First Day of Work

Well, I eventually managed to feed myself yesterday but only after I enjoyed a nice 36 hour fasting diet to start the trip... and a seven mile hike on an empty stomach around the Chang Ning district where I live trying to change money or at least find a restaurant that took visa (thanks Erica for the suggestion.) Eventually I made my way to what passes for the "downtown" in my area, where the architecture suddenly turns very western and modern, and found the Sheraton Grand hotel, a nice little 27-story five-star hotel where I definitely did not fit in, sweating my ass off and wandering around in shorts and a drenched polo shirt. The hotel also wouldn't let me change money unless I was a guest (rooms start at $240/night) but they did have the famous Braunstube Deli where I stocked up on meats, some cheese and bread, and hiked it back to my blessedly air conditioned apartment.

After wandering around not being able to communicate with anyone (outside of the big hotels, I only ran into ONE person who spoke English, and he was a skater from Ireland) I eagerly started my Chinese lessons when I got back to the apartment... and promptly lost all hope of ever being able to speak it. I did learn how to say dog and cat, but the accent thing really screws with me, even when I hear it spoken, for some reason I can't replicate it... looks like you were right Robert and Mr. Chao. Anyway, don't want to be late for the first day of work at the hospital so I'm off to shower and eat some more bread, meat and water, truly the breakfast of champions.