驴

So, I first arrived in Beijing, my first glimpse of the city was the highway coming back from the airport...and boy was it grim. Cars were cutting each other off, some were even at 90˚ angles to the side of the road. This isn't my photo, but it's a pretty good example of an intersection in the city:

And when Beijing drivers are not stuck in traffic, they drive like this:

I've come to terms with the fact that anytime I leave my bed I am at risk of being hit by a car. It's cool though, I'm definitely becoming a much more conscious walker.

The food is good, however, finding a salad here is about as possible as buying a Banana at Dunkin' Doughnuts (if someone in England reads this, please tell Gran about that reference). There is a 'rice soup' that's kinda like a sloshy porridge that you drink with a straw. There is a lot of chicken, beef, and pork. There are also a lot eggs... I looked in my host family's fridge and their [what American's would call a] crisper was filled with eggs. But it definitely isn't a
bad thing.

A few days ago, several of us ran out on our lunch break to get some jiaozi and fried rice at a dive restaurant around the corner. I was feeling off because I was sick, so I was ready for some comfort food. Sadly, it was packed with students from the University who had the same idea, so we walked a bit further down the street and hit another place. They seemed to be selling pita-pocket gyro things.

I was pretty pumped. Even after an unsettling incident that involved gyro's and too much cider, I still crave them...sometimes. We walked in, and it seemed pretty legitimate. Their were painted pictures with calligraphy on the walls and locals were eating in it (which is the golden rule when choosing where you eat here). My friend and I sat down and she pointed to a random picture on the far wall that looked something like this:

We laughed about the absurdity of having a solitary picture of a donkey on a wall then began looking for food. Like I said, I was still feeling kinda off so I figured that I'd just get the staple Egg and Tomato that is on every menu in Beijing. However the menu was just a combination of these characters 驴肉火烧. Confused one of the girls asked what 驴 was. Turns out it was donkey. That's right, donkey sandwich. It's like you're eating Black Beauty's stubborn cousin. We left, but I'll go back soon when I'm mentally prepared.

As for my classes, I am currently taking "Understanding China" and Chinese 101. Understanding China is basically a crash course in Chinese history, though we've spent a large amount of time covering Mao's era. Chinese 101 is, of course, traumatic. There are 4 marked tones that decide how a word is pronounced. First is kinda like saying everything in B♭, the second sounds like a question, the third is like you start at B, go down to G, then go up to F.... it's hell. And the fourth sounds short and angry. That is how I interpret it. It's obviously a huge over-simplification, but it's cool, I'm sill learning.

Ah, well. I'll try to be better about posting... This won't be like after spring break last semester.