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Trip Start Dec 13, 2009 Previous
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  Beijing, Beijing, China
Monday, December 21, 2009

MONDAY
Today I was late for school.  My second day there, and I was ten minutes late.  At least i have an excuse; I live off-campus, unlike anyone else in my class and today had a bad start.  Rebecca and I firstly could not flag down a taxi for twenty minutes.  You would have thought that standing on a street corner in the freezing cold at sunrise would have been peak time for taxis, but no.  Once we finally caught a taxi, the expected Beijing traffic jams set in and stalled us for a long time.  Luckily my teachers are nice, and didn't make a face when I finally joined the class.  By now, most people in the class have forged strong friendships from living together in the dorms.  From what I can gather, they group the dorms by nationality.  I am still finding my feet, but I don't feel too out of place, and the people are all so nice to me. 

I found news during class that Sammy has had her baby boy last night! How exciting for her! Congratulations to Sammy, Faye and their new baby!

Rebecca's mum picked me up from school, and we had lunch before we caught a taxi home.  I did my homework in my room, whilst her mother cooked dinner.
TUESDAY
Today I arrived early at school- even before the teacher.  That was a nice change of pace from yesterday!  The class was much like yesterday's, which I like because I like knowing what to expect.  The teachers asked me more questions today, which is something that I am slowly getting used to. 
After class, Rebecca's mum again met with me.  Today I would be starting calligraphy class, so she came to help me find the place that I had to go.  It would be at his place, in the teacher's living area of the university, which is on the other side of the school which I have not yet explored.  As we made our way to his place, I realised how truly huge this university is.  Although I have mentioned the size before, I don't believe my last comments did it justice.  It is so big that they have a whole primary school and large kindergarten on the grounds for the teachers there.  They even have a huge medical center (that is sized more like a very small hospital).  As I looked around at all the high rises within the school gates for teaching and students to board, I realised that no Australian school has even half the size of this.  It really is huge.
Calligraphy class was great.  It was frustrating at times because to draw a dot should be so easy, but it is so hard and requires a lot of concentration.  It was very satisfying though when I finally got it.  When I graduated from dots and lines to actual characters, I felt like a true calligrapher. Though not half as good.  The two hours flew by surprisingly fast, and my hand was really cramping up by the end.  The teacher was retired, and very nice.  We barely spoke, because he preferred to teach by showing my what to do instead of telling me, which made the experience calming.  He was encouraging and patient.
Rebecca's mum waited in the apartment of the teacher the whole time that we worked, and we left as soon as the clock hit 4:30.  The sun sets very fast here; by the time we got home 45 mins later, it was nearly dark.  The way home, i was organising with Rebecca and Dad dinner, seeing as my family has arrived in Beijing!  Look out for updates on dinner later as we will be home too late for me to add anything.

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Some of my School	The City that is my School	The University's Primary School	the school's kinder
the school's kindergarten

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