Pilot

Let me start by saying hello to all my beautiful friends and family that are reading this! Tomorrow will mark one month since Daniel and I have arrived in China! I know I have been doing a dismal job of keeping everyone updated on my adventures, and for that I apologize. It's been a constant Go!Go!Go! since we got here, from training for the job to finding an apartment in Beijing (no easy task, mind you). But since this week is a major national holiday here in Beijing, I'm taking the opportunity to catch my breath and catch everyone up on what's been going on.

This was the view of China from the plane. Definitely a step up from the twelve hours we had just spent looking at clouds...

Our Arrival
Arriving in China was possibly the most confusing part of our experience so far, but our recruiter from Best Learning was there to pick us up (which we weren't expecting), so that was a really great surprise. We spent the next thirty minutes or so trying to get a taxi, and it didn't help that we had each brought huge suitcases. Eventually, we had to get two taxis to lug all of our stuff to the hotel that Best Learning provided for us. That taxi ride may have been the scariest ride of our lives. We weaved in and out of traffic just as every single other car on the highway weaved in and out of traffic. We somehow miraculously survived the ride, and spent the next three days adjusting to the fact that we knew absolutely no Chinese. 

Our first meals in Beijing! We thought there would be many English-speaking people in China...and there aren't. So we're limited on restaurants by whether or not they offer pictures in their menus. But the food has been delicious and pretty cheap.

Our (Lack of) Tourism
Aside from the three days we had before training started and the entire week we have now, we haven't had much time to really go out and explore China. The one thing we did see, however, was the Olympic Park. Our hotel was situated a mere two blocks from the park, so before our training started we headed over there to meander about. It is huge. It was really refreshing to see that much open space, especially since everything in Beijing is so compact and directed upwards.

Above is a great statue that we came across towards the north end of the park. How graceful do you have to be to run in a dress...and with fire? Awesome, ladies.

Look at how adorable Daniel looks posing by the Olympic torch (left). We also managed to find the  the Water Cube (right). Apparently they've turned it into a water park on the inside, but we haven't confirmed it for ourselves yet.

Of course after much difficulty (little bit of sarcasm), we were able to locate the Bird's Nest (left). We didn't go inside because we had a lot of ground to cover, but the outside was pretty extraordinary. To the right, Daniel is posing with the Olympic sign.



Though the tourism has been limited, we plan on making up for it during this holiday. We're just waiting on Daniel to feel a little better (he got sick for the second time since we arrived), but trips to the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City are on the agenda for this week! 

Our Brand New Jobs
Even though we did a lot of research on Best Learning before we left, we were still pretty nervous and uncertain as to what things would really be like once we got here. However, both Daniel and I have found that working for Best Learning is pretty awesome. They have done so much to help us get settled here in Beijing, and all of our coworkers are extremely nice and helpful. It also helps that the children we work with are adorable.  Daniel and I didn't get placed at the same center as we had hoped, but our centers are not too far from each other, and we were able to find an apartment right in between the two. We will begin working with our year-long classes soon, and as far as I know, I will pick up a Mommy and Me (they are so cute and tiny) and a PreK class at my center. Daniel will be taking on K level and G level classes. We are so excited to start!

Our New Home
Finding a home in Beijing was no easy matter. The first day we went apartment hunting was an exhausting, fruitless search. That was the day that we went with a popular housing agency in Beijing, and I would really recommend against doing that. The second day, we were able to get in contact with Samvia, an agent who works specifically with foreign teachers. She was able to find us an apartment that we liked (and in the area that we requested) that very day! She also helped us with basically everything we had to do once we were in our apartment (things like setting up internet, registering with the local police, etc). She is an absolute gem and I'm so thankful that we found her. Because of her, Daniel and I were able to find our first little home :) We're still working on making it feel more homey, but the picture on the left is the view from our indoor balcony. On a really clear day, we can see the mountains from our kitchen window!

Of course we can't forget about our new, bigger home: Beijing. Oh, Beijing. A city swarming with blaring horns, thick crowds, and neon signs. Even though the roads here are uneven, the pollution is pretty bad and the people spit a lot, we still love the delicious food. We love the fifty-cent-beers. We love the giant, hectic malls where everyone bargains in loud tones. We love the little farmer's market that is set up every single day in front of our apartment building. But most of all, we love that we were brave enough to take on this great adventure to start building our life together and we thank all the people who support us.

Those are all the updates I have for now, but I will be sure to post more soon!