First Impressions

Well, Harbin may be China's Ice City, but it's certainly not icy right now! When I got in Monday evening it was nice and cool, but the days have been decently warm and surprisingly muggy - very much reminiscent of summers in southern Michigan! I'd thought I would just leave my windows open to cool my apartment off, but so far I've been using the air conditioning unit quite a bit. I'll enjoy the warmth while it lasts though!

The week so far has been a jumble of events and impressions, but I will say that I am thankful I'm in Harbin with its blue skies and strong winds and not Beijing, which from the airport was just as warm, but with so much smog you couldn't see past the other terminal buildings, much less the sky! Another interesting contrast getting on the plane to Harbin in Beijing was how many people my height (or close to it) were on the flight compared to the flight from the States to Beijing,

The view from my apartment!

where the majority were Westerners. It doesn't change the fact that I've got to bend over to wash the dishes in my new apartment, but it was an encouragement to realize that I wouldn't be towering over others any more than I usually do!

I haven't done much these last couple of days beyond unpack and check out the local convenience store (and the Carrefour down the street), but I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know Harbin better! One thing I do know so far is that I'm going to like living in such an affordable place - I went on a bit of a shopping spree yesterday to get some necessities and staples for the apartment, and I was relieved after I calculated the totals in US dollars to realize how little I'd spent for so much! The bus alone only cost ¥1 ($0.16), which is pretty hard to beat!

I've got plenty more unpacking to do, so I'd better get to it! Cheers!