Always Happy Love Frog...

We've arrived! 24 or so hours in Beijing and we've managed to see Jen's new workplace (which is next to the somewhat obvious University Department of Secrecy), a bit of the Forbidden City, the 'bird's nest' Olympic Stadium, men writing calligraphy with water in a park, and babies peeing on the street. Also, lots of crimped hair and bangs, and many, many instances of Chingrish; the title of this post for instance -- apparently a T-shirt brand here. We've only drawn momentary stares, which seems to speak to how cosmopolitan Beijing has become since Jed was last here.

We also met up with Jed's old buddy from high school in China, Xing Wenda, who waded through the torrential downpour and 100+ degree heat in Beijing to pick us up at the airport and help us to our hostel. When we finally left the airport, we weren't sure if the sky was overcast, or if it was just the everyday Beijing smog. So far, our lungs are still operating, though....

Jen's become quite good at saying "No MSG, please" in Chinese and has even begun bargaining for her big bottles of water. Jed's eaten his weight in baozi (steamed dumplings) and stayed away from the computer for 12 hours, 13 minutes, and just about 43 seconds.... *hands shaking*

We've also learned how much we have to learn about traveling with each other: Jen likes to look at maps when she gets to a new city and Jed likes to wander aimlessly -- even when we're both cranky and hungry!