Tuesday involved the most intense round of Running of the Dragon yet. I had a lot of amateurs with me and to be honest, I was a bit hesitant about their abilities. They weren't complete rookies, but they had only played once before and today was not a day for messing around. Let me give you the play-by-play. It all starts at 8:15am. We arrive at the train station and experience our first wait in line. As one of my esteemed colleagues put it "I can't believe I am waiting in line for the honor to cram myself on to a hot train with all these other people." Chad's frank answer pretty much summed up everything we were thinking. We waited in this line for about 30-45 min. People cut us, apparently America is the only country that recognizes the concept of a line. At one point I was so bored I counted the number of cars that went under the balcony we were on. 169 give or take a few. So bored. We finally get in the building and are corralled until the train below us leaves the station. Once the guards gave the signal every man was for himself, no looking back, just go. There was a mad dash, some pushing, and even some elbowing. Mind you this is BEFORE the transfer station I have spoke of in previous posts were the actual Running of the Dragon event takes place.
So the first train comes and is it completely packed. I mean, full. No room to move. Nothing. A small Chinese woman tried to push herself on and it was even impossible for her to get on. If she couldn't get herself on there was no way five Americans were going to push their way on. While we waited for the next train I decided no matter how many people, I was pushing my way on. Much to my disappointment the next train was not nearly as full. Why was I disappointed? Well, I have spoken of my great ability to push through crowds and I felt like this was my next challenge. I had prepared myself and was let down. Oh well. We are now on the train and during the next two stops it is decided we will in fact attempt at seats on the next train. RUNNING OF THE DRAGON TIME.
My companions were less excited about this than I was. Anyway, the rookies and I readied ourselves. Given their amateur status we got a poor start. It was looking grim, but at the bottom of the stairs I decided I was going to play the part of "naive American." A nice tactic that can be used in emergency situations. Slyly I work my way to the front of one of the lines and encourage people to follow. I eventually push to four across and the train stops in front of me. As the train stops I elbow my way to be the first one on and miraculously all five of us are seated when the train leaves the station. I don't know if you can tell, but this is probably my favorite thing to do each day. I absolutely love it. Plus, I think there is a certain level of entertainment for my readers when I recap the event. I promise, from now on I will no longer write about Running of the Bull, unless it is in passing.
Forty-five minutes and five sudokus later we arrive at our station. So far, it had been a successful day, until Lauren sprinted past me, OUT OF NO WHERE and beat me to check in. Her and Traci had left 30 min after us and now shamed me by beating me to security. I'll get her back. As for training yesterday, we did a mock mixed zone, where we stand to get the quotes. Everyone was pretty confused, but it worked out well. After that we did a mock press conference. I feel like I pretty much suck at this, so I sit quietly waiting for other people to ask questions.
I am slowly discovering that we have been placed in one of the more high profile sports. At first I was a little disheartened when I learned I would be in cycling, but people outside the US love it. All the Aussies and Brits are jealous of us. Until I started training I rolled my eyes and couldn't understand why in the world any one would want to watch this sport. While I already knew this, I have come to realize it is probably one of the most viewed and more popular sports in the rest of the world. Learning this made me VERY excited, but also pretty nervous. I don't want to mess this up. I am learning to love the sport. I finally have a grasp on most of the events and I am slowly learning about all the favorites. We have 188 riders to know about, and that is in track racing alone. It doesn't include BMX or Mountain Biking, both of which we are also covering. The only cycling event I am not covering are the road races. And I wanted to take on volleyball also? Ha. Oh, by the way, we are no longer switching. The woman took to long to decide and the three of us just want to stay at cycling. I can't speak for everyone, but I am really enjoying it in cycling. If anything, it is another sport I can talk about!
I was exhausted last night and fell asleep at 8:45. Yep. Grandma here passed out and never woke up again until 7am. It was the best thing in the entire world. Ten hours of glorious sleep. I didn't even wake up when my roommate came home. Again, this wasn't a deep, insightful post, but my daily activities don't lend themselves to that type of post. I am not allowed to comment on the behind the scenes stuff, so I really can only generalize my day. Bare with me, I'm sure it will get better. Mulan is over and it's time for bed!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
gilligan, and the skipper too....
Monday was the big day...we got our uniforms. Now, before any of you ask, no I do not have a picture yet. How is that possible? Well, we actually started to work and by the time we get home we just want to get out of the things so...I PROMISE by then end of the day tomorrow there will be a photo of me in my DAZZLING uniform, complete with the Gilligan hat, water bottle, and fanny pack (waist pack or hipster whatever your preference). It was on Monday that we decided the official theme song to our trip is the opening song to Gilligan's Island. We even gave people parts...sadly I did not warrant one. I am a guest star.
Day one was pretty low key. I am pretty much in love with our managers. There is Krystyna. I have mentioned her before; she is from Australia but has been living in London for the last seven years. This is her third Olympics. In Athens she was a journalist, able to go to any game and any venue. I can't remember what she did in Sydney, but she was there. Now she has moved up in the ranks and is ONS manager (Olympic News Service Manager). She is so wonderful to have as a "boss" because she is very lax (kind of like the ones I have at Purdue) and doesn't believe in having us there if there is nothing to be done. Paul is our Chinese ONS manager and just the sweetest person ever. He is always smiling. And, I don't know how, but knows all of our names already and can even identify us from the back. That impressed me. He is usually running about working on other things.
Then there is Ernst. He is from Holland and has been working for Infostrata. This is the company that deliver stats to the media and write stories for most of Europe and Australia. He used to be an editor but we found out he has transferred over to the stats department. Amy is also from Australia. She knows everything about every sport. On top of being a reporter, she is a member of the Australian Women's Baseball team. No not softball, baseball, which is so incredibly cool. I think she knows every person who will ride a bike and their back story. We have one final manager coming Andy. I don't know much about him, but he is from America. He is coming off the Tour de France. These people are pretty much living my dream life. Working in sports and traveling around while doing it. I can only hope I can one day do the same thing. I think before I leave here I really am going to love cycling. In any event, all four of these people are pretty much amazing. They are MORE than willing to help us with anything and as any expert does, they love to talk about cycling.
So that is the crew. Other than the 10 of us Purdue students, there are only 3 other people working on flash quotes for cycling. So if you hear a cycling quote, I know the person! Yeahaha! Hopefully I will be able to catch a good one that you all can read! Like I said Monday was spent getting better acquainted with the venue and people. Amy told us what all the lines meant on the track and explained each race to us. I was still a little lost, but she did her best to provide a mini demo, sans bike, which helped a bit. We got to walk out on the track a bit...that was probably the last day I could do it because the athletes are starting to come and training starts next week. (AHHHH!) We then played on the Olympics Facebook. Actually it is a computer program with everything you could ever want to know about the Beijing 2008 Olympics. It has a biography for every athlete, information on the venues, event history, Olympic history...seriously EVERYTHING! We spent an hour or two just looking people up. I love playing with it! There is even a Jahrling in the rowing history!
We ventured home on the train with huge uniform bags in hand. The people on the train were not happy with us for taking up so much space with our bags, but what could we do. The rest of the evening was spent goofing off. Our room hosted movie night again. Andrea and Lauren decided to recreate the Peking Opera make-up (pictures to come later). It was HILARIOUS and pretty well done. I passed out watching Grey's Anatomy.
I don't have any really deep thoughts about my day. There was nothing overly interesting or out of the ordinary to comment on. I promise to have those pictures to you soon, complete with photos of the velodrome.
Day one was pretty low key. I am pretty much in love with our managers. There is Krystyna. I have mentioned her before; she is from Australia but has been living in London for the last seven years. This is her third Olympics. In Athens she was a journalist, able to go to any game and any venue. I can't remember what she did in Sydney, but she was there. Now she has moved up in the ranks and is ONS manager (Olympic News Service Manager). She is so wonderful to have as a "boss" because she is very lax (kind of like the ones I have at Purdue) and doesn't believe in having us there if there is nothing to be done. Paul is our Chinese ONS manager and just the sweetest person ever. He is always smiling. And, I don't know how, but knows all of our names already and can even identify us from the back. That impressed me. He is usually running about working on other things.
Then there is Ernst. He is from Holland and has been working for Infostrata. This is the company that deliver stats to the media and write stories for most of Europe and Australia. He used to be an editor but we found out he has transferred over to the stats department. Amy is also from Australia. She knows everything about every sport. On top of being a reporter, she is a member of the Australian Women's Baseball team. No not softball, baseball, which is so incredibly cool. I think she knows every person who will ride a bike and their back story. We have one final manager coming Andy. I don't know much about him, but he is from America. He is coming off the Tour de France. These people are pretty much living my dream life. Working in sports and traveling around while doing it. I can only hope I can one day do the same thing. I think before I leave here I really am going to love cycling. In any event, all four of these people are pretty much amazing. They are MORE than willing to help us with anything and as any expert does, they love to talk about cycling.
So that is the crew. Other than the 10 of us Purdue students, there are only 3 other people working on flash quotes for cycling. So if you hear a cycling quote, I know the person! Yeahaha! Hopefully I will be able to catch a good one that you all can read! Like I said Monday was spent getting better acquainted with the venue and people. Amy told us what all the lines meant on the track and explained each race to us. I was still a little lost, but she did her best to provide a mini demo, sans bike, which helped a bit. We got to walk out on the track a bit...that was probably the last day I could do it because the athletes are starting to come and training starts next week. (AHHHH!) We then played on the Olympics Facebook. Actually it is a computer program with everything you could ever want to know about the Beijing 2008 Olympics. It has a biography for every athlete, information on the venues, event history, Olympic history...seriously EVERYTHING! We spent an hour or two just looking people up. I love playing with it! There is even a Jahrling in the rowing history!
We ventured home on the train with huge uniform bags in hand. The people on the train were not happy with us for taking up so much space with our bags, but what could we do. The rest of the evening was spent goofing off. Our room hosted movie night again. Andrea and Lauren decided to recreate the Peking Opera make-up (pictures to come later). It was HILARIOUS and pretty well done. I passed out watching Grey's Anatomy.
I don't have any really deep thoughts about my day. There was nothing overly interesting or out of the ordinary to comment on. I promise to have those pictures to you soon, complete with photos of the velodrome.
Monday, July 28, 2008
strange things are happening....
Dear God. If I never shop another day in my life I will be the happiest person on the planet. We left the University at 9:30AM to go shopping and did not come back until 7:00PM. Enough said.
I have already talked about shopping about 2,000 times, there isn't much more I can say. Although, it was noticed by Val that all these stores are over-staffed. In America there would be one person, maybe two on the floor and then one behind the counter. Here, there are four behind the counter, eight on the floor, and one or two greeting customers at the door. The people on the floor are so excited to actually get to do something they follow you around the whole store. My favorite part of the day was this convo...
worker: "Where are you from?"
Me: "The United States."
Worker: "Ohhh. U.S.A. California?"
Me: "No, Chicago."
Worker: "Ohhh. Bulls! Michael Jordan. Beautiful thing."
I just laughed. As everyone has told me, people in China love their NBA and they all love Michael Jordan. I rarely even think of MJ anymore. He was so excited. It was cute.
Other than that the day was fairly uneventful.
As I mentioned previously, the city is in the first stages of it's Olympic manicure. Other than a sign or two, two weeks ago you would have no clue the Olympics were starting in a month, but now you would have to be a complete moron to not know. There are banners everywhere, on light poles, buildings, overpasses on the highway. They have also started putting up displays (for lack of a better word.) This is the best way I can describe them...they are a metal outline with a hollow center that is filled with flowers to give it color. Anyway, they are popping up everywhere, in front of the mall, all over Tien'anmen Square. I have never seen any transformation like this before. At school they make things look all pretty for
Homecoming or Christmas but NEVER to this extent. Not to say that it should, I mean this is the Olympics, but that is the only basis of comparison I have. It is crazy. Even though we were only here for a few weeks and never experience the city pre-Olympics, I feel like they are changing my city. I can only imagine what it feels like for people who have lived here their entire lives and watched their home completely change. I realize this is all part of hosting the Olympics, but it worries me to think about how much Chicago might change if they win the 2016 bid. That is neither here nor there, just random thoughts.
The best indication that something big is coming is that tourists are flocking to the city. We noticed more white people in the mall yesterday. It was funny because we were offended by this. For the last three weeks we were essentially the only white people in this city and suddenly, out of nowhere, other people are showing up. We feel like they are invading our turf...you would think it was our own country. They don't know how to use the subway. They think that if a person doesn't understand raising their voice will make it better. We get embarrassed by them.
Well....I just thought I would give you an update. Nothing exciting happened at all. I will make sure tomorrow's is better! Have a good day!
I have already talked about shopping about 2,000 times, there isn't much more I can say. Although, it was noticed by Val that all these stores are over-staffed. In America there would be one person, maybe two on the floor and then one behind the counter. Here, there are four behind the counter, eight on the floor, and one or two greeting customers at the door. The people on the floor are so excited to actually get to do something they follow you around the whole store. My favorite part of the day was this convo...
worker: "Where are you from?"
Me: "The United States."
Worker: "Ohhh. U.S.A. California?"
Me: "No, Chicago."
Worker: "Ohhh. Bulls! Michael Jordan. Beautiful thing."
I just laughed. As everyone has told me, people in China love their NBA and they all love Michael Jordan. I rarely even think of MJ anymore. He was so excited. It was cute.
Other than that the day was fairly uneventful.
