Exercise

I forgot to mention that today I decided to climb all 323 steps, that's 19 floors up to my apartment to get a little more exercise...as if I wasn't getting enough walking all over this city every day. Phew, but I was tired when I got up to my apartment, only to realize that I had left my key inside and had to go back down to find someone that had a key. Bu hao. But here's a fact that's hard to wrap your mind around. This city is one of the largest in the world: It would take you 8 hours of driving to get from end to end of it! Get a load of that!

All By Myself

Today I feel like we did quite a lot. I woke up bright and early at 6 AM again and aspired to do my laundry with a machine where the directions are all characters. It took me the better part of an hour to figure it out, due to the fact that you must turn the water on yourself. (Not everything is automatic like we're used to from fancy appliances back in the states!) After I finished that, I went to the store called Almost Home to buy cheese and biscuit mix with David and Spencer. I also went to an open food market, which had things I've never laid eyes on before, most of which I couldn't even begin to describe or explain. I had a BLT with cheese for lunch with Anna at the coffee shop. Afterwards I went with David, Kelly, and Matt to the junk market to buy furniture. Beth and I needed a coffee table for our apartment and we got one for about 7.50 USD that would go for at least 50 USD in the states. This afternoon I decided to venture out on my own to get accustomed to our area. I shopped at the Beijing Market among several other stores and bought some new things to try. Future Cola, which was on my list to taste, is just like Coca-Cola, actually I can't tell the difference at all. I also got Pink Grapefruit flavored Mentos....mmm, I really like them! To top it all off I bought some kind of fruit that looked like a large lime on the outside, but they are orange on the inside and look like a tangerine. The taste was like a citrus mix of tangerine, lemon, and lime...so Beth and I decided to call it a Lemerime. Creative, we know. We had an American dinner tonight of broccoli, chicken, and cheese cassarole over rice with beer bread, salad, and a dessert we belovedly call Afternoon Delight (originally called Digestive Surprise due to the name of the cookies used in the recipe "Digestive Biscuits," like some sort of health cookie). We played a game called Dutch Blitz that Anna and I tied for the win with Dave and Spencer. Anyhow, that's the day. I've learned a bunch of new phrases that I'm working on saying. My posts will cease until next week due to a short break from our city to visit another in our region for a few days. I will update when I return though. Until then, Zai Jian (See you later)!

I've Found Athens in CQ!

Yesterday (Friday) after I posted my last update, I was told not to take a nap since it is easier to adjust to the time change if you stay awake the whole day and go to sleep normally at night. So, to wake myself up, I headed to the coffee shop called Harn Shen at the bottom of our building. There I've found the 99.9% equivalent to a Jittery Joe's Frosty Joe. Here it is a cappuccino smoothie, and was very good at waking me back up. Mmm, so good! They play American music there as well, but it's all like 80's (which I love). I heard U2 and Poison while I was there. :) Even better, when I was walking home from the bank, I heard "She's A Maniac" on some speakers going up the steps to our complex! I spent the afternoon at Anna's apartment, helping her move in some, and then we went around the corner to a hair salon that used to be called Famous Person Composite, but they've changed the name to something different now. Anyhow, you pay fifteen quai for a fourty five minute hair wash, blowdry and massage (this is about equal to $1.90). It was awesome! Last night we went to dinner at McDonald's. In the states, I would never go there, but here, it's different, definitely better, especially when you need some american food. At this point I can order rice for myself, which is a step closer to killing the communication barrier for me. I am excited to start classes soon because I wish so much that I could even carry on a short conversation with the people here. It definitely makes me rely on the Ref to keep me trusting. My team and I played Rook together last night until I almost fell asleep. So today we're headed to the junk market for furniture and who knows what else. I'll let you know as soon as it happens!

Don't Trust the Trust Mart

This morning Emily came to take Beth, David, and I to the Trust Mart. Apparently this place has a history of making people cry, although I made it through relatively easy. I've seen so many new things, it's hard to take everything in so quickly. The Trust Mart is probably what I would equate to a Wal-Mart back at home. They have everything there...an even then some that you'd never think of. I got some wire hangers there even (If you've seen Mommy Dearest this might make you smile!). Yesterday we got our cell phones for here and we got money from the bank to start paying our bills and groceries and stuff. Contrary to what I had heard, most people don't know a word of English, so it makes it scary to venture out on your own, though I went today to the bank across the street alone. It wasn't so bad except I forgot to hit the English button on the ATM and had to guess at what I was doing...it worked out, at least I think! Last night we all went to get supper together, and on the way we walked down a street we call Castle Street, but they're tearing it up and so it literally looks like a bomb went off there. We make up names for places since we can't say the real thing, so we've eaten at restaurants we call the Colorful Seat and The White Tablecloth. Next to our complex they have a plaza area (Guang Chang) where at night people gather to dance. Some dance in couples, but others do a sort of line dance thing. It's so cute because the music is like 1920's sounding and the people get so into it, but they keep the straightest faces. This one guy we call White Shoes shows up every night and he is always way off from the others. It's definitely going to take some getting used to here, but I have a feeling I'm really going to like it, although I've got to do something about my bed...it's like laying on boxsprings without the spring. I may as well be sleeping on the floor, but we're working on finding some foam to put on it to soften it up. Just a reminder to everyone, it's ok to post comments on this to me, but please be careful what you say. Email me if you want to speak more freely! Thanks friends. Well I'm tuckered out, it's weird cause you don't do that much (I've only been to the Trust Mart, the bank, and lunch) but just that much is exhausting. It's a little rainy today so maybe we'll pull out a DVD. All of you are probably snuggled up in bed right now, so as my friday ends, yours will only just begin. I look forward to hearing what's happening back in the States ya'll! You can look at other pictures from Colorado at http://community.webshots.com/user/kmfrancis

