My first thoughts, my first blog, my first day…
When you find yourself anticipating any future endeavor, a myriad of thoughts cross your mind. Especially if traveling to China for the first time, you consider the “5,000 years of history” that our language professors have nonchalantly explained as reasoning for all the idiosyncratic grammar rules of the rich language of Mandarin. Even the “simplified” version of learning traditional characters is still much of an arduous task. Each word, if you will, necessitates a grasp of intonations, categorical measure words, and a expansive imagination of the many uses one word can have.
But as you let your imagination explore the many aspects of China’s history and its most recent explosion of development, one gets lost in the enigma–Can there be a description that adequately labels China?–at least there is none that I can say after a few brief hours of introduction to Beijing.
However, I was a amazed by the seamless process of entering the airport, customs, and exiting with our driver that was prepared to take us to our international dorm. Six lane highways turned into ten, and the traffic moved with just as much ease you would assume in any city approaching rush hour. The streets were clean, the pavement was perfect, and the driver was happy to converse, mostly with Andrew, our language guru. The only oddity I noticed was a yellowish haze that stood in front of us, blocking any potential views of skyline of which I’m too unfamiliar with to say more…
After a few miles traveling from the airport to the international student dorm, my hunger for interaction and my epicuriousity led us to a local restaurant where I dined with Brendan and Andrew, who helped guide our path to becoming “Bao” (stuffed!). Initially, I can’t say the food was as impressive as the neon lighting that surrounded the entrance, but the selection should provide ample opportunities to future delight in Chinese cuisine.
As I awake in the early hours of dawn induced by a 13 hour time difference, I’m entranced by a sheet of white snow covering the flat roofs of the multi-storied buildings adjacent to our dorm. A stark sky begins to envelop the morning, but nothing can predict your first day…let alone in Beijing.
Bradley
January 5, 2007 at 1:08 am
Brad, you write beautifully and give the sense of wonder we all have in a new world– be it the dusty, goat strewn highways of the sahel or the dirty back streets of Madrid. I’m so glad you are in China! Enjoy it my friend. Happy New Year!