Home.

I arrived home in Boston late Thursday night...greeted by my Mom, Dad & sister. (He's not in the pic above because he was stealthily hiding behind a column taking the picture) The previous 24 hours were a blur of packing, staying out too late, and crying with my friends. The friends who had been my family for the past 2 months...leaving was incredibly surreal. I felt like I was having an out of body experience and I was just observing everything but not exactly registering that it was happening.

I could go on and on about my memories and experiences in Beijing--the good, the bad, the ugly and everything else in between--but all that matters is what I will be taking with me. The experiences I had, the friends I made, the Olympic memories--all of those things will stay with me forever. In the words of a cheesy Chinese pop song, "love you Beijing...love you China"

Zai jen!
-Anna

Leaving Beijing...no words

Well, obviously there are words...millions. This trip has been such an amazing, eye-opening, life-changing...there are not enough cliches to explain how I feel about China. So I will try in my own words.

My bags are all packed...with the seams on my LL Bean duffle literally bursting. Our shuttle is coming to take us to the airport in 15 minutes.

There are so many things I am going to miss--the people, the food...the OLYMPICS! The fun interactions with our taxi drivers on 4, 5 or 6 am cab rides. Singing "Beijing wang ying ni" (my Pinyin is horrible but it means Beijing welcomes you, and there are 25 Chinese superstars, including Jackie Chan, singing the song. It's pretty awesome--I bought a DVD of the music video so you will all get to see it) at all hours of the day, anywhere and getting smiles from everyone.

I will miss the friendly smiles everywhere...and people trying to help us if we were lost with hand gestures, pointing, and often, walking us directly where we need to go.

I will miss the Olympics, and the 'glory of sport'. It was such a great moment for Beijing, and the people here could not have been more welcoming and accepting.

There is so so much more I want to write, so I will try to write some more on the plane.

Mens Football Gold Medal Match

Friday night our manager told us we could go to the Bird's Nest for the Gold medal match for mens football. (Since I am in Beijing and not the US I am calling it football for the remainder of the post...)

We found some empty seats in the highest section, with a great birds-eye view (ahahahaha I crack myself up). We settled in to watch the game, and I was the only one of our group rooting for Argentina. I'm sorry but Nigeria kicked the US out so I'm a little bitter.

It was really awesome to be in the Bird's Nest as a spectator and not as an ONS Flash Quote Reporter. I could go get a beer for 5 RMB (but I didn't because it was barely noon) or I could cheer for my team or I could get up and do the 'Mexican Wave'. The wave is apparently called the Mexican Wave in China...still not sure why.

At halftime, we ended up making our way to another press tribune (not the one we normally work/sit in). It was pretty sweet. During the half, the 'cheerleaders' came out and did some dances, but the FUWA stole the show. They danced around and some of them ran around the cheerleaders trying to confuse them. It was hilarious.

Pic: Fuwa (small and large sizes) on the track with the 'cheerleaders'

The game was great too...it had been a while since I got to see a 'proper football match' and I remembered why I enjoy the sport so much.

Last Night of Work at the Bird's Nest=Testing the Security on the Field

So, Saturday night was our last night of work at the Bird's Nest, so we figured that would be a good time to try and see how for the "FOP" (Field of Play) symbol on our credentials could get us. Pretty far it turns out...4 of the guys in our group staged a Mens 100m (no World Records there--the fastest one clocked in at 20 seconds...and they were HAULING). I got a pic of me 'holding' the torch and my friend Katrina and I staged a 50km Racewalk collapse on the finish line. Overall, it was a pretty awesome experience, one that I will keep with me for a long time. Getting to be in the same place where so many amazing Olympic moments happened was pretty freakin awesome!

Pic above: view of the main press tribune from the track.

Some Olympic news stories

Just a few interesting stories that have caught my eye in the past few days...

AP story on Usain Bolt's less-than-sportsmanlike conduct

WSJ China blog on 'the Bolt'

Liu Xiang speaks about his injury

Michael Phelps says learning Mandarin is harder than winning 8 Golds

Wondering what exactly the FUWA are?

--and the Chinese women who played Keri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor?? We saw them play last week!

Another crazy night at track & field

Walking into the Birds Nest on Wednesday night, my friend Jennie and I stopped and checked in. We picked up our complementary drinks (3 bottles of water and 1 soft drink)...we got our dinner vouchers, but we never really eat there any more because the food looks like this:


We walked out and realized we were right in front of one of the entrances to the Field of Play. We figured now was as good a time as any to give the blue line on the bottom of our credentials a try. The blue line means we have access to FOP. We walked right out there like we owned the place (I've noticed that you walk into anywhere like you own the place, you will get what you want 99% of the time...it worked Tuesday night when we went to Club Bud--see pic below)



Anyway, we walked around the track until we got to the correct exit...there is one located right by our office and the mixed zone. It was pretty cool to be out ON THE FIELD--we saw volunteers putting together the medal stand, we saw the judges and officials heading out to the field (wearing lovely Beijing Olympics ties), and we walked by the starting blocks that Usain Bolt would launch himself out of later in the night.



For the first part of the night, I was in the office working as a copytaker. I snuck out (it was fine with my manager, so I guess it wasn't really sneaking), but I snuck out to see USA's Nick Symmonds run his qualifier in the Mens 800m. He won his heat so that was pretty cool.

