I made it to China and lucky to Tsinghua University without knowing how to speak any Chinese. The plane ride was pretty good. Although, I am glad that I haven't seen many movies in the past couple of months. On the flight from San Francisco to Beijing I watched Bride Wars, Grand Torino, Frost/Nixon and another movie that I do not know the name of.
Upon arrival in Beijing, it was not difficult to go through customs, get my bag and find a Taxi. I had a map of Tsinghua and luckily the driver took me to the right place. From there I checked in. I ran into a girl from North Caroline who pointed me in the direction of a shopping center. I took the 15 minute walk to the Lotus Center and bought a towel and some water. Although, it was not quite as easy as it sounds. I as yelled at in Chinese by three people because a plastic bag costs half an RMB, which isn't even a penny USD. I did not understand and finally after minutes another customer came over and translated what they were telling me.
I made it back to the dormitory, which is very similar to the one I lived in freshman year in Earhart. The bed is another story though. I have been adjusting to the wooden mattress. It is a normal bed with a 1 inch think padding over it and then a comforter. Another interesting thing is the bathroom. Here they do not think that a regular toilet is very sanitary, so the bathroom has a hole in the floor and you squat. You also need to take toilet paper with you when you go to the bathroom because there is not any in there (we haven't figured out the reasoning for this).
That's all for my first evening!
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