Yesterday was a REALLY busy day, as it involved spending the whole day packing up my room and moving it across town - anyone who wants to see where I'm staying now can check out http://www.wangfujinghotel.com. I tried getting the best deal I could through the Chinese version of Orbitz - we're paying $65 a night for the first few nights, and $73 a night after that. Not bad for central Beijing! The best part, though, is being able to watch CNN in English - got to see pictures of the huge snowfall in upstate New York, and if I hadn't been so tired, I would have stayed up to watch Obama announce his candidacy for president at midnight. I feel like part of the world again!
This morning I went with my friend Cindy to an evangelical Christian church in the northwest part of Beijing - she's been going regularly for the past few weeks, and I decided to tag along to see what it was like. It was the first church I'd been to where parishioners were advised to look like their passport photos on the way in the door, because they were serious about checking to see that the faces matched the passport. Foreign passport holders only. There were people there from all over the world - Australia, England, Suriname, Namibia, Indianapolis... but no Chinese. The service was conducted in English, and it actually wasn't bad - the one thing you can say about evangelicals is they have good music! No Monster on the drums (only my sister will understand that last sentence...) The location was kind of funky - was located in the basement of an office building, with no signs. The first church service I've been to that was quite literally underground!
After the service was over, (and by the way, in the same office building there was a Subway and a coffee shop - Subway as in sandwiches!) we headed over to the Wudakou area to get massages. With our student IDs, we were able to snag an hour full-body massage (as before, clothes ON) followed by a half-hour foot massage, all for RMB 58, which works out to about $5 - GREAT deal! The masseuses were really nice - I wound up asking mine where he would go if he could go anywhere in the world. He said if the paperwork weren't such a hassle, and if he had lots and lots of money, he would go to Brazil. Then he paused, and said, "And then I would go to the United States. And watch Yao Ming play basketball."
We had a late lunch in a Korean restaurant following the massages, and then went shopping for bags - I desperately needed a bookbag, as I've been using my Longchamp bag as a bookbag all month long for classes (I can just hear my sister gasping in shock from 6000 miles away...) and figured I really needed something different. If anyone wants to see where I got my bag, you can head to http://www.chouniu.com/homepage.asp.
ok - that is all for now. I am going to go drink tea and read guide books about the Forbidden City - our destination for tomorrow. really looking forward to it - I will be able to tell you all about drinking coffee in the Starbucks! and, of course, an art collection that is thousands of years old. stay tuned!
