Arrival
(Actually August 26, 2019 -- we've been struggling getting email access!)
Travel is like a lock on the door. Locks are cultural. Each looks different. Some are high-tech,and some are barely functional rusty bolts. The trick, when you’re in a new country, is to figure out how your small key works with the mysterious 2-dimensional hole on the door.
This is a round-about-way to say we made it through the door. Our planes were reasonably on time. San Francisco (SF0) was stunningly clear. Beijing was thick with smog. Xi’an greeted us with a down-pour – which was cool and refreshing. When we arrived, my UC-SD students met us at our apartment with food, and helpful instructions on how the apartment works. We absorbed as much as we could, fell into bed, waking multiple times during the night.
The next day was when the excitement began, and why I led with the extended key metaphor. Somehow, Dave and I managed to screw up the mechanism in the lock on the front door. I was on the inside -- locked in. Dave was on the outside -- locked out. Dave went to get help. Soon there was a crowd around the door. All offered helpful advice in Chinese on how to unjam the lock. Unfortunately, I was unable to follow. One of the difficulties was they kept on saying yao shi, which means “if.” But I guess it also means “key.” There were many ways to go wrong. Eventually, I took a picture of the lock, sent it to our superintendent
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| The evil lock |
He came and banged on the door, and miraculously it sprung open.
So to return to the metaphor: you jiggle the key, shift the key to the left a then the right. You pull up on the knob, pull back on the door…. And suddenly you’re in a new world.
So to return to the metaphor: you jiggle the key, shift the key to the left a then the right. You pull up on the knob, pull back on the door…. And suddenly you’re in a new world.
Below is a picture of the North gate of our University.
And more pictures of the university:
Here is a beautiful park that is across the street from the university, and very near our apartment.
Here are some pictures of our apartment.
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| Kitchen |
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| living room |
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| Bedroom (before we had pillows) |
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| Study |
And here is Dave, eating the first meal that we ordered in Xi’an
Bottom line: We're happy and healthy and have arrived safely. (And we ordered that meal completely in Chinese, and they understood us!)
Those noodles look delicious.
ReplyDeleteThey were! Dave and I just found a really cool cafeteria near our house -- little street food stalls that have been consolidated into a department store -- kind of like the perfume counters in Bloomingdales in NY. I'll write about them soon!
DeleteIf you didnt cry over that lock issue you are my hero!!!!!! Could you include weather info please? :-)
ReplyDeleteWeather has been beautiful! Usually August is fiery hot. We arrived in the middle of a storm, but since then, the sky has been blue, and it has been hot like upstate NY in July -- not unbearable. Everyday, Dave and I walk between 6-7 miles (no joke! No exaggeration! My Fitbit lets me know!) Despite this, we haven't felt the heat at all.
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