Tuesday 9/10/08

Hello friends, family, family of friends, friends of family, 什么的。

This is the first post of the Carleton Tianjin Blog (which is admittedly a clunky name. Suggestions? It was shorter the Carleton Dragon Riders’ Blog of Reliving the Journey of Marco Polo affectionately known by its acronym CDRBORJOMP.)

We are staying at a dorm on the Tsinghua University grounds that is significantly nicer than any dorm I’ve ever been in. We have TV’s, coffee tables, individual bathrooms, and complementary sewing kits. Unfortunately we don’t have internet. The University is arguably the best or second best in China and is beautiful. Quiet walks with weeping willows brushing the roads, the canals, and the pond, it is a genuinely gorgeous school or at least this part of it is. It struck me that I was in China when I woke up this morning around 6:45 and went for a walk around the lotus pond which across the street from our dorm. The Lotus pond is very large very pretty and has many scenic lookouts and pagodas. There were old people doing Taichi on platforms over the lake and on the shore just below them were old men who were fishing in the lake. I’m skeptical that there are fish to be caught in that murky, bright green, suffocated water. The Beijing skyline and a major intersection a stone’s throw away and people are fishing; it seemed, somehow, very Chinese. Today we listened to a lecture on Confucianism by Professor Zhao on the Lotus pond’s island. Afterwards we toured Tsinghua University with some students there who I suspect speak English better than I do. We also went to the Summer Palace, which was something like the Emperor’s summer retreat, and it also incredible. Just the sheer number of stairs would have made me bow to the emperor’s will. I will attempt to post pictures of everything soon.

Everyone arrived from their flights fine. The new terminal is mesmerizing. It is 1. huge 2. colorful and 3. bizarrely designed. It is so mesmerizing, in fact, that it didn’t occur to me that I was supposed to wait outside of customs in the other terminal. I sat there thinking “where is everyone?” But oh well. Last night the weather was rainy and depressing (especially when you’re uncertain whether the poor visibility is due to pollution or just the rain.) We could see the Bird’s Nest and slight blue light that we were told was the water cube. Today, however, the sky was clear and blue the temperature was hot but cut by a nice breeze. I will try to write again soon. If you guys have any suggestions or question email me at randolpn@carleton.edu