Eric's Beijing Diary

Had dinner with Eric Wu this evening. It was partly to celebrate the second anniversary of my life here in China. Two years ago today, I flew into Beijing from Los Angeles. I didn't know a soul. I had taken the trouble to identify an international church here in Beijing, so the day after I arrived, which was a Saturday evening, I went to the International church, and began to become acquainted with the community.

I don't want to spend a lot of time reiterating stuff that I have already written about extensively in this blog. Briefly, a group of students who could not afford to go home for the winter (Spring Festival) holiday kept in touch with me every day, to make sure I was alright. I sincerely appreciated their kindness (and still do).

So how do I evaluate the last two years in China? I made my decision to move to China in the fall of 2000, so I had three years to prepare. This helped to minimize surprises. In addition, I kept my expectations low, so that most of the surprises I did have were pleasant surprises. In short, it is easier for a single person to live in Beijing than in Tempe, Arizona. I emphasize "single," because I must admit that there are issues that come into play when you have children. Issues that single people don't have to think about. For example, I have been told by several expats that elementary school tuition is quite high for foreigners. But if you don't have children, life in Beijing is just so much simpler than in the average American city. No car payments. No car repairs. No car insurance. No house payment. No rent (my furnished apartment is provided by the college). In Arizona, if you want to take a bus, you may have to walk quite a distance, and the busses don't come very often. If you want to take a taxi, you have to call and wait. Sometimes for quite some time. Here in Beijing, busses run every few minutes, and if you want to take a taxi, just walk out into the street and flag one down.

But most of the time, I just ride my bicycle, which is the other reason for the celebration. Eric took me to a bicycle shop near the West Gate of Qinghua University a little over a year ago, after my first bicycle was stolen. I bought a large frame bike for 320 RMB (about $40 US). Everybody says that is a high price. But it is not that bad for a large frame bicycle. And repair is cheap. Yesterday I was hit by another rider. This minor accident did not affect me at all, but my front tire was turned, and he hit it at full speed, so the rim was bent up pretty badly. I could hardly ride it. I took it to a repair shop. The fix cost me 18 yuan (a little over $2). Today I bought a new basket for 14 RMB (less than $2).

Where will I be two years from now? Hard to tell, because life is always full of changes; I can only hope that I will meet as many nice people in the next two years as I have in the time I have been here.