After that it was back to the office for more copytaking and around 9:45 I headed out to the broadcast mix zone to get quotes from the Mens 200m and Womens 400m Hurdles Finals. The Mens 200m was first, and everyone was watching Bolt. The stadium quieted down for the start, and we all had bets about who would be finishing 2nd and 3rd...I predicted 2 Americans.

It was literally a photo finish..and again, being in the press area when that happened was pretty cool. The press have the best seat in the house. Bolt won, in world record fashion, with Netherland's Churandy Martina coming in second and USA's Wallace Spearmon coming in third. The three runners took their respective countries' flags and headed out for a victory lap. The three were cheering and jumping and Bolt was breaking into some signature dance moves. Then, a new finishing list flashed on the screen...Spearmon was listed as DSQ and USA's Sean Crawford was listed in third. I was right there when Spearmon threw the flag at Crawford and said something along the lines of, "I guess this is yours."

Crawford was flabbergasted and in all the interviews he gave immediately afterwards he was a class act. Even the guys from NBC that I talked to were impressed with the way he handled himself and how humble and gracious he was.

Imagine the shock he feels NOW! Shortly after, the US lodged a formal complaint and it was discovered that the runner from the Netherlands, Martina, had been DSQ as well. Sean Crawford went from having no medal, to having a bronze, to having a silver!

It was a long night...besides the Mens 200m drama, there was also the Womens 400m Hurdles final and the first qualifying round for the Mens Pole Vault. The pole vault went well after midnight because NO ONE could make the qualifying height.

A US runner, Sheena Tosta got silver in the hurdles and she was a great interview as well. Very sweet and just thrilled with her medal. That is something I have definitely picked up on here...you get a sense of the athletes that are the best kind of person, too. They are humble and thankful, in victory AND defeat.

Well, now I know what it's like to hear a pin drop in the Bird's Nest

(AP Photo)

Okay, not quite. But I was working this morning, which if you've been living under a rock, means that I was at the Bird's Nest for the track & field qualifying events. And China's hurdling superstar, Liu Xiang, did not even compete in his event. Here's how it all played out:

-I was covering the womens hammer throw for most of the morning. And it was great because we now have ONS seats in the Press Tribune, which means we have a place IN the stadium to watch the events instead of just watching them in the office or in the mixed zone on one of the tv screens. I was really enjoying being outside and taking it all in...until some Hong Kong popstar came to the CCTV booth and all the Chinese (in the press tribune) started taking out cameras and pens and taking pictures and autographs. So I headed down the mixed zone to watch the rest of the hammer throw and try and grab some athletes before Liu Xiang's event.

-By the time I got down to the mixed zone, the place was already buzzing. The screens were showing him warming up, wearing his bright red China warm ups and stretching on the track. He took his time changing into his little spandex running top and I remember thinking "Why is he taking so long? What is he avoiding?" The hurdlers took their positions and snap, they were off. But there was a false start. The camera went to Liu and he ripped the sticker with his lane number off his lack and walked off the track. The race went on, and the cameras zoomed in on his empty starting blocks. The stadium subsequently EMPTIED.

-The mixed zone was buzzing instantly. Chinese people were crying all around me, literally sobbing. Some on our ONS team couldn't keep it together, either. No one knew what had happened...was it his hamstring injury? Or something else? How long had he been injured? Where was he now?

-He was being attended to by three doctors and within fifteen minutes of the race ending, I was in the Press Conference Room, sitting with one of our ONS professional staff, waiting for the conference to begin. We knew that Liu would NOT be attending, just two Chinese coaches.

-The room was PACKED. The coaches entered: Sun Hiping, Liu's head coach for the past 12 years and Feng Shuyong, one of Team China's head coaches for track and field. We turned on our headsets, readying for the English translation. But we didn't need them. A young Chinese woman would be translating for the coaches. One problem...she was CLEARLY upset. She could barely get words out and she was constantly stopping to sniffle and catch her breath.

-Both coaches reiterated that Liu would always compete, until the pain was unbearable. They were clearly shaken. His personal head coach, Sun Hiping, broke down a couple times. When a journalist asked about their father-son-like relationship, he just couldn't help it. (NOTE: He and Liu share a house in Shanghai).

-When asked about the pressure Liu might have felt, the pressure all the Chinese athletes felt, (and feel, probably), Feng said that Liu has said in the past, "the biggest opponent in my competition is myself."

It was one of the longest mornings here and saddest, too. Sure, we are journalists and we're objective (I was not shedding any tears in the mixed zone), but this guy literally had the country of China on his shoulders. Since Athens they had been talking about Liu winning gold in his home country, in the Birds Nest, in World Record fashion. I don't know if they show the Nike commercial in the States, but it's a great one: Liu is getting ready to run the hurdles, and the commercial cuts to Chinese workers in a restaurant, people watching at home, spectators in the stadium; and Liu takes his hands and puts blinders on--just focuses on what's in front of him. The commercial ends with the swoosh and "Just Do It." It's incredibly sad that he didn't even get to do just that.

Dear CCTV

Dear CCTV,

When Michael Phelps and the US relay team have just clinched the gold medal (in a historic fashion, no less) I do NOT want to see an adorable Chinese kid decked out in China stickers and flags...I want to see the US team!

Thank you.

Day in the life of an Athletics (Track & Field) Flash Quote Reporter...

