The first weekend

Even though I couldn’t go out to Sanlitun this weekend and get my drink on (this has yet to happen here) I definitely had an amazing two days before classes start. On Saturday I got to sleep in (hurray!) so I felt a little rejuvenated from the previous day’s jaunting around the city. Cheng came over to campus and even though it was slightly rainy out, we went on an excursion to the 798 art district. It turned out to be all the way on the other side of the city, but it was awesome and I would love to go back sometime, since we only got to explore about half of the area.

It’s kinda the same idea as Chelsea, with open galleries you can just wander into and look at contemporary art. But the cool thing is that the neighborhood is actually a bunch of old factories and low buildings, so the spaces where the artwork is hung makes the art even more intense. Now, the area used to be for the avante garde, but of course once people caught on to the fact that this neighborhood was quite hip, gentrification began. As a result, most artists can’t afford to live there anymore, but it still seemed like an impressive place to have work shown. The strange part was this random Nike building where you can go in, exchange you ID card for an iPod touch, and have a guided tour through the history of Nike shoes. It was actually really cool, and the second floor of the building had all the gear Nike made for the Chinese Olympic team, along with explanations as to why it was so special. Then at the end when Cheng returned the iPod, he got a free Nike propaganda book, complete with blank pages for him to sketch his own shoe designs. I think he was in love.

We quickly ate some noodles when we got back to campus, and then departed to see the Beijing acrobats at the Heaven and Earth Theater. Now, I’ve already seen Cirque du Soleil’s version of Chinese acrobatics, and was very very impressed. But this show was really cool too. There were cute little boys doing jump rope, cute girls throwing around Chinese yoyos, an androgynous man wearing hot pants juggling, and much more. Crazy fun times. I heard lots of “oh my god, no they’re not going to…” and “what, how is this happening” around me, so I’m guessing the other people on my program were suitably impressed. Awed, even.

Since I had to get up at 7.30 this morning I again opted out on any bar shenanigans for the night. I actually woke up feeling much better, though I still have a cough and sound like Janis Joplin (no karaoke-ing for me till my voice goes back to normal!). The I looked outside and WO DE TIAN LE! I could see the mountains in the distance! And… blue skies! The rain yesterday did the most wonderful thing and gave us the most beautiful day anyone could ask for. Zero humidity and cool breezes… could it get any better? Oh yes, because the reason I got up so early was that we were going on an excursion outside the city to a village in the mountains called Cuandixia, an outpost town to Xi’an that has been preserved since the Ming Dynasty.

The bus ride took like 2 hours but it was worth it. We got there and immediately climbed a mountain. I am not kidding. We pa’d a shan at 11 and I would have eaten a better breakfast had I know how rigorous it would be. Oh, and I also would have worn tennis shoes and shorts instead of flip flops and a skirt. But all they said was we were visiting a village! Anyway, footwear woes aside, climbing that mountain was worth it. We got a spectacular view of the entire village and surrounding countryside (read: mountains). It made me realize how terribly out of shape I am, but hey, at least I made it to the top. And down again! Going down was worse, since it was so steep.

After all that work we were duly rewarded with a tremendous meal cooked by a local townsman (a friend of our program director) and his wife. They made us so much food! Like, they would not stop bring out dishes. My favorites were: cucumber with apricot seeds, potatoes and green peppers with beef, and scallion pancakes. All the food was from the village, and apparently three chickens died that morning in our honor. Well, it was delicious. And then the host gave us a history of the village; he is the 15^th generation of the Han family who settled the village after the Ming dynasty fell. His grandson is 17^th generation. Can you even imagine?? And at one point, this village housed the dynasty’s gold treasure, in a hole underground in the guy’s house. What?? Crazy talk! But it’s true, and that’s why China is amazing.

After lunch we were free to explore on our own for a couple hours. The director took a group over some more mountains to view an abandoned town nearby, but my footwear forced me to stay in the village. Which was fine by me. A small group of us found our way to a terrace restaurant overlooking the town and sat there for a while, drinking pijiu and laotiar-ing with the owner. Between one other 300 level guy and myself, we had a cool conversation with him about Korean people riding scooters, his favorite movie Snakes on a plane (me: you mean… she zai feiji? Him: dui! (and he mimes a snake biting a guy’s head)) and the village itself. A Canadian woman joined us at one point and she was cool too. She had just published a book about Beijing and wanted to revise it later to add a description of this village. Later, one of the RA’s on our program came over and she really helped translate; she even translated the restaurant’s Chinese name into English so more tourists could find out about it. Go ahead, Google Cuandixia and see what you find. I was there! It was feichang piaoliang!