As I mentioned previously, the city is in the first stages of it's Olympic manicure. Other than a sign or two, two weeks ago you would have no clue the Olympics were starting in a month, but now you would have to be a complete moron to not know. There are banners everywhere, on light poles, buildings, overpasses on the highway. They have also started putting up displays (for lack of a better word.) This is the best way I can describe them...they are a metal outline with a hollow center that is filled with flowers to give it color. Anyway, they are popping up everywhere, in front of the mall, all over Tien'anmen Square. I have never seen any transformation like this before. At school they make things look all pretty for
Homecoming or Christmas but NEVER to this extent. Not to say that it should, I mean this is the Olympics, but that is the only basis of comparison I have. It is crazy. Even though we were only here for a few weeks and never experience the city pre-Olympics, I feel like they are changing my city. I can only imagine what it feels like for people who have lived here their entire lives and watched their home completely change. I realize this is all part of hosting the Olympics, but it worries me to think about how much Chicago might change if they win the 2016 bid. That is neither here nor there, just random thoughts. The best indication that something big is coming is that tourists are flocking to the city. We noticed more white people in the mall yesterday. It was funny because we were offended by this. For the last three weeks we were essentially the only white people in this city and suddenly, out of nowhere, other people are showing up. We feel like they are invading our turf...you would think it was our own country. They don't know how to use the subway. They think that if a person doesn't understand raising their voice will make it better. We get embarrassed by them.
Well....I just thought I would give you an update. Nothing exciting happened at all. I will make sure tomorrow's is better! Have a good day!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
a self-guided beijing bike tour...
I woke up this morning thinking today was going to be a wasted day. To be honest, I kind of wanted it to be. I am really into my book, The Other Boleyn Girl, and I was totally content with laying in my bed reading it all day. However, around 9:30 I became restless, apparently I was feeling better. I found out Leroy, Andrea, and Kesley were planning on a city bike tour. How could I pass up a bike tour in Beijing? Uhh, correct answer, YOU CAN'T! We hopped on to the subway and headed towards the Forbidden City. The tour that is mapped out in Leroy's National Geographic book starts at the FC. Apparently, Nat'l Geographic thinks that we all travel with our bikes because it does not tell us where we can rent such a thing. It is decided to start walking the tour and eventually we have to come upon a bike rental. About 30 minutes later we passed one rental that only had two bikes, we needed four. We arrive at this park which according to the book "is a MUST see." The park was beautiful. It had a HUGE lily pond and a couple temples scattered about. We headed aimlessly down the path to see what was there. We stumbled upon a couple different Chinese folk bands...I guess that is what you would call them...and people crowded around them to listen.
Once we exited the park we finally found a bike rental. I was sure this was how I was meant to die. I have already explained traffic to you: do as you wish. Well there is this "bike lan
e" except any car that is trying to pass another car, or any bus or taxi dropping people off can entire the bike lane. So not only am I trying to navigate away from pedestrians and other moving objects, like motorized bikes and rickshaws, but now I am dodging large buses and cars. Excellent. We start in one direction and realize we have missed our street for the self-guided Beijing Bike Tour. I, ever so brilliantly, start to cross the street to change directions, but instead get caught in the middle of the intersection. It was at this point that I saw my life pass before me. Cars were turning left in front of me. Other cars were pulling up behind me, I really thought I was going to die. Thankfully I maneuvered myself out of the situation and was back on track. There were other close calls throughout the two hour tour but generally we stayed pretty safe. Some how during this adventure we ended up riding through the Forbidden City. It was kind of crazy. It was an exciting few hours, but given the small, non-padded bike seat I now hurt in places that I have never hurt before. I am hoping the recovery time for such a thing is short. I'll keep you posted. Dinner tonight was probably my favorite thus far...a small Italian place. They gave us bread with oil and I had mushroom risotto...scrumtrulecent! The best part of the entire meal was getting to speak the minimal Italian I know to the manager. Despite my lack of confidence with the language while in Italy, I was excited and ready to use the language today. He was pretty impressed, ha. Anyway...so great. I wish I could have moved the entire restaurant right outside our gates so I could go everyday. It was like home to me. Yeahaha!
Tonight has been another low key night. A couple people went out, but the rest of us decided upon another night of blogging and relaxation. There really isn't much to do here at night unless you are going to the bars and that excitement wore off about a week ago.
Tomorrow is hopefully our last day off for a while. I am so anxious to get started. The photo people weren't off this weekend and they got their uniforms. Which is good news for all of you because that means the much desired uniform photo is on the way! I am also pretty stoked because the Daily Herald wants three of us to write a separate blog for them. (I guess I will have to start proof reading more.) It's not like it is going to be printed or anything, but it is still, in the most minimal way, writing for the Herald!! Yeahaha.
Have a great day everyone!
Friday, July 25, 2008
oooh the drama...
The Chinese stomach flu won, but not before MUCH drama ensued over the weekend trip to Shanghai. It all started shortly after my Wednesday night post. Lauren found cheaper plane tickets and needed all our information. Simple right? Plug and chug on the Internet and we're off on Friday morning. Wrong-O! 7:30 Thursday morning Lauren receives Chinese text messages, followed by a phone call. "Hello, Thomas and Jahrling do not have a ticket home. The plane was full." Ok easy enough, book a return flight all is good. Wrong, again. Phone call two of the day, "We need Traci to fax a copy of her passport and credit card and fill out this form (in Chinese) she has been red flagged." WHAAAAT? How is Traci flagged? Plan B - - Kelsey pays for Traci's ticket and Traci will pay her back. Around 1:00 a series of phone calls came asking for all our passports and credit card info because we were using international credit cards. A little shady, but they assured us all was good. Phone call 6,388 comes at about 3:30, "Hi sorry. When I talked to you this morning I cancelled Thomas and Jahrling's entire flight. They have no way there now." ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!?!?!? This is when I decided I needed out. Not only was this the biggest pain in the butt, EVER, but the evil flu was really starting to take over. Once again Patrick saved the day. He called to cancel the two tickets and they told him they were going to charge us a fee. After a long convo and a returned phone call (and him making them apologize to HIM ha) we were out with no fee. That was not the end of the drama. Kesley called at about 11PM to make sure everything was ok, Traci had no ticket booked for her. Sooo long and short, no Shanghai and I am not overly disappointed. While it would have been cool, it would have cost a lot for one weekend. Plus, Chinese stomach flu was going to make me extra crabby.
The drama of yesterday and the flu left me exhausted today (Friday). At 6:10 my alarm went off. I reluctantly rolled out of bed, still debating if it was even worth it to head out to the Main Press Center to try for tickets. (fyi: the last batch of tickets went on sale today to the general public) Three of us brave souls decided to subway it up, with a sub par performance at Running of the Dragon, it really wasn't my day. About 40 min later we arrive at the MPC area and realize we GROSSLY under estimated the local interest in the Games. Over 200,000 people showed up for limited tickets and everyone was allowed two tickets. Sadly, we were in such a rush to leave this morning that all three of us forgot our cameras to document this event. After about 30 minutes and a stroll around the area, we realized how naive and stupid we were to think that we could show up two hours before the tickets were on sale and expect to get some. We left empty handed and a little distraught.
The drama of yesterday and the flu left me exhausted today (Friday). At 6:10 my alarm went off. I reluctantly rolled out of bed, still debating if it was even worth it to head out to the Main Press Center to try for tickets. (fyi: the last batch of tickets went on sale today to the general public) Three of us brave souls decided to subway it up, with a sub par performance at Running of the Dragon, it really wasn't my day. About 40 min later we arrive at the MPC area and realize we GROSSLY under estimated the local interest in the Games. Over 200,000 people showed up for limited tickets and everyone was allowed two tickets. Sadly, we were in such a rush to leave this morning that all three of us forgot our cameras to document this event. After about 30 minutes and a stroll around the area, we realized how naive and stupid we were to think that we could show up two hours before the tickets were on sale and expect to get some. We left empty handed and a little distraught.These two events lead me to my latest observations: 1. Americans are coddled like little children and 2. Americans are naive, especially when traveling abroad. The entire Shanghai drama is a perfect example of both points. Booking a trip here is not like booking a trip at home. You cannot just jump on the Internet the day before and have it done five minutes later. It was just ridiculous of us to think that we could just jump on a plane 24 hours after discovering we had free time. When it comes to getting Olympic tickets, HOW STUPID were we?! Seriously. As my roommate said, "You can't go to the Purdue box office 2 hours before and expect to get tickets. How can you expect to do that in a city with 16 million people?" Uhh duh! We were told that the Chinese interest in the Olympics is minimal. Whether or not that is true is a moo point; even if interest is low that means, in a city with 16 million people, about 200,000 people will show up. I guess all this ranting is just me annoyed at myself for being a typical American abroad. I thought I knew better. (Large sigh)
Because of my early rise and the evil sickness that I caught, I spent most of the day in my bed. I organized my photos for all of you; they are now categorized by events and locations. I then separated the photo link out on the side bar to make it easier to find. After a three hour nap and a refreshing shower, I was feeling 10x's better. All ready for the exciting evening...Tim's BBQ. Now before I talk about Tim's let me just explain why we are eating so much western food. It is not because we are ignorant Americans who are unwilling to explore the local food offerings. It is because if we eat that much Chinese food we get very ill. We did it for a week. It wasn't good news. So, typically we eat Chinese food for lunch and western food for dinner. I know it is not the best way to do things, but it is the only way that will bring me home alive. Tangent over. Tim's BBQ, SO FREAKING GOOD! The nachos were AMAZING. The beef burrito was not ground beef, but a pulled pork type beef with BBQ sauce. DELICIOUS. To top it off...THEY HAD RANCH. It was my first taste of ranch in almost a month. Just all around a great idea.
Everyone decided it was a movie night so my computer and iTunes hosted "Remember the Titans."
I am nearing the end of week three, and unlike the first two weeks, this week has gone by much faster. It worries me that we might have taken our first two weeks for granted. From here on out it is going to fly by, especially once the Olympics come. I can't wait for them to start. OOOh and you all should try to watch, at least on NBC.com because you will most DEFINITELY get to see me on tv if I am waiting for a flash quote. EEEK!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
hungry eyes...
Work started today. Even after our eventful Tuesday evening, everyone was up and rearing to go. While on the train it was decided a rousing game of Musical Subway or Running of the Bull (maybe that should be Running of the Dragon?) was necessary since we assumed it was going to be a long ride. I won...again. I am telling you, if this were an Olympic event I would NOT be here flash quoting and I would likely be flying home with a gold medal. Anyway, essentially we all won because we all got a seat on the train but I got there first. I win. An hour later, we were VERY grateful we played Musical Subway...total commute time 1 hour and 5 min (not including the walk to the train or from the train to the venue.) While on the train I made friends with a two year old Chinese boy. He was not happy his mother decided on the train for the day, but the two of us played an exciting round of peek-a-boo, followed by ugly faces, and capped off with a couple tongue stick outs. It was fun and he was adorable. (question: is bringing home a Chinese infant an acceptable souvenir?)
When we arrived at our stop we immediately set out for food. Then we remembered what Krystyna told us, there is no food places out there, eat before you come. That game was over. Krystyna and Paul (not the same guy who owns the restaurant) met us and we walked to the venue. Security was already up so we had our first experience with that...I felt so important. The venue is beautiful, however, I am retarded and did not bring my camera so I am waiting to steal photos from other people. (Mom says I need more color in the blog, so I will make my best effort to start adding photos.)
The ten of us were like little children on Christmas. We walked out on to the main floor and everyone just had a glow in their eyes. Even though the venue isn't huge, it was easy to see no one knew where to look first. The press tribunes, the track, the medal podium. Ours eyes darted back and forth feasting on anything we could see. It was agreed that this is probably the coolest thing we had ever done. While we were there the Chinese cheerleaders were practicing some dance, which we are learning so that we can perform if needed, and the
other volunteers were training for their jobs. It was surreal. I couldn't believe that I was standing on the floor of an Olympic venue...oh but it got better. We then went out on to the track and walked that for a while, followed by a tour of the BMX venue and a walk up to the gate where they start the events. After that we were done for the day. Sadly no uniforms and we were told to take the weekend off. I know, rough life. So the exciting plan is - Shanghai!! The girls that aren't in photo are all going to take an overnight train to Shanghai, spend all day Friday and Saturday there and then take an overnight train back. At least, that was the plan as of 2 hours ago. I have been sequestered in my room due to the flu situation addressed in the last blog. We seriously need an infirmary so that we don't keep spreading this around.
We'll see what actually happens with the Shanghai thing, but it sounds promising. I'm excited to go to another city to see the differences. According to our professor Beijing and Shanghai are WORLDS apart. I will make sure to update you on my findings. Right now though it is time for some meds and bed. I will not let the Chinese stomach flu keep me from Shanghai.
When we arrived at our stop we immediately set out for food. Then we remembered what Krystyna told us, there is no food places out there, eat before you come. That game was over. Krystyna and Paul (not the same guy who owns the restaurant) met us and we walked to the venue. Security was already up so we had our first experience with that...I felt so important. The venue is beautiful, however, I am retarded and did not bring my camera so I am waiting to steal photos from other people. (Mom says I need more color in the blog, so I will make my best effort to start adding photos.)
The ten of us were like little children on Christmas. We walked out on to the main floor and everyone just had a glow in their eyes. Even though the venue isn't huge, it was easy to see no one knew where to look first. The press tribunes, the track, the medal podium. Ours eyes darted back and forth feasting on anything we could see. It was agreed that this is probably the coolest thing we had ever done. While we were there the Chinese cheerleaders were practicing some dance, which we are learning so that we can perform if needed, and the
other volunteers were training for their jobs. It was surreal. I couldn't believe that I was standing on the floor of an Olympic venue...oh but it got better. We then went out on to the track and walked that for a while, followed by a tour of the BMX venue and a walk up to the gate where they start the events. After that we were done for the day. Sadly no uniforms and we were told to take the weekend off. I know, rough life. So the exciting plan is - Shanghai!! The girls that aren't in photo are all going to take an overnight train to Shanghai, spend all day Friday and Saturday there and then take an overnight train back. At least, that was the plan as of 2 hours ago. I have been sequestered in my room due to the flu situation addressed in the last blog. We seriously need an infirmary so that we don't keep spreading this around. We'll see what actually happens with the Shanghai thing, but it sounds promising. I'm excited to go to another city to see the differences. According to our professor Beijing and Shanghai are WORLDS apart. I will make sure to update you on my findings. Right now though it is time for some meds and bed. I will not let the Chinese stomach flu keep me from Shanghai.
come buy pearls...
