北京，第一个印象

Eleanor,

So while Blogspot is effectively blocked from my curious eyes, I've discovered that Blogger is still open for the erstwhile blogger. I don't know if that is the correct word usage, but I must admit, somewhat ashamedly, that I am a wee bit tipsy on Yanjing beer. I have, in fact, just come from an impromptu celebration of America's independence with my fellow American students, which consisted of nothing American, but rather cheap Chinese beer (roughly 30 cents for a bottle twice as large as is commonly found at home) and street-cooked kebobs--3 for 1 kuai (not even 20 cents... some kid ordered 300 for our celebration from a bewildered man selling them on the street, and proceeded to sit next to him and gather up every batch to distribute once it was cooked).

My dorm just got internet the other day, but it's been over a week that I've been in Beijing, and yet it really does feel like ages. I miss milk, and cold fruit, and cold water and ice and, well, my family. Beijing is all haze and smog; it lodges itself in my throat and all over me so that I breathe it in and step in it even in the clean dorm rooms (by the way, Peking University gives international students the best dorms; most Chinese have at least three other roommates in a tiny room; we have our own bathroom, and people come in to clean up after us while we're in class). There are people everywhere; often it seems like there's no room for anyone else--on trains, in cars; there are also no sidewalks. Bicycles and cars come from every direction--I fear getting used to it, for it will surely cost me when I return home ambivalent to traffic laws and honking vehicles. I feel ignored and stared at equally; people try to pretend I'm not there, or they openly stare. I've already had pictures taken of me and the people I've been with--when playing frisbee on a small lawn of Beida and when walking to the cafeteria the other day. I've never been a foreigner so blatantly, and felt it so strongly.

I guess I've seen a lot of the city, and at the same time absolutely nothing at all. I went to an acrobatic show last night to watch people distort themselves into odd shapes; I also went to a market and bargained for a tea cup with a green dragon painted on it. I still think every picture of an athlete is Yao Ming, and it takes me a few minutes to realize an error. I've been to McDonald's at least three times in one week already (it's because they have ice in their drinks and cold, delicious ice cream; that's all, I swear!), but I compensate by having pig's tongue and Peking roast duck on other days.

But at the moment I have a presentation in class tomorrow (yes, I do attend classes, really), and I have not finished my other homework as well.

When I finally find postcards, trust that your name shall be among the first, Ms. Cleveland. I trust your voyage through the Southern Country to be most enjoyable.

Alison