First days in Beijing

Well, it’s hard to believe that I’m sitting in my bed, in the International Dorm at the Beijing University of Technology, in Beijing, China. Is this real? It is 3am Beijing time; I went to bed at 10:30pm and woke up just after 2am. Being unable to sleep and all alone in my room, I decided now might be a good time to document my journey.

Leaving yesterday, or at least yesterday to me, even though it’s currently Sunday here, was hard. I hate goodbyes, and I did cry, but not as much as I expected. While I was sad when saying goodbye to my friends, saying goodbye to my honey was the hardest in Portland Jetport. At that moment I was wishing I didn’t have to go, because being away for a long time really kills me. So I cried, and the people in the security line kept looking at me, so I decided to stop. It didn’t help that every time I looked back, Huy was still standing there watching me make my way through security. But I’m glad he was still there each time I looked back until I was past the checkpoint.

After that my mind went numb. All I was thinking about was what I need to do next. Being hungry I decided I needed some food to begin. There was a Starbucks next to my gate so I went up there to get some coffee cake. I’m pretty sure I went in the wrong side of the line judging by the way the guy who I guess what actually in front of me, was looking at me. Already making embarrassing mistakes in public and I wasn’t even out of Maine yet!

Another trouble about being your first time flying is you don’t know anything about where the bathroom is, and you feel kind of dumb to ask. My plan was to wait until I got on the plane and then I would find it in there. Only too bad for me because the flight ended up getting delayed a few times by ten minutes each time. It wasn’t long enough for me to run around for a bathroom, so I just stood at the gate impatiently waiting for our aircraft to arrive. Finally we boarded the plane, but of course I didn’t want to go before we took off, so I had to pee AND I was nervous since it was my first flight. When the plan started to move forward to get to its space on the runway my heart was pounding so hard. Also I was sitting next to a woman who I’m guessing was from New York and took flights often; she was sitting there reading her book while I was secretly freaking out in the seat next to her. I kept clam though, and when we took off, I actually LOVED it. Using the plane’s bathroom for the first time was a little bit weird for me, but other than that I enjoyed watching the map on my little screen and looking out the window way down at the New England coast. Landing was also very smooth, however, since we were delayed, I was one hour late getting to New York.

*Side note: you know you’re in China when there are fireworks being set off at 3am on a random day of the week, granted it is still technically Chinese New Year here.

So New York. I got there and hurried to get my bags out of the baggage claim. Then I had to find the air tram to get me out of terminal 5 and into terminal 1. I asked around and got there and on the tram. Then I made another stupid move. There announcer said to check to directory of airlines for your stop, so I was double checking it. I saw China Airlines was actually terminal 4. So I got off at the terminal 4 stop and then realized I was an idiot because my airline is Air China!!! So I jumped back on that thing and got to terminal one, then I was dragging my luggage up this long hallway that was uphill. Granted my luggage was all connected and could roll, I was still sweating like mad with my back on and a sweater and winter jacket. I must have looked crazy when I arrived at the ticket counter with sweat on my brow. There was no line at the counter and I thought it was odd. I got my ticket and then I needed to bring my luggage to the luggage men. I went over and the guy said something I didn’t understand, I thought he was telling me to do something with my bags. So I asked, “what?” and he said, “Why you so late for this flight!” Ahhhhh. It was 10 minutes to 3pm, and 3pm was boarding time and I still had to go through the security again. I told him about the delay and then ran away. I got to the security check in which looked a lot different than the one in Portland. There were 4 lines, long ones. I jumped in the first one, and within 15 minutes I made it through and was running for the gate. I was right in time for my turn to board, and boy that plan was BIG and CROWDED. And more than 50% of the people there were Chinese, so I felt like I was almost already in China. Because I got there so late I didn’t find Maeve so I ended up boarding in my seat and sitting with a Chinese boy who didn’t talk to me at all, which made a pretty awkward 13 hour flight. Since he didn’t greet me when I sat down in my seat (which I had window seats for both flights! :D ), I was too shy to say anything to him. Also I didn’t hear him speak any English and I was afraid to say anything in Chinese to him. It was just weird though, sitting next to a guy eating the meal and he doesn’t say one word. I had drank a lot of water too, and this became troublesome when he had fallen asleep, and the only way I could get out of my seat to go to the bathroom was if I wake him up and ask him to move. Finally I shook his should a little bit saying, “excuse me”. Nothing happened. I sat there for a minute or two, and then tried again with the same results. After the third time I was wondering that the heck I should do because I didn’t want to creepily get in his space and scare him awake, but I was bouncing around with a full bladder! I sat there contemplating my options and about 10 minutes later he just woke up on his own, phew! I said, “Can I get out?” and he moved and I went to the bathroom and then was stretching and walking around trying to find Maeve. I thought I saw Maeve but the lights were dim and she was sleeping so I could not really tell and I went and sat in my seat.