Arrived at The National Stadium at 5 pm Beijing time on Friday night for the first day of events at the Nest. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially since I hadn't been at the venue for the past 2 weeks, and I had been covering basketball. The first thing I noticed (obviously) was the Olympic flame! It is amazing...and loud too! It makes a lot of noise, at least that's what I hear...we are not really allowed on the Field of Play. We might try that tonight, after the events are over.
[One of my favorite quotes of the night was from a US woman who just finished the women's steeplechase: "That Olympic flame, sets you on fire!"]

We got to the office, checked the white board (which tells us which events we will be covering and what the medal events are, etc.). My group was covering women's triple jump, women's heptathlon 200 meters and men's 1500 meters. All were qualifying rounds--no medal events yet. We got the start lists and event reviews, and read them over in our group. Our ONS Managers sat us all down and we went through all the events for the evening and talked through which athletes we'd want to speak to.

There are 10-15 of us from Emerson working every night, so there are lots of different jobs and places to be. Some are upstairs in the Press Tribune, some are in the office taking copy, a couple are Video Flash Quote Reporters, but most of us are in the Mixed Zone. The Mixed Zone is a place where are the international journalists rub elbows (well, more like, jab) and try to get to their respective athletes. Broadcast journalists get the best spots, and if we are in the Broadcast area we are not allowed to ask any questions--we just write down whatever the athletes say. (Since we're ONS, it's allowed...it's not like we are copying or stealing.) The next zone is the wire services (AP, Reuters, AFP, Xinhua) and it's the same thing, just stand and listen and write fast. The rest of the mixed zone is up for grabs. That's where we usually are.

And that's where I spent most of my time Friday night. I met some USA journalists, including the Globe's Bob Ryan (he was waiting for the USA men shot putters). It is incredibly surreal to be right there, in my little ONS 'bib' (as the Aussies call it) trying to get athletes to stop and talk to me...a little ONS nobody. But I did get to speak to a couple athletes last night, directly, and that was pretty cool. Not many athletes wanted to talk, especially if it was just a qualifying round. After some of the track events the athletes literally ran right through the Mixed Zone and never stopped. All athletes are required to go the Mixed Zone but no one has to stop.

For the most part, I try to be invisible and take down whatever I can for notes and then rush back to the ONS office to read off my notes to one of the four copytakers.

A few more Beijing bits and pieces...

(A warning sign in one of the public restrooms here in Beijing)

-Riding the subway should be an Olympic sport, because Beijingers treat it that way. Anyone who gets a seat gets a gold medal.

-I have figured out how to identify which trains are air conditioned (the new ones have a streamlined, shark-like nose; the old ones have a flat front). There is nothing more unenjoyable than getting on a train that is approximately 110 degrees and smells like a pleasant potpourri of body odor, sweat, and pee. Yes, pee...saw a little kid pee ON THE TRAIN yesterday.

-Getting around Beijing is easy, with a taxi ride costing, on average, 5-10 dollars; and subway rides are free with our Olympic credentials. The problem is, Beijing is roughly the size of Belgium, so getting from one end to the other can be a bit of a hassle, not matter the mode of transportation.

-I got to see the Mens 100m Final LIVE last night! Usually we are just in the mixed zone or somewhere deep in the mazes within the Birds Nest, but our manager, Emily, let us all sneak out and go up to the press tribune to watch the race. Who do you think has the best view?? The press. It was UNREAL. I just stayed off to the side and watched the runners take their marks. Bolt was amazing...the whole stadium was pretty eerily quiet when they got ready, but once they were off and running, the place went WILD. The energy in the place was electrifying. (I think here is where I would put in some clever play on words about BOLT and electricity or something, but I'm too tired.)

Skewed viewing of Olympic events

I have always enjoyed watching the Olympics, winter and summer, for as long as I can remember. I remember watching Katarina Witt figure skate, and wanting to be just like her. I remember the US women's gymnastics team and Kerri Strug her 'heroic' vault in Atlanta in 1996. I was constantly rooting for the underdog, the feel-good story. I was, and still am, a sucker for that kind of stuff. There is something so incredibly positive about getting behind my country's team and rooting for them every night and just allowing myself to get caught up in the glory of the competition.

In China, it is completely different...or exactly the same, just a different team. With the CCTV being the official (ahem, only) station of the Olmypics here it's a bit challenging to see any US events. There are plenty of CCTV stations (CCTV Spanish, CCTV French, CCTV English, CCTV channels 1-10) and many many more that we don't have access to here in the dorm.

I feel like I am missing out on all the US events--for example, I met a US soccer player a couple nights ago and I had no idea that the mens team was out of the quarterfinals after playing 3 games and not qualifying. I had NO idea they had played 3 games! I try to follow along online as much as I can, but there are so many events and athletes that it's a bit overwhelming.

And even though I am missing out on stuff, it is pretty cool to see plenty of events that I would never have watched otherwise (archery, shooting, womens weightlifting--the Chinese women in this sport are insane!, synchronized diving, judo...). Also, CCTV is constantly airing a medal count graphic, with the US and China neck and neck in the medal count.

Agh! I just came across USA vs. Canada baseball on CCTV 3! Yes! And they are singing "Take me out to the ballgame" in the stands! Fenway frank anyone?!

Basketball ends (for me), ATHLETICS begins!

Shougang Basketball venue (above)

The fuwa weolcome you tothe Shougang Basketball Center

Today (Friday) marks the beginning of Athletics (track & field to the rest of us) at the National Stadium, aka the Bird's Nest. Thursday was our last day of flash quoting basketball players at the Shougang basketball venue. We interviewed women players from Australia and Mali.

