settling in...

Well, it's been about a week since I got here, and what a week it has been!

Traveling to China was long and tiring, but not overly stressful. I flew out of Atlanta at about 7:50 AM Monday morning, had layovers in Newark and Beijing, and arrived in Wuhan at about 7:30 Tuesday night (which was 6:30 AM in Atlanta). I arrived in Wuhan about 2 hours earlier than expected, because my connecting flight from Beijing to Wuhan had been canceled, and I ended up taking an earlier flight. I wanted to contact the International Students' office at Huazhong Normal University (also known as Central China Normal University or CCNU) to let them know I was early, but I didn't know how to use the payphones, didn't have a phone card for the payphones (which conveniently didn't take change), and once I finally was able borrow a phone card and figured out how to use the pay phones (thanks to some friendly airport security guards who spoke very little english), there wasn't an answer at the other end, because everyone had already gone home for the night. (And I found out later that the number I had was no longer in use, because the office had gotten a new phone number a few months ago.) I ended up wandering around the airport, hoping to hear my name or to see someone holding a sign with my name on it, for about 3 - 4 hours. The security guards eventually took me to an information desk, where some friendly Chinese women (who spoke good english!) tried to help me contact someone to pick me up from the airport and take me the university. (Thankfully, I was too exhausted after all those hours of traveling to get really upset or frustrated about it...) I was considering taking a taxi to the university, but I realised that even if I could make my way to the campus, I would have no idea how to get to the international students' dorm once I got there! I decided to go back down to the baggage claim/arrival area just one more time, in hopes of finding my ride. (I had been saying pr-yers in my head over and over again ever since I got to the airport, and at this point, I was starting to worry that I would end up having to spend the night at the airport...) I looked around for a while, and was about to head back upstairs, when I finally heard someone ask, "Excuse me, can you tell me your name?" I told the man my name and asked if he was from CCNU. He was. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a total stranger before in my entire life. It was such a relief! He was relieved as well, because he and his wife had been looking for me at the airport for over an hour! They had arrived to pick me up at around 9:15 PM, and they saw that my flight from Beijing had been cancelled, so they had been worried that I was still stuck in Beijing! They had even called ahead to tell the people at the dorm not to prepare a room for me, because I wasn't going to be coming in that night.

They took me to the campus and helped me check-in to my room at the dorm. The international students' dorm is definitely the nicest dorm on campus, and the rooms are actually pretty nice, even for American standards. My only complaint is that the mattress on my bed is really hard! It feels like I'm sleeping on styrofoam! But I'm slowly getting used to it...

My first reaction to China wasn't exactly positive. It all seemed really dirty and polluted and confusing, and I was wondering WHY IN THE WORLD I had agreed to come here for such a long time. I didn't really like the food, and I had a really hard time getting around with my limited Chinese, especially since not many people speak English here, and sometimes their English is even harder to understand than their Chinese. Basically, I had a bad case of culture shock. The jet lag didn't help either. There's a 13-hour time difference between home and here, so I didn't get much sleep the first two nights, because the nighttime felt like daytime to me, even though I was way behind on sleep. But I've gotten into an almost-normal sleeping pattern, and I'm getting used to the Chinese food (and even found some dishes that I really like!), and I'm slowly getting over the culture shock, and I'm really starting to like it here! Some other students from Ga Southern are here, and they've been here since September (they came for a whole academic year instead of just a semester), and they have been a HUGE help. They showed me around the campus and the city a little bit, and even showed me where to find the American fast-food places around here, in case I just need to eat some American food. :) There's a McDonald's, a KFC, a Dairy Queen, a STARBUCKS, a Papa John's, and a Pizza Hut all within walking distance of the campus, so I definitely won't starve! :)

I've actually been eating more fast food than I'd really like to, because those are the only places I really know how to order! Most of those places either have employees that speak english or nice little picture menus, so I can just point at what I want if I'm not with someone who speaks Chinese well enough to order. So far, I've only ordered my own Chinese food twice. And both times, it was "jiǎozi" (Chinese dumplings)... because I don't know the names of any of the other dishes! The dumplings are these little bite-sized noodle-type things that are filled with a mixture of meat, vegetables, and soup. And they're really easy to eat with chopsticks. :)

Classes started this Monday, so I'm already halfway done with a week of classes! I have a feeling that my time here is going to go by really quickly... it sure has so far! Check back in a few days/weeks... I'll be updating with pictures, stories, and general observations about China... but right now, it's bedtime for Annie! I have class tomorrow at 8 AM!