On Sunday we decided to hit the ground running. Enough of taking care of the small things, we were ready to get a taste of real China. We decided to go to Tian'an Men Square. We did not really know anyone and we had no idea how the subway system worked in Beijing but we were up for the challenge. Besides, how tough could it be?To get to the nearest subway station we needed to exit out the main entrance of the BISU campus. The locals call it the "South Gate." It was only a five minute walk until we ran into the Communications University of China subway station. From there we were able to use what little Chinese we knew to purchase 2 tickets and head toward city center. We were suprised that the subway was not extremely congested. Tian'an Men Square was a different story. Since it was still the weekend, the tourist attraction was so busy that we practically could not enter the gates and because of this we decided not to. Besides we were starving. We only had a very small breakfast so we went in search of food. We figured since the subway trip was only 15-20 minutes from our apartment that it would be best to visit again on a weekday after classes.
Having no idea where restaurants would be located we took a Chinese man's broken English suggestion to go east past the traffic lights. Thirty minutes passed and we still had no luck finding food. Then almost out of nowhere a gentleman passed us with a bucket of KFC chicken. Seeing that KFC logo made our mouths water and put us back on the trail. Within a couple of minutes we were surrounded by fancy hotels and then a block of shopping heaven. Nike billboards, McDonald's Arches, and store after store lined the streets. It happened to be the Oriental Plaza, one of Asia's largest commercial complexes.
Oriental Plaza with hotels, condos, offices, & mall stretching eight city blocks! 
We made our way to The Malls at Oriental Plaza. A massive 4 stories of upscale shopping. We are talking Givenchy, DKNY, Burberry, Hilfiger, etc. There is also a BMW and Volkswagen store inside. Tens and tens of chic stores and well-known restaurants make this place seem like being back in the U.S. Prices are very high though, meaning brand name purchases are only for China's elite upper class. Stores like Sears and JCPenney's have no place here. Thus, simply walking out of the mall with shopping bags is a sign of extreme status. After browsing the mall a bit we decided it was time to eat. We agreed to play it safe with dining, especially since classes were to start the next day. The last thing we wanted was to get sick our first day on the job. Many Chinese food chains filled one long corridor, while another had American restaurants. After carefully deciding we selected Sizzler. Yes, there are Sizzlers in China. It's funny because we really dislike places like KFC, Sizzlers, etc. in the U.S. but when you are desperate in China, anything will do. We really do want to be adventurous with exotic foods but we still need to find a good guide to help us. Our meals consisted of Teriyaki Chicken, french fries, baked potatoes, and all-you-can-eat salad bar. Everything tasted kind of bland but we could not complain. The baked potato was more like a yam or sweet potato. Each meal was less than 40 yuan or $5-6 dollars. This same meal in the States would run double that easy.
We decided to call it a day and head back home so we could prepare for our first day teaching. We were very excited to see what our classes had in store for us. What would our students be like? How would we be received in the classroom? Would they find our Western teaching style to be too unorthodox? In less than 24 hours we would find out.
This has been a recap of our first weekend in China. Now, we will add blog posts twice a week. Most likely updates will occur on Wednesdays and Sundays.
