Made it

Oh boy. Don't even know where to begin. First of all, I am officially in Kunming :) All I want to do right now is go to bed but every person keeps saying "you gotta stay up!!" in order to get on the schedule. My flight to Beijing wasn't horrible but I really didn't get that much sleep. When we landed in Beijing, there were just too many lines to get through and since I had less than an hour between flights, I missed my flight to Kunming (ugh!) but it all worked out perfectly because there was a flight one hour later. After going from desk to desk, asking tons of questions, checking in my baggage again, going through security, and running to the gate, I made the flight and was able to relax. I slept that entire 4 hour flight.

When we arrived in Kunming, I found out they do something different in their airports than in the US. They basically dropped us off in the middle of the runway, piled us on a bus, and then dropped us off at the doors where baggage claim was. I looked around for the ladies that were picking me up for awhile and I began to be frantic because I really had no way of contacting them at the time. Finally I spotted an American woman (you can spot us a mile away) holding a sign that said "Welcome Rebecca Kammer." The woman, Jean, picking me up is my cooperating teacher who I will be working with and the other woman with her was Solveig (hospitality coordinator at KIA). They were so kind and helpful! We then took a 40 minute drive to get to KIA- I got to see the city a little bit and it is very beautiful. The weather is quite perfect.

We arrived to the neighborhood (there is a Chinese name that they call it but can't remember at the moment..) which is like an american neighborhood except instead of houses, there are apartment complexes. And that's just where everyone lives! This neighborhood is also where the school is located. Solveig took me into the apartment and I was able to freshen myself, she had bedding all ready for me, some food items to get me started and there were some flowers and candy on my desk :) We then walked around the neighborhood to get to the school, stopped and ate lunch at a local little restaurant. I ordered a grilled cheese wanted to be safe and it was the best grilled cheese I have ever had! I got a tour of the school and met all my students! They are all so cute and I can't wait to work them...

Everyone here is so nice and helpful. It makes it easier when they are like that! Josalyn arranged for me to borrow someone's bike so I used that a little bit today! I'm learning all kinds of new things.. can't wait to tell you guys more!

Things I've learned about Chinese culture:
2. There is no such thing as waiting in a line. Therefore, you must be assertive.