From the Hai to the Jing

A week ago, I was shipped like a cheap DVD player from Shanghai to Beijing. Apparently the Shanghai course didn't have enough studentssigned up for it or something (I was the only one). So on the day the course was set to begin, they told me that I would be moved to Beijing"at some time in the future." Like a good comrade, I didn't fuss about being on a need-to-know basis. I wound up being told my flight info about 12 hours before my flight. The good news was that I got a week off to explore Beijing. Some highlights:

- I successfully convinced some Chinese students that Duck Flu was aninfectious disease that turns you into a zombie (they were olderstudents, so I wasn't being mean).

- I saw a Chinese band play Mariachi music.

- I might go see a Chinese band play reggae this weekend

- I might also take a 10 hour train to Inner Mongolia.

- You can buy a noodle burrito or a pineapple on a stick virtually anywhere in this city at any time. The noodle burrito isn't as good as it sounds...

- When I got here, the TEFL company put me up in the dirtiestapartment in Beijing. Ok maybe that's exaggerrating, but it lookedlike 1018 Garnett after a pa -- anytime between 09/04-06/05. Then the electricity went out. As promised, they paid the electricity bill (so I was only living by candlelight for 3 nights). However, they have not yet sent a cleaning lady.

- A woman ran into me on her bicycle, but I'm ok. In China, bikes andmopeds simply do not stop - ever. Nor do cars that are turning stopfor pedestrians - ever. Predictably, China has 10 times more traffic accidents per mile than the USA. I think it's a rite of passage for foreigners to get hit by bikes - virtually every expat I've met here has some story about getting hit by a biker.