Apparently the Chinese stomach virus is slowly creeping up on the sixteen of us. Four people have been hit, and I seem to be the next target. Don't you worry. I am not letting a stupid little flu stop me!
Yesterday I FINALLY made it to the Pearl Market. Given my lack of knowledge on these types of things, it was the most overwhelming situation. You walk in the door and INSTANTLY all the people at their stalls perk up. "Lady you like my pearls? Come buy pearls." Ahh! Over 150 pearl stalls....and that is just one floor. I didn't know where to go, what to look for, or what was good. I took a while to just take everything in. The good thing was I was part of the last wave of people to go so I got to see other people's pearls, which at least gave me a basis for comparison.
Finally, after wandering the entire floor I just had to bite it and pick a stall. I arrived at number 73. A very nice young girl and her mother. She had AMAZING English. I asked for 20 inches and she knew exactly what I had requested and set right to work. They string the pearls right in front of you, making a knot after each pearl. The two of them were so quick. Vivian was her English name and we had a very nice conversation about who I was bringing the pearls home for. I left after getting two full sets but found myself right back there five minutes later. I had a sense of loyalty to her. She made a few more sets and I was off on my merry way. I actually really enjoyed the entire experience. I got to practice my bartering skills and I felt very accomplished at the end of the day. I can't go into too many details seeing as many of you reading this will personally benefit from my trip there. I can now come home, seeing that was the only thing I was TOLD to get.
The three of us did NOT want to take the subway back because it was 100+ degrees out yesterday. We walked up to a cab, bartered for a better price and even got him to stop at Starbucks on the way home for a little frap action. I loved this cab driver. He too had really good English, which we were both impressed and surprised by. He proceeded to tell us that he knows very little English and he learned by listening to tapes for the last two years. When he was in school there were 45 people in his class and he was number 44 in English but he decided to start learning again for when tourists came for the Olympics. It was really touching and it made me think about how we take so many things for granted. I don't want to get all emotional or preachy, I was just another eye-opening experience.
Yesterday was also the roommate's birthday...we celebrated as any American college students would, which resulted in probably over 1000 pictures taken of last night alone. The highlight of the evening: Durty Nellie's in China. That's right. I have now been to Durty Nellie's in America, Ireland, and China. It was the PERFECT idea (pat on the back for the person who thought of it...MEE!!) We had dinner and even got to watch a little baseball. Later we went to a bar called The China Doll, so amazing. Inside they have a little beach area, complete with sand (Laura you'd love it) and outside there is a rooftop bar that was so wonderful. I may have gotten 10,000 mosquito bites, but it was worth every itchy little bite. Overall, another successful day in Beijing. (Oh just found another bite! SWEET!)
Yesterday I FINALLY made it to the Pearl Market. Given my lack of knowledge on these types of things, it was the most overwhelming situation. You walk in the door and INSTANTLY all the people at their stalls perk up. "Lady you like my pearls? Come buy pearls." Ahh! Over 150 pearl stalls....and that is just one floor. I didn't know where to go, what to look for, or what was good. I took a while to just take everything in. The good thing was I was part of the last wave of people to go so I got to see other people's pearls, which at least gave me a basis for comparison.
Finally, after wandering the entire floor I just had to bite it and pick a stall. I arrived at number 73. A very nice young girl and her mother. She had AMAZING English. I asked for 20 inches and she knew exactly what I had requested and set right to work. They string the pearls right in front of you, making a knot after each pearl. The two of them were so quick. Vivian was her English name and we had a very nice conversation about who I was bringing the pearls home for. I left after getting two full sets but found myself right back there five minutes later. I had a sense of loyalty to her. She made a few more sets and I was off on my merry way. I actually really enjoyed the entire experience. I got to practice my bartering skills and I felt very accomplished at the end of the day. I can't go into too many details seeing as many of you reading this will personally benefit from my trip there. I can now come home, seeing that was the only thing I was TOLD to get.
The three of us did NOT want to take the subway back because it was 100+ degrees out yesterday. We walked up to a cab, bartered for a better price and even got him to stop at Starbucks on the way home for a little frap action. I loved this cab driver. He too had really good English, which we were both impressed and surprised by. He proceeded to tell us that he knows very little English and he learned by listening to tapes for the last two years. When he was in school there were 45 people in his class and he was number 44 in English but he decided to start learning again for when tourists came for the Olympics. It was really touching and it made me think about how we take so many things for granted. I don't want to get all emotional or preachy, I was just another eye-opening experience.
Yesterday was also the roommate's birthday...we celebrated as any American college students would, which resulted in probably over 1000 pictures taken of last night alone. The highlight of the evening: Durty Nellie's in China. That's right. I have now been to Durty Nellie's in America, Ireland, and China. It was the PERFECT idea (pat on the back for the person who thought of it...MEE!!) We had dinner and even got to watch a little baseball. Later we went to a bar called The China Doll, so amazing. Inside they have a little beach area, complete with sand (Laura you'd love it) and outside there is a rooftop bar that was so wonderful. I may have gotten 10,000 mosquito bites, but it was worth every itchy little bite. Overall, another successful day in Beijing. (Oh just found another bite! SWEET!)
Monday, July 21, 2008
sing a mean tune kid...
Dr. Al used to tell us "I want you to get on the wrong train, going in the wrong direction, with the wrong currency." It sounds malicious, but his philosophy behind it is well sounded. Basically, he knew that we would never grow when everything was going according to plan; it was those moments when everything collapsed that we learned the most. I didn't have many of these experiences while in Europe. There was a minor glitch when we went to Florence, missing the connection train and trying to communicate with the woman at the ticket office, but for the most part everything was fine. That is not the case here. Yesterday I had my first real, wrong train, wrong direction experience, except it was a wrong cab, wrong direction, and wrong language. A deadly combo. After the Olympic store (for the third time), Val and I hailed a cab. Armed with a sheet that had Wal-Mart written in Chinese characters, the cab driver read the paper, nodded yes, and we jumped in. Wal-Mart was probably only 10 blocks away, but to walk that with as many bags as we had did not seem like a fun experience. Enter cab driver. He starts to pull away and gestures left and right. I assumed he was asking which Wal-Mart we wanted, so I gestured right indicating we wanted the one to the right. We started on our way and quickly we realized that the cab driver did not have the same Wal-Mart in mind. The cab continued further and further south, we needed to be going north-east. There was a glimmer of hope when he pulled a u-turn and headed north but then he stopped. No Wal-Mart in sight he made a phone call. This led us to believe he was back on track. Not so much. After heading too far east he then started to go south again. All I could think about was, when am I going to do when he drops us off in some remote location? How are we going to get back home? We finally arrive at another Wal-Mart, God only knows where and he triumphantly lets us out. Val and I were just grateful that he did not drop us on the side of the road, as it originally seemed he was planning to do. We were a bit worried that we would not be able to find a cab back home and furthermore, one that knew where the University was located. Luckily, after a brief scare, the cab knew where to go and proudly practiced his English with us. No more taxis to Wal-Mart. Lesson learned.
Saturday we immersed ourselves with the local running of the bull, yesterday night we did what everyone must do when coming to China...KARAOKE!!! Getting people moving in a forward motion is a task and half. We started at 6:00 and were not out the door until almost 9:30...THANKS A LOT TRACI. (You better know I am kidding.) Once everyone was ready, we walked to the local karaoke bar, not before making a short pit stop at McDonald's for those of us who hydrated while getting ready. Karaoke here is VERY different from home. You don't sit in a large room and watch as people humiliate themselves. I suspect this has something to do with the cultural concept of saving face and not embarrassing each other. Anyway, we arrive and we are given our own room with a screen and two mics. Chad figured out how to read Chinese and we begin what was an exciting night of karaoke, complete with 'N Sync, Spice Girls, Titanic (that's for you Laura) and other classic karaoke songs. We walked home, thus putting an end to another crazy evening in Beijing.
Since today is a day of rest in China, we have once again pulled out the kiddie pool and will be relaxing on the roof. Wednesday work begins and we couldn't be more excited. It has been nice having a few weeks off, but just as Olympic fever is taking over the city, we too are caught up in the glitz and glamor that is the Olympics. Each day we grow a little more restless and ache to see our venue and start work. The athletes are beginning to arrive (no Molly I have not seen Michael Phelps) and we are quickly watching the city change. Flowers and trees are being planted, the three new subway lines opened, and the special Olympic traffic laws are going into effect. It is exciting and interesting to watch the city transform, but that's another story for another day. Right now it's time for me to go play in the kiddie pool!
Saturday we immersed ourselves with the local running of the bull, yesterday night we did what everyone must do when coming to China...KARAOKE!!! Getting people moving in a forward motion is a task and half. We started at 6:00 and were not out the door until almost 9:30...THANKS A LOT TRACI. (You better know I am kidding.) Once everyone was ready, we walked to the local karaoke bar, not before making a short pit stop at McDonald's for those of us who hydrated while getting ready. Karaoke here is VERY different from home. You don't sit in a large room and watch as people humiliate themselves. I suspect this has something to do with the cultural concept of saving face and not embarrassing each other. Anyway, we arrive and we are given our own room with a screen and two mics. Chad figured out how to read Chinese and we begin what was an exciting night of karaoke, complete with 'N Sync, Spice Girls, Titanic (that's for you Laura) and other classic karaoke songs. We walked home, thus putting an end to another crazy evening in Beijing.
Since today is a day of rest in China, we have once again pulled out the kiddie pool and will be relaxing on the roof. Wednesday work begins and we couldn't be more excited. It has been nice having a few weeks off, but just as Olympic fever is taking over the city, we too are caught up in the glitz and glamor that is the Olympics. Each day we grow a little more restless and ache to see our venue and start work. The athletes are beginning to arrive (no Molly I have not seen Michael Phelps) and we are quickly watching the city change. Flowers and trees are being planted, the three new subway lines opened, and the special Olympic traffic laws are going into effect. It is exciting and interesting to watch the city transform, but that's another story for another day. Right now it's time for me to go play in the kiddie pool!
running of the bulls...
The boys learned a valuable lesson early Saturday morning...never wake Megan and Alysha at 4:30 in the morning. We very much value our sleep, especially in the early morning. At about 4:30, two of my fellow travelers decided it would be fun to BANG on our doors. I am not talking a light, tap that says "Hey! Are you for some absurd reason still awake at 4 am?" I am talking a pounding that startles you into thinking that there is some one on the other side of the door wanting to kill you. We let them know that banging on our door was not an acceptable morning activity; I am convinced they will never do that again. A few hours later, at a reasonable hour, we attempted to leave quickly, so the boys had time to think about their actions. Sadly our attempt was foiled when Lauren got locked out, thus delaying the quick exit.
None of us had any real plans for the day, so we just got on the train and went. This is when we played Musical Trains, a delightful game for all ages. Here is how the train system works. We are out in the 4th ring of Beijing (I think there are 10) What we have to do is get on the train here, then transfer at another station to get into town. For the last two weeks we have watched in awe as people prepare for this transfer. When approaching the station people ready themselves at the door, there is a mad dash off the train, followed by a sprint up the stairs and over to the next train. As the next train comes everyone pushes and essentially falls into the next train...all of this is in attempt to get a seat on the train. It's kind of like the running of the bulls, maybe more dangerous. So, since we are trying to absorb as much culture as we can, we decided to participate in this event. Lauren (with video camera in hand), Alysha, and I took our positions and readied ourselves for this extraordinary event. The doors opened and WE WERE OFF. I was a rookie, but I took the lead blocking position. If I messed this up it was game over, no seat on the train. I was a bit nervous, but given my ability to swerve through crowds I had confidence I could perform like a veteran. I plowed my way up the steps and rushed around the corner, bypassing those who were less prepared. We arrived at the next platform in good position, second in line, meaning that when the train arrived we could push to four across. A few moments later the train arrived and we were pushed ourselves on...elbows out ready to throw punches for a spot, we made it on and all three of us had seats. We owe a lot of our success to the train driver who stopped the train right in front of us. This was crucial. Had he even been a foot off all would have been lost. I suggest this event for all those who come to Beijing.
After our delightful ride we went to the "Friendship Store," which had a English bookstore in it (very hard to find here.) Everything was too expensive, but just to see an entire article in English was exciting. Lunch was at Paul's again, where we amazing ran into the rest of our group. Apparently we all had the same craving. I have never seen three girls eat faster. Not only were we starving because it was two in the afternoon, but it was Paul's. The man has the best food and it is piping hot when it comes out. We went from full plates to completely empty in about 7 minutes. It was amazing. The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping and roaming around Beijing.
Throughout our travels I noticed the stark contrast between places like the Silk Market versus the malls. They are worlds apart and there is very little to choose from in between. The Silk Market and the like are all about getting the best deal possible for things that do not scream quality. You could barter for twenty minutes just to get a knock-off Prada or a pair of shoes that will be unwearable within a month. On the other hand, there is the mall. Chalk full of places like Gucci, Armani Exchange, and Burberry. We walk though the mall feeling completely under dressed and as though we do not belong there. There is no middle ground, which is a hard concept for all of us to grasp.
Since some people will still hurting from the night before, we all retreated to our own rooms for the night and went to bed pretty early. No crazy antics Saturday night. Sunday would be a different story.