Whelp, tomorrow class officially starts. Although for this week we only have Chinese class, and it doesn’t start till 2. Nice. But it’s four hours long. Not so nice. I read over my 300 level hw and it seems pretty easy actually… so I might have to move up a level. We’ll see. My reading is good but speaking and listening not so much. I’m getting by though. I figured out Snakes on a Plane and Koreans riding motorbikes!

They love me so much,

these Beijing mosquitoes do. I have several bites on my body, including on smack in the middle of my forehead and one on my nose. Sound familiar, Cynthia? It's like mosquito deja vu. Except not cool in any way.

Anyway, today we had a presentation in the morning by our affiliate travel agent man. He was cool except he only spoke Chinese. And he showed us lots of slides of lots of places I want to go. Like, basically everywhere in China. And some cool places in Beijing too, of course. They definitely encourage us to take trips on the weekends here, since it's fairly easy to take an overnight train on Friday night to somewhere in within the northern half of China and still make it back to class on Monday after a fun filled weekend. Some places I'd like to visit if given the chance: Lhasa, Harbin, Guilin, and Fuzhou (as long as Cheng can come with me). Now I'm noticing that these are not the easiest places to get to, but oh well. I will make something happen.

This afternoon was the fun part. (Not really). Cheng joined us for a scavenger hunt around Beijing... only I somehow neglected to tell him the hunt was Amazing Race style. In a group of five we had to navigate our way to different landmarks around Beijing (7 in all) within 3 hours and make it back in time for dinner. The group to reach the most landmarks won. Well, we got to four, after taking a ridiculously long time to find out first spot at Houhai. I ended up retracing my trip from yesterday. From there we went to Beihai park, where I somehow got ripped off an paid 20 yuan for the entrance fee. But it was a pretty park. I'd go back if the fee was less.

Our next stop was the top of the hill at Jingshanyuan, the park behind the Forbidden City where an emperor hanged himself as his dynasty ended. From there we took a bus to Tiananmen Square to pick up our last clue that we had time for, outside of Mao's tomb. The clue was something about a Silk Road and a market to the east of the Square the sold lots of fake name brand items. We ended up at Wangfujin because the cab driver thought that was where we needed to be... oh well. So we only ended up getting 4 spots finished and another team beat us by one spot. At least now I know how to get to those places, and feel pretty confident navigating that central area of the city. I'd like to go back when I'm less rushed and take more pictures, but actually right now I'd rather visit some other neighborhoods in the city.

I had the option of going with my group to Sanlitun tonight for some jiuba fun, but declined since I'm still not feeling well. We have nothing planned for tomorrow morning (amazingly) so I'm going to get some rest and hope that whatever sickness I have no will leave me alone. I think not racing around the city during the day will also alleviate some of my ills. Oh, and as a side note, although Beijing is not being so nice to me right now, I think Cheng is doing very well. Beijing looks good on him! He speaks easily with the natives, has no fears about eating the street food, and has random moments of nostalgia and memories from his childhood come back. Zhen ke'ai. Ok, xianzai wo yao shuijiao! Ming tian jian!

Technical Difficulties Fixed! Commence Posting!

Well kids, the unfortunate truth is that Maarten Troost was not lying when he complained about how horrible the air pollution is here. Nor was he exaggerating. It’s bad. On top of it being bad, I had a sore throat bothering me off and on before I left, and of course now it is back in full force. I used to like going outside or opening my window for some fresh air (even in NY!) but now I am cowering in my dorm room in fear of breathing any more outside fumes.

The throat condition was no doubt exacerbated by the amount of walking outside I have already done today. We started out the morning with a voluntary excursion across the city to the Houhai district to check out some hutongs. Getting there first involved catching a bus, then getting off and walking a few blocks to the subway. I must say I was quite impressed with both modes of transportation. Clean, on time, and efficient. Not terribly crowded either. We bought a card that allows us to swipe on the buses (at a discount rate) and subways so we won’t have to buy tickets everytime. It’s kinda like the Oyster card for London, so of course I love it. How fangbian. Also the bus is so cheap! Only .40 kuai!

