Beijing Orientation

Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

Swanky hotel room in Beijing

I arrived in Beijing on August 28 for my English Language Fellow (ELF) Training.  I was delighted by all of the trees, rose buses, and canna lilies that were planted on the major thoroughfare from the airport to downtown.  Apparently this beautification was done for the 2008 Olympics.  Visibility was low because of the pollution but my spirits were high to be in China.

I met the other 5 ELFs none of whom wore pointy green shoes.  4 of the 5 had lived in China for at least a year or more and were positive about their experiences which was a great comfort to me.  We are at universities all around China, so we had our in-country orientation together in Beijing. 

View of Beijing from my hotel room

On our first day of orientation we met with the Fulbright scholars in China.  Gary Locke, our new Ambassador to China, welcomed us to China and talked about the US/China relationship which he stressed was so very important right now given our economic state.  He mentioned there are always misunderstandings between cultures that can be overcome by mutual understanding which is why we are all serving as goodwill ambassadors for the United States. 

Before Ambassador Locke’s presentation, I was in the coffee room loading up on coffee to combat jet lag when I whirled around and almost bumped into him.  My first close encounter with an ambassador almost ended in a coffee disaster.  Whew.  My parents didn’t name me “Grace” for a reason.

Next, we had a briefing by the Embassy Security Officer which was basically to not break any laws because even though we are guests here, we must obey Chinese law.  He did assure us that we would get a monthly visit by a U.S. representative if we were imprisoned.  Ahh.  Now that’s a relief!

Roofline of one of many Pagodas in the Forbidden City

Our orientation also included a visit from the Press Office and the Cultural Affairs Office who filled us in on the status of journalistic freedom in China and the need for us to help promote American culture in China through workshops and lectures.  All in all it was a fascinating orientation that culminated in how to best treat diarrhea by the Embassy doctor.   That conversation puts a whole new spin on the idea of finishing a presentation by “leaving with a bang”. 

Wednesday morning, I took an extremely clean subway down to the Forbidden City to walk around before I left for Chengdu which will be my permanent home in China for the next 10 months.  More about Chengdu later.

Pillars of a Pagoda in the Forbidden City

Outside the Forbidden City