titles: my greatest weakness

So I'm in Beijing now. My flight was uneventful, though my reservation for a window seat was apparently more like "here's a teaser for what it would be like if you were actually reserving a seat right now, but you're not." So I ended up with an aisle. Which was nice. I sat near some guys sporting leather vests, who were in Fremont selling Bluetooth devices, gloves and something else unrelated I don't remember.

Where I'll be working.

So I've been running around getting stuff done, and spending even more money. I went to the Beijing quarantine office and waited in various lines with other foreigners (mostly Korean), to get blood drawn (fingers crossed no syphilis), an ECG, a chest X-ray and an exam. I also went to the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) station to register. I was a day later than I should have gone, so I received a less-than-stern warning in lieu of a sixty dollar fine. I opened a bank account and bought a cell phone. Apparently with the pre-paid SIM card I have, if you enter in 12593 before you dial any number, then it's only half the price to make a call. Whatever. I also met my friend Andy from summer school for lunch at a Serbian sandwich place near the embassies, followed by gelato.

The new CCTV building near my office. The sky bizarrely almost looks blue in this picture.

Things seem to have straightened out a bunch in the three years since I've been here. Maybe it's just the areas I'm in in the city, but it seems cleaner (not garbage blowing everywhere), people by and large wait in line, I don't get stared at and people aren't shocked that I can speak Chinese. Also it's not cold as hell, I'm almost over jet lag already and am staying with foreigners instead of Chinese students I can barely understand. In other words, it seems like it's gonna be a lot more pleasant in Beijing this time around.

My sweet new wallet.