I'm here!

Obviously, I have alot to write, and will take time tonight to compose a real post--but for now, here's a quick update:

I arrived in Wuhan around noon on Sunday (which was about midnight Saturday EST), bedraggled and disoriented from about 34 hours of 4 flights and layovers. After passing through customs, we were almost instantly whisked away by our university pickup person, whose name sounds like Swimming (it's probably Sui-ming or something like that). My university is about an hour from the airport, so we saw a good bit of Wuhan on the trip.

I have a HUGE apartment...but it has taken some time to be satisfied with it. Chinese standards of cleanliness are significantly different than ours; our Waiban (the person in charge of foreign teachers) seemed very surprised that I would want to sweep and mop the dirt and rocks/gravel out of the place! It's like moving into a dorm room in a sense--the walls are SOOO bare and it will take a while to make it home-y. I immediately bought new bedding that is in shades of light blue, so that helps alot! It's coming along!

We've been out into the city each day, either for shopping or exploring or exchanging money etc...I'm probably going to buy a bike today! Our campus is massive and the walk to our future classrooms takes you through the whole space...so a bike will cut out alot of time. Plus, Wuhan is one of the 4 FURNACE cities of China--and it's no joke! The humidity is incredible--even compared to the south!

Today is the first day that I've had the internet set up in my apartment, and I'm having to deal with the disappointment of a veeerrrrryyy sssslllowwww internet connection--which means NO SKYPE CALLS. I almost cried when I found out. PLUS, because my laptop is a MAC and doesn't run Windows, they couldn't download the programming to access the internet onto my laptop, so I'm stuck on the desktop computer that they provided. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for internet access at all, and for the computer they provided....but many of the other teachers in Wuhan have Skype and I thought I'd be able to use it to call home and have people call me. So, I'm a little bummed. I may try to hang out at Fawn's and see if my laptop will connect, or find a wireless cafe--although those are rare in Wuhan. We'll see--it's not hopeless or anything....yet.

Otherwise, I'm adjusting very well. It doesn't feel as strange to be here as I thought it would. Yes, everyone stares at me when I'm out, but it's not rude, just curious. There is a fresh market down the road where I bought potatoes and rice yesterday, there is wonderful food all around, I have a few friends in the city, everything is incredibly cheap in American standards (although I'm already beginning to think in yuan terms instead of dollars), and I'm excited about life here.

One final note: my blog is blocked on Chinese internet! I can post from Blogger, but I can't see the results...AND...all the text is in Chinese characters (except for what I write). I'm hoping that the orange button is the Publish option--but I really don't know! I'll have to read your comments on the email notices that it sends me! Oh well...nothing is easy in China ( a phrase repeated often to us since we've been here).