Ni hao from Beijing

The days leading up to my departure for Beijing had me very nervous and restless. It had been so long since I decided to go- but then I had those darn visa issues to tackle. I was so nervous about my luggage and getting through customs with all my saamaan- but it turned out to be easier than I expected especially since I had my mum’s colleague on the same flight- good way to begin the start of a new journey I would think! J

Beijing airport is big, clean and beautiful! Chinese people are very kind and polite- even at the toll gate they greet everyone that passes through with a ‘ni hao’ and send you off with a ‘xiexie’ and a smile- and they get hundreds of cars that pass through everyday! The route from the airport to the place where I am staying is really pretty- lots of greenery and lots of Olympic signage. J Due to the Olympics and the notorious Beijing traffic, there is a separate lane just for authorized Olympic vehicles- all that is stopping other cars from swerving into that lane is the Olympic logo painted on the tar. And even though normal traffic lines are long- not a single car will veer into that lane- which is pretty much empty. What discipline!

I finally met Sophie, with whom I have been in touch with for over a year- she showed me my apartment- which is awesome!! J She is such a wonderful person and I’m happy that I will finally have the chance to work with her. She has been so patient and understanding in dealing with my delay in coming for this internship- there were many times where she could have just said I think I am going to go with someone else this is taking too long, but she didn’t. I am so lucky to have company provided accommodation, cause I know finding a place to stay during the Olympics would have been such a mighty task.

I am really excited about work! Metrozine is a bilingual lifestyle magazine here in Beijing that features articles on travel, living, food, fashion, home & décor, events in Beijing etc. The atmosphere at work is great and my new colleagues are extremely welcoming. The CEO prefers to be called Po, (after the Kung fu Panda character) and he does bear some resemblance to the cute panda. :p But what I have noticed is that he is always one of the first to come into work and one of the last to leave- great to be working for a person with such a work ethic! He also arranged for one of the girls to teach me Chinese- classes are already underway! :P

It has been only a week since I arrived in Beijing but it already feels like home and I hope I can stay here for as long as possible.