Beijing, at last

Well, not really... I've been in Beijing for, what, since June? That makes it 5 months in this country. Yes, that's right. I'm in Beijing. China. Why? Because my dad had to work. I'm really happy that he's got the opportunity to go to work in such a cool place, but that also meant leaving all my friends behind, my school, even my relatives. Well, I've got a lot to say, considering I've been spending five months in limbo with life. Lemme start with the very beginning.
It started at the breakfast table, one weekend in spring. I forget what month or day it was, all I remember that the day was really bright and sunny. "We might be moving." Those words hit me like a punch to the face. At first, you feel shocked. Then you ask the famous question. "What the heck was that?" Except in my case, it was like this.

Daddy: "Guys, listen up. We might be moving."
Me: "What?"
Daddy: Moving. To china."
Me: ...
Daddy: "Um, I know how you feel, and I-"
Me: "THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME, DAD!!!111!!!"
Daddy: "O...k then. Maybe I don't know how your mind works..."

Yep, I was so excited. Moving? A dream come true. Truth was, I was longing for something new. I had spent 5 years in Massachusetts, in a small community where the headline new was nine-times-out-of-ten "Town hall announces rise in School Funds" or something totally awesome and exciting like that. After five years though, seeing the same faces in your class, spending every summer riding bikes down to the ice-cream store, heaven gets boring. I was hoping I would at least move to Washington, or Texas, or Alaska, or someplace that wasn't where I was right then. So it came as a pleasant surprise when, a few months later, we were all packed up and ready to go. After tearful goodbyes with my friends, exchanging of email addresses, and promises to stay "Friends forever, tied to bind, forget or fall, memories inside", and loads of pictures, I embarked the plane that was my ticket to a new world. And what a new world it was. My dad grew up in Connecticut, in a small town too. My mom was from Taiwan. Two people from very different, and my favorite family story. So, growing up, I was a globally-interactive kid. I've moved at least five times in my life, and spent ten years in the U.S. The rest, my infant years, was spent in Taipei. I frequently had summer vacations to Taiwan, Japan, and Canada. When I was in grade school, I was quite the little braggart.
Emily: "Guess where I went over the summer?"
Me: "Where?"
Emily: "New York City. It was the longest car ride ever! it took four whole hours!"
Me: "Wow. I went to Japan. It took 23 hours to get to Osaka from Detroit."
Emily: "Wow!"
Me: "What?"
Emily: "That's a long car ride! all the way to Japan, that's cross-country!"
Me: "..." *facepalm*

So you can see how amusing this was. Moving on...
I was always going to some exotic place or another. But moving was an entirely different story. I began to have my doubts about moving to China. I wouldn't be entirely mute, because I spent 10 years listening to my mom speaking in her beautiful, enchanting Taiwanese accent. So I could speak some Chinese.
When I finally arrived in Beijing, it was still daytime. (har-har, jet lag for the next couple of weeks) I was sleepy though. So I became a vampire and slept the next couple of days away. When we moved into our apartment, I discovered (to my horror) That I had to share a room and bed with my little sister. Oh, kill me now. I declined sleeping on the couch though. I flopped down on the bed and nearly broke my skull because the mattress was made out of something that felt much like wood. I would have been more comfortable sleeping on the floor. The bed, the computer, the store, and lots of walking was what my world pretty much consisted of (and still does, kinda. although a lot less walking). That concludes the summary of the beginning of Beijing. More to follow, be patient!