Today is the first opportunity for Judy to meet some of her colleagues at BISS.  We wake up around 4:00 am. and straighten up a few things.  Around 6:00 am, I head out for breakfast, and to try out an ATM.  I’m very curious if we’re going to have a cash flow problem after yesterday’s issues with Visa.

Tried several ATM’s before I found one with some instructions in English.  It worked.  We have access to money!  Relief flows over me.  I grab breakfast at McDonalds and head home.

At 8:30 am, we meet a BISS staff member outside our apartment.  Several other new teachers are in the same complex, and we all head out to meet the bus.  Bus shows up and we are off on a Beijing adventure (actually just a shopping trip).

The BISS new teachers are interesting.  Three are from Australia, one from Spain, two others from the US, and one from Japan.  Like us, they’re new to the city, and anxious to get settled in.  We arrive at Metro supermarket.  It’s a big-box store similar to Sam’s or Costco.  Cash only.  We have an hour to shop.  We start scrambling for mops, brooms, cleaning supplies, rugs, towels, misc. kitchen utensils, and even some food.  Two full carts later, we push out the door, and head to the bus.  Bus drops us off on the wrong side of the apt. complex, and we have a long walk with tons of stuff to carry, too much for one trip  Complex guards watch our stuff, and we start shuttling it to the room.  A few sweaty trips later, it’s all in.  We quickly eat a bite, and head back down to meet the bus for the afternoon trip.

The afternoon trip is to a “wet” market, where they sell fruits, vegetables,  meats, etc.  We buy a few items, fruits, and some sausage for sandwiches, and head back to the bus.  We are returned to the apt. with instructions for how and when to get to dinner.  We put away our purchases, continue to work on organizing the apartment, take a short nap, and get ready for dinner.

We meet downstairs with our other UHN (apartment name – 10 buildings, all shaped like either a U, H, or N.) new teachers and walk to the restaurant for dinner.  It’s fairly close to the apartment, down a few alleys, and we’re there.  It’s a genuine Beijing restaurant, serving Peking Duck.  BISS has large room for all the new staff and families, and the administrative team.  Adminstrators are from India, US, New Zealand, Australia, Maylaysia, Greece.  Everyone is introduced and welcomed, and we eat a GREAT dinner.  It’s served like a family buffet with bowls and plates on a lazy susan in the middle.  So much food!  The duck is actually eaten on a small dough pancake.  It reminds me of a soft taco.  It’s really good.  Kung Pow Chicken is my favorite.  After dinner, we walk back to the apt. and begin to prepare for our first weekday activities.

Before bed we begin to experiment and discover that Facetime works, so it’s lots of fun to begin to make contact with everyone back home.  Our phones don’t work yet in China, but BISS gave Judy a temporary cell to use for the first month for local contact.  It’s nice to see familiar faces.