Amongst the Haze

Well looks like when you hope for something you better be prepared to take it as it comes! As much as I anticipated a little cloud coverage for the next few days I did not expect for it to be completely miserable outside! Before I came to China I knew a lot about the pollution problems and how bad the air quality was but I definitely did not expect to notice a big difference. Today is one of those days where you can actually feel how bad the air is and actually see it. What seems to look like fog is really a whole lot of air pollution. Also, the fact that it is 88% humid outside does not make matters any better-what can I say other than welcome to Beijing! Weather aside the day is pretty much a good one. Before leaving lab yesterday I was told I needed to brush up on knowing how to make a primer so I pretty much spent all of last night trying to teach that to myself, with, might I add had little success. I ended up sleeping an hour past when my alarm went off and my roommate had to wake me. I basically got ready in 15 minutes then ran to campus to find that of course, even though I was late I was still the first person in the lab-you really cannot help but love Chinese punctuality. Other than that the day was pretty much golden. We did not spend a lot of time in lab because we have lab meetings on Thursdays and those last a little over 3 hours so after people pretty much disperse. Since so many of the grad students in the lab have things they need to finish over the weekend I do not even have to come in to lab tomorrow which gives me a three day weekend. Not matter what country you are in the weekends always bring about a since of joy. I am definitely looking forward to relaxing and hanging out this weekend, it was well earned! As fun as it would be to have a little sun and a nice breeze there is still a lot to discover amongst the smog. Even though I cannot see to far where I am going amongst the smog, charge through the hazy area because at the end of every haze there’s a radiance of light; so what will I discover this weekend?