New Apartment!

First of all last Monday Shane and I found a new apartment. It is somewhat closer to the university and also to Wudaokou. The room looks really nice and is a huge step forward compared to the first room. It has a washing machine, refrigerator, air conditioning etc. It also has a kitchen, so I can make my own food if I would like. I don’t have to go to the McDonalds or KFC anymore. I can finally drink milk again, thanks to the fridge. This wasn’t possible first, because I couldn’t keep it cool. We only have to wait for the internet to be installed, which will last till Sunday. It has also only one bed, so we will buy a second mattress as soon as possible and some sheets. Also some cutlery and plates and cups have to be bought. So when writing this blog I have to wait for 5 more days. Pictures will be uploaded as soon as possible on my Hyves profile.

Then some several days ago, when I was walking on the street. There were walking 2 parents and a little boy in front of me. Suddenly they stopped and the kid pulled his pants down. I was rather surprised, curious what he wanted to do. The parents did nothing and only looked. Some seconds later he also pulled down his underpants and started peeing in the middle of the pavement… Nobody looked surprise, so I guess this is kind of normal for the people here.? However I hope I won’t have to see it again.

Last Saturday I went with a group of people to the Great Wall and the Ming tombs. I don’t know exactly to which part of the wall, but luckily it was not as busy as was told to me. However it was very warm that day and we had to walk a lot. To see a piece of the wall is impressive. It is so huge and long and the view from the wall is also magnificent. It is a wall built by Chinese people, but I think some stairs couldn’t be used by them. Some are so steep, that it is hardly possible to make another step.. But it is all the effort worth! I recommend however, to walk on the Great Wall when the temperature is lower.

After that we went to the Ming tombs. This is the place where all the emperors, empresses and family of them of the Ming dynasty are buried. This place is at the beginning of a mountain, but I don’t know the name.. I thought that it would be an exciting place, but if you don’t have a lot of time in Beijing, you shouldn’t go there. I thought it was possible to access the tombs and really see something of the tombs. This was unfortunately not the case. We only walked through some kind of garden and saw some statues, a temple and a big stone with some Chinese text. Not really what I expected.
But it was for free, so I don’t mind. The tour guide forgot to collect my money, so I had a cheap day

Monday I had my first lecture of Doing Business in China. I think that will be the course I will like the most, but the start wasn’t very good. The lecturer first introduced himself and after that the whole class introduced itself one by one to the rest of the class. That took 3 hours, the lecture was over and I had wasted my afternoon. I hope the other lectures of this courses will be better.