Going to Houhai during the day was nice, because it wasn’t so crowded and crazy like it gets at night. The area was really nice, with a big lake where people were boating, fishing, and swimming (the last one at their own risk). Too bad the smog had to diminish the splendor! OK I should stop complaining and probably accept this condition as a fact of life here. (Though that doesn’t make it any more tolerable!). Anyway we stopped in this one shop selling lots of stuff from Tibet, and the staff was really funny and nice and wanted to take lots of pictures with us crazy waiguoren. I tried helping some girls bargain for things but I don’t think I did much for them. However I’m a little more prepared for when I go out shopping on my own, since I had a bit of fun helping them. Too bad they were overwhelmed by the salesmanship… which really wasn’t that bad, in my opinion. I’ve dealt with much pushier people, even in America.

Then in the afternoon we had this scavenger hunt activity where we paired up with someone and had to go find a random landmark they had assigned to us. We weren’t allowed to ask any native English speakers for help, or to take a taxi. Lucky for us, there are tons of Olympic volunteers on our campus, so I asked them (in Chinese!) to help us and they kindly wrote directions for the bus (in Chinese!). We made it there and back (our was a French supermarket chain called JiaYueFu that’s basically like Walmart on crack) and a nice student helped us find the campus again on the bus ride home. Beijing people are nice when your lost! But I still have a long way to go in completely understanding directions. Mostly it’s a lot of me pointing, asking Nei biar? And I nod a lot, even though I don’t understand. But I try! And I think if I had to get somewhere on my own I would be ok… provided I had a map and a piece of paper so people could write things down for me.A successful (if wearying) excursion.

Thunderstorms

Day 2 in Beijing except that it feels much longer. There was more random orientation lectures today and those in between running around the city trying to find the basic necessities (money, cell phone, towels and shampoo in that order) I am now exhausted at 10 AM again. It’s kind of annoying that they have all these things planned for us when I just really need time to get out in the neighborhood, buy some things, and take in my surroundings. On the other hand, it’s been nice getting to know the staff and teachers; everyone has been really friendly and there’s a good deal of individual attention, since our program is so small.

We had lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant and the academic coordinator outlined our trips for the semester. Apparently we are taking a long weekend in Shanghai very soon… in a couple weeks, I think. Then for our long trip at the end of October, we are spending a week in Nanjing and then a week in rural Yenan (I think that’s the name… not quite sure. Definitely not Yunnan though). I’m very excited for these excursions! And just plain excited for classes in general, though they seem like a lot of work. We also have to do an outside research project that we will present in a symposium at the end of the semester. So yes, classes seem like a fun challenge, but no I’m not quite ready for them to start yet. I need to get oriented to my surroundings first!

One cool thing that happened today: on my way to get my cell phone, one of the RA’s volunteered to take me to the store since it was too hard to explain how to get there. So he showed up with a bike and was like, “We have a ride.” My job was to sit on the back of the bike on this metal bar thing, keep my balance, and hang on for dear life. In that order. I managed not to fall but I have no idea how Chinese people can do that with such ease. I’ve seen people sitting on the back holding umbrellas and such. They must have abs of steel, is what I’m thinking. And short legs probably helps too. But the bike made the trip much shorter and dodging traffic really wasn’t as terrifying as I expected. Beijingers are no doubt used to the crazy mix of cars/bikes/mopeds/pedestrians/buses and there’s an odd synergy in traffic flow that follows the seemingly chaotic combination. (Though I can’t imagine how much worse things will be at the end of September, when the cars come back on the roads in full force.)

I’m meeting up with Cheng tomorrow evening, finally! It seems like so long ago that we parted at the airport but it was… yesterday. I’ve clearly been kept busy, but I wonder what he’s been up to? Also, I’m really glad I didn’t go out to a bar tonight with some of the kids—it’s pouring buckets outside now, with thunder and everything. Knowing my luck, my brand new cell phone would’ve been ruined.

Word of the day: qianming 签名 TO SIGN ONE’S NAME (as in, on the traveler’s checks that the Bank of China won’t let me cash unless my mom is here. Sigh.)

1st Post from Beijing

Most amazingly, our flight from Columbus to Newark was on time and landed so that we had just enough of a layover in Jersey to change terminals, hit the bathrooms, and study some Chinese as we waited for boarding. Then we actually took off a little early, though in the long scheme of things it didn’t really matter since the flight was still ridiculously long. But it was cool to watch the map of our progress as we flew over Greenland and Mongolia. And I must say, Continental was very cool with entertainment for the flight. There were hundreds of movies on demand, TV shows, and video games. I personally watched two Chinese movies, Prince Caspian, and an episode each of 30 Rock, Scrubs, and House. In between times I slept and ate. The food was bad, as to be expected, but really not bad. It was just awful because they gave us this “dim sum” meal right before landing, and it was a rough landing. Cheng and I were both queasy peasy.

