Ni hao Beijing!

So, after 6 months of waiting, day-dreaming and working in a s***ty call centre to save up money, I finally arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning! Whoop whoop! I have ventured to China to embark on a 4 and a half month teaching internship - though I only discover where and who I am teaching once I arrive, a rather daunting prospect! For the first 5 days I am staying at the Mayor's House Hotel on the outskirts of the city, with approximately 117 other teacher interns.

Much of my days here have been filled with humdrum practicalities - queuing for visa extensions and photographs, attending boring lectures - so I have tried to take advantage of any free time I have. On Wednesday I managed to successfully navigate the subway system and visited Tainanmen Square at dusk time. At 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening each day they raise and lower the Chinese flag so I was pleased to witness this tradition. Traffic is suspended for a few minutes whilst Chinese soldiers goose-step across the road in perfect unison. The Heavenly Gates of Peace and People's Monument were lit up against the grey smog-filled sky - which was also littered with hundreds of paper kites - and it looked very pretty indeed.

I had my first experience of a Chinese nightlife on Wednesday also. I went out with some other interns and drank some Tsing Tao pi jiu (beer) for 10 kwai (less than 1 pound!) We were entertained by 3 young Chinese girls in silver spangly dresses singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time". I'm not sure if this was Chinese culture at its truest, but it was certainly very funny and we all had a good laugh

I also discovered where I will be living for the next few months. I have been placed in a city called Xintai in the Hebei province, which is about 2 and a half hours south of Beijing. So far I know very little about the place, as there is nothing written about it in guide books or the internet. Luckily however I will be working for the same school as my friend Zoe, who I met whilst doing my teacher training before I arrived in China. It is comforting to know that I won't be alone and can share my experience with somebody else.

Today I went on an organised tour with the rest of the interns. We went to see The Ming Tombs, The Great Wall of China, the Olympic Stadium, Yashow Clothing Market and finished with a Chinese acrobatic show. The Great Wall was simply breathtaking - quite literally, as the steep winding steps of the wall left us smokers huffing and puffing. I kept being overtaken by elderly Chinse people which was a little humiliating! It was worth the effort though, as the panoramic views of the mountains were spectacular and provided me with the highlight of my trip thus far. Yashow Clothing Market was also great fun as I attempted to haggle in Chinese, which was a real buzz. Me and Zoe had given ourselves an impromptu Mandarin lesson the night before which proved to be incredibly handy. We learnt the phrase "jin jin ji jiao" which translates as "to haggle over every ounce". When we said this excitedly to the stall merchant he laughed at us - I don't think any normal Chinese person would ever say this. Oh well!

Tomorrow we set off to Xintai so zaijian for now!! x