The night was rather confusing. It got dark around 7pm or so, and I was starting to feel sleepy around 10pm. I was dozing off a little bit but I also hard some leg cramps, which was awful, so I didn’t really sleep. Then all of the sudden just after 11, it got lighter and lighter, and the sky was pink way out yonder. It was very beautiful, and then when I looked at the ground I was stunned too. It was ice caps down there, something I never saw before. That was the time that we were projected as just above Canada, it was crazy! I’m a nature freak so I was staring at it for a long time. Then I was awake and disappointed because we still had nearly 5 more hours on the flight! >.< I just wanted to get the heck out of there. I listened to music and dozed a bit, but every time I opened my eyes to see the time, only 5 or 10 minutes had passed. Plus I was so uncomfortable there with no room and an awkward guy next to me on his iPad. I was excited at 2am when they came out with a meal and drinks again (the first meal was at 5pm and I was soooo hungry). Well, both meals were pretty weird. The first one was beef with peppers, rice that was dry as heck, green beans, yogurt, fruit salad (which was the highlight), and another salad thing that I had no idea what it was. For 2am meal I had pork and noodles. At least the noodles were not dry like the rice. Instead they were really thick and doughy, also not the best. But it was better than nothing; since I didn’t have any snacks with me because I thought you were not allowed to bring food there!! I felt so envious of the guy chowing down on bananas and apples in front of me when I was hungry as heck.

Soon we were in China 37,000 feet above going 596mph! That in itself was unreal to me. When we started to go down more I could see a lot of snow and then mountains that looked amazing, my first view of China. Then for the last hour of the flight I didn’t see anything, as you can imagine why. It was so “foggy” I couldn’t see the wing of the plane anymore. I was surprised the pilot could land that thing!!! But he did! When we got out of the plane we went downstairs and outside into the middle of nowhere. The air hit me so thick and I was coughing and my mask was somewhere in my bag. Maeve was really upset on arrival and I felt bad for her. We all piled onto this bus, no moving room, Chinese style! I found that people really do push to get through so I started to do the same. Maeve had said, “Wait our turn” and I said, “Our turn will never come!” as people continued to walk in front of us in one of the lines to get out of some place that I don’t know. We went into some line for foreigners, a first for me. Then we had to go to get our bags by riding a metro kind of thing to get there. We got our bags and then had to ask around to find the place where we were getting picked up. After running around more than one hour we made it out to the guy holding the sign for BJUT. We said hi and he said his name was Robby. He’s from Zambia here for his full degree in engineering. He was a nice guy, and we went to the parking area and a driver came out of the car and packed out stuff to the trunk. We drove almost 20 minutes from the airport to the dorm. My chest hurt a little bit from the air. I was sitting in the car and thinking, “hmm it smells like dirt or something in here…” Then I remembered it was the hazy air that tinted everything light brown color. And there was no snow anywhere!! It just did not seem real, zooming around the highway of Beijing. We got to the dorm and when we got in, Michelle was there waiting for me at the desk to come in! She was so sweet. She translated for me because the other woman only spoke Chinese, and I signed up for room 306, with a Korean roommate on the way! Maeve is across the hall in 305. I went and put my things and then changed my shirt because I wanted to look fresh since Michelle was taking to out to eat dinner with her two friends, Olivia and Angie. We walked down the street and turned to a BBQ place, and I was a little bit shocked. It was so dirty, and there were bones and cigarettes all over the floor! It’s not that I didn’t know about that, I had just forgotten, and it was a shock to see for the first time. Also there were signs saying no smoking but many people smoked anyway and I was coughing. I felt so tired I thought I was going to pass out on the table; at that point I was awake for 27 hours, but even longer because of the time difference. To me it was still Friday night but to the girls it was Saturday night. Even now I’m still confused. The girls were nice and they ordered many dishes. I ate some of it but honestly I was so tired I didn’t enjoy it all that much. Even the dumplings were not making me happy. I just needed to sleep (but I was also very hungry so I needed to eat too). After we ate, we went to a store called Dia so I could buy some shower supplies and hand soap. Another embarrassing moment occurred. When I left my room I only took 30RMB because I wasn’t thinking about the money, so when my bill in the store was 128RMB I was like, “uh-oh”. Angie lent me 100RMB so I was okay. Michelle said, “You only brought 5 dollars?” I said, “Yeah I guess I don’t know the money yet…” We went back to the dorm and I was going to try to use the internet in the computer room there to send an email, but too bad for me the internet wasn’t working, and mine cannot be in my room until I get my student card which I think is on Monday. I gave Michelle a note to email for me when she went back to her dorm. I hope she did it already. When she left I came to my room and unpacked a few things and turned on the tv. Some Chinese thing was on and I was sitting here so numb, like how the heck am I in China right now? I brushed my teeth at 10:10pm and was feeling dizzy because I was tired. I got into my hard and uncomfortable bed, and tried to sleep. No fan, traffic outside was annoying, and I was cold because I don’t have enough blankets. I slept and woke within an hour and put my sweater and jacket on the bed as a blanket. That was much better. I slept until after 2am but then I can’t sleep so here I am and it’s nearly 4am and I’m finishing this eating a Clif Bar (good thing I had it in my luggage!). I’m still tired so I will try to sleep again. I just have so many mixed feelings right now. I’m missing home already and in complete culture shock mode for sure. And not having internet for the first 2 days is not helping matters much. In my mind before sleeping I was wondering, why the heck did I even come here? It’s uncomfortable and scary and smoggy and I don’t know what the heck people are saying. I was getting pretty sad but I was too tired and numb to cry. I just lied in my bed and thought of home and tried to calm myself. It’s only for a little while, and this is only my first day, so I’m not surprised that I’m wishing I were not here. I just want my roommate to come so I don’t have to be alone in this room, which looks like a hotel room since it was a hotel once. I even have a bathroom in my room which is pretty cool, but the tub looks weird… My plans for today after I sleep and get up again will be to go with Angie and Olivia to the market to get a blanket, snacks for the room, and toilet paper (good thing I packed tissues!). Also I will look for a big towel. All they had in the store last night were face towels. I will spend the day trying to make the room look a little more like my own place and unpack. I really hope my roommate comes today!