I was sad that we didn’t get to walk through the new terminal on our way to customs. Hopefully I’ll get to take a picture there on my way back. From baggage claim on, it was smooth sailing, as they say. Jimmy met Cheng as we exited, and my program was gathered there already. We parted ways and will meet up again when the cell phone gods reunite us. My program had an hour long bus ride ready for us, but actually it was cool because we drove on the fourth ring road past the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube. Yes, we took pictures. Yes, it was awesome and I want to go back there immediately to see everything up close. Preferably at night.

The rest of the bus ride was hum drum. I felt very strange looking out the windows. It was as if everything was familiar, because in my mind I remembered the tall high rises, gigantic furniture stores, and tiny store fronts as the Beijing I visited three years ago. And yet I knew it was different. There were less cars on the roads. There was Olympic propaganda and posters everywhere. There even seemed to be less people about. However, once we reached Haidian (the university district) the people appeared in full force. It was much more of a neighborhood Beijing feel than the large, abstract buildings we had been passing (also spotted: Dominos and Pizza Hut).

Once the bus dropped us off on campus (wow, I’m attending a real campus this semester with a gate and everything… weird) I found out that only myself and one other girl were in the CI Program—the rest of the 20 some people headed off to dorms about 5 mins away. But oh no, we were special, we got in a taxi and shuttled over to the East Campus dorms. I was quite amazed that 1) our taxi driver was female and 2) she didn’t mind that three of us (the RA included) were climbing into her cab for 5 minutes with 5 huge suitcases. This would never happen in NYC, I thought. (And I will always been comparing Beijing to NYC for no good reason other than I am living in both of them… they are very much not alike. You will see).

Our dorms are pretty sweet, btw. The building is actually a dorm/hotel, so the singles look kinda like small hotel rooms. And the air conditioner is awesome. The shared bathroom at the end of the hall, not so much, but hey we’re a small program so I’m hopeful that it’ll work out okay. After unpacking some of us went to a nearby convenience store to buy some things, but more of that will take place tomorrow. As in, tomorrow when I go to the bank to exchange my traveler’s checks and actually have cash. They’re keeping us on a pretty tight schedule though, so we don’t suffer much jetlag. As it is, it’s 10 PM (though my comp still says AM) and I’m just not going to sleep after… I can’t even count how many hours without a full rest. Definitely time for some much needed beauty sleep.

Technical Difficulties

I know you're all awaiting a new post with bated breath, but I'm having technical difficulties getting the Internet to work in my room, which is my laptop is that I've been drafting my posts on. So once that is up and running (if not today, maybe tomorrow) I'll have some good updates posted on the first couple days here.

Now I'm off to another fun filled, tightly scheduled day of orientation. Check back when you wake up tomorrow, I guess!

The Last Supper

Cheng doesn't want to guest blog, so I will describe everything. Also he just left to go play his video game because he won't be able to play it on the plane tomorrow. Loser.

The suitcases are all packed, my Chinese is sooo soo rusty, and I got me some traveler's checks so I am ready to go. I think. It sort of hasn't dawned on me that this is actually happening. I mean, I've said goodbye to everyone, and I've been obsessing over China all summer, but tomorrow I am actually going there. Crazy.

Being home this past week time went by very fast. (Wow, is that proper English? Sounds super strange. Anyway...). I sat by the pool, I ate a lot of food, I hung out with the peeps, I drank some wines, etc etc. And drove around, of course. The typical Ohio things. I could probably do a week more of this, and then I would start seriously questioning my life. But thankfully I have no choice but to return to my studies now. Did I mention that when I arrive, during Orientation, I have to take another placement exam?? Damn. Not prepared at all. Somehow I have to convince these people that even though I can barely hold a basic conversation in Chinese, I'm really supposed to be enrolled in Advanced II. Right.

I hope that I meet some of the kids from my program at Newark tomorrow. According to wall comments on our FB group (which I stalk, cuz I'm cool like that) a lot of us are going out on the same flight to Beijing. It'd be nice to have an excuse to get up and walk around the plane to break up the 14 hours, as long as I could go talk to somebody. Also I'm a little worried that I have no good plane reading material. But plane rides are boring, so I'll stop discussing that now. Although I will probably take some pictures of the gross plane food and talk about how disgusting it was... at some point when I have nothing else to complain about.

