I'm Here!

You know, 27 hours of travel could be worse. After clearing out my apartment, which was a little bit sad, and saying a few more goodbyes, I was off and now here I am.

Representatives from the school met me as promised. My teacher and the woman who runs the school were waiting with a big sign with my name. I was very glad to see them, but they were appalled at my luggage--three checked bags, including two that were approaching the 70 lb. (32 kg) weight limit. I tried to explain that I had to bring all the shoes that I could, as well as lots of different drugstore/medical supplies, but I don't know if it made much sense to them.

The school is on a pretty busy street with lots of stores. There are a few bars and restaurants nearby that cater to a Western clientele, but so far that clientele seems a little old. I am really looking forward to finding the crowd that runs this Web site: gokunming.com (sorry for not putting it in as a link, but Blogger thinks that because I'm in China, I want all my site directions in Chinese. I will figure it out later).

Last night, after 2 hours to set up my room and go out and buy some necessities, I went to dinner with the other students and teachers. I was guiltily relieved to meet a woman named Claudia from New York. She's in the jewelry business and based in Shanghai, and will unfortunately only be here until Sunday, but she's shared some important information with me, and helped me decipher the school's often confusing communications.

Anyhow, the dinner was delicious—we ate family style and enjoyed a lot of local dishes, some of which were really quite good. However, I enthusiastically tried the pig's lung, only to quickly discover that it was, er, really not my style. After dinner, I went and shared a drink with Claudia and her Chinese teacher, who we're trying to give a good American name. Some cruel person has been calling him Larry; we are leaning toward Lance, which I know is odd, but it suits him.

Today I have class at 1:30 p.m. before then, I guess I will walk around town and buy a cell phone. Also, pictures coming soon.