Everyone at Shougang was so friendly and nice to my classmate Jim and I. They are a venue that is kind of out in the suburbs of Beijing, and they don't see much Olympic action. Everyday when Jim and I came in, they were so excited to see us. They offered us the best seats in the waiting area (the ones closest to the tv) and together we'd watch Olympic events while the basketball teams practiced. By the end of our five days there I was learning to write in Chinese characters and helping them with their English. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences here so far.

Drum roll please....official Olympic volunteer uniform!

I've put it off long enough...but here is a pic of me in my uniform. (The pants also zip off into shorts) The close-up is of my Adidas sneakers. Check out the Beijing 2008 logo on the heel!

Bits and Pieces...

pic: me wearing my 2008 Olympic-themed glasses.

Just woke up--watching mens field hockey--Australia vs. South Africa. Australia is up 6-0.

It's been great to hear how many of you back home are watching the Games and enjoying them. I am too. It's weird because for the most part, all the games/events I watch on TV are in Mandarin (Australia just scored another goal, 7-0) and it's been interesting, but hard too, because sometimes I just want to know what is going on! Luckily there are plenty of websites (nbc, boston.com, yahoo) where I can check everything out. I still haven't seen the complete video of the USA mens' amazing relay victory in swimming, which stinks, but I CAN tell you the name of the Chinese woman who set a World Record in the Clean & Jerk weightlifting (Chen Xiexia). Overall, though, I am enjoying it. Because I get to see events and athletes that I would probably never watch back home.

Australia just scored again...8-0.

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A funny little story about flash quoting at basketball practice. A couple days ago we wanted to interview the coach of Angola. Unfortunately he only spoke Portuguese...I said I spoke Spanish and I would give it a try. Walked right up to him said "Hola," and fired off a question in Spanish. (How do you feel about your game tomorrow against Germany?) Apparently I remembered the Spanish word for Germany?! (Alemania) and apparently I remembered the word for against?! (contra) Because the coach responded, in Portuguese. I was so excited I almost forgot to take notes. And the coach felt 'fine' about the game. Definitely one of my favorite Olympic moments here so far.

***********************************************************************************

PHOTO UPDATE:

Uploaded the pictures of me eating the duck feet, just check out the "I ate duck feet" post.

I promised my Mom I would post a pic of me in my uniform at some point in the next 24 hours. I know you're all excited for that.

Australia is up 10-0.

Part Two: Rowing

We stayed for the first 3 beach volleyball matches and then four of us headed off to the Olympic rowing & canoeing venue. It's a bit of a trek outside the city.

We got there about an hour before events were scheduled to begin, so we wandered around the venue, checked out the food 'situation' (all out of hot dogs and sandwiches, so my lunch was a bag of tomato-flavored potato chips. YUM)

Spectator seats across the way.

Jenna and I staying dry, wearing my Olympic-issued yellow poncho

Highlight of the day: seeing US Men (and twin brothers) Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss come from behind to win their qualifying heat. Pic is above.

Taking a day off...to SEE OLYMPIC EVENTS! (part one, Beach Volleyball)

Monday was a full and fun day here. Started off bright and early to get on the subway to head to beach volleyball. We had tickets for the morning session, which included 5 matches--men and women. As soon as we walked in to the venue, it started raining...but we didn't care. We were watching volleyball! And we all got lovely yellow ponchos too.

The matches were pretty intense. No major blowouts...we saw the Chinese women (seeded #1) play Belgium (seeded #14) and Belgium won the first set! China pulled it together pretty fast and won the second, and then they had a tie-breaker.

China vs. Belgium

During technical timeouts these incredibly talented (read: sarcasm) dancing cheerleaders would come out and do some lovely dancing. We were far more entertained by the dancing fuwa.

One of the mens' matches: Latvia vs. Argentina

Day in the Life of a Basketball Flash-Quote Reporter

When I last blogged about basketball I thought I would be at the Wukesong Arena, the main venue for basketball (and baseball & softball) in Beijing. But after getting more information from my ONS supervisor, Emily, it was discovered that we would be interviewing players at one of the four practice venues in the Beijing area.

There are many silver linings to this arrangement. Number one, we don't have to wear our volunteer uniforms! (Yes, I know I still haven't posted uniform photos/videos yet...they're coming). Number two, it's very laid back...we just go out on the court after they are done with practice and ask them a couple questions. My favorite interview so far was Andres Nocioni, of Argentina (they are the defending Olympic champions). I went over to ask a few questions and he nicely cleared off a seat on the bench for me and we had a great little interview.

I have interviewed players from Mali, Brazil, Argentina, and Angola. Today we just have one team, Czech Republic. (The USA and China womens teams are also on the schedule for our venue, but they have their own private practice venue).

I am really enjoying it, and it's getting me ready to flash-quote at the Bird's Nest, which starts on Friday!

The only downside: the commute...Beijing is an enormous city--with 17 million people and a size roughly equivalent to Belgium--it takes a long time to get from one place to another.

Opening Ceremony pics, video

Watching the Opening Ceremony on the roofdeck of the Drum & Bell bar

Trucks full of fireworks in Tian an Men Square.

Apparently some of the fireworks were faked--

Click here for that story.

The countdown in Tian an Men! Zero days, one hour, 26 minutes, 45 seconds.

Here is video that my friend Mike took, of me getting a picture with the whole family. It's still a bit bizarre getting my picture taken with complete strangers, but if it makes them happy, why not?

