Greetings from Tianjin.

Population: 9.8 Million.

The past 24 hours seem to mush together. It was terrible turning away from my family at the airport and even worse climbing the steps into the plane. I felt like I was committing some great mistake by turning away from them.

It was by some strange fate that I made my flight to Beijing after a 2 hour delay at Canton/Akron. The food on my flight over was pretty good and I was able to keep myself occupied until my Ambien-induced stupor took its effect. I was able to get about 8 hours of sleep on my flight… which feels like nothing right now.

Jen, Howard (my boss), and our driver met me at the airport. It takes about 2 hours to get from Beijing to Tianjin. The scenery leaves much to be desired. It's barren and grey. The smog is all-permeating and reminds me of the fog that encompasses Hatteras Island in the morning before a humid rain swallows your body.

I live in a hotel. The three of us on this floor share a kitchen down the hall. I don't plan on preparing anything more than sandwiches and easy-mac as of right now. And for that, it will suffice. Jen and I share a wall. It's nice to know that she's just a knock away. Across the hall is John. He seems nice enough for now.

I was able to sleep off and on last night. I watched some of the olympics and instant messaged family and friends using my cell phone. Howard picked Jen and I up this morning and we bought my cell phone and internet card. After connecting to the internet, I was able to talk to my mom and Josh via Skype.

Afterwards, Jen and I took the subway into the city and I indulged in the best latte of my life.

We attract a lot of attention. In a city of close to 10 million people, only 3,000 are ex-patriates. We are a rare commodity and are treated as such with dead-pan stares and not-so-sublte picture taking. Even the children stare at us.

Tonight, Jen has organized a dinner so that I may meet the other teachers. We are going to get dumplings at a restaurant nearby. I'm not sure how late I will be able to stay awake right now, but I'm getting used to the time-change.

I'm sure I will have more exciting news to share soon... and hopefully I will have more energy to share my experiences.