Well that’s my adventure so far.

Just trying to make the most of my time here, even if it is scary at first. I just say to myself, 加油, and keep on fighting and being strong!

Missing everyone back home so much! <3

Monday February 18^th 2013 5:24am

Of course I’m awake at odd hours. Last night I was so tired I fell asleep at 9:30pm and I woke up at 4am this morning. I’m so bored right now because there is no internet and no one else is awake around here and I don’t understand anything on tv so it gives me a headache. Also I have not eaten much since I got here because my appetite has not been around, but I proudly ate a banana this morning which is a step in the right direction! Now I’m eating a granola bar that I bought yesterday at the market!

Yesterday was interesting. I woke up in the morning and cleaned myself up and was about to leave the room at 9:30am or so to go see Maeve, but I couldn’t open the door to my room. I was stuck inside my room and I didn’t know how to get out of there. I started to bang on the door calling Maeve since her room is across the hall but she didn’t come. Then I decided to call the front desk and try to explain what was wrong. In my horrible Chinese I said, “Hello this is Audrey, my door will not open, I am in my room”. Then I said something in English and the women responded in English saying they will send someone there. I was waiting and I heard someone was knocking on Maeve’s door, so I thought it was the repair people. I said, “hello??” and a woman said, “hello? This is Tina Wang, can I come in to talk?” I was so excited!!! Tina Wang is the lady in charge of the International students from the US. I told her I am stuck in there and I slide my room key card under the door and she opened it. She came inside and was going to try to fix the door. I was about to say maybe I should go outside before she shuts the door but it was too late. We were both locked in my room!! She said, “sit down” and then we were just talking a bit. She was so nice and helpful and I was happy she was speaking English because I don’t know if I could have had a productive conversation otherwise. She was asking me about Maeve who wants to go home. Then the repair man came and opened the door for us and they were trying to fix it. Tina went to talk to Maeve and I was just sitting watching 3 people attempt to fix the door handle which would not open from the inside. It was funny because they were speaking Chinese to me and I had no idea what was going on. Then I went to buy some water in the machine downstairs and I told the women and she smiled at me, probably because my Chinese is funny. I came back and was talking to Maeve because Tina had to go to work (on a Sunday!). Then the woman came and was telling me something in Chinese. I laughed because I didn’t know what she was saying. She was so cute though because she was smiling and talking and then she came closer to me when she spoke, like it would help me understand Chinese or something. I found that to be funny. Then she was pointing and doing hand motions, and I guess she was telling me I need to change rooms, because a few minutes later Robby helped me and they gave me the key card for room 308 (mine was 306 before). I moved my stuff there and then Robby offered to take Maeve and I out shopping because I needed to buy some things.  We went to a huge store called Carrefour. It was so big and had many things to buy there. It was like a million times better than Walmart and I loved it so much. I got a blanket that I love! And when we were going to get the blanket a woman was there to help. She was opening the blanket bag to let me touch it and decide what one I like the best, and I even spoke some Chinese to her!! :D So I bought many things there and I was just enjoying the whole experience there. After we took the bus back to the dorm and I put all my things away and was happy about the new blanket. I also unpacked all of my things into my new room and got comfortable there. Later I ate some instant noodles and then I became very tired so I fell asleep for a while. Then Angie called because she and Olivia were going to take me out because I still had more things to buy (crazy, I know). So first I went to get a sim card for my Chinese cell phone, so now I have a Chinese phone number. Then we went yet again to Carrefour!!!! I was happy. We took the bus there and back. I bought water and toilet paper and those kinds of things, and then I went back to my room, it was 8:30pm already. I was pretty tired and I ended up falling asleep with my clothes on and the light on. I woke up and changed and brushed my teeth and then I went back to sleep. 

More to come later!!!