A day after I arrived, I went to the college where I stay during the week. The bed is uncomfortable, there is no air conditioner (the weather is similar to home), and the traffic outside is loud, but it is free and I have my own refrigerator, living room, and bathroom. Also, I have my own TV which is full of World Cup channels, horrible public programming, and without any channels deemed offensive to the government. The college I am staying at is the Beijing-U.S.A. College of English. I have never seen anything like this. Hundreds of Chinese students, such as Koukia (pronounced similar to "Nokia") in the picture, all have decent English and are studying subjects such as economics, marketing strategies, and business statistics. How many Americans do you know even know how speak Chinese, much less are able to talk about supply and demand or inflation in it? And this doesn't just end here at the university. I've run into many Chinese with English speaking abilities just in the first week. Granted, English is the language of business, evidenced by the countless advertisements that are accompanied by English, but I'm finding that China is a much more globabally minded country. Everyone wants to know where I'm from. Not what country, but what state. Before I came, I could only name one province in China (there are 23). Usually when I tell them I am from Florida, they usually tell me that they've been watching the Heat play in the finals, and how they wish the Rockets and Yao Ming did better (Yao Ming is actually Mongolian born, but is from Shanghai). Also, here very few people like George Bush. Partly because we help Taiwan, which considers itself independent of of China. China, however, considers Taiwan part of China. Regardless, I haven't yet met a Chinese person that wasn't nice and I didn't like. They seem very receptive of foreigners.