So I live on the other side of the world now

My view. The turf was just replaced this year apparently.

I landed last night in Beijing. It was raining, which, according to my principal, is rare. He said it hadn't rained since he arrived several weeks ago and during his time here last year it was a similar thing. But here we were, walking around Beijing looking for a place to eat after brief tours of our apartments and facilities -- no time to get changed or cleaned up but hey, I don't mind being a sweatbag werewolf if I'm seeing a new place.

The living room. All those drawers remain empty.

Apparently, the rain kills traffic. The part of the city I'm in was dead quiet. It's not usually like this but the rarity of the rain and people's unwillingness to drive in it makes it seem like a sleepy town. After some wanderings and seeing most restaurants being closed for the night either from their regular hours ending or lack of business due to rain. We ended up in Nashville (on Lucky Street), a Western-styled pub with a five piece band (lead singer is from Malaysia, so I was told) that played strictly classic rock. They opened their set with a pretty sweet rendition of Another Brick in the Wall.

We toured around briefly, seeing the sights that will be much more vibrant in the dry days ahead. It's good to know I'm not going to be without access to precious coffee. There are plenty of cafes around to fill that void.

My apartment is pretty nice. It's got air conditioning, tons of closet and drawer space, and comfortable furniture; more than what I need.

The bedroom. It may take some time to get settled. I was up by 6:30.

As for the flight itself. I was stiff and sore and watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol before sleeping off and on. I had a meal advertised as pork and listened to comedy podcasts for the near 14-hour duration. No baggage lost and only slight nausea; I'll call this a win.