Beijing Jiaotong!

So today Mark and I moved out of our hostel and into the university hotel at Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU). This campus is huge and there is a lot of green space, lakes, as well as pedestrian friendly roads (pictures soon). But what really caught me off guard is that there seems to be less use of English here than over where our hostel was (we moved from the NE side of Beijing to the NW side). For a university where we are told that many students know English I just figured I would hear it a bit more. Also, with as much Mandarin I have tried to learn, it is just not sinking in like I would want it to. I feel out of place and like a deer in headlights...even more than any other time I have been here. I really wish I knew this language more. It's not that I expect to hear English everywhere I go...it was just that we were told that a lot of people would speak English. I hope that once everyone else gets here, it will feel a bit better. The other weird part about this school is that it feels so far from the city. We luckily stumbled upon a small convenience store so I stocked up on some random snacks in case of hunger-related emergencies.

Tomorrow is the first day of the program through UC. We are going to the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. Hopefully it is less smoggy than when Mark and I went yesterday...none of the pictures I took then were worthy of posting. Then on Sunday we are going to the Great Wall. After that starts a busy week of lectures at BJTU and visits at various companies in the city.

Well, that seems like enough for now...

-G