Best dumplings in the world!

This is how the dumplings arrived: a big bamboo dish that was steaming hot.




Eating my first dumpling!



And since we went for the first time on Friday we've already been back.

Let the GAMES BEGIN!

Well, it's 1:41 am...just back to the CUC dorms after a marathon day in/around the city.

Basically I just wanted to get out and see what was going on, what people were doing, how they were feeling, etc. It was actually a major holiday here and lots of businesses were closed. But a group of us was able to go to the Din Tai Fung restaurant for some world-famous dumplings! And they certainly lived up to their hype. (Thanks for the tip Uncle John!)

After lunch we headed over to the Olympic Green...or as close as we could possibly get with our credentials. I figured today would be a good day to wear my "I Love China" shirt for the first time. I ended up being interviewed on Beijing TV, which was pretty surreal...being on the other side of the mic!

My friend Jenna works at the MPC and we were able to get in close to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube...well, closer than they were letting most people! See the fence in the pic below...

After wandering around a bit, and trying to act like we belonged there, we headed back to the CUC to regroup and see what everyone else had planned for the evening. Some were going to sports bars in the Sanlitun, others were going to Wangfujing to watch the Opening Ceremony on the big screen. My friend Mike and I decided to head to Tian an men Square...we heard rumors there would be tv screens.

Surprisingly, the subway was pretty quiet around 5:30. We were able to get seats on the train! And that NEVER happens. We got to the Tian an men stop and there were people everywhere. Many were waving Chinese flags, or wearing temporary tattoos. A couple people asked to take their picture with me, the 'beauty' (their words not mine!). After checking out the scene at Tian an men and realizing there were no tv screens, just trucks full of fireworks, we decided to head to the Drum & Bell, a bar that some of our friends were already at.

After a long and crazy cab ride, Mike and I ended up a few blocks away from the bar. We walked as fast as we could...at this point the ceremony had already begun, and this is when we felt REALLY lucky that we had already seen the dress rehearsal, because we knew what was coming. So we got to the bar and our friends were on the roofdeck. We grabbed some seats and the ceremony was being shown on a projection screen...outside! It was a great experience, and I am glad we were in a place that had people from all over the world, not just a bunch of Americans. After the torch was lit (in an AMAZING fashion...I won't say how) fireworks went off ALL OVER the city...some were right near our roofdeck. Everyone went crazy for the fireworks.

An hour or so later when we were walking back to CUC, the sky was lit up with heat lightning.

And now I really need to get some sleep! Interviewing the men's basketball teams from China, Angola, and defending Olypmic champions, Argentina, tomorrow!

**I will post more of my pics and video from the Opening Ceremony soon!

I ate duck feet

Can you see the excitement?

Figured I'd take it all in one bite...

Mmm...tastes like chicken!

After the duck feet, I ate duck gizzard.

And all I kept thinking about was 'Make Way for Ducklings'!

I am just trying everything once while I am here. No regrets!

In case you were wondering, the feet looked exactly like duck feet and they were chewy. The gizzard was more like 'organ meat' (says my friend Laura the vegetarian).

Opening Ceremony! Spoiler Alert

JUST KIDDING.
But those of us stationed at The Bird's Nest got to see an Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal on Saturday night and it was amazing. Truly a spectacle. Breathtaking--there are not enough adjectives to describe the scope of the production. I have to say I would not want to the NBC producer who has to figure out where the cameras are located and what they are going to shoot because there is a LOT going on during the ceremony.

The stadium was packed almost to capacity. (capacity=91,000) The audience was mostly Chinese, and they were so excited to be there. They were taking pictures outside the venue (taking pictures inside was strictly prohibited) and for many of them this was an incredible honor...some won tickets in a lottery, some paid big RMB.

Just a couple statistics on the Opening Ceremony:

*For the opening and closing ceremonies China is spending (estimates are at $100 million USD)more than double what Athens spent on the Opening Ceremony in 2004
*More than 10,000 performers are participating
*It's 210 minutes long
*It's been in the making for 3 years

...in case you forgot, the Chinese invented fireworks. Just a hint.

and you can get a beer and hot dog in the Bird's Nest for 8 RMB...that's about $1.20

Olympic Green...beautiful, but not so green

We got into work a bit early one morning this week, so a couple of us wandered around the Olympic Green...after taking the brand-spankin new Olympic subway line. (Only people with credentials can ride it). It was the only time we had an entire train to ourselves!




The Green is beautiful...it's not green though. It's an enormous gathering place between the 3 major venues in the area: The Bird's Nest, Water Cube, and National Indoor Stadium. There are trees and sculptures and Coke kiosks and benches to sit on and awesome views of the Olympic venues...but for the most part there is no grass. It's all stone, brick, and rock.


I am definitely looking forward to hanging around the Green once the Games start...I am sure there will be lots more to see and do.

Relaxation Tour, Day 3

Woke up Monday morning, grabbed some breakfast and headed to Ritan Park. Walking through the park reminded me of the parks in Sevilla...right in the middle of the city are these beautifully landscaped parks with little ponds, snack kiosks, benches, pavillions and shady spots to read or play cards.

My friend Jennie and I headed to Ritan to play some rummy (she recently taught me how to play and now I am consistently kicking her butt!). We sat in a nice little pagoda (pic above) and played a couple rounds. We got up and wandered through the park--found a little temple, a place to race toy speedboats, even a North Face sponsored rock climbing wall.

