Having finally made it to my destination...

I've come to the conclusion that Beijing weather is absolutely disgusting. Today the sky has gone from white to grey to green. Of course, I decided today would be a good day to take some pictures.

Our class building. It's nice and big and new and shiny and filled with people speaking all sorts of languages.

I've seen almost nothing of Beijing because classes started right after I got here, and anyway we're not supposed to leave campus until China decides we don't have swine flu. I saw the Bird's Nest from the highway on the way from the airport. It looks like it did on TV.

The campus we're on is Beijing Language and Culture University. It's not very big unless they're hiding some parts, but it's kind of pretty.

The big trees are my favorite part! There are cute little stone stool and tables dispersed around them where people eat and study.

Classes are wonderful but rather intense--we start at 8 and go til 12, then there's a fifty minute one-on-one session in the afternoon, which is my favorite part of the whole program. The teachers are all young and fun to talk to. Even though my language skills are so limited, we're somehow still able to have substantive conversations.

We have our first test tomorrow, so I ought to be studying for that instead of writing this! One last picture:

My room is itty-bitty! I'm glad to have a single, though. And what's more, the 服务员 changes the towels, makes the bed and takes out the trash every day. Amazing.

This weekend we're going to the Great Wall, and it's my birthday, so it should be all sorts of fun.