Blue Skies

After Monday's snowstorm (which was beautiful — I took a lot of pictures, but it'll be a while before I post them), it's been quite crisp and clear in Beijing, and for the first time, I have been able to see past the apartment buildings across the street. I discovered that there are mountains in the distance, and that you can see the summer palace from our window:

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I commute to work on the train. The ride usually takes about an hour. First I take a taxi to Wudaoko (usually with KP, Juli, and Becca), and then the lightrail to Xizhimen station. Then I transfer to the subway and go to Fuxingmen, and finally I take another subway to Babaoshan.

After I get off the subway I walk across the street and I'm at work. I'm interning at China Radio International. CRI is the Chinese equivalent of Voice of America. It broadcasts throughout the world, particularly in Australia and Africa. My job is to correct grammar. Sometimes I do voiceovers (you know, when somebody is talking, and then someone translates it into English, I'm the English translation guy). KP's coming with me tomorrow, so maybe I will have somebody to ride the train with, if she starts there too.

The building is very impressive. We are on the least impressive floor though, which is the fifth floor, the floor right above the atrium (the bottom floor of the three tower thingies). The reason it's unimpressive is that the balcony blocks our view so we can't see much out of the windows. It's a nice building though. It gets confusing inside because everything is symmetrical. But fortunately, if you walk in a circle you will eventually find what you are looking for. They have a cool little museum that has artifacts such as Mao's loudspeaker from the Founding Ceremony of the P.R.C..