All the walking made our feet pretty tired and we'd been wanting to get foot massages pretty much since we got here, so we headed to the Dragonfly spa...a 15 minute walk from the park. We both got the Oriental Foot Massage and it was glorious. I just felt bad for the lady! Walking around for the past 3 weeks in flip-flops had definitely taken it's toll.

After the massage we headed to the Sanlitun area. There was cafe we wanted to check out: The Bookworm. It was a very 'chill' place, we sat on big comfy chairs, ordered some coffee and continued our rummy game (I won, again!). We lingered for almost 2 hours, alternately reading and playing cards.

That night we ate Persian food, something else I've never tried, and it was DELICIOUS. There are so many different ethnic groups in Beijing and we've been sampling lots of exotic and sometimes unusual food.

Lazy Sunday...

After returning from Simatai and recharging our batteries with a big dinner and shower, we headed out to sing some karaoke.



This was the first time on the trip where I distinctly felt the language barrier. The people there did not speak a bit of English...which is fine--we've obviously been spoiled by the fact that so many Chinese know English. Which makes me wonder, how many Americans know Mandarin? Not many. It was difficult to order, because the woman waiting on us kept writing down the Mandarin characters, and we REALLY don't know those. But after with the help of three phrasebooks, some creative sign language and pointing, we ordered a round of beers for the room. (That's how karaoke bars work here--you come in a big group and you get a private room with your own TV and some pretty hilarious songs).



We laughed and sang and danced our way through some pretty big hits, but the highlight, BY FAR, was our friend Bruce (all 250+ pounds) singing "Oops I Did It Again."



We woke up late Sunday morning and Jennie and I decided it was time to cave and go in search of a Western Breakfast, capital W capital B. We found it at a delightful restaurant "Grandma's Kitchen." They had waffles, French toast, pancakes, omelettes, bacon, home fries...and the BEST- bottomless coffee! Unless you want to pay big RMB it's hard to find a good cup in the city. So we sat and lingered over breakfast and coffee and it was glorious. We read some expat magazines and made a massive to-do list of EVERYTHING we want to do before we leave.

All in all, it was just the kind of lazy Sunday we needed.

Link to my roommate Susy's blog

Okay, I'd been holding off on linking to Susy's blog because it's all professional-looking and polished...and I have a bit of blog envy.

Here is her post on our trip to Bob's for the Tea Ceremony
http://www.susan-jackson.com/tea-party/

Link to Simatai photo album

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024512&l=50a29&id=43500156

Simataiiiiiiii!

Friday night 3 of my friends here and I decided we needed to get OUT of the city and away from the drama of dorm life. Yep, even when you are in your early to mid-20s, there can be drama in the dorm. Nothing crazy, but we needed to get away. We had been wanting to go to Simatai pretty much since our first weekend here and our less than perfect cattle-herding like visit to Badaling, a crazy-popular Great Wall tourist spot complete with a Starbucks. Buyao! (I don't want)

Simatai is a 2 1/2 hour bus ride out of Beijing. Helen, Jennie, Laura and I woke up bright and early (5:45!) to head to the tourist bus station. Jennie's tour book said we could only buy tickets between 6:50 and 7:30 so we wanted to make sure we were early enough to get tickets on the 'luxury bus' that would take us to Simatai. (NOTE: everytime I said Simatai I would do it in a semi-annoying high-pitched voice and hold the last "I" for a good 30 seconds. I will re-enact it for you when I get home). Anyways, we got to the ticket window and asked for Simatai, the nice lady gestured to a part of the parking lot where people were sitting and said, "Wait a moment." Well, a moment turned into abour 45 minutes and we were getting confused. Two more times Jenne and I went up and asked again, "Simatai?" and she gave us the same, now curt, reply. Then, the third time she gestured to a bus, so we all got on. Maybe we pay once we're on the bus? Nope, we had to get off the bus to get the tickets.

After a slight miscommunication on ticket prices, we got back on the bus, tickets in hand, ready for the driver to crank the AC. (I don't think I will EVER get used to the heat here, it is literally suffocatingly hot...every day.) We grabbed seats, and I took out the "Oracle Bones" to read on the almost 3-hour drive. Then, the driver came in, said a bunch of things in Mandarin, and everyone groaned. Apparently we were moving to a smaller bus. As we boarded the smaller one, we realized all the seats were full and there was no place to sit. A family travelling with 2 boys moved them out of seats so we could sit, but then 5 German guys came on and there was NO way we were all fitting on that bus. BACK to the bigger one. And that's where we stayed. I've adopted the mantra "Welcome to China!" and I say it whenever things don't really make sense to us or it appears that things are being done in a less-than-efficient way.

The bus ride was uneventful, except for the fact that our bus driver was driving extremely fast, so we made it to Simatai in less than 2 1/2 hours. As soon as we got off, we were hit with a wave of heat, but we were SO pumped to be there. Already we could tell it would be much different from Badaling. Badaling was swarming with tourists and Chinese there making a day of it. Simatai was practically deserted, and it was a Saturday!

We began by taking a cable car (pic above) up the hill and then a mini train so we could get on the Wall. We wanted to spend as much time as possible ON the Wall, so we payed a little extra (about $7) to get up there a little faster. The Wall in Simatai is the original wall, not like the reconstructed one in Badaling, so that makes it a little more dangerous--more steep, no steel handrails to hold on to, much more sloping. It was so beautiful. Unfortunately it was not a clear day, so our pictures will not have a clear blue sky. We hiked up to one of the watch towers and began our descent down. We took our time, savoring the sights and the silence! There were parts where we had an entire section of the Wall to ourselves, and it was great.

