Ghost of a Good Thing

Key Tip #78: Don't let the comfort of your own dorm room create a whirlpool of laziness from which you don't get out and explore Beijing.

Exploring Beijing, among many other things

This week was excellent for the fact that I got out to multiple places of my own volition; besides the overnight trip to the Great Wall, there was Hoihai, the botanical gardens, as well as a couple of restaurants not within walking distance of the campus. It was soooo cool.

I highly recommend going to the botanical gardens, as there is a pretty amazing greenhouse as well as shrubs that are cut into all different kinds of shapes that represent the Olympic games. Hoihai is a typical destination, lots of bars and a nice scenic view from which to walk around in.

the classes this week were about as hard as last week--i'm more used to the structure, and the heritage class is rolling along at a staggering pace. I've spoken more chinese these last 2 weeks than i probably have ever, combined, in my entire life, and it's grown to be superbly comfortable. my language tutor and I are the best of friends; she's going to take me out to get protein powder as well as contact solution tomorrow.

finally, because the keyboard i'm using is really sticky and the shift button doesn't work, i'm going to end short today and make up for it next week. some thoughts rolling around in my head: people smoke here way too much. it's depressing actually--the person sitting next to me has been smoking nonstop, and I'm getting dizzy from the fumes. Also, Duke kids are really cool. 3 of them live super close to me and we go everywhere together, and the stories they tell of waiting 2 months to get tickets to a basketball game, or the beautiful Duke gardens right off campus, have all been enjoyable to hear.

china's smog isn't getting any better and i do not see how they will be able to have blue skies in 40 days, when the olympics start. just looking up makes me think: 1. im in the Matrix. 2. not seeing blue and not hearing any sort of wildlife makes me kind of depressed. 3. i'm in a snowglobe, except that instead of snow falling, it's (acid) rain and really, really gray. on the plus side though, I realized that at the restaurants there, there is no need to tip and there is no tax on anything, which means food = good, therefore life = good.