twelve people on a bike, how is that even possible? Ok they're Chinese girls, so that's like, 6 life-sized people, but you've still got all those arms and legs to deal with.

and so it begins...

Well, my journey began with some drama (surprise). Upon check-in, I was asked for my return ticket, which I haven't purchased yet. Even if I had, it wouldn't do me much good, except to prove that I plan on being a wetback in China as of next week. Anyway, so I told the chick at the counter that I hadn't bought a return ticket.
"Well you can't get in if you don't have a way out."
"I just haven't bought it yet. I didn't know..."
"Look, you can't get onto your flight to Beijing without a return ticket. They're afraid foreigners will sneak into China on a traveler's visa, find a job, and then get a working visa after the fact, which is totally illegal." (shocking.)
"So what do I do?"
"You have to buy a return ticket from Air China during your layover. You can't do it here because there aren't any Air China representatives."
Panic started to set in.

Fortunately my mom was there to keep me from hyperventilating. She tried to calm me down, but I remained doubtful. I was never getting to China!

Eventually she cheered me up and we had a photo shoot before bidding adieu.

The last one's my favorite, and the hands, btw, are to nonchalantly cover up our double chins.

... so long story short, after flight #1, I hobbled around with 40 pounds of carry-on luggage looking for Air China to buy a refundable ticket, eventually purchased one for $2200 from Delta, which will hopefully actually be refundable. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

On a side note, props to the woman at the counter who clued me in on the sitch and didn't charge me for my overweight bag. Woo!

The flight was relatively painless (there was an upstairs on my plane!). My aunt and uncle are living in Beijing, so they met me at the airport and took me back to their place, where I'm staying this week. Also, I opted for the baggage delivery service, which I highly recommend. slash my luggage was lost but fortunately showed up at our place the next night.

Beijing seems pretty cool so far, although I haven't seen much of it. Everyone is wrapping up Chinese New Year celebrations, and people are setting off fireworks left and right. Like, real-sized fireworks in the middle of random parking lots, including the one next to my aunt and uncle's building. The fireworks were seriously right outside the window. Fortunately, none of us blew up, so that's good.

ps. saw my first uncovered manhole today!

FAQ

A lot of people have been asking me the same questions about my current agenda. Hopefully this will straighten out some confusion.

You're moving to China?!? Why?
Big thangs goin down in China these days, so having this under my belt should help my career as an international woman of mystery. Also, I need a little adventure in my life.

What will you do there?
I'll be working for my US university, which has recently made some deals with schools in China and expects to see some growth in our interests here. They needed a man on the ground, and I was looking for a job, so here I am. The day-to-day activities, I'll determine as they come along.
I'll also be teaching English to Chinese students at a university here.

You don't speak Chinese, do you? How will you teach?
My Chinese is pretty much nonexistent, but trust me, the whole teacher/student little-common-language thing is nothing new. Hopefully I'll pick up some Chinese as I go along.

How long will you be gone?
2 years, I think...? We'll see.

Where are you, exactly? What's the weather like? What time is it there?
I'm currently based in Jinan, Shandong. It's pretty temperate, cold in the winter, hot in the summer. I'm 12 hours ahead of EST, so I'm basically from the future.

When can I come visit?
Tomorrow works for me.

WOW! I love your blog!
Thanks! I can't take credit for it all, though. Someone... whose name escapes me... came up with the title, and my sister designed the layout. She's awesome. Her blog is here.