Pic below: the four of us after our lunch break.

About 2 hours in, we made it to the zipline. Helen and Jennie were all about it, but Laura and I were a little more apprehensive. We were VERY high up. HUNDREDS of feet...zipping over a river. Helen and Jennie paid and got in line, Laura and I stayed behind. But after ten minutes of standing there, we decided to JUST DO IT. When would we ever have the opportunity to zipline off the freaking Great Wall?! We could even zip down together. We were buckled into safety harnesses (similar to mountain climbing ones) and then snapped into a carribeaner on the line. So Laura and I screamed our way down, and it was amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Pic above: Laura and I coming in on the zipline!

Once we got down, we had to take a boat across the river back to the Wall. We had a celebratory Tsingtao (beer) and got back on the bus. It was my favorite day here, by far.

The Enlightenment Tour of China Continues...Day 2: Temple of Heaven

After the DHL fiasco, Mike and I met our professor Janet at the Temple of Heaven. It is a huge compound of Temples and monuments--with names like Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven, Hall of Abstinence (which is the place where fasting would take place--slight mistranslation there) special echo stones, and a Round Altar.

We wandered around there for a few hours, taking in the temples and also the people. Many Chinese come to the Temple of Heaven to relax, play cards, dance, and sing opera. Pics below

ome parts were more busy than others, it was not quiet like the Lama Temple, but there were some quieter spots around the grounds as we walked from temple to temple. It's the kind of place I hope to go back to with a good book and just sit and read.

Desperately Seeking DHL

I woke up Friday morning with a mission: find a DHL to ship some items home that I a)did not need (Yes Kathy, you were right, I DID overpack!) and b)a couple of gifts that I wanted to get home before I did.

My friend Mike and I set out for the China World Trade Center--2 mammoth business towers with an inter-connected mall in the lower floors. His Lonely Planet assured us we would find a DHL there. (DHL was recommended because the company has been doing business in China for the longest time and therefore the most reliable). Well, we searched the mall- up and down, back and forth, between the Towers 3 times. We did find an indoor skating rink, 2 Starbucks, and, my personal favorite--much to Mike's shock and chagrin--a HUGE Sanrio store. (see pic below...also, notice my Spain jersey? I got it at the Silk Market for 60 RMB, less than 6 bucks...this picture made me realize why. The sleeves are two different lengths! Oh well).

After almost 2 hours we found the DHL--which was actually a hotel's Business Center. AND the Business Center was being renovated so it was in a different location. While filling out the paperwork, I found out that I could NOT ship home any official Olympic merchandise without my receipt. So, sorry fam, you are not getting Olympic stuff to wear DURING the Olympics.

Moral of the story: never ship stuff home from China, it's just not worth it. Lesson learned. But don't tell Mike, I'm psyched we found the Hello Kitty store!

Links to Facebook photo albums...

Even if you aren't on the 'social networking' site, you can check out my Facebook photo albums:

Forbidden City, First Day at Bird's Nest, Tea Ceremony, Taco Tuesday
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024413&l=783d9&id=43500156

3-Day Tour
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024204&l=ee194&id=43500156

Beijing...the First 48:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024022&l=23346&id=43500156

Ohmmmm.....Relaxing Day in the Lama Temple

Meditating in the Lama Temple




So the morning began a bit stressfully--my friend Jennie and I headed over to the Bird's Nest to put some last-minute contraband snack items in our lockers before the stadium goes on lockdown tomorrow. Well, we got to the subway stop just fine, but we could not GET to the stadium! It was like a mirage in the desert, we could see it,
but it was unattainable--we had to cross 16 lanes of traffic and we couldn't find any place to cross over. It was a bit frustrating...AND it was the hottest weather we've seen since we've been here! In fact, the past 3 days have been unbearably hot.

Once we got in to the Nest, after circling for over an hour, we filled our lockers, filled up our empty water bottles and began our next adventure: heading to the Lama Temple.

By the time we arrived, we were pretty hungry. So before we went in we stopped for some lunch at a Tibetan restaurant that promised an English menu. We walked right in...I remember thinking "I don't care WHAT they serve, I'm just thrilled about the air conditioning in here!" Well, it turns out I DID care what they served--YAK, and lots of it! Yak milk, yak tongue, yakkity yak yak. As Jennie and I thumbed through the menu I started to panic...what would we do? Could we politely leave? What is the mandarin word for vegetarian?! And then, at the last pages of the mammoth menu, we found: Tibetan stir-fry veggies, Tibetan style potatoes and some spicy fried chicken. Everything was delicious, and better yet, the yak milk was complementary! (Pics below: yak milk and Tibetan potatoes...wanted to take a picture of the chicken, but we ate it too fast!)
























After our delicious meal, we headed to the temple for some enlightenment. We walked in through a tree-lined entrance and it was the quietest, most peaceful place I've been since we got here. I kept thinking of the Great Wall and how we pushed and prodded our way through, and the temple was so relaxing and quite. We wandered through the different smaller temples, making our way to final temple, the Guinness Book of World Records' 2nd-largest Buddha statue in the world. It was HUGE...and it was made out of ONE trunk of sandalwood--unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures. It definitely was a sight to behold.

