Merry Christmas from Pi Xian!

---

Merry Christmas everyone! We FINALLY have internet at the hotel, and I apologize for not updating the blog. I will do multiple installments about the past week in the next couple days.

So...my prof made it on our plane from Seattle to Tokyo to Beijing, and we arrived around 10 pm (some day last week...I am totally confused about time right now). We took a taxi to BeiDa (Beijing University) and stayed the night there. On the drive over I got to see the Olympic Stadium and the Water Cube...very cool. I also saw the biggest Ikea store EVER.

We spent the night in a small dorm/hotel for foreigners at BeiDa, met up with other people in our group, and embarked out for the airport to catch a plane to Chengdu, the biggest city near where our project is working. I still haven't had the time to see any of Beijing, but I hope to do so before I go home.

The Air China flight from Beijing to Chendu was quite cramped. In China they rip out the seats in airplanes and put them closer together so they can fit more people. Needless to say, it was not fun. Luckily, the flight was very short and the airport easy to deal with. We got to our hotel in Chengdu and met up with the rest of our party. There are very few of us that speak only English, so sometimes it's hard at dinner to join in on the conversation. We are having a blast though.

Interesting thing to note...the street cleaning machines in China play the tune to "Happy Birthday." No one knows why.

Also, since I've been here I've eaten pigeon, dog's tongue, and the tendons from the hoof of the cow, only to name a few oddities. I am still alive.

More to come!

---

Photos

Magpie
He was extremely noisy

Beijing Airport Starbucks
Apparently Santa is, in fact, a robber. To be honest, his whole breaking and entering thing would require a mask...

First breakfast in Chengdu
Steamed buns with meat, rice porridge, and pickled vegetables. One of our team members was laughed at for a long time for eating with a fork...

Comments

[Noelle]

Santa card
Santa IS a robber! That makes perfect sense. Yes, he leaves presents, but that's only to distract you from all of your stuff that he has stolen while you were oohing and ahhing over the new Wii! Fascinating journey you're having! Looking forward to more reports!