The Commute

Below is a picture of the Third Ring Road which is just outside of our apartment complex. And this is what traffic is like everyday on our way home. Often times traffic is so terrible we get off the bus/taxi on the other side of the road and cross the pedestrian bridge home in order to shave a good 20 minutes off the commute.

Otherwise, we walk just about everywhere on a daily basis: the grocery store, the post office, the bank, the gym, etc. Walking versus jumping into our car did take some adjustment, considering Derek and I would drive to Kowalski's from our home back in Minneapolis to grocery shop (distance: 1/2 mile each way). Now, we often walk 1 mile each way to our local grocery store twice a week. While carrying the bags of groceries on the bitter walk home in the winter, I often encourage myself with, "My arms and legs will be so toned and ripped. This walk is fantastic." Derek's response, "Buck up, Mitchell." Often times I don't think he remembers that I am half his size and that my strides are half the length of his. Picture a Great Dane walking with a Shih Tzu who takes 5 steps per each of the Great Dane's strides and you've got Stace and D (speaking of small dogs, I would like to give a shout out to Ernie and Sammers back home).



But leave it to KG to make us feel at home again. This is a billboard close to our apartment. The Chinese love KG, whenever they ask where we are from and they recognize "Minnesota"--they like to ask us if we know KG. Derek can only wish.

Doing Laundry

My washing machine...needless to say, the Chinese characters threw me off and it took a few cycles to figure out what I was doing.




My dryer. Nobody in Beijing has a dryer! Instead they often hang their clothes outdoors after the wash cycle. But it's so dusty that Derek and I avoid hanging our unmentionables out the window. Luckily, items dry in about 12 hours (even indoors) thanks to the static dry Beijing climate. The clothes dry a little stiff, but we are now accustomed to the starchy feel. However, gone are the days of those freshly dry/slightly tight/butt-hugging jeans. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.

The Class of 2007

Meet the first grade class of 2007. These are Derek's (Mi De Li's) tongxuemen (classmates) at Beijing Normal University. We have gone out to dinner with them on a couple of occasions and they are a really good group. This time, we went out for Korean BBQ...DELICIOUS!





SOJU time! Cheers!





The spread.



Too much soju. The poor girl anxiously awaits the outcome of this magic trick.



The outcome, unbeknownst to her.



Another soju victim.



The Mitchells are still going strong.