Awake Hours Upon Hours: Day One

The plane ride, or should I say rides, was in a word, exhausting. I think we've been awake literally for three days, with very short lapses of shut-eye between. I probably slept the longest on the flight from Chicago to Beijing. That was helpful, but I most definitely woke up here in my new apartment at 6 AM this morning, finally rested. We got here and have already experienced what my friends call a "squatty." I think you can figure out what they are if you haven't heard of them before, but let's just leave it at the fact that it will remind of you camping, but worse. It is incredibly smoggy here. The air is like a white haze, to say the least. Very funny thing, our apartment has these awful bluish lights in the hallway (apparently, ugly colored lights are the bomb here, at right). We have a pretty good view of some courtyard type area below as well. The taxi drivers are insane here...it takes an intense amount of skill to drive as bad as they do, and I'm not even kidding about that. One of the guys told me that it's like this: In the States everyone assumes that everyone else will follow the rules of the road...but here, everyone assumes that everyone else will not, so therefore the driving is very strategic and aggressive. We passed our university last night on the way here, but I didn't really get a view of it. Guess that's to come. For now, we're working on adjusting to the time change and settling in to our new home. Bonus: I have a big black exercise ball in my room! These bottom pics are the view from my window. P.S. That's not a swimming pool, just a fountain.

Keystone, Colorado: My Adventure Before

Hey, Hey. I just spent the last week in Keystone, enjoying a whole lotta fresh air and a little bit of hiking and enjoying Creation. Meetings galore, but it was good prep time for this crazy new stage of life. I know you want to see pictures, especially of the cute little marmots that run around the mountainside (they kind of look like overgrown groundhogs). We experienced some awesome rainbows over the purple peaks too! The Snake River ran behind the cabin we stayed in, which reminded me alot of the Firehole River that ran behind our dorm, Columbine, at YNP. So now I've seen the Snake in three states! Speaking of snakes, I went hiking with my roommate Beth, and a friend from UGA, Lauren. We decided to try to be bold and do a little trailblazing on our own, proclaiming that the boys were wimps for wanting to find an actual trail. Our audacity and courage died within about 5 steps onto the hillside because we saw a large snake and quickly decided maybe a real trail wouldn't be so wimpy afterall. Next post: THE PLANE RIDE!

The World's Largest Ball of Emotions

The night before I leave...CAN'T SLEEP! Man, I could run a marathon (or maybe half) my adrenaline is pumping so hard. I mean, I'm trottin in place, trottin in place <--Shrek 2. Not at all ready for this, but couldn't be more ready at the same time. It seems so surreal to not be here in Georgia any longer. I've managed to hold back the tears for the most part, but I'd be lying if I said the water runs dry. Goodbyes are tough, but life is full of em, so let's get the show on the road! Excitement, sadness, anticipation, nervousness, uncertainty, absoluteness, peace, assurance, all wrapped up and stuffed down my throat. Now the goal is to swallow. There's always a catch. Thanks to my amazing friend A.B. I'm decked out with not one, not two, but yes, my friends, all three seasons of 24! If you haven't jumped on this boat, you better swim hard to catch up, cause it's true, the show is glorifying to the Coach! For those of you that don't watch TV, don't worry, there's hope (I didn't either until I began watching this, well, and ALIAS too)!!! YAY! I think if I was going to have a bike in East Asia I'd put a sign on it that says in the "other language" something like "Honk if you love Jack Bauer!" Anyways, I'm carried away because my eyes won't stay shut. Big Ni Hao's (Hellos) when I get there, but first a week in Colorado to work on my skills...numbchuck and such. Updates of this to come...

Less Than A Week...So Much Room To Spare

Well, the packing thing wasn't as big a concern as I thought it would be. Turns out, you really don't need much and I've still got room for a fatted calf left in one of my bags. My apartment is on the 19th floor of our building. With 32 million people in a city, I guess they gotta build up instead of out. But if you don't hear from me for awhile, my roommate, Beth, will help out with my postings because I'll probably be passed out in the stairwell somewhere around the 14th floor. Ok, not really, they do have elevators there. It's not like I'm going to Africa or anything. But speaking of Africa...that might be the next destination on the radar. We'll see. I still have a whole year of learning dragon fighting and bamboo pole climbing before I start thinking about where I'm headed next. I told my mom when I was about 4 that I wanted to take karate, so now might be a good time for that. Watch out! Black-belt comin' at ya! Alright, well, back to prepping for the big adventure. Bring on the fireworks.