A text from Beijing

I landed in Beijing around 3pm and immediately received a text welcoming me. Well thank you Beijing, I am happy to be here. The airport was ginormous and somehwat futuristic looking (I'll have to get pictures on my return trip). It took me almost 20 minutes on the "airtrain" to get from my terminal to baggage claim. But what was even more incredible than the airport was the bathrooms! Each stall was about the size of my first NYC studio and cleaner than a hostpital. There were cleaning attendants on duty who would clean up after you washed your hands. Like little magic cleaning gnomes. I want one!

I took the "Olympics-only" exit out because it had less people and was greeted with confused reporters and camera crews whispering "who the hell is that?" As soon as I stopped to call my aunt and uncle who were picking me up, 2 guys from Mexico came over and asked to take pictures with me. I'm huge in Mexico! You didn't know?! Haha.

First impressions of Beijing:

• So clean I could lick the sidewalks (cleaning crews all over the streets)


• Much better air quality than I remembered