New Digs

I moved out of the lap of luxury and into my new, permanent Beijing home last night. Very comfortable digs, and it is nice to be with all of the other students now. One can only lounge around in plush robes for so long. Here are some photos of my new place:



The view.



View into the room from the front door.



One of the best parts about my new home is the walk to work -- about 50 mins and a good part of that is in the most beautiful park, called the Black Bamboo Park. Its a huge park with amazing landscaping, a stream that connects a few large lakes with tons of lotuses (loti?). Its definitely a popular park. In the morning there are easily hundreds of people playing all sorts of games or exercising. Plenty of wushu and tai chi groups, but also large groups of women dancing/aerobicizing to music, groups playing a sort of hacky sack game, and -- my personal favorite -- the ladies practicing with their swords! In the evening the feel of the park is definitely more subdued and languid -- couples dangling their feet in the water, families in boats on the lake, and seniors chatting under gondolas. I'll post more pictures of life in the park soon, but for now here are a few of the lake.