Beijing: The First Few Weeks
as promised, here's a more detailed update on what my first few weeks here in Beijing have been like.
week one was a whirlwind. i had horrible jet-lag for almost 2 weeks, which makes sense since i had a 12+ hour flight from new york, by way of boston and chicago. the good news was that the school gave us an amazing orientation process and was really there to support us in our transition to Beijing. i still haven't been able to explore the city very much, which leads me to some more personal things:
my health. pretty much all the new folks have had issues with swollen feet and ankles for the last few weeks. it seems that the long trip on the plane has something to do with it. i've been cutting back on salt and elevating my feet when i get home from work every day, which seems to help a bit. but now my plantar fascitis is acting up again (heel spurs, very painful). most likely, it's because i hadn't been doing as much walking and standing as i am doing now. i went to the doctor today and the treatment will be pain relieving cream and acupuncture, which will hopefully happen one day this week. i've never had acupuncture before, and i'm actually excited to try it; i've heard great things! and btw, my health insurance is awesome!
money. we just got paid last week, which couldn't have come a moment too soon, as i've been living off of savings and borrowed money. i finally have a chinese bank account and so now i can actually do more things, like ordering from this thing called taobao, which is sort of like amazon; you can find pretty much anything there. i'm also able to afford an ayi (a housekeeper), which is very common here and i've been convinced it's a good thing because i'm able to give someone a job (i felt weird about it at first, but i realized i needed it because of how dusty and polluted everything is here. i don't have the time or energy to clean the floors and dust regularly. especially with the pain in my feet). also, when am i ever gonna be able to easily afford a housekeeper again?? haha ;)
social. i haven't made any friends outside of my co-workers but i've been trying to make some. there's this organization called "internations" that helps international folk meet other expats in their area and organizes social events. i haven't made it to any of the events yet (too tired, too much pain) but i hope to soon. i've also joined a wechat (the facebook of china; everyone is on wechat and everything can be done on wechat, including paying for purchases and transferring money) group for vegetarians so i hope to explore the best vegetarian restaurants in beijing soon. the chinese people so far have been very nice, albeit very....off-putting. let me explain. i was expecting to be stared at as a fat black woman with dreadlocks in china. i was warned by many friends who had been to asian countries before. what i didn't expect was how blatant it would be. i was riding the bus one day and this woman who was sitting in the seat next to me literally turned her head and stared at me so hard that i could feel it. i saw it out of the corner of my eye and when i turned to look at her, she quickly turned and looked out of the window. i'm also pretty sure i've seen more than one person take a photo of me without even speaking to me first. in fact, this morning while riding the subway, a guy i was sitting next to asked if he could take a selfie with me. i smiled and allowed it. i was fine with it because at least he asked if we could be in the picture together, instead of treating me like an exhibit and just taking the picture.
i'm realizing now that i sorta misspoke when i said that i'd be talking about my first few weeks in Beijing. it's actually been over a month but it doesn't feel like it. well it kinda does. it's complicated. i can't believe i've been here over a month already but so much has happened that the time has felt very fast, if that makes sense.
ok i can't think of much else to say but if you have any questions, i'll try to answer them. i also realize that i promised another vlog but i've been so busy with work and everything else that i haven't had the time or energy. i hope i can make another one in the next couple weeks though (we have a 4 day weekend coming up).
until next time! :)
Nikki <3
week one was a whirlwind. i had horrible jet-lag for almost 2 weeks, which makes sense since i had a 12+ hour flight from new york, by way of boston and chicago. the good news was that the school gave us an amazing orientation process and was really there to support us in our transition to Beijing. i still haven't been able to explore the city very much, which leads me to some more personal things:
my health. pretty much all the new folks have had issues with swollen feet and ankles for the last few weeks. it seems that the long trip on the plane has something to do with it. i've been cutting back on salt and elevating my feet when i get home from work every day, which seems to help a bit. but now my plantar fascitis is acting up again (heel spurs, very painful). most likely, it's because i hadn't been doing as much walking and standing as i am doing now. i went to the doctor today and the treatment will be pain relieving cream and acupuncture, which will hopefully happen one day this week. i've never had acupuncture before, and i'm actually excited to try it; i've heard great things! and btw, my health insurance is awesome!
money. we just got paid last week, which couldn't have come a moment too soon, as i've been living off of savings and borrowed money. i finally have a chinese bank account and so now i can actually do more things, like ordering from this thing called taobao, which is sort of like amazon; you can find pretty much anything there. i'm also able to afford an ayi (a housekeeper), which is very common here and i've been convinced it's a good thing because i'm able to give someone a job (i felt weird about it at first, but i realized i needed it because of how dusty and polluted everything is here. i don't have the time or energy to clean the floors and dust regularly. especially with the pain in my feet). also, when am i ever gonna be able to easily afford a housekeeper again?? haha ;)
social. i haven't made any friends outside of my co-workers but i've been trying to make some. there's this organization called "internations" that helps international folk meet other expats in their area and organizes social events. i haven't made it to any of the events yet (too tired, too much pain) but i hope to soon. i've also joined a wechat (the facebook of china; everyone is on wechat and everything can be done on wechat, including paying for purchases and transferring money) group for vegetarians so i hope to explore the best vegetarian restaurants in beijing soon. the chinese people so far have been very nice, albeit very....off-putting. let me explain. i was expecting to be stared at as a fat black woman with dreadlocks in china. i was warned by many friends who had been to asian countries before. what i didn't expect was how blatant it would be. i was riding the bus one day and this woman who was sitting in the seat next to me literally turned her head and stared at me so hard that i could feel it. i saw it out of the corner of my eye and when i turned to look at her, she quickly turned and looked out of the window. i'm also pretty sure i've seen more than one person take a photo of me without even speaking to me first. in fact, this morning while riding the subway, a guy i was sitting next to asked if he could take a selfie with me. i smiled and allowed it. i was fine with it because at least he asked if we could be in the picture together, instead of treating me like an exhibit and just taking the picture.
i'm realizing now that i sorta misspoke when i said that i'd be talking about my first few weeks in Beijing. it's actually been over a month but it doesn't feel like it. well it kinda does. it's complicated. i can't believe i've been here over a month already but so much has happened that the time has felt very fast, if that makes sense.
ok i can't think of much else to say but if you have any questions, i'll try to answer them. i also realize that i promised another vlog but i've been so busy with work and everything else that i haven't had the time or energy. i hope i can make another one in the next couple weeks though (we have a 4 day weekend coming up).
until next time! :)
Nikki <3