I'm gonna go watch the last of the Olympics that I can now. I'm sad I'll be missing the closing ceremony because if it's anything like the opening one, it would be sure to blow my mind. Hopefully I can catch it online or something after I get settled in Beijing. Ah! Settled in Beijing!

Taking Care of Business

Things accomplished so far whilst being home:
--Visited people. Had lunch with Tristan today, and that was awesome. Hope he doesn't mind that I am writing about him here on my blog. K.
--Sat by the pool and got me a little tan. Not much, but anything above glowingly pale is fine by me.
--Went to the dentist. Gotta have some gum surgery in January. Wow, can't wait.
--Started packing

So here are the things left to accomplish:
--Packing. Boo.
--Go to bank and get traveler's checks
--Go to Walmart and get random toiletries
--Take Apollo to the dog park
--Get drunk? Or at least party?
--Oh, um, study Chinese. Duh.

It's been a few days since I've actually studied Chinese. As usual when I'm home, I don't really feel like doing anything except either A) Sitting in front of the TV of B) Sitting outside with a book. Although I've been doing a lot of the former. Takes less brain power, and yeah, it's hot outside. Studying Chinese takes even more brain power; it seems like a fun idea at first but then there's just too much and I'll never be adequately prepared for arrival. In 5 DAYS. Holy crap.

Ohio Weirdness

Or, more generally, not being in NYC weirdness. The first thing I noticed that clued me in to our transmigration from the city to the country was at Arby's. Old couples! Eating Arby's after attending church on Sunday! Also I overheard some mother comment to her husband as she hoisted her little child on her hip and they left their table, "Thank Gawd for fast food." Note: they were not fat, but I still found the comment ironic.

The next revelation came at Dairy Queen. 2 dollars and some change for a shake?? Are you kidding me? Dairy Queen, where have you been all summer? Clearly you have Mister Softee beaten, but then how is he on every street corner in the city, selling dipped cones for upwards of 2.50?? Alas, I must get used to not eating ice cream or froyo everyday, since it won't be so readily available in China.

Lastly, I just drove home after dropping Cheng back off at his house. That's right, I DROVE. TO CHENG'S HOUSE. Thanks to my mad google maps skills, I have found the calculated distance to be 1.8 miles. Interestingly enough, that is the same exact distance that J and Amy's place is from my apt in the city. And I used to walk that almost everyday, there and back, no big deal. NBD. 1am on a Monday? Eh, kinda late, but there would still be people out. But here, it's like a ghost town. We were driving through eerie fog and along a dark road, and I was just waiting for some deer to jump out. WEIRD. The same distance, yet such a different scenario. What can I say about the suburbs versus the city except that... it's different.

There are more things: I just killed two bugs in my room. Gross. Glad I don't live in the basement in NY; I don't even want to think about that situation. It was only in the 80's here today and yet sitting outside in my backyard I was SO HOT. I'm pretty sure it was the same temp when we had that picnic in central park, so why was this so much worse?? Maybe that extra layer of pollution in the city actually keeps the sun from burning so badly, haha.

On an end note: Cheng and I caught up with our old fencing coach tonight. You might say she's the unwitting instrument of fate who brought us together. Actually, she pretty much is. She's also an amazing person who had the terrible terrible luck of being in an awful car accident in January. She was rear-ended and smushed between two other cars when a drunk driver rammed into her as she sat at a red light, only a block from her apartment. Even after being in a coma for two weeks, on all sorts of meds and through physical therapy, she has come out 8 months later seeming like her old self. I am just amazed, floored, flabbergasted at what she went through and how she is today. I might be a failure at fencing but I'm so so glad that I met her and that we've stayed in touch.

We ended up having a long political discussion tonight (because she's originally from the area of Russia near Georgia and has lots of thoughts on the conflict) that I won't really go into here. Suffice it to say, I've got a lot to think about in terms of my own world view, political knowledge, and how I frame my life in comparison to the movements around the world. Whew, weighty topics for sure. All I know right now is that I forgot to send in for an absentee ballot for when I'm in China so I don't think I'll be voting come November... it would be my first chance to vote in a presidential election and I'll be watching the election unfold from abroad. From former Communist China, no less. I usually have an outsider's take on politics anyway, preferring not to get involved because usually the more I know the more depressed about the entire messed up system I get. So I feel guilty for not exercising my freedom to vote, but also relieved that I won't half to pick between two candidates that I'm not totally sure about.

