Worldlink Education and first week in town!

Howdy friends and family! Sorry its been so long since I have posted updates, but the website has not been easily accessed from the sensored internet here in China. I finally got it to come up just today!

My host family has been amazing! They have been teaching me phrases around the house, thus increasing my Mandarin skills! They are friendly and have been able to let me do things on my own and explore the neighborhood. They cook delicious meals for dinner which feature a large amount of vegetables with a few morsels of meat. I find myself craving meat because I have had only a few ounces of it so far. I know when I get back Ill be ready for a big Texas Sized Steak! My bed is a little tough and hurts my back a little, but I am getting use to it. I did manage to buy a pillow to help out though. I posted some pictures of my homestay and a the view from my window! The area I live is a 10 minute walk from the Olympic Park Area. WHere I work out I can view the major construction of the mains sites where the events will be held! THis willb e something to see when they occur in 2008!

I found a Catholic Church that I can attend on Sundays. I went down to a very modern part of the city where a very old catholic church stood. It was good to receive communion, even though I couldn't understand the mass, however it is in the same lay out that is found in America.

I found the key to survival, well in America atleast! WAL-MART! There is a super center about a 10 minue ride away from my house. It was interesting exploring walmart and finding all the different things they sold. I never would have thought that I would have found Turtles in the meat department sold alive to eat. The set up is a little different due to land space available in the city. The store is made up of 4 floors in a really nice building. It was quite the experience.

I have also found a Bally's Fitness center where I do my best to work out each day at. With all the walking plus the fitness center I am sure I will be in good shape by the end of my six months here! If you think you do a lot of walking at Texas A&M, move to Beijing and you'll see things differently. I walk a minimum of 45 minutes up to 2 hours per day. The university I attend is about a 30 minute walk away from my host family, the world link headquarters-- the company who assists students--is about 45 minutes away, and my work out facility about 20 minutes away. I do quite a bit of walking each day, but it is fun and you never know what you will see each day.

We had our orientation for the worldlink students yesterday! The students are wonderful and are from all over the world including Germany, Sweden, France, Hong Kong, Ecuador, Australia, Japan, and Korea. We met the entire staff at the worldlink and they took us to a wonderful lunch. We then toured the campus to find our classroom to take our assesment tests the next morning. We then went to the International Health Clinic where you can access Westernized Medicine of all sorts! Its good to know where it is at incase something happens. After our tours I took the students in my program down to where I found my cell phone and helped them to purchase theirs. There are four students staying in different homestays in my same area, so we will get to hang out and do different things around the town. The students are amazing and its good to have a group to hang out with and see the city with!

I think I've done a good at adjusting so far to the big city life! It hasnt been too difficult and I am enjoying each days experiences. Now I am waiting for classes to start next Tuesday so I can formally start to learn Chinese! I am looking forward to it! I hope t hings