Video finally uploaded!

Click the link below to see the video footage of the 'minor' traffic altercation the bus in front of us got in, on our descent from the Great Wall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAO6oDpNDmQ

Look, Mom, I'm famous! (In China)

So, our trip to Bob's tea house was covered by some local media outlets...check out the pics (and story--in Mandarin, of course!) below.

If I had any idea photos would be taken I probably wouldn't have worn my Ellsbury shirt...pshaw, who are we kidding?! I would have worn it.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2008-07/20/content_8610379_3.htm

http://news.xinhuanet.com/olympics/2008-07/20/content_8705914.htm

FIRST DAY AT THE BIRD'S NEST

Yes, all caps were needed.

On Tuesday morning we met one of our fellow ONS-ers, a guy whose American name is Walter at the main gate of the campus. (Because of a slight communication snafu, we thought his name was Water...and we were all excited to have a guy named Water after the tour guide named Rock! So we were kinda disappointed when he spelled his name as we put his # in our cell phones.)

Anyways, Walter gave us our media credentials (pic above), which give us free subway and bus rides through the Games AND access to the Bird's Nest/National Stadium! We got on the subway, and it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the Bird's Nest...two changes of subway lines and one bus connection.

Once we got inside, we headed to the Press Conference room where we had an informal meeting with one of the principal designers of the stadium and he showed us all the plans and layouts. We had a chance to ask him questions at the end and I asked what he hoped it would be used for after the Games, he said probably a supermarket, mall, and stadium too. I know there has been some disagreement among the principal architect (a Swiss guy I think?) and the Chinese government over how the stadium will be used after the game...the architect really wants it to be open to the public.

After our meeting, some of the ONS staff organized a little scavenger hunt for us around the stadium. It was crazy! Nothing like the Olympic spirit of competition to get us all fired up for a 'special prize'. Naturally, my group won (hahaha) in record time! We were sprinting all around the Bird's Nest finding locations, and I snapped a couple pictures--even though picture taking is forbidden.

After our impromptu medal ceremony, we headed to lunch. If I am eating this lunch every day I may actually lose some weight here! It was pretty bad, even the Chinese volunteers agreed.

Then we had a quick tour of the media venues and a group went off to the supermarket to stock up on food for our lockers--the stadium goes into lockdown on Friday and no outside food is allowed.

Four of us stayed back, because we figured we'd never get the opportunity to just hang around the Bird's Nest ever again. So we wandered up in to the stands and took a seat. We tried to conspicuously take some pics and then we noticed all these people congregating around the field. They were doing all these preparations for the opening ceremony! AND they started a dress rehearsal! It was SO awesome. It is going to blow your mind.

After everyone returned from the grocery store, we headed out with Emily, our ONS manager and a bunch of other people who work for Infostrada, the company BOCOG hired to be ONS. We went to this excellent Mexican place for Taco Tuesdays! We had a blast and it was great to get to know the Infostrada guys and girls better and also see a fun side of Emily, too!

Now I am off to Bruce's room down the hall because he's got the Sox game on!

Backtracking last few days...

Okay, so it's Monday morning back home, many of you are bored at work, so I've put it off long enough, here are some stories from the past few days.

Still on a high from the Silk Market a bunch of us went out Thursday night. We hit up the bars in Sanlitun, a haven for expats in Beijing. My friend Mike bartered for beers before we went into any bars (10 RMB was all we'd pay...about 1.50) so we never paid more than 10 for beers. We found a bar called Boys and Girls playing some great dance music...which, if you're a girl or know a girl, once a girl starts drinking she USUALLY wants to dance. After dancing to a couple songs, the music gets all weird...oh, did I forget to mention that there were two POLES on the stage?! So some girl comes out and does her thing. She was alright, not that I'm a pole-dancing expert or anything....um. Anyways, we think it will be time to dance again and a GUY comes out. I will not even try to describe what he was wearing but we'll just saw some kind of black shiny vinyl thing. But it did not matter what he was wearing because this guy was GOOD! Again, I'm no expert, but when the straight guys in our group are watching the stage, mesmerized, it was pretty crazy. We were all impressed...flabbergasted...etc.

The next day a group of us attempted the Forbidden City. Note to self: after being herded around like cattle for 3 days on our propaganda tour, do not, I repeat, do NOT travel in large groups! i.e., groups larger than 5. We did not leave the CUC campus til around 1, and we had been trying to get people together since 11:30. Plus, the Forbidden City is a marathon, not a sprint. We did not even navigate all of it. The Forbidden City was amazingly huge (including Chairman Mao's portrait greeting us upon our entrance--pic above), and wonderful, but you can only walk through so many "Gates of Heavenly Splendor" before they all start to look the same in the pictures. After walking through, we had a delicious duck dinner. We then wandered over to the Wangfujing night market, where tons of vendors set up carts and sell dumplings, chicken, beef, fruit on a stick, coconut with a straw, even more exotic/interesting offerings like scorpion, bugs, seahorse and snake. I stuck with the dumplings...although some of my friends tried the scorpion, bugs, and snake. We ended the night at the official headquarters store of the Olympics. It was overwhelming. Do you want an Olympic duvet cover? a tie? kimono? his and hers towels? Plus the typical gifts: t-shirts, hats, etc.

For the subway ride back to campus I treated myself to a vanilla soft-serve ice cream cone...ice cream here is definitely more ice than cream.

Saturday morning, still recovering from