I'm still alive, promise...

Hello friends and family (and non-friends too), I have made it to China.  I was worried I was going to be able to access my blog, because as we know, the Chinese hate any kind of individual expression, but I have leaped over that wall by purchasing a vpn.  Now all is well and I'm connected to the World Wide Web once more.

I promised someone very close that I would have a glass of champagne as soon as I got on the plane, but, seeing as I'm under age, and the flight attendant knew it, this was all I could pull off:

I know, it's a little bit sad.  But I promise to go for the champagne on the way back.

Classes haven't started yet, we've just had lots of orientation.  CET wants to make sure we don't get swallowed up by Beijing/The Government, which is very kind of them.

Some interesting things to get used to in Beijing:
No drinking the tap water.  Ever.  Unless you want to die.  Or be very very sick.
Can't flush TP down the toilet.  Sewage system here is not brilliant.
Walking in the middle of the road is fun.  And a little dangerous, but also widely done.
The pollution is not as noticeable as I thought it would be.  Everything's a little hazy, and the sunsets are very red:

And even during the middle of the day, it looks like sunset:

 But it doesn't hurt to breath, which is really nice.

Tonight (6/14), we went on an adventure with one of my American friend's Chinese roommate.  We wandered the district that all the Chinese college seem to populate.  We had Sichuan food, which is none for it's spice. And we had duck heads. Yes, duck heads.  I know you don't believe me. Here's the evidence:

It was interesting...pretty sure I ate a duck brain (shades of Indiana Jones), but we had it, and I regret nothing.

I have much to say about roommates, but I think I'll leave it for my next post.  They just arrived, so we haven't had a lot interaction yet.  I'll probably have more to say after another few days.

Signing off for now.