First blog post! Woo!

I’m writing this blog for a few reasons. One is so I can keep track of my experiences in China and around Asia this semester/summer for my own future reference. The other is so I have a place to direct friends and family when they ask me “How’s China?” It’s hard to answer that question in a single text or Facebook message, and the shotty wifi (and Great Firewall of China) makes Skyping and social media pretty inconvenient to begin with.

Smog!

So here I am! How is China? China is good! The food is good, albeit oily and filled with MSG. The pollution is awful, as expected, and the weather has been perpetually overcast, although that just means having “nice” weather is all the more exciting! When I went outside today and saw the sky for the first time, my jaw actually dropped. Everything here is also crazy cheap. My breakfast buns this morning were less than a quarter. You can get a full meal on campus for 18远, which is less than $3 USD.  I also feel like a total freshman: living in a dorm, shared bathroom with the hall, not knowing anything, etc etc. But it's a learning experience. The culture here is also obviously very different, and I’m really enjoying comparing our ways of life. For instance, I tried to buy face moisturizer yesterday at Tesco and when I finally found it, the only ones I could find were whitening creams. Chinese culture values extremely white skin, kind of similar to the way Americans might value tanning, but I figured that I’m already pale enough so I passed on this exciting cultural opportunity.  But anyway, let the blogging begin!