Wow what a long and windy post. Did you actually read all of it? I don't believe you.

Note: This should have been posted around noon

Last night, on the eve of the Olympics, I stopped by the New School to hear a lecture put on by the PEN organization. It was called "Bringing Down the Great Firewall of China" and featured several prominent contemporary writers reading the works of contemporary Chinese writers who are now in prison. I really got chills sitting there, listening to the stories of these writers whose freedom of expression has been severely curtailed by the government. I think what the PEN organization is doing (not just in China, but all around the world) is very brave and admirable. Hats off to them!

Later, in an un-China-related event, J and I watched the finale of SYTYCD. SPOILERS FOLLOW. Pretty much the best finale that show has ever had, what with all the guest performances and seeing old faces dance again. Also there was really no need to suffer through all the terrible dances this season, as they highlighted the best ones again last night. Note how Katee was in basically all of them. Ugh, Katee should have won! Not that I don't love Joshua, or Twitch, but I thought she deserved it more, since she was flawless the whole way through. But what's done is done… now we have to wait a whole year before the next season auditions. What will I do with my life??

Chances are I'll be pretty busy in China and such (to answer my own question). Let's start a countdown, shall we?

0 Days till Olympic Ceremony

6 Days till Mom and Sis arrive

7 Days till end of Work (and another paycheck, hurray!)

9 Days till I am home… oh… Ohio

16 Days till the flight leaves for Beijing (which means, coincidentally, 16 days left to review Chinese so I don't sound like a complete newb when I arrive)

I think that's it. And because you really care, plans for this afternoon/evening include: eating leftover peirogies for lunch, doing laundry, mailing a book, returning books the library, possibly napping/listening to some Chinese podcasts/reading. But most likely napping.

Mental Preparations

So I'm sort of obsessed with reading everything I can about China right now. I've been interested all summer, of course, reading memoirs and such, but lately I've been trolling the Chinese English-speaking blogs on overload. There are many more that I check daily than what I have listed on this site. It's become an OCD thing, but I'm telling myself that it's for my own good. Only a couple more weeks and I will be in Beijing, dealing with all the things I have been reading about.

It's funny but I can't remember having such enthusiasm/anxiety when I was preparing to go to London. I guess I figured, it's not that different there... we all speak English. And in truth the culture shock was not noticeable, until, of course, I returned to the States. Then it was: what are these huge cars? Why are the eggs white? Why is the American Deal or No Deal so bad? And most importantly: Why can't I drink???

China, understandably, causes more worry as I prepare to depart and leave the relative ease with which I live my everyday life here. Not to say that NYC is by any means a stress-free living environment, but at least I know that going to the bank, or buy groceries, and taking the subway is an easy affair. Most particularly because of the language thing. I've been wringing my hands the past couple years about how terrible my spoken Chinese is. Right now I'm pretty confident in my reading ability, since that's what we focused on most last semester in class (thanks, Laoshi?). But when it comes to listening comprehension, I more often than not fail. FAIL.

Anyway, from what I've been reading, apparently the Chinese language is not all that difficult to pick up when you're forced to use it. In terms of grammar I suppose it's less complicated than English; the tones are what usually trip me up, and that ties in to the vocab. Which is probably why I'm so dependent on characters: I need to be able to visualize words when I hear/speak them, so if there's a word I don't know, simply saying it slowly with the correct tones probably won't help much.

And the second concern after language difficulties: air pollution! I really, really don't want to wear a mask while I walk or bike around the city. I'm used to walking everywhere and love going to parks when I get the chance. NYC is perhaps not the cleanest city, but it's nowhere near as smoggy as Beijing or even LA. So I'll be home for a week in Ohio, sucking up as much fresh Midwestern air as possible, and then resign myself to four months of foulness, unfortunately. I'm crossing my fingers that Olympic pollution precautions will remain in effect. It seems rational to me that if you have to take measures to make air clean for world healthy standards you would want to keep it clean so that the natives can enjoy that, too. Indefinitely. But perhaps hoping for rationality is too much...

Anyway, everyone's eyes are on China now, and I will be watching closely to see how the Olympics pan out. The interesting thing will be to compare the media's coverage with the blogs' and see if they match up. Funny that I somehow trust the blogged opinions of people living in Beijing over what the NYTimes or other "reputable" sources have to say on matters. Just the crazy world we live in today, I guess.