Hi mom and dad,

Happy early birthday!! I got the book in the mail-thank you pops. It looks really good!! I leave tonight on a sleeper train to the grasslands of inner mongolia! I hope your birthday is really nice and I’ll be thinking about you ( I do all the time anyways). Many pictures are being taken, but the internet is retarded. Also, if it’s not too much money can you send me the lonely planet on china-i’ve decided i really do need it. Thanks guys! I love you mucho. Keep dana out of trouble.
love rach
P.S. how are the new weeds episodes? the only tv we get here is junk.
PPS I’ll try to call you guys but I’m not sure if there will be a phone in our yurt.
ppps My school is NW of the forbidden city,resting on the inside of the third ring-I just put a map up in my room and I mark everywhere I go!

Ni Hao Fam,

Yes, life if truly amazing right now. Classes started yesterday, but this week is Chinese boot camp. Four hours a day of Chinese classes. Next week we start are usual class schedule which is area studies in the morning and two hours of Chinese in the afternoon. My area studies are as follows: Chinese Media, Modern Chinese History and Civilization, and China’s environmental challenges. I’m very excited about them all(taught one at a time-block schedule)! My Chinese teacher is very good and we have the head of IES sitting in this entire week to assist. There are only six people in my class.

Sunday we went to a village about two hours outside of Beijing called Cuandixia. It was founded by three emperors of the Ming Dynasty. After the Ming dynasty fell, these three men decided to start there own place. Everyone there has the same last name, Han, because the women are sent out of the village to marry and women marry into Cuandixia. The youngest generation there is 17th generation (and we thought gold lake statistics were impressive).

Other than that I’ve been to a karaoke bar where we rented our own karaoke room (very nice), ordered Tsing Tao (the local beer), and sung our hearts out. I’ve also been to many of the local markets, palaces, and restaurants. I’m getting more used to the food but it’s still too greasy and meat heavy for me. I also bought a bike yesterday which will make getting around a lot easier. However, I’m too scared to cross the streets so I’ve been walking my bike in the underground pedestrian walkways. The drivers here are absolutely rediculous. They won’t stop (even if it’s a red light) and will honk their horns constantly. Aaaa China!

The last few days the pollution has completely cleared away, so the air is a lot more crisp and the sky is blue! I have so many beautiful pictures, but the internet doesn’t work in my room yet. They are on their way. This weekend four of us are planning a trip to inner Mongolia. We are going to take a sleeper train there Friday after our test and come back Sunday. Off to class…
Lots of love,
Rachael

Hi fam,

I’m here and the last few days have been great! The flight wasn’t too bad, although we were in thunderstorms the entire way from Tokyo to Beijing. It didn’t matter because I was conveniently distracted by the Chinese family across from me taking photos of the flight attendants. No one seemed to find it as entertaining as I did.

I’ve been hanging out with a friend from Cate who lives here now and is fluent in mandarin. He helped me get a good deal on a cell phone, showed me how to use the subway (which is very easy to use and clean-although verrry crowded!), and took me to his house in the suburbs outside of the City. His house looked like any nice California house (marble counters, high ceilings etc) except their was communist paintings in place of the Leichtensteins! It was very strange but expected.

Edie’s friend from college is here and gave me tickets to the mens water polo semifinals! Greece vs Germany, Hungry Vs. Montenegro, and the US vs. Serbia. It was amazing! I’ve never been anywhere so fueled with energy! I’ve met people from all over the world, many from countries I’ve never heard of.

The city here is packed with Olympians and tourists. I was at the mall yesterday and saw two basketball teams(they aren’t hard to miss), a track team and some volleyball players. Tonight I’m meeting up with some nice people from my flight to watch the closing ceremony. They also don’t have tickets but we are going to the venue to watch the fireworks, drink rice wine, and eat strange Chinese food (I could write a book on the weird stuff I’ve ingested here..).

Tomorrow I move into my University and start orientation!
My cell phone is: 13552438217 but I would never use it because of the price.

Besides that life is good! I don’t notice the pollution that much except I get winded easily (as if I’m at high altitudes) and it smells funny. The sky is blue and it’s extremely humid and hot.

Well, got to run and prepare for the festivities of tonight…let me know what you guys are all up to!
Love,
Rachael

xxo

hey family

quick note. missie got me tickets to water polo which was amazing! greece vs germany. hungry vs montenegro, us vs. serbia. Us beat serbia 10-5 so the energy was amazing. I saw the birds nest, water cube and most of all all the hot waterpolo players including tony azevedo that dana ent to camp together. I got in touch with the starlings, i’m going to see them later today. I’ll send out a fat family email soon to all the reli’s
love you all!
rach

Hi Family,

Rach’s here! It’s 1130 in the morning and I’m using the internet at my hotel waiting for Raymond to come meet me. WE are going to buy a cell phone today and then maybe go to some clubs tonite. I haven’t been able to reach the Starlings-I called them this morning but no pick up. I’m going to email them and keep trying them throughout the day. I got an email from Edie regarding her friend who I am also playing phone tag with. Hopefully once i get this cell phone contact will be much easier!

The flight was fine to JApan-I was literally one of 5 white people on a huge Jumbo jet. The flight from Tokyo to Beijing was a little rockier and I felt pretty sick. There was a huge thunderstorm in Tokyo and Beijing so the flight was a little scary. I sat in front of a very cute little girl that kept smiling at me. I also sat next to this Japanese family that was very nice adn wanted to practice their english. Across from me was this asain family(I hate to say I couldn’t tell whether they were JApanese or Chinese) that kept taking photos of the air hosteses. Whenever they would pass the family would whip out their camera’s and start taking pictures-It was quite entertaining, yet I was the only person that found it funny-literally giggling out loud at times.

The drive from the airport was interesting. I met a guy that just graduated Florida State and his dad and we all shared a cab together. They also don’t have Olympic tickets so we are on the search together! The cab drivers tried to make us pay 100us bucks for the ride so we promptly changed cab drivers. Everyhting is so modern looking! even though it was 11pm the streets were lite up and swarming with hip-looking people. The buildings have electronic billboards and pretty lights wrapping around them. The streets are very clean and so are the bathrooms. But the air smells bad! Today is nice and sunny though, and the pollution isn’t as obvious as last night (or maybe I’m just used to it).

Oh one more thing, my hotel is pretty dirty. It would not be accepted in the US. But the water works (even though it occasionally smells like butt) and the air con works(but is drippping water all over the room).
It’s lovely here. The people are very friendly, curious, and helpful. I’m so excited about my first day in Beijing-I haven’t been outside yet! Now for my next task-learn mandarin..i really need to learn it!!

I love oyu guys and will keep you posted.
Mom- thanks for the letter. did you put a little paper with a quote on it in my bag?
Dad-I love you, keep bringing in the bacon
Dana-Do you college apps!!!
xxoo I’m in Bejing

Hi Family,

Just a last email before I take off (tomorrow). You can still reach me on this email (

). I will have a cell phone and land phone once I get there. I’ll let you know what there are soon. Other than that I’m ready! I’ll send you guys emails and photos via Shutterfly. Love to all!
Woohoo,
Rachael