None of us had any real plans for the day, so we just got on the train and went. This is when we played Musical Trains, a delightful game for all ages. Here is how the train system works. We are out in the 4th ring of Beijing (I think there are 10) What we have to do is get on the train here, then transfer at another station to get into town. For the last two weeks we have watched in awe as people prepare for this transfer. When approaching the station people ready themselves at the door, there is a mad dash off the train, followed by a sprint up the stairs and over to the next train. As the next train comes everyone pushes and essentially falls into the next train...all of this is in attempt to get a seat on the train. It's kind of like the running of the bulls, maybe more dangerous. So, since we are trying to absorb as much culture as we can, we decided to participate in this event. Lauren (with video camera in hand), Alysha, and I took our positions and readied ourselves for this extraordinary event. The doors opened and WE WERE OFF. I was a rookie, but I took the lead blocking position. If I messed this up it was game over, no seat on the train. I was a bit nervous, but given my ability to swerve through crowds I had confidence I could perform like a veteran. I plowed my way up the steps and rushed around the corner, bypassing those who were less prepared. We arrived at the next platform in good position, second in line, meaning that when the train arrived we could push to four across. A few moments later the train arrived and we were pushed ourselves on...elbows out ready to throw punches for a spot, we made it on and all three of us had seats. We owe a lot of our success to the train driver who stopped the train right in front of us. This was crucial. Had he even been a foot off all would have been lost. I suggest this event for all those who come to Beijing.
After our delightful ride we went to the "Friendship Store," which had a English bookstore in it (very hard to find here.) Everything was too expensive, but just to see an entire article in English was exciting. Lunch was at Paul's again, where we amazing ran into the rest of our group. Apparently we all had the same craving. I have never seen three girls eat faster. Not only were we starving because it was two in the afternoon, but it was Paul's. The man has the best food and it is piping hot when it comes out. We went from full plates to completely empty in about 7 minutes. It was amazing. The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping and roaming around Beijing.
Throughout our travels I noticed the stark contrast between places like the Silk Market versus the malls. They are worlds apart and there is very little to choose from in between. The Silk Market and the like are all about getting the best deal possible for things that do not scream quality. You could barter for twenty minutes just to get a knock-off Prada or a pair of shoes that will be unwearable within a month. On the other hand, there is the mall. Chalk full of places like Gucci, Armani Exchange, and Burberry. We walk though the mall feeling completely under dressed and as though we do not belong there. There is no middle ground, which is a hard concept for all of us to grasp.
Since some people will still hurting from the night before, we all retreated to our own rooms for the night and went to bed pretty early. No crazy antics Saturday night. Sunday would be a different story.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
shop til you drop...
(Large sigh) One would think that after, what, at least 8 or 9 years of homework I would learn my lesson about procrastination. Nope. I fear that I will never learn. In high school I would finish my study guides and homework either early in the morning or the class before. In college I write my 10 page research papers the night before; I pull all-nighters rushing to finish entire design projects, typically finishing only moments before they are due. All this being the case I was very surprised (and proud) for keeping up on my blogs during the first week. As we can tell, week two has not faired well. Once again my Mom was right. Now I sit here feverishly trying to remember what events transpired this week. Almost there (sigh of relief).
Starting next week we begin work, so the lackadaisical lifestyle we have been living for the last two weeks is going to come to an abrupt ending. It was raining when we woke up so it was decided a day of shopping was in order. Everyone was all gun-ho about this t-shirt store, that was apparently THE PLACE to get a graphic t-shirt. I was not sure what the amazing allure of this store was but we went there first. We arrived at the street and the cab driver pointed down the street and said something. We assumed from the gesture that it meant the store was down the street. It ended up we stumbled upon a hu-ton (spelling?) Basically, it is a street or alley, with a bunch of shops. Some of the things were hand made, others were seen in numerous stores, but it was just a cute little street with crafty items. I saw a lot of jewelry I thought I could buy many of you (especially Laura) but I didn't feel right bartering for people's handmade items. I felt like I was cheapening their work. Despite the fact that the t-shirt store was over hyped and a big bust, the rest of the street was a success.
Val and Christina had found the big Olympic store. It was OVERWHELMING! I didn't know where to go first, key chains or t-shirts, cups or stuffed animals. AHHH! So much and they like to offer you as much help as possible, even though you don't always want it. I took a lot of it in and only got a few things. My biggest goal during this whole thing is to get as many different Olympic bags as possible (Mom you would be proud).
Shopping here is exhausting. You can't carry anything around the store. You have to get a piece of paper and then bring it to the cashier. Finally, after you pay you can pick up your item. I am sure it cuts down on shoplifting, but it is a tiring process. Then on top of that EVERYONE wants to offer you their help, unless you are looking for help then suddenly they are gone. The story of shopping right? So after an hour in the most chaotic store ever and shopping all day at the hu-ton we were DONE. Too tired to fend for spots on the subway, we forked over the cash and took cabs home.
Yesterday night was another chill night, at least for me. Half the group went out to a sports bar. I was not in the mood to get dressed or shower, so a few of us stayed in to watch a movie. We didn't get far because everyone was falling asleep. Thus bringing an end to another successful, action packed day in Beijing.
Phew. All caught up. Tomorrow morning I will debrief you on today's events!! Maybe I can find the time to add some humor again. One can only hope. One update for today...we are given a five gallon jug of purified water (since we can't drink tap water.) My roomie decided that it was a goal of ours (Dad I think she has a frog in her pocket) to finish this five gallon jug of water in three days. She was very disappointed in our last attempt - it took us two weeks and apparently I put forth no effort. Haha. Anyway, today was day one and the jug is probably halfway gone. I pulled my weight, drinking an impressive 6 bottles of water (anyone who knows me knows that even one full bottle is a good day.) We went hard today with the strategy that tomorrow or Monday we could ease up a bit. I will keep you updated on our progress.
More to come tomorrow!
Starting next week we begin work, so the lackadaisical lifestyle we have been living for the last two weeks is going to come to an abrupt ending. It was raining when we woke up so it was decided a day of shopping was in order. Everyone was all gun-ho about this t-shirt store, that was apparently THE PLACE to get a graphic t-shirt. I was not sure what the amazing allure of this store was but we went there first. We arrived at the street and the cab driver pointed down the street and said something. We assumed from the gesture that it meant the store was down the street. It ended up we stumbled upon a hu-ton (spelling?) Basically, it is a street or alley, with a bunch of shops. Some of the things were hand made, others were seen in numerous stores, but it was just a cute little street with crafty items. I saw a lot of jewelry I thought I could buy many of you (especially Laura) but I didn't feel right bartering for people's handmade items. I felt like I was cheapening their work. Despite the fact that the t-shirt store was over hyped and a big bust, the rest of the street was a success.
Val and Christina had found the big Olympic store. It was OVERWHELMING! I didn't know where to go first, key chains or t-shirts, cups or stuffed animals. AHHH! So much and they like to offer you as much help as possible, even though you don't always want it. I took a lot of it in and only got a few things. My biggest goal during this whole thing is to get as many different Olympic bags as possible (Mom you would be proud).
Shopping here is exhausting. You can't carry anything around the store. You have to get a piece of paper and then bring it to the cashier. Finally, after you pay you can pick up your item. I am sure it cuts down on shoplifting, but it is a tiring process. Then on top of that EVERYONE wants to offer you their help, unless you are looking for help then suddenly they are gone. The story of shopping right? So after an hour in the most chaotic store ever and shopping all day at the hu-ton we were DONE. Too tired to fend for spots on the subway, we forked over the cash and took cabs home.
Yesterday night was another chill night, at least for me. Half the group went out to a sports bar. I was not in the mood to get dressed or shower, so a few of us stayed in to watch a movie. We didn't get far because everyone was falling asleep. Thus bringing an end to another successful, action packed day in Beijing.
Phew. All caught up. Tomorrow morning I will debrief you on today's events!! Maybe I can find the time to add some humor again. One can only hope. One update for today...we are given a five gallon jug of purified water (since we can't drink tap water.) My roomie decided that it was a goal of ours (Dad I think she has a frog in her pocket) to finish this five gallon jug of water in three days. She was very disappointed in our last attempt - it took us two weeks and apparently I put forth no effort. Haha. Anyway, today was day one and the jug is probably halfway gone. I pulled my weight, drinking an impressive 6 bottles of water (anyone who knows me knows that even one full bottle is a good day.) We went hard today with the strategy that tomorrow or Monday we could ease up a bit. I will keep you updated on our progress.
More to come tomorrow!
sally the camel has two humps...
Hopefully by tomorrow (Sunday) I will have all my blog posting updated. I let myself get way behind and now it is a frantic game of catch up. Yesterday (Friday) I told you about our fairly uneventful Wednesday. Thursday was my much anticipated excursion to the zoo! When I was questioned about my desire to go to the zoo naturally I said for the pandas! The pandas did NOT disappoint, there were a number of pandas because a number of them were rescued from the earthquake down south.
The pandas were the highlight of the trip. Apparently the brand new aquarium was great, I did not want to pay $15 to get in, especially when I entered the zoo for $3. The rest of the zoo was...interesting. It was no Lincoln Park or Brookfield Zoo. Our favorite experience of the day was lunch. When I think of lunch at the zoo I think of a picnic, hot dog, popcorn, a sandwich, etc. Here the option is a drumstick, some sort of hot dog looking thing, or what I guessed was fried fish. Most of us went for the drumstick, which was actually really good, weird, but good.
After lunch I got my first request to take a photo with a Chinese girl. It was really awkward. I could tell she had asked her mom if she could take a picture with me. I didn't know if I was supposed to put my arm around her or just stand there, put up the peace sign or even smile! I felt like such an idiot standing there. It wouldn't be the first picture of the day.
Since Jason and I didn't want to go into the aquarium and we really had enough of the zoo we started the task of trying to get a cab back to the train. It was much more difficult than we initially assumed. Without Patrick or any sort of book to point at we were stuck with gestures. Five cabs later, our best train/subway charades attempt had succumbed to the language barrier. No one seemed to understand my truck horn, my underground gesture or the repeated use of the words "train, subway, or underground." We tried to ask a few people for help but we were still unsuccessful. It was hot, I was tired and frustrated. I had accepted the fact that my new place of residence was going to be the zoo. It was nice enough. I could get by. I decided to try one more thing and then give up. I saw a posse of four boys walking toward us; they were about our age, one of them were bound to know English. I worked up my courage, walked up and asked if they knew English. THANKFULLY one of the boys did and he was able to write down our request. We figured that him writing was better than me trying to speak. I probably said thank you about five thousand times and agreed to their request to take a photo.
As Dorothy said, "We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto." During my two weeks here I have realized the language differences here are far greater than those I experienced in Europe. I did anticipate this; many of us have genuinely tried to learn a few choice phrases, but each time we come out sounding like fools. I have essentially given up trying to speak the language. Paired with a smile, it is amazing how far "hello" and "thank you" has gotten me on this trip. As it did in Europe, it embarrasses me that I arrive in another country and expect some one to cater to my language needs. I realize it is impossible to learn every language, but there have been a number of times, whether I was lost in Prague or needed a taxi in China, that I was in desperate need of an English-speaking local. If either of these people needed my help at home I never would have been able to provide it unless they spoke English. Anyway, unless you have experienced it you might not understand the weird feeling, but it is a sad realization.
I was not feeling well so I took a very long 3 hour nap Thursday afternoon, according to the roommate I was in a coma. When I woke up everyone was ordering Mexican food...probably not the best choice of food in China. Meh. Since I had so wisely chosen to nap from 5-8 I was pretty wired. Val and I stayed up with the boys to play cards but that was pretty much it for the night!
The pandas were the highlight of the trip. Apparently the brand new aquarium was great, I did not want to pay $15 to get in, especially when I entered the zoo for $3. The rest of the zoo was...interesting. It was no Lincoln Park or Brookfield Zoo. Our favorite experience of the day was lunch. When I think of lunch at the zoo I think of a picnic, hot dog, popcorn, a sandwich, etc. Here the option is a drumstick, some sort of hot dog looking thing, or what I guessed was fried fish. Most of us went for the drumstick, which was actually really good, weird, but good.
After lunch I got my first request to take a photo with a Chinese girl. It was really awkward. I could tell she had asked her mom if she could take a picture with me. I didn't know if I was supposed to put my arm around her or just stand there, put up the peace sign or even smile! I felt like such an idiot standing there. It wouldn't be the first picture of the day.
Since Jason and I didn't want to go into the aquarium and we really had enough of the zoo we started the task of trying to get a cab back to the train. It was much more difficult than we initially assumed. Without Patrick or any sort of book to point at we were stuck with gestures. Five cabs later, our best train/subway charades attempt had succumbed to the language barrier. No one seemed to understand my truck horn, my underground gesture or the repeated use of the words "train, subway, or underground." We tried to ask a few people for help but we were still unsuccessful. It was hot, I was tired and frustrated. I had accepted the fact that my new place of residence was going to be the zoo. It was nice enough. I could get by. I decided to try one more thing and then give up. I saw a posse of four boys walking toward us; they were about our age, one of them were bound to know English. I worked up my courage, walked up and asked if they knew English. THANKFULLY one of the boys did and he was able to write down our request. We figured that him writing was better than me trying to speak. I probably said thank you about five thousand times and agreed to their request to take a photo.
As Dorothy said, "We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto." During my two weeks here I have realized the language differences here are far greater than those I experienced in Europe. I did anticipate this; many of us have genuinely tried to learn a few choice phrases, but each time we come out sounding like fools. I have essentially given up trying to speak the language. Paired with a smile, it is amazing how far "hello" and "thank you" has gotten me on this trip. As it did in Europe, it embarrasses me that I arrive in another country and expect some one to cater to my language needs. I realize it is impossible to learn every language, but there have been a number of times, whether I was lost in Prague or needed a taxi in China, that I was in desperate need of an English-speaking local. If either of these people needed my help at home I never would have been able to provide it unless they spoke English. Anyway, unless you have experienced it you might not understand the weird feeling, but it is a sad realization.
I was not feeling well so I took a very long 3 hour nap Thursday afternoon, according to the roommate I was in a coma. When I woke up everyone was ordering Mexican food...probably not the best choice of food in China. Meh. Since I had so wisely chosen to nap from 5-8 I was pretty wired. Val and I stayed up with the boys to play cards but that was pretty much it for the night!
Friday, July 18, 2008
over and over again...
You know how on Groundhog Day Eddie Murphy wakes up and it is the same day over and over again? Well that is what Wednesday was. I woke up and felt like it was Tuesday all over again. 7:30 am we piled onto the bus. Half the group was missing at 7:31 and another college was ready and willing to leave them behind. Thankfully that did not happen. Upon arrival at the hotel we thought a McDonald's coffee would hit the spot. It MOST definitely did not. Coffee here does NOT taste like coffee at home. I poured lots of sugar and creamer which helped. Minimally. The man leading the group today started us out with this thought..."This is a good day. For the past week a man has been playing Celine Dion on his flute outside and today he stopped." I found that hilarious, you probably just had to be there. We went through more rules about what we can and cannot do. Not worth mentioning. Then there was TEAMBUILDING. I am not even going to elaborate. Since our venue is so far out west Krystina decided that there was no need to go out there and sent us home for the afternoon.
I know I have mentioned a number of times this group has a tendency to revert to childlike activities, Wednesday was no exception. Upon our arrival back home some of the boys decided they wanted to blow up the kiddy pool and put it on the 10th floor roof. Chris blew up the pool and 15 buckets of water later, we had a water paradise. I left for a while and came back to Christopher pimping it out in the pool with two girls. Let me brief you on how big this pool is, it was probably two or three feet deep and about three feet wide. I have NO clue how these three got in there together, but they did. Lauren then decided it was time to do her laundry. She got out her washboard bucket, soap, and head wrap to hand wash her clothes. Pictures will be added to my site later.
For dinner we went to Paul's. Krystina wanted to meet us for dinner so she could get to know everyone better. We told her we were in desperate need of real western food, not fast food either. Paul's it was. He is from North America and his restaurant has all American food. I FINALLY had my much desired Turkey Club and a salad. I know many of you might be gasping, but I was assured by Krystina that I would be fine. It was DELICIOUS. But the BEST part of the entire meal...dessert. Traci and I shared a piece of peanut butter chocolate pie. I would have skipped dinner and just had a piece of this pie of I known about it. One thing led to another that night and we ended up at a little local bar. It seemed like a typical night that could have happened at home, but because we were in Beijing it was that much better. The best part, for an amazing night of great food and excitement it only cost me $20. SOOO WONDERFUL!
I know I have mentioned a number of times this group has a tendency to revert to childlike activities, Wednesday was no exception. Upon our arrival back home some of the boys decided they wanted to blow up the kiddy pool and put it on the 10th floor roof. Chris blew up the pool and 15 buckets of water later, we had a water paradise. I left for a while and came back to Christopher pimping it out in the pool with two girls. Let me brief you on how big this pool is, it was probably two or three feet deep and about three feet wide. I have NO clue how these three got in there together, but they did. Lauren then decided it was time to do her laundry. She got out her washboard bucket, soap, and head wrap to hand wash her clothes. Pictures will be added to my site later.
For dinner we went to Paul's. Krystina wanted to meet us for dinner so she could get to know everyone better. We told her we were in desperate need of real western food, not fast food either. Paul's it was. He is from North America and his restaurant has all American food. I FINALLY had my much desired Turkey Club and a salad. I know many of you might be gasping, but I was assured by Krystina that I would be fine. It was DELICIOUS. But the BEST part of the entire meal...dessert. Traci and I shared a piece of peanut butter chocolate pie. I would have skipped dinner and just had a piece of this pie of I known about it. One thing led to another that night and we ended up at a little local bar. It seemed like a typical night that could have happened at home, but because we were in Beijing it was that much better. The best part, for an amazing night of great food and excitement it only cost me $20. SOOO WONDERFUL!
Sorry all for the delay in updates, life has just been so crazy here. Actually, that is a lie. I just get wrapped up in all the excitement that I forget. I guess Tuesday is where I left off. Tuesday started training. At 7:30 we were shuttled to a hotel, some where in the city (typically I have zero clue where I am in this city except for the building I am in. I have no concept of where things are in relation to each other. It's fun.) So anyway. Given that Beijing probably has the worst traffic in the ENTIRE world, it took almost two hours to get about 20 min away. I think. I am not going to lie, there wasn't much about training that was overly riveting. The first session of the day they gave us an over view of Infostrada, which is the company that is in charge of all the flash quote reporters, but we are still under BOCOG. It is so incredibly complicated. I did find out that we had to act professional, I know big surprise. However, this means that no photos can be taken while I am working. I know, bummer. I did have a good laugh during lunch. One of the rules they gave us as we were walking out the door was NOT to talk to any media without permission from our boss. As we were filing out to go down to lunch a girl, who in no way was able to ask permission because she was like the 3rd person out the door, was being interviewed by the media. Oh people who can't listen.
Following lunch we had the second half of the training. That was basically an overview of the quizzes I have been doing this semester/an overview of what I will be doing in two weeks. It was at this moment I realized how lucky I am to be here. Now, don't get me wrong. I have always felt honored and valued the fact that I was chosen but this put the icing on the cake. Over 1.3 million people applied to be a volunteer, totally shattering the previous record of 450,000. On top of that, there are only 951 people in the position I am in. ONLY 951 foreign students were chosen. Pretty freaking awesome.
Since most of us had to wake up early again on Wednesday for more training it was a low key night. Christina hosted story time, reading Cosmo to Patrick and me, followed by a little reading of my own before bed. Like I said, nothing too exciting.
Following lunch we had the second half of the training. That was basically an overview of the quizzes I have been doing this semester/an overview of what I will be doing in two weeks. It was at this moment I realized how lucky I am to be here. Now, don't get me wrong. I have always felt honored and valued the fact that I was chosen but this put the icing on the cake. Over 1.3 million people applied to be a volunteer, totally shattering the previous record of 450,000. On top of that, there are only 951 people in the position I am in. ONLY 951 foreign students were chosen. Pretty freaking awesome.
Since most of us had to wake up early again on Wednesday for more training it was a low key night. Christina hosted story time, reading Cosmo to Patrick and me, followed by a little reading of my own before bed. Like I said, nothing too exciting.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
oprah, in chinese...
Yesterday ended our three day tour on a high note, the Chinese Opera (pun intended.) After all the excitement we were very tired today. Since Monday in China is the equivalent to our Sunday we were blessed with a day off. Most of the day was spent updating our blogs, doing laundry (which is quite the experience) and simply relaxing before the real work starts tomorrow.
To elaborate on the laundry - the machines are much smaller here. The first few people to do laundry had no troubles. However, as the day progressed it got worse. The machine does not go through a spin cycle, and on top of that the water wasn't draining. Our room is currently under flood watch but the humidity is finally starting to go down.
The highlight of the day was our invitation to a Chinese talk show. It had a eerie similarity to Oprah, two feel-good stories, an important person that can help make dreams come true, and a "favorite things" give away. Unbeknownst to us we would be active participants in this show.
He started the show off with an 88 year old man, who is the oldest Olympic volunteer, and apparently a University of Michigan graduate (at least it's the Big Ten.) He is one of the 1 million people who applied to be a part of the Beijing Olympic Games. A number which far surpasses the previous record of 450,000. The media director was also a guest and he explained what was the daily requirement of the volunteers is, how we were chosen, and even provided us with some advice for asking questions to the athletes.
It was then time to turn the show over to the Australians and Americans. Five of the volunteers practiced their interviewing skills by asking each other questions about the preparation for this job, other volunteer experiences, and what was the individual's favorite part about China. It was very entertaining.
My favorite part of the show was the final two guests. These two children hailed from a town about two hours away (by plane.) Each year this school has five students from Norway come volunteer at the school. A previous group decided they wanted to create a project that helped raise money for these children to attend the Beijing Olympics. Shirts were made and sold for donations. The shirts were designed by a blind girl which took her two months to draw and perfect. She was there to show off her newly learned English. Very nervously she said hello, her name (Michelle), and welcomed us to Beijing. She could say more in English than I could in Chinese. The other child that came with was a partially deaf girl who was incredibly artistic. She knitted two purses, drew two pictures, and made these gorgeous flowers, all of which she gave away to the volunteers in the audience. Since I have taken sign language I found this to be the most interesting part. As it is with any language, sign language is different in every country. Most of the show was spent watching the interpreter to see which signs were similar. I even picked up a few: sport, Olympics, grow up, same, volunteer, and friend. I now officially know more in Chinese sign language than spoken Chinese.
Finally, in typical Chinese fashion, we were all invited forward and presented gifts for our attendance on the show. Some of us received designed chopsticks, others got a traditional Chinese dress that covers a wine bottle, all of them were beautiful and completely unexpected.
As you can see, the show had all the ingredients for a perfect Oprah show. Tomorrow starts training. I think I speak for all my classmates when I say we are anxiously awaiting tomorrow. We will learn more about what our various jobs entail and hopefully receive our much desired uniforms. It should make for an interesting day.
To elaborate on the laundry - the machines are much smaller here. The first few people to do laundry had no troubles. However, as the day progressed it got worse. The machine does not go through a spin cycle, and on top of that the water wasn't draining. Our room is currently under flood watch but the humidity is finally starting to go down.
The highlight of the day was our invitation to a Chinese talk show. It had a eerie similarity to Oprah, two feel-good stories, an important person that can help make dreams come true, and a "favorite things" give away. Unbeknownst to us we would be active participants in this show.
He started the show off with an 88 year old man, who is the oldest Olympic volunteer, and apparently a University of Michigan graduate (at least it's the Big Ten.) He is one of the 1 million people who applied to be a part of the Beijing Olympic Games. A number which far surpasses the previous record of 450,000. The media director was also a guest and he explained what was the daily requirement of the volunteers is, how we were chosen, and even provided us with some advice for asking questions to the athletes.
It was then time to turn the show over to the Australians and Americans. Five of the volunteers practiced their interviewing skills by asking each other questions about the preparation for this job, other volunteer experiences, and what was the individual's favorite part about China. It was very entertaining.
My favorite part of the show was the final two guests. These two children hailed from a town about two hours away (by plane.) Each year this school has five students from Norway come volunteer at the school. A previous group decided they wanted to create a project that helped raise money for these children to attend the Beijing Olympics. Shirts were made and sold for donations. The shirts were designed by a blind girl which took her two months to draw and perfect. She was there to show off her newly learned English. Very nervously she said hello, her name (Michelle), and welcomed us to Beijing. She could say more in English than I could in Chinese. The other child that came with was a partially deaf girl who was incredibly artistic. She knitted two purses, drew two pictures, and made these gorgeous flowers, all of which she gave away to the volunteers in the audience. Since I have taken sign language I found this to be the most interesting part. As it is with any language, sign language is different in every country. Most of the show was spent watching the interpreter to see which signs were similar. I even picked up a few: sport, Olympics, grow up, same, volunteer, and friend. I now officially know more in Chinese sign language than spoken Chinese.
Finally, in typical Chinese fashion, we were all invited forward and presented gifts for our attendance on the show. Some of us received designed chopsticks, others got a traditional Chinese dress that covers a wine bottle, all of them were beautiful and completely unexpected.
As you can see, the show had all the ingredients for a perfect Oprah show. Tomorrow starts training. I think I speak for all my classmates when I say we are anxiously awaiting tomorrow. We will learn more about what our various jobs entail and hopefully receive our much desired uniforms. It should make for an interesting day.
Monday, July 14, 2008
paddle your own canoe...
Sunday's weather - partially smoggy. There was still a blue sky so we were happy.
We loaded on to the bus for day 3 of the 3 day tour. I actually don't remember much of the bus ride yesterday. It was quick and painless, probably because I slept through most of it. We arrived at the Summer Palace, which was much nicer than a lake house in Wisconsin. Henry gives us a brief history. This is what we learned...
While we were waiting I had another opportunity to view children. It is actually a favorite activity of mine. I would be very interested in traveling the world to see how similar/different children act. I am sure there are plenty of people already doing that, but if all else fails, that will be my back up plan. Anyway, this kid, we called him "Spidy." Most of you should get the reference but for those who don't he was a miniature Spider Man. I couldn't help but think of my brother. I sat there for ten minutes or so and just watched. He loved to cause trouble. (side note: Mike I am not saying you cause trouble, but if you could have seen this kid it was you, but Chinese.) These kids were clearly here on a class trip, and I am not sure if it was down time or they were supposed to be listening but he definitely was not listening. He would run over by us, jump over the hand rail and then go flying into one of the other kids. Then he would get the girls going; they chased him all around the courtyard until he decided he needed a break. Thirty seconds later it started all over again. He even pulled the whole pushing people off the ledge thing. It was entertaining. We eventually saw a teacher or parent tell him to stop and he got the whole "You are going to stand by me the rest of the day." Always a fun one. Children are so interesting and can tell you so much about a culture. Creepy I know, but I love watching them.
After the Summer Palace we went to the Old Summer Palace. This is completely in ruins because it was burnt down by the Anglo-French army in 1860 and then in the 1900s Westerners stole artifacts and treasures from the Palace grounds, many of which are still auctioned off today. As we walked around we could see the fallen stone and marble that once graced the beautiful grounds. There is much controversy about rebuilding it so it currently remains in ruins. We only stayed there for about 30 or 40 min, just enough time to allow us to think about it's previous beauty.
While two Purdue students were interviewed for the China news I dazed off and watched what I suspect was a grandfather and granddaughter eating ice cream together. She was a spunky little thing who was given ice cream to sit still. Grandpa sat next to her in quiet admiration. He never spoke to her, never touched her, but just looked on proudly. It was really cute to watch. I know, I am creepy.
We had our final free dinner and again it was a gorgeous place. Same type of food but I have to say BO-COG (as we like to say it) brought us to some really nice restaurants. After dinner we attended the Chinese Opera. I have never been to an Opera in English so this was a huge first for me. The Opera House was small, other than our entourage, there weren't many people there; we took up most of the seats. We were excited to see that they had captions explaining the story, sadly given my short height and seat location I couldn't see more than the first line. All I know is, there was a marriage, four different emperors, a war, and some pretty cool acrobatics. Seeing as I have never been to an Opera at home, I have no basis for comparison but it was really exciting and different.
Completely exhausted after my three day tour, I came home last night and fell asleep reading. I actually slept until 9:00 am this morning, which was a first. Another exciting experience awaits tonight. We have been invited to attend a Chinese talk show. Absolutely no clue what to expect. Tomorrow starts training and we are anxiously awaiting the uniforms. As I have promised many, there will be pictures!
Speaking of pictures, I know I sent you the photo link, but I have added a link on this site so that it will be easier to access. The link is PICTURES, I know obvious, but if I didn't say it some one would ask. Have a great Monday!
We loaded on to the bus for day 3 of the 3 day tour. I actually don't remember much of the bus ride yesterday. It was quick and painless, probably because I slept through most of it. We arrived at the Summer Palace, which was much nicer than a lake house in Wisconsin. Henry gives us a brief history. This is what we learned...
Regardless it was still beautiful. When we were set free 12 of us decided to go out on the lake. We jumped in our paddle boats and quickly discovered that there were motor boats. After realizing that no one in their right mind would trade a motor boat for a paddle boat we pressed onward. My boat went along the entire perimeter of the lake, taking pictures of whatever we could see. In the distance we saw the Hall of Virtuous Light and Lama Temple (you can see the pictures on my link.) We tried to go under a bridge but when we were able to see the ground we thought this might not be the best idea and quickly retreated. We did however go under the Mirror Bridge to a lagoon area. People were picnicking and simply walking throughout the area. According to Henry, when he was young there weren't many places you could go on the water or just hang out in a park so this was the most popular place to go. It really was beautiful. I could have spent the entire day on the boat. It felt so nice. We docked up with the other boat for a while, but not moving in the middle of the lake was much hotter than the coastal view from before. Shortly after our rendezvous we left, but not before winning the pirate game. Awkward story, but it was suggestion by one of my fellow travelers that the lake would be a perfect place to play pirate. A strategic game that involved pillaging items from other boats, similar to risk but with a boat and in real life. We floated away with the ping pong ball thus claiming victory. Like I said, we have a tendency to revert to childlike activities.The first building of the Summer Palace, the Gold Mountain Palace, was built by the first emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Succeeding emperors and dynasties have built on and it eventually became what I deemed a vacation resort for the emperors. In 1860, the British and French troops burnt down most of the Summer Palace. It was rebuilt 18 years later, so much of what I saw yesterday was a reconstruction.
While we were waiting I had another opportunity to view children. It is actually a favorite activity of mine. I would be very interested in traveling the world to see how similar/different children act. I am sure there are plenty of people already doing that, but if all else fails, that will be my back up plan. Anyway, this kid, we called him "Spidy." Most of you should get the reference but for those who don't he was a miniature Spider Man. I couldn't help but think of my brother. I sat there for ten minutes or so and just watched. He loved to cause trouble. (side note: Mike I am not saying you cause trouble, but if you could have seen this kid it was you, but Chinese.) These kids were clearly here on a class trip, and I am not sure if it was down time or they were supposed to be listening but he definitely was not listening. He would run over by us, jump over the hand rail and then go flying into one of the other kids. Then he would get the girls going; they chased him all around the courtyard until he decided he needed a break. Thirty seconds later it started all over again. He even pulled the whole pushing people off the ledge thing. It was entertaining. We eventually saw a teacher or parent tell him to stop and he got the whole "You are going to stand by me the rest of the day." Always a fun one. Children are so interesting and can tell you so much about a culture. Creepy I know, but I love watching them.
After the Summer Palace we went to the Old Summer Palace. This is completely in ruins because it was burnt down by the Anglo-French army in 1860 and then in the 1900s Westerners stole artifacts and treasures from the Palace grounds, many of which are still auctioned off today. As we walked around we could see the fallen stone and marble that once graced the beautiful grounds. There is much controversy about rebuilding it so it currently remains in ruins. We only stayed there for about 30 or 40 min, just enough time to allow us to think about it's previous beauty.
While two Purdue students were interviewed for the China news I dazed off and watched what I suspect was a grandfather and granddaughter eating ice cream together. She was a spunky little thing who was given ice cream to sit still. Grandpa sat next to her in quiet admiration. He never spoke to her, never touched her, but just looked on proudly. It was really cute to watch. I know, I am creepy.
We had our final free dinner and again it was a gorgeous place. Same type of food but I have to say BO-COG (as we like to say it) brought us to some really nice restaurants. After dinner we attended the Chinese Opera. I have never been to an Opera in English so this was a huge first for me. The Opera House was small, other than our entourage, there weren't many people there; we took up most of the seats. We were excited to see that they had captions explaining the story, sadly given my short height and seat location I couldn't see more than the first line. All I know is, there was a marriage, four different emperors, a war, and some pretty cool acrobatics. Seeing as I have never been to an Opera at home, I have no basis for comparison but it was really exciting and different.
Completely exhausted after my three day tour, I came home last night and fell asleep reading. I actually slept until 9:00 am this morning, which was a first. Another exciting experience awaits tonight. We have been invited to attend a Chinese talk show. Absolutely no clue what to expect. Tomorrow starts training and we are anxiously awaiting the uniforms. As I have promised many, there will be pictures!
Speaking of pictures, I know I sent you the photo link, but I have added a link on this site so that it will be easier to access. The link is PICTURES, I know obvious, but if I didn't say it some one would ask. Have a great Monday!
it was only a kiss...
As I said in my last blog, we had blue sky on Saturday, just in time for our Great Wall adventure. Oh what an adventure. We arrived there to find out the Mexican President decided to take his turn climbing the Great Wall so half of the wall was closed off. This meant lots of people and a very little bit of wall. I used my newly found pushing skills to work our way to the head of the pack. You have to stand your ground here. Once we got past the initial entrance to the Wall it actually wasn't that bad. Lauren and I chilled there while everyone else pushed through. Then we started the hike. If you are looking for a good work out, that works all parts of your body the Great Wall is definitely the place to go. You know, if you're ever in the area. We only had two hours so we set our goal on the highest point we could see. There were portions of the wall that felt like I climbing a ladder...straight up. When we got to the top we fought for a view, people had decided this little station was a place to setup shop for a picnic, nice idea, but not with all of China trying to see the Great Wall. We took a breather and started back down.
As I was walking up there I couldn't help notice all the children. First of all, they are so dang cute. Second it made me think of the times my parents brought me to places like the Great Wall, for example the Epcot debacle. There were kids like my brother who were running forty feet ahead and reenacting an intense battle. There were those like my sister who were quietly excited, not wanting to show that they actually wanted to be there. The final group was like me, whining the entire way, "Why do we have to do this?" This isn't limited to the Great Wall either. We saw children in the Forbidden City utterly bored, at the Summer Palace whining in what I can only guess was, "this is boring." I have come to the realization that children everywhere act the same way when brought to educational places. It definitely makes the world seem a little bit smaller.
We waited at the bottom of the Wall for our bus to come. Apparently it didn't get the memo to come back at 1:30. Oh and Starbucks is MUCH better in this country! I had a taste of someone's and I never wanted it more. But of course the bus showed. It's better that way. Then it happened, just as I knew it would eventually happen. We had our first accident. It was inevitable with the way people drive here. And of course it should happen on a road that can barely fit two cars through. Let me quote our driver, "The cars just kissed. There are so many pretty girls on this bus that the car wanted to get closer." Now you would THINK that leads to police and a guilty party. Nope. A bunch of people picked up the front of the car and moved it out of the way then both drove off. That was it. No cops. No tickets. No exchanging of insurance, which I am not entirely certain exists over here. Just pick up the car, the side window that fell off and go on your merry way. Excellent.
Since our little accident delayed us for lunch we had to eat quickly. No problem. We were starving after our rock climb. Another thing I have noticed. They sell junk everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. When we walked into the restaurant we were handed a sheet of paper just in case we wanted to purchase something. Every tourist places and restaurant has had some store. The only market not tapped yet is the bathroom, but there they want you to pay them for handing you a piece of toilet paper or for moping the floor. Anyway, lunch was lunch same as I wrote about the other day EXCEPT we got FRIES! I have never been so excited to see an oily, greasy potato in my life.
Our final stop Saturday was the Ming Tomb. It was kind of a crash course on the Ming Chinese Empire. Henry tried to tell us as much as possible about the place. Information overload! It was however, very pretty. Only 3 of the 12 tombs are open and we went into the main tomb. Most of the stuff in there was a replica because a lot of stuff was decayed but it was still cool. We only spent like an hour at the tomb...quick stop. Then we could either go to the silk market or go home. We chose home.
We had delicious pizza delivered for dinner and at the spur of the moment a few of us decided to go out. It was some weird banana something place. There were lots of men dancers and seemed to be the place to be Saturday night. It was the first time in my life I got kicked out of certain areas and it wasn't because people were acting up. It was because we were Australian and American. It was weird. We went upstairs and everything was fine until one of the boys came up, then we got kicked out. Then we were standing on the balcony overlooking the dance floor and the people didn't want us there so they went and got a guard to move us to a different location. After watching dancing banana man we had enough.
Well that is all for now. 30 seconds until the next update! Haha. It's official blog day!
As I was walking up there I couldn't help notice all the children. First of all, they are so dang cute. Second it made me think of the times my parents brought me to places like the Great Wall, for example the Epcot debacle. There were kids like my brother who were running forty feet ahead and reenacting an intense battle. There were those like my sister who were quietly excited, not wanting to show that they actually wanted to be there. The final group was like me, whining the entire way, "Why do we have to do this?" This isn't limited to the Great Wall either. We saw children in the Forbidden City utterly bored, at the Summer Palace whining in what I can only guess was, "this is boring." I have come to the realization that children everywhere act the same way when brought to educational places. It definitely makes the world seem a little bit smaller.
We waited at the bottom of the Wall for our bus to come. Apparently it didn't get the memo to come back at 1:30. Oh and Starbucks is MUCH better in this country! I had a taste of someone's and I never wanted it more. But of course the bus showed. It's better that way. Then it happened, just as I knew it would eventually happen. We had our first accident. It was inevitable with the way people drive here. And of course it should happen on a road that can barely fit two cars through. Let me quote our driver, "The cars just kissed. There are so many pretty girls on this bus that the car wanted to get closer." Now you would THINK that leads to police and a guilty party. Nope. A bunch of people picked up the front of the car and moved it out of the way then both drove off. That was it. No cops. No tickets. No exchanging of insurance, which I am not entirely certain exists over here. Just pick up the car, the side window that fell off and go on your merry way. Excellent.
Since our little accident delayed us for lunch we had to eat quickly. No problem. We were starving after our rock climb. Another thing I have noticed. They sell junk everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. When we walked into the restaurant we were handed a sheet of paper just in case we wanted to purchase something. Every tourist places and restaurant has had some store. The only market not tapped yet is the bathroom, but there they want you to pay them for handing you a piece of toilet paper or for moping the floor. Anyway, lunch was lunch same as I wrote about the other day EXCEPT we got FRIES! I have never been so excited to see an oily, greasy potato in my life.
Our final stop Saturday was the Ming Tomb. It was kind of a crash course on the Ming Chinese Empire. Henry tried to tell us as much as possible about the place. Information overload! It was however, very pretty. Only 3 of the 12 tombs are open and we went into the main tomb. Most of the stuff in there was a replica because a lot of stuff was decayed but it was still cool. We only spent like an hour at the tomb...quick stop. Then we could either go to the silk market or go home. We chose home.
We had delicious pizza delivered for dinner and at the spur of the moment a few of us decided to go out. It was some weird banana something place. There were lots of men dancers and seemed to be the place to be Saturday night. It was the first time in my life I got kicked out of certain areas and it wasn't because people were acting up. It was because we were Australian and American. It was weird. We went upstairs and everything was fine until one of the boys came up, then we got kicked out. Then we were standing on the balcony overlooking the dance floor and the people didn't want us there so they went and got a guard to move us to a different location. After watching dancing banana man we had enough.
Well that is all for now. 30 seconds until the next update! Haha. It's official blog day!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
grey skies are going to clear up...
My sister Molly had a doll named Nancy who came everywhere. To the mall, on a quick car ride, to daycare, literally everywhere. When Molly was two Nancy went missing. An entire day was spent in search of Nancy but no luck. My mom bought a new Nancy, even put her through the washer and dryer like the old one, but Molly never took to the new one. Amazingly, one day, months after her initial disappearance, Nancy was found. That day was probably the single greatest day in my sister's life. Today I have found my Nancy...BLUE SKY!!!
Much like Nancy, the sun has been M.I.A. since Sunday. I have seen glimpses of blue sky, even a few glorious moments when it seemed like the sun would peek its head out from behind the smog-ridden sky, but nothing ever really felt like the brilliance of sunny day. Then this morning happened. Having slept in until 5:20 (whoa!) I opened my eyes and suddenly panicked. Are we late? I set an alarm. How is this possible? Frantically I grab the phone and realize I am a moron, that is when I flew out of bed. I ran to the window and saw it...blue. All I wanted was for my roommate to wake up to share in this excitement. The best part of this WHOLE story...we are going to the Great Wall today! Excellent! If you want to know what this feels like buy a fog machine and for five days straight have it running in your backyard; then on the 6th day turn it off!
Ahhh. Ok, moving on. Yesterday we started our three day tour. Doesn't that just make you want to sing "A three hour tour?" Anyway, the tour kicked off with a long bus ride. I know I have mentioned the traffic before but let me take this moment to elaborate. Traffic is horrible. It isn't like in Chicago where after 9 or 10 everything clears up until 4 or 5. If you are going into the city anytime in the morning there is traffic. If you are leaving the city anytime in the evening, even at 9pm, there is traffic.
So we hit traffic. Henry, who pronounces his name Harry, but spells it Henry is our guide. Henry (Harry) likes his microphone and takes this opportunity to talk. A lot. He told us the history of his name. I thought this to be very interesting. It was very deliberately chosen. And not because his parents didn't like some one who had that name, but because of the meaning. I don't feel like that often happens in the US. Well after hearing that he told us about the Olympic dream in China. In the 1900s some one asked three questions, When will China compete in the Olympics? When will a Chinese person win a gold medal? And when Will China host the Olympics. (1936 L.A., 1984 L.A., and 2008 respectively) So we finally arrive at our destination...ready for it? A water sewage plant. The Olympic Committee wanted to show us how water was turned clean. The tour was complete with flasks displaying the different stages of water and a nicely placed clear pond at the end of the line. Let's just say the rivers flowing through there did NOT look as good as the chocolate one Augustus Gloop fell into. Sadly there were no souvenirs. I tried!
After our official sewage plant tour, it was off to lunch. I know perfect right? BEST LUNCH EVER! First of all, lunch in China means a lazy susan, chop sticks, and a free for all. We arrived at the table and there were 6 or 8 dishes already out, one being SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN! YEAHAH! And all you do is rotate the lazy susan. Everyone eats from the same dish and sometimes you touch something that you aren't going to eat. For those with OCD, China is not the place for you. Plates upon plates upon plates of food arrive. There is no humanly way we can finish these things, and for the first time since we arrived\ we felt stuffed. (Side note: So I am sitting at the table all stuffed and ready for a nap when I look up to see Tom Bates. Tom and I were camp counselors together three years ago. I haven't seen him in two but the Olympics half way around the world reunited us. Whoa.)
A police escort, yes we are a big deal here, takes all eight buses of American, British, and Australian students and the Chinese media, out to "rural" China. As one of my classmates nicely put it, we think the term rural was confused for suburb. Regardless, we arrive at a very well kept Buddhist Temple. Pristine and empty, we walked through the courtyard area as official Buddhist Temple employees looked on. We picked up the brochure to use as a fan.
Just down the road was a retirement home. The lady in charge was very thankful for the beautiful place the government has provided these people. Her and the other nurses sang a song about "being old and happy" and recited a poem about the beautiful clean air where they were located. Sadly the beautiful mountains were covered by a thick layer of clouds.Sadly the beautiful mountains were covered by a thick layer of clouds.
After a Tai Chi performance, a quick trip around the golf course, and a view of a house (which has each section of the house separated and centered around a courtyard) we were off to dinner. Put 50 college students on a bus for a LONG 2.5 hour drive and you will see how we revert to our childlike tendencies. Leroy found it amusing to attempt to make our professor laugh hysterically. The girls and boys fought over who was better and if the girls could even score a point against the boys in basketball. Very amusing.
Dinner = duck. I wasn't too thrilled about this. I am not the most adventurous when it come to food. So the man comes out with the baby ducks and starts to cut. I, thankfully, have my back to baby Donald, and we are told that the duck is cut into 90 pieces and each piece should have meat and skin. Then a man comes over to explain how we make our duck tacos (not really tacos but much easier to explain) or duck sandwich. I ate it, and it was WONDERFUL. What you do is dip the duck in some sauce that looks like BBQ sauce, but clearly it's not. Then you put on some white thingies, and then a celery-esk thing. Everything on the table seemed to have some duck in it. I also at fish, but that is because it looked like orange chicken and I figured what the heck. When in Rome right? Dessert was interesting. It was a fried, gooey, mashed up thing. It was awkward because at one point it seemed liked I was eating food then it turned into gum, then back to food. Ahhh it was confusing me.
So that brings us to this morning...and the sun. Patrick just came in and said he thinks it is fake. My roommate says they put blue posters up everywhere. Whatever it is, it is glorious. We leave for the Great Wall in about an hour and today I actually get to pack my sunscreen. It's gonna be a scorcher and for once in my life I actually think I'll like it!
- - Megan - -
Much like Nancy, the sun has been M.I.A. since Sunday. I have seen glimpses of blue sky, even a few glorious moments when it seemed like the sun would peek its head out from behind the smog-ridden sky, but nothing ever really felt like the brilliance of sunny day. Then this morning happened. Having slept in until 5:20 (whoa!) I opened my eyes and suddenly panicked. Are we late? I set an alarm. How is this possible? Frantically I grab the phone and realize I am a moron, that is when I flew out of bed. I ran to the window and saw it...blue. All I wanted was for my roommate to wake up to share in this excitement. The best part of this WHOLE story...we are going to the Great Wall today! Excellent! If you want to know what this feels like buy a fog machine and for five days straight have it running in your backyard; then on the 6th day turn it off!
Ahhh. Ok, moving on. Yesterday we started our three day tour. Doesn't that just make you want to sing "A three hour tour?" Anyway, the tour kicked off with a long bus ride. I know I have mentioned the traffic before but let me take this moment to elaborate. Traffic is horrible. It isn't like in Chicago where after 9 or 10 everything clears up until 4 or 5. If you are going into the city anytime in the morning there is traffic. If you are leaving the city anytime in the evening, even at 9pm, there is traffic.
So we hit traffic. Henry, who pronounces his name Harry, but spells it Henry is our guide. Henry (Harry) likes his microphone and takes this opportunity to talk. A lot. He told us the history of his name. I thought this to be very interesting. It was very deliberately chosen. And not because his parents didn't like some one who had that name, but because of the meaning. I don't feel like that often happens in the US. Well after hearing that he told us about the Olympic dream in China. In the 1900s some one asked three questions, When will China compete in the Olympics? When will a Chinese person win a gold medal? And when Will China host the Olympics. (1936 L.A., 1984 L.A., and 2008 respectively) So we finally arrive at our destination...ready for it? A water sewage plant. The Olympic Committee wanted to show us how water was turned clean. The tour was complete with flasks displaying the different stages of water and a nicely placed clear pond at the end of the line. Let's just say the rivers flowing through there did NOT look as good as the chocolate one Augustus Gloop fell into. Sadly there were no souvenirs. I tried!
After our official sewage plant tour, it was off to lunch. I know perfect right? BEST LUNCH EVER! First of all, lunch in China means a lazy susan, chop sticks, and a free for all. We arrived at the table and there were 6 or 8 dishes already out, one being SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN! YEAHAH! And all you do is rotate the lazy susan. Everyone eats from the same dish and sometimes you touch something that you aren't going to eat. For those with OCD, China is not the place for you. Plates upon plates upon plates of food arrive. There is no humanly way we can finish these things, and for the first time since we arrived\ we felt stuffed. (Side note: So I am sitting at the table all stuffed and ready for a nap when I look up to see Tom Bates. Tom and I were camp counselors together three years ago. I haven't seen him in two but the Olympics half way around the world reunited us. Whoa.)
A police escort, yes we are a big deal here, takes all eight buses of American, British, and Australian students and the Chinese media, out to "rural" China. As one of my classmates nicely put it, we think the term rural was confused for suburb. Regardless, we arrive at a very well kept Buddhist Temple. Pristine and empty, we walked through the courtyard area as official Buddhist Temple employees looked on. We picked up the brochure to use as a fan.
Just down the road was a retirement home. The lady in charge was very thankful for the beautiful place the government has provided these people. Her and the other nurses sang a song about "being old and happy" and recited a poem about the beautiful clean air where they were located. Sadly the beautiful mountains were covered by a thick layer of clouds.Sadly the beautiful mountains were covered by a thick layer of clouds.
After a Tai Chi performance, a quick trip around the golf course, and a view of a house (which has each section of the house separated and centered around a courtyard) we were off to dinner. Put 50 college students on a bus for a LONG 2.5 hour drive and you will see how we revert to our childlike tendencies. Leroy found it amusing to attempt to make our professor laugh hysterically. The girls and boys fought over who was better and if the girls could even score a point against the boys in basketball. Very amusing.
Dinner = duck. I wasn't too thrilled about this. I am not the most adventurous when it come to food. So the man comes out with the baby ducks and starts to cut. I, thankfully, have my back to baby Donald, and we are told that the duck is cut into 90 pieces and each piece should have meat and skin. Then a man comes over to explain how we make our duck tacos (not really tacos but much easier to explain) or duck sandwich. I ate it, and it was WONDERFUL. What you do is dip the duck in some sauce that looks like BBQ sauce, but clearly it's not. Then you put on some white thingies, and then a celery-esk thing. Everything on the table seemed to have some duck in it. I also at fish, but that is because it looked like orange chicken and I figured what the heck. When in Rome right? Dessert was interesting. It was a fried, gooey, mashed up thing. It was awkward because at one point it seemed liked I was eating food then it turned into gum, then back to food. Ahhh it was confusing me.
So that brings us to this morning...and the sun. Patrick just came in and said he thinks it is fake. My roommate says they put blue posters up everywhere. Whatever it is, it is glorious. We leave for the Great Wall in about an hour and today I actually get to pack my sunscreen. It's gonna be a scorcher and for once in my life I actually think I'll like it!
- - Megan - -
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Well yesterday I made it to 5:45. Getting better on the sleeping thing. The day was kind of shot because we had to meetings and of course they weren't back to back. The first meeting at 9:30 was a crash course in Chinese culture. They told us about the different dynasties...aka named each dynasty. If a certain era was known for something they mentioned it, but that was pretty much it. We asked a few questions but nothing too exciting.
Lunch was the great restaurant down stairs. Patrick, the only one of us who can speak Chinese ordered for our table and it was amazing. Two hours later the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee came for a meeting. It was a little chaotic, but fine at the same time. We got our official letters of acceptance, the sym card, and tried on uniforms. They really aren't bad at all and I get three shirts, so play your cards right and maybe you'll be one of the lucky two who get my extra shirt.
We met our ONS leader she is awesome. Currently I am deciding if I want to switch to volleyball or not. My initial decision was no, then yes, and now I am leaning towards no again. I just have to decide by Tuesday. I would love volleyball but I am really scared that I am going to screw up so I might not switch. Who knows. We also found out that we would not be attending the Opening or Closing Ceremonies. I was very sad, but have gotten over it.
Yesterday afternoon a couple of us went to the Silk Market. Haggling is NOT my forte. But apparently the time to go is the afternoon because the people are tired and just want to sell stuff. Just an FYI for all those preparing for a trip to Beijing. Lauren loves to barter and purchased herself a nice (fake) pair of Pumas. Next up was the mall, it was very expensive, but if you're in the market for real Gucci, United Colors, and stores like that...definitely the place to be.
Today we woke up and went to the Forbidden City. (I slept until 8:00 today!!!) It was crazy. So much to see and not nearly enough time (or energy). We paid 60 RMB to get in and decided not to get the info tape. Probably a bad idea but we might have to go back it was so big. LOTS of photos were taken and eventually some day I will put them up on Picasa. It was really cool to just walk around in there. We decided there was too much to see and not enough time and since most of the buildings looked really similar we powered through our exit and jumped back on the subway.
Four hours in the Forbidden City is a lot to take in one day so we have been relaxing. Tomorrow we start our three day tour of Beijing...Sewage Plant and the Fields are our first stops. Peking duck for dinner. That kind of scares me. We'll see how that goes.
- - Megan - -
Lunch was the great restaurant down stairs. Patrick, the only one of us who can speak Chinese ordered for our table and it was amazing. Two hours later the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee came for a meeting. It was a little chaotic, but fine at the same time. We got our official letters of acceptance, the sym card, and tried on uniforms. They really aren't bad at all and I get three shirts, so play your cards right and maybe you'll be one of the lucky two who get my extra shirt.
We met our ONS leader she is awesome. Currently I am deciding if I want to switch to volleyball or not. My initial decision was no, then yes, and now I am leaning towards no again. I just have to decide by Tuesday. I would love volleyball but I am really scared that I am going to screw up so I might not switch. Who knows. We also found out that we would not be attending the Opening or Closing Ceremonies. I was very sad, but have gotten over it.
Yesterday afternoon a couple of us went to the Silk Market. Haggling is NOT my forte. But apparently the time to go is the afternoon because the people are tired and just want to sell stuff. Just an FYI for all those preparing for a trip to Beijing. Lauren loves to barter and purchased herself a nice (fake) pair of Pumas. Next up was the mall, it was very expensive, but if you're in the market for real Gucci, United Colors, and stores like that...definitely the place to be.
Today we woke up and went to the Forbidden City. (I slept until 8:00 today!!!) It was crazy. So much to see and not nearly enough time (or energy). We paid 60 RMB to get in and decided not to get the info tape. Probably a bad idea but we might have to go back it was so big. LOTS of photos were taken and eventually some day I will put them up on Picasa. It was really cool to just walk around in there. We decided there was too much to see and not enough time and since most of the buildings looked really similar we powered through our exit and jumped back on the subway.
Four hours in the Forbidden City is a lot to take in one day so we have been relaxing. Tomorrow we start our three day tour of Beijing...Sewage Plant and the Fields are our first stops. Peking duck for dinner. That kind of scares me. We'll see how that goes.
- - Megan - -
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
a few sinful moments...
As I have already mentioned, I woke up at 5:00am yesterday. There is no excuse for this, and I find it very unacceptable on my part. I thought this early rise would lead to a late afternoon nap, but it never did. I powered through! And we all know how I love my afternoon nap!
After my dreadfully early rise, (aka about 5 hours later) we began the campus tour. I was introduced to A LOT of new people and it was then decided that name tags are an absolute must! We ventured to the bank, which was a complete mess. Some people needed to exchange money, some people needed an ATM, others were just along for the ride....a disaster! And poor Rina, our English-speaking CUC liaison, was so calmly trying to get everything done. Not to mention everyone seemed to forget what we learned in kindergarten...IN DOOR VOICES. After that we saw the rest of the dining halls and then ate. The best part of the WHOLE experience...I FOUND DIET PEPSI! This is always a great accomplishment for me when traveling. I know it is sad, but let's admit, I have a problem. I am addicted to Diet Pepsi. I can't help it. And those of you who have traveled abroad know that Coke pretty much dominates the international market. Not to mention, I am here for the Olympics and we all know Coke is a sponser. So any DP lover can appreciate what a feat this is. Anyway...it was great. I went back to get more and apparently that building, which also holds the ice cream, is in some sort of black hole and cannot be found. It's probably better that way.
Post Diet Pepsi and the amazing potatoes at lunch it was time for the day's big adventure. (Drum roll please) WAL-MART! Now, let me explain. I know this is wrong to go to a Wal-Mart but we were in desperate need of some essential products, so really our well-being was at stake here. Ok, maybe a little dramatic but oh well. A lot of people went to the silk market first and then took the train back to Wally World. Five of us decided traveling with 30 people was just a little too much so we just went to Wal-Mart. As you might have suspected, Wal-Mart is pretty much the same, just everything is in Chinese. Despite the stark similarity, we still managed to spend two hours there. Some of the most exciting finds included Koala Yummys (yeaaah), lots of foreign beer, and a hair dryer that would not kill a converter. We loaded up on the foreign beer, soft pillows, and laundry detergent then headed home. We were pretty much exhausted after that and very thankful that we skipped the silk market.
Speaking of the Silk Market, I hear it is quite the experience. Per my traveling buddies, Americans are prime targets and are pulled into stalls, then not allowed to leave until they buy something. This pretty much scared the rest of us. Later we were told that as long as you have some one else to pull you away it really isn't an issue. Enter Lauren. I have decided she is now responsible for my safety and well-being at the silk market. Oh and for getting me the best deals. Good luck.
The second major traveling sin we committed yesterday came at dinner time. I realize it is WAY too early to be craving food but it hit us yesterday. Our stomachs led us to Pizza Hut. Four of the boys graciously decided that we were welcome on their Pizza Hut trip. So, only an hour after getting off the train, we loaded back on and went out to the Wal-Mart area. Pizza Hut here is NOT Pizza Hut at home. This place was dining at it's finest. There were real plates, an entrance staircase, and a hostess to greet and sit us. After waiting for a longer than normal time to order, we looked around and realized to get service you didn't wait politely but instead raised your hand to let the waiter know you are ready. I actually think this is very efficient, and maybe should be used back at home. Although, being as needy as we are, the poor waiter or waitress might want to die by the end of the first hour, but still something to look into.
Everyone was a little tired last night, so most people went to bed at 9:00. Val, Patrick and I went to meet some of the Emerson people who came yesterday. They were placed in track, softball, and volleyball. I was a little saddened by that, but regardless I am here.
That was pretty much it. Today we are having a cultural meeting followed by one with the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee (BOGOC). We are hopeful that this second meeting means we are getting our uniforms today!! I see a photo sesson in the future! GET EXCITED!
Have a great day everyone!
Megan
After my dreadfully early rise, (aka about 5 hours later) we began the campus tour. I was introduced to A LOT of new people and it was then decided that name tags are an absolute must! We ventured to the bank, which was a complete mess. Some people needed to exchange money, some people needed an ATM, others were just along for the ride....a disaster! And poor Rina, our English-speaking CUC liaison, was so calmly trying to get everything done. Not to mention everyone seemed to forget what we learned in kindergarten...IN DOOR VOICES. After that we saw the rest of the dining halls and then ate. The best part of the WHOLE experience...I FOUND DIET PEPSI! This is always a great accomplishment for me when traveling. I know it is sad, but let's admit, I have a problem. I am addicted to Diet Pepsi. I can't help it. And those of you who have traveled abroad know that Coke pretty much dominates the international market. Not to mention, I am here for the Olympics and we all know Coke is a sponser. So any DP lover can appreciate what a feat this is. Anyway...it was great. I went back to get more and apparently that building, which also holds the ice cream, is in some sort of black hole and cannot be found. It's probably better that way.
Post Diet Pepsi and the amazing potatoes at lunch it was time for the day's big adventure. (Drum roll please) WAL-MART! Now, let me explain. I know this is wrong to go to a Wal-Mart but we were in desperate need of some essential products, so really our well-being was at stake here. Ok, maybe a little dramatic but oh well. A lot of people went to the silk market first and then took the train back to Wally World. Five of us decided traveling with 30 people was just a little too much so we just went to Wal-Mart. As you might have suspected, Wal-Mart is pretty much the same, just everything is in Chinese. Despite the stark similarity, we still managed to spend two hours there. Some of the most exciting finds included Koala Yummys (yeaaah), lots of foreign beer, and a hair dryer that would not kill a converter. We loaded up on the foreign beer, soft pillows, and laundry detergent then headed home. We were pretty much exhausted after that and very thankful that we skipped the silk market.
Speaking of the Silk Market, I hear it is quite the experience. Per my traveling buddies, Americans are prime targets and are pulled into stalls, then not allowed to leave until they buy something. This pretty much scared the rest of us. Later we were told that as long as you have some one else to pull you away it really isn't an issue. Enter Lauren. I have decided she is now responsible for my safety and well-being at the silk market. Oh and for getting me the best deals. Good luck.
The second major traveling sin we committed yesterday came at dinner time. I realize it is WAY too early to be craving food but it hit us yesterday. Our stomachs led us to Pizza Hut. Four of the boys graciously decided that we were welcome on their Pizza Hut trip. So, only an hour after getting off the train, we loaded back on and went out to the Wal-Mart area. Pizza Hut here is NOT Pizza Hut at home. This place was dining at it's finest. There were real plates, an entrance staircase, and a hostess to greet and sit us. After waiting for a longer than normal time to order, we looked around and realized to get service you didn't wait politely but instead raised your hand to let the waiter know you are ready. I actually think this is very efficient, and maybe should be used back at home. Although, being as needy as we are, the poor waiter or waitress might want to die by the end of the first hour, but still something to look into.
Everyone was a little tired last night, so most people went to bed at 9:00. Val, Patrick and I went to meet some of the Emerson people who came yesterday. They were placed in track, softball, and volleyball. I was a little saddened by that, but regardless I am here.
That was pretty much it. Today we are having a cultural meeting followed by one with the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee (BOGOC). We are hopeful that this second meeting means we are getting our uniforms today!! I see a photo sesson in the future! GET EXCITED!
Have a great day everyone!
Megan
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
on top of the world...
I was actually on top of the world yesterday. The flight path to travel to Beijing takes you up through Canada, over the Artic Circle, and back down to Beijing. I learned a lot about fireworks thanks to a very exciting inflight video. Here are the highlights:
Who spends the most money on fireworks per year?
Disney World - Think about it. 365 days x 4 parks = a whole lot of fireworks.
What is the bill for the fireworks in the US on the 4th of July?
200 million dollars...that includes all the little towns.
I was about to learn how fireworks were made but sadly I fell asleep. I also decided it is a VERY bad idea to take children under 12 to China. See, like said we flew over the North Pole. If any child ever saw that they would know in an instant that Santa isn't real. IT IS ONE BIG ICE SHEET. This is not a new discovery, I have known for years that Santa isn't real, oh and that the north pole is an ice sheet, but a small unsuspecting child doesn't know that. If Santa were real his poor little elfs would be frozen gnomes in Santa's vast ice sheet of a backyard. As you can tell I had a lot of time to think.
Other than that the plane ride was uneventful. There were ten open seats on the entire flight and I was graciously blessed with one next to me! The guy on the aisle wanted to be my best friend, but I nicely declined. He drank a lot on the plane too, probably why he feel asleep so easily.
As a I told many of you, when I landed I had a bit of an adventure. I arrived in the new terminal built for the Olympics and it was beautiful. However, I could not find my traveling companions. I almost left the airport to venture into the city alone, but I decided I would wait for Alysha's delayed plane. I'm glad I did because the other girls randomly found me almost two hours after I landed. It made me feel good that if I went missing they would go on a search and rescue misson for me.
The car ride to CUC was interesting. Italy has nothing on the China road system. People are walking and riding bikes through the streets, while the people driving are attempting to avoid them. Oh and avoid other cars. We eventually just had to realize we did not have control of the car and stopped watching. Once we made it to our rooms we threw our stuff down and ran to get food. I ended up not eating because I was a little scared. I decided to eat my peanut butter, THANK GOD I brought it!
The beds are not the most amazing thing you will ever sleep on. We decided it was similar to camping, but harder. Actually, this morning I didn't wake up with a sore back or anything. The bathroom is a little scary. The toilet and the shower are one, and a warm shower is not really an option. Although it is better than what we were working with last night, aka FREEZING cold. In the middle of the room there is the "magical box." This controls all the electricity for the room. So say you decide to turn the ground button off, none of the outlets work on the ground. This causes you to freak out in the morning when you wake up and see that your laptop battery appears dead. Does it sound like I learned my lesson? All the outlets are American, European, and Chinese, so really it is wonderful. Oh and we have AC. Our room is an ice box. As long as we don't get a bill at the end of the 7 weeks we are keeping it this way.
I unpacked this morning and went for an adventure through campus and the surrounding area with my roommate and two of the people with us. We found a nice little pastry place, so I finally ate. Pointing is the new way of communicating here. We learned that flip flops are probably not the best idea seeing that one of the sewers was overflowing and Alysha stepped in some sludge and started to feel a tingling, burning sensation on her leg. For those who are worried...her leg is fine.
The rest of today is kind of up for grabs. I may try some food other than pastries, maybe some rice or noodles? Who knows. Our professor gets here at 7 and then we will figure out our lives from there. Seeing as we don't know how to use the subway or anything we figured it best to wait until some one tells us more.
That is all for now!
Megan!
Who spends the most money on fireworks per year?
Disney World - Think about it. 365 days x 4 parks = a whole lot of fireworks.
What is the bill for the fireworks in the US on the 4th of July?
200 million dollars...that includes all the little towns.
I was about to learn how fireworks were made but sadly I fell asleep. I also decided it is a VERY bad idea to take children under 12 to China. See, like said we flew over the North Pole. If any child ever saw that they would know in an instant that Santa isn't real. IT IS ONE BIG ICE SHEET. This is not a new discovery, I have known for years that Santa isn't real, oh and that the north pole is an ice sheet, but a small unsuspecting child doesn't know that. If Santa were real his poor little elfs would be frozen gnomes in Santa's vast ice sheet of a backyard. As you can tell I had a lot of time to think.
Other than that the plane ride was uneventful. There were ten open seats on the entire flight and I was graciously blessed with one next to me! The guy on the aisle wanted to be my best friend, but I nicely declined. He drank a lot on the plane too, probably why he feel asleep so easily.
As a I told many of you, when I landed I had a bit of an adventure. I arrived in the new terminal built for the Olympics and it was beautiful. However, I could not find my traveling companions. I almost left the airport to venture into the city alone, but I decided I would wait for Alysha's delayed plane. I'm glad I did because the other girls randomly found me almost two hours after I landed. It made me feel good that if I went missing they would go on a search and rescue misson for me.
The car ride to CUC was interesting. Italy has nothing on the China road system. People are walking and riding bikes through the streets, while the people driving are attempting to avoid them. Oh and avoid other cars. We eventually just had to realize we did not have control of the car and stopped watching. Once we made it to our rooms we threw our stuff down and ran to get food. I ended up not eating because I was a little scared. I decided to eat my peanut butter, THANK GOD I brought it!
The beds are not the most amazing thing you will ever sleep on. We decided it was similar to camping, but harder. Actually, this morning I didn't wake up with a sore back or anything. The bathroom is a little scary. The toilet and the shower are one, and a warm shower is not really an option. Although it is better than what we were working with last night, aka FREEZING cold. In the middle of the room there is the "magical box." This controls all the electricity for the room. So say you decide to turn the ground button off, none of the outlets work on the ground. This causes you to freak out in the morning when you wake up and see that your laptop battery appears dead. Does it sound like I learned my lesson? All the outlets are American, European, and Chinese, so really it is wonderful. Oh and we have AC. Our room is an ice box. As long as we don't get a bill at the end of the 7 weeks we are keeping it this way.
I unpacked this morning and went for an adventure through campus and the surrounding area with my roommate and two of the people with us. We found a nice little pastry place, so I finally ate. Pointing is the new way of communicating here. We learned that flip flops are probably not the best idea seeing that one of the sewers was overflowing and Alysha stepped in some sludge and started to feel a tingling, burning sensation on her leg. For those who are worried...her leg is fine.
The rest of today is kind of up for grabs. I may try some food other than pastries, maybe some rice or noodles? Who knows. Our professor gets here at 7 and then we will figure out our lives from there. Seeing as we don't know how to use the subway or anything we figured it best to wait until some one tells us more.
That is all for now!
Megan!
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