two weeks in!  today is the last day of our 8-day national holiday.  tomorrow will be my first official day of work. so i figured i MUST update today.  i should have updated more frequently with my time off. i would say i’ve been busy but that’d be a lie; really i’ve just been sick and not feeling up to it.  i’ve gotten over the worst part of the sickness and now i’m just trying to get rid of this cough that only shows up at night. i used to scoff at people who brought over american first aid kits & medicine, but now i must eat my words. i have searched high and low and oh, what i wouldn’t give for a bottle of robitussin right now.

anyway! despite my physical condition, i’ve been having a pretty good time in beijing.  i was afraid i’d be super bored over the holiday since i had no plans for a week straight, but i’ve been discovering new things everyday. my friends who have stayed in the city over the break have been extremely gracious in taking me in and showing me around.  without going into great detail, a couple of highlights from the week:

• meeting a girl named jie while apartment-shopping who i just happened to super hit it off with. she went to college in france and works at oracle. she took me to this amazing spot called nanluoguxiang, an old alley near the center of the city that’s been converted into a street of bars, shops and cafes. it is just ADORABLE. exactly what i envisioned before i came to beijing (the good parts).
• buying a bike for $20 at a local market, and somehow figuring how to ride it home.
• going shopping in wudaokou with michelle, and riding on the back of her bike (terrifying, a little bit). meeting michelle’s friends and going to an adorable cafe called the bridge.  wudaokou is sooo cute!
• eating hotpot at auntie michelle’s on mid-autumn festival.  she makes her own mooncakes at her bakery! amazing. on the holiday she invited her other divorced single women friends who are just absolutely HILARIOUS. they spent the whole time telling divorcee stories. i have never felt so weird and out of place, and all the same totally amused. it was an experience.
• watching a variety show with jacky’s family.  this was a hilarious, albeit bewildering experience. it’s just like those cheesy talent shows you see on chinese tv channels. an immaculately dressed man and woman come out, tell lame jokes, and introduce singers, dancers, and comedians.  let’s just say….. chinese humor is different. really different. hehehe
• biking to the bakery in the morning and buying bread for the day. i can’t get over asian bakeries. soooo delicious and cheap.
• getting stuck somewhere after the subway has stopped running at night, and having to get a taxi to go all the way across town ($$$$)
• shopping at carrefour during the holiday. do not try this at home. it is the most ridiculous thing ever. it’s like thanksgiving weekend black friday morning rush except with rude chinese people.
• seeing the parade floats and watching fireworks with jacky’s family from near tiananmen square… they pulled out ALL the stops for this celebration.

in other news, i’m finally going to be moving into my real room tomorrow. it is a really long story but basically, we’re doing this musical chairs thing with our rooms in our apt because someone’s in the process of moving out. so i’m currently living in my landlord’s room while she’s on vacation. unfortunately her room is not totally soundproofed from the room next door, which belongs to this dutch playboy (the one who’s moving out getting kicked out by my landlord) who leaves and comes home at ridiculous hours (read: 4am) with a different chinese girl each night. EACH NIGHT. (it doesn’t just happen in movies?!?!) this didn’t go down very well with my sick, sleep-deprived body. so after a couple days of this i actually moved back into auntie karen’s just so i could sleep through the night. finally, he left for vacation so i came back with the apt to myself and rested happy. PHEW.

a post is only good with pictures but honestly i’m beat… so pictures tomorrow. that’s a promise.