Well...I have now been in China for 7 days and I felt it was time to write down some of the random stuff that has happened (Michelle is on the phone, so I have some time).

Day 1 (Saturday):
We arrived in Beijing at around 3:00 in the afternoon and picked up our baggage / got through customs with very few problems. We walked out into the open area of the aiport and found several hundred people waiting to pick up people, where we wandered around until we found someone holding up our names. We then took a 3 and a half hour car ride to Chengde (so we arrived at roughly 7:00ish). We were shown to our apartments...which definitely do not rock...and then escorted to a chinese restaurant for dinner. I would like to dispel any myths that the Chinese have smaller meals or that they eat only healthy food, over the course of these seven days I have seen someone as small as Ms. Pifer consume more food than Michelle and I at once...interesting. After this large, large meal of eggplant and two types of dumplings, chicken soup, a beef dish and another chicken dish we were taken back to our apartments for the evening. I will eventually post pictures, but let me describe some of the major oddities of my apartment:
1. there is more nasty-dirt like substance in my apartment than in all of New York City
2. The bathroom is as large as a water closet, with a toilet at the back, a sink in the front, and the shower head over the toilet (yes, over the toilet).
3. My kitchen is littered with dirty dishes and my washer is sitting in the middle of my kitchen.
4. I have a living room (where my fridge is located) that has sofas as hard as a brick
5. My bed is like sleeping on the ground
6. My internet does not work (I am currently still using Michelle's computer)
7. and My toilet does not work...
All in all I figured it could have been worse...I could live in the ghetto...oh wait...I do

Day 2 (Sunday):
Our representative from the school picked Michelle and I up at around 9 in the morning and took us to the local police station. We filled out a sheet of paper and we still do not know why we were there... After that our rep took us to a supermarket and said "have a good day, I am going to work now" and that was the last we saw of her that day! We were left to fend for ourselves in a Chinese supermarket with very little Chinese speaking skills and no idea what all we needed (much less how we get back to our apartment...which we don't know the addres of [sigh]). We walked around the market for about 2-3 hours and had a hell of time trying to buy sheets for beds (the Chinese workers tried to help us several times). In China there are approximately 7 billion people that work in each store (this is an exaggeration FYI) and there are 3 workers in every single aisle just waiting to pick up things and try to sell them to you...in Chinese. Once we made our way back to our apartment we cleaned for a while and then went to KFC for some comfort food. We then watched a movie and went to bed.

Day 3 (Monday):
This day was fairly normal-ish...we bought some popcorn chicken and france bread (yes, france, not french, bread) and made that for dinner in the microwave (because we still do not know how to use our stove...) We also watched a few more movies, but were told that we needed to go to the medical college (which is a 30 minute bus drive from where we live) by ourselves on the bus...ummm...ok. We were very hesitant about the next morning, but knew we had to find a bus stop and ride the blue number ten bus...whatever that means...

Day 4 (Tuesday):
We got together at about 8ish to go to the bus station, to find the number ten bus. We actually found it really easily and made it to the college with absolutely zero troubles (for those of you who know my navigational skills, this should be very impressive). We met with our Weiban (international office) and signed our contracts...why we had to go all the way out there to imply sign a paper...whatever. We were also told that we may leave for Shijiazhong (the capital of our province) in the evening. It is a ten and a half hour train ride, but we need to go to the hospital there to have a physical examination, again why we have to travel to a different hospital when we work in a medical school for a physical examination is beyond me, but such is life. We did a little more shopping and then waited around for a phone call about whether or not we were going to the shiz tonight. Well, we got the call and we were going to the shiz...woo! We left our apartment at 8:00PM to go to the train station with Maggie (our international rep). At first we did not have tickets and were turned away because we were foreigners...hahaha...how funny. Then Maggie used her Guanxi (which means connections) to talk to the train director. He took us through the back ddor of the station and we got on the train where we purchased tickets on the train...very sketchy... That night we slept on the train, until we got to the shiz the next morning.

Day 5 (Wednesday):
This was our day in Shijiazhong, it started by us going to the hospital and going through a physical examination, which works somewhat like an assembly line. We started with a blood draw, then moved to the next room for a urine sample, then to the next room for our weight, height, and BP, then to another room for an eye exam...etc. for about an hour. The woman who took my weight told me I could stand to lose a few pounds...who's surprised? I also experienced my first ever ultrasound, from a woman who could not speak to me because she did not speak English...interesting. After this we walked around for a while because our train did not leave for Chengde until 7:00PM. We checked into Maggie's hotel and ate at the restaurant there (which was excellent food, and we tried the special Chengde almond drink). Maggie then left with a friend for the afternoon while Michelle and I chilled in her room and used her really nice bathroom...it was the best moment ever! At 2:30 we met and went to a shopping center where I purchased a watch for $3 and Michelle bought a curling iron for $1.50...wow, China is cheap. We also purchased 6 DVDs for about 6 US dollars including: Pirates 3, the new Fantastic Four movie, the Bourne Ultimatum, Transformers, Oceans 13, and 300. A homeless man then followed me for about two blocks, which made our international rep laugh until she cried and then Michelle knocked over a street vendor's sign and said "bu keqi"...which means you're welcome in Chinese...haha...what a day. At 7PM we got back on the train (where Maggie left us) and preceded to ride the ten hour train ride back to Chengde by ourselves. During this time several people tried to talk to us in Chinese but we simply shrugged and said "nope"....then it was off to sleep.

I will tell you more later, for now I must call my parents!