Here in one piece

On the flight from SFO I was sitting next to an elderly Chinese couple, permanent US residents who emigrated as adults and spoke rudimentary but enthusiastic English. The concept of "theatre" was difficult to explain to them, but I remembered the Chinese word for it was xi, which they registered noddingly. Of course, there are about a hundred other meanings of xi, so lord knows what they think I'm doing over here.
Was picked up by Molly Hong (most Chinese who speak English give themselves English names, sometimes quite fancifully), our stage manager, a diminutive and spirited being who seems very competent. With her was Wu Ming (no English name he), one of our actors, who is a philosophy student and as tall as Molly is short. His spoken English is quite beautiful, and he pronounces German correctly, too (after all, they make him read Nietzsche, Kant, and Heidegger). We took a cab to Beijing University (Beida), past some of the landmarks of the new Beijing, such as the Olympic stadium, nicknamed the "bird's nest" for its distinctive shape, which glowed in the setting sun.
I have an apartment in Shao Yuan (Spoon Garden) building no. 5, which is part of a complex for foreigners on campus. It's not luxurious, but more spacious than I expected, with a bedroom, bathroom, and den.
I had changed some Yuan in San Francisco, so after a brief campus tour to point out a few practical necessities (cafes and restaurants, a convenience store, etc.) I invited Molly and Wu Ming to dinner. They picked a Yunnan-style restaurant just outside the South Gate of campus, and we had a meal for 80 Yuan (about $11.00) for the three of us, including rice wine. Those prices are about typical.
I spent the rest of the evening unpacking and getting settled, gave Caron a quick call on my US cell phone, and got to bed at about 1 am.