Apologies, again, for the long timespan between updates. Hopefully I can make it up to you all with this one.
First, as a note, China's well aware of what's been happening in France and Germany, of the protests there; China itself has been restless over it, both in support of that cause and against it. However, one major thing should be noted here - there's been very little problems toward foreigners as a result. In fact, it's almost been friendlier since then.
The reasoning's pretty simple: most Chinese are willing to accept that if you've come over here - for tourism, study, or business - you can't be that bad of a person. For them, it's the people who haven't seen and don't want to see what's going on in China, how it's changing and developing to meet up with the rest of the developed nations, that they aren't fond of, and even they aren't bad. But those who've been directly involved in the protests make them bitter.
They see the Olympics as a chance at proving this, really. They want to show that, while China may have its problems, they're quickly able to adapt to meet the needs of the people. Frankly, that's true, from what I can tell. It's not a universal trait, but most of them seem willing to work with what they have.
Speaking of change... There's been a lot going on around here, construction-wise. The street's been overcrowded due to them digging out ground for a new subway line, which will hopefully alleviate a lot of the traffic along what is one of this area's busier roads. In addition, the line will directly service a fair bit of the Olympic area.
And in our dormitory, I learned the reason for the bad internet access the past three weeks; apparently they've been working for a while on the wiring and electricity in order to set up a cafe and a restaraunt in the dormitory's spare rooms. I suspect they guess it'll be profitable; the cafe seems to be doing okay, the restaraunt, no one seems to be going to yet. I myself haven't tried it, but plan to with a friend tomorrow. Part of it is that, well, eating out - or even just eating - in China tends to be more communal than back in the States, so it feels more awkward going alone. That, and since right now is a mini-vacation on campus, no one's really around to go there.
The only downside of the past few days has been the weather; hot, smoggy, and generally unpleasant, but still not terrible, all things considered. I'm preparing for when Dad arrives, myself; he has some vacation time, so he decided he'd come out to visit. Trying to plan and find things around Beijing for us to do. Even riding the subway line 13 for the time it's above-ground could make up a bit of a day.
Going to end this update here; a lot of text. Next time I get an update out will likely be with pictures around Beijing as Dad and I tour around!
-Tom
