It's the sky!!!!

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It was the fourth of July here today! Well, kind of. It is really July 2nd, but the American Chamber of Commerce threw a big 4th of July bash for all of its members today. The BBQ was held at a resort located a half hour bus ride outside of Beijing. The event was filled with people that looked and talked like us, for the most part. We were even able to eat like proper Americans for the day. We were given food tickets that could be used at different food tents providing food from McDonald's, Hormel, Papa John's, and Budweiser. I never eat McDonald's at home, but greasy french fries, apple pie, and an ice cream sundae from their tent really hit the spot. Besides the familiar food, there was also a band performing good ol' rock 'n' roll. But overall the site was really nice, with a pond and visible sky. As soon as we got out of Beijing, we were able to see individual clouds and the blue sky behind them. I even saw both the sun and then the moon today! At night they had fireworks, which were a little too close for comfort but beautiful all the same. I met a guy from Grand Rapids, Michigan that has spent some time in China and he made the comment that he was surprised that the fireworks were so far away because the Chinese usually have no concern for safety!
On the way home tonight we went on a cross walk that allowed us to look into the construction site that is going on across the street from our dorm. At the time it was about 11pm on Sunday and the construction site was going strong. The cranes always seem to be moving. We think they must take shifts and never stop the construction because they have built up a compound around the site where all the workers live. There is even overflow onto the sidewalk where a group has set up a tent right on the sidewalk and cook, sleep, and do their laundry right where everyone is walking. Then when we turned the corner tonight we saw several truckloads of materials sitting on the street waiting to be unloaded. It is quite a sight and difficult to relate with the lives of these workers.

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Comments

[Jessica]

sunshine
It must be difficult to live in a haze all the time and never see the sky. Kind of like winter around here.