China

Dear people who may be interested in hearing about my experience in China,
I am finally here! I'm not sure quite what to say about it yet, but China is... UNIQUE! It actually reminds me of Ukraine quite a bit, maybe just because it's a big, poor city and people speak a different language. Some of the sights look really similar.
It took FOREVER to get here! An hour from Vegas to Los Angeles, 11 hours to Tokyo (we stayed in a hotel there overnight and even went to a Japanese festival downtown), 3 hours to Beijing, then an 16 hour train ride to the city we are working in. They say it's a "small" city, 500,000 people.
We didn't arrive until yesterday and there's a 15 or 16 hour time difference, so I'm still adjusting. We are being given the royal treatment. We are staying in the nicest hotel in town and fortunately it is very nice. Every time we leave our room, the maids come in and clean and make our beds, empty the trash, fold our clothes, sanitize the toilet... It's actually TOO CLEAN if anything.
When we arrived, there was a huge banner at our hotel and in front of our school that said: "Welcome American Specialists in Education to our City!" Can you imagine? We all just looked at each other and started laughing. Specialists in EDUCATION??? What in the world? There have only been foreigners in this city twice before. Some Canadians about 10 years ago, and a French man 3 years ago, but no one saw him. The people are all really interested in looking at us and touching us. It's kind of creepy and weird, but cool, I guess... Not sure what to say about that. A few people have asked me if I am from India, because my skin is so dark, and one person asked if I was a California girl. (Tan, tan, tan!) We've had huge, unique, UNIQUE, interesting meals... Not quite sure what to say about them. Lots of strange things, some of which I'd never seen before, but tried... just for the experience. Eel, sashimi, shrimp that still have heads on them and haven't been cooked, duck, and tons of other random stuff.
Anyway, that's it. I'm here safe and sound. I should have access to e-mail pretty often, so write when you can. Later. Xie xie. (Shye-shye = thanks in Chinese... I'm practically fluent.)
Jeanne