First Impressions

Yesterday was a long day.

Janet and I made it safely into China and are now in Tianjin.

Our plane, a 777, was fairly nice, but I was only about to get about 3-4 hours of sleep during our 13.5 hour flight. Needless to say, we were both very tired once we finally arrived at Beijing. As our plane was descending on the city, I was wondering when we'd break through the clouds so we could see the city. After we landed, we discovered it was just a smoggy, gray day in Beijing. The one nice thing, was not having to change my watch, since it is a 12-hour time difference (we are 12 hours ahead of EST).

After getting our bags and finally getting onto our pass, we had a nearly 3 hour drive from the airport to Tianjin, despite the fact that the cities are only about 85 miles apart. The traffic was terrible, the skies bleak, and the cars do not brake for pedestrians or bikers. In all honesty, it was pretty miserable.

Last night we checked into our dorms. I'm temporarily in a somewhat removed and older dorm into the regular students finish classes next week and me and a few others can join the rest of our program in the regular dorms). After eating, I went to bed to pass out.

This morning, after finally being able to sleep, I feel much better. The skies outside are blue and I am feeling a bit better about being here for the next year. I think over the coming couple of weeks we will get adjusted and begin to enjoy our stay as we get to visit the tourist spots and start to learn a bit more of the language.

No doubt there will be many challenges ahead, but I am already feeling more optimistic and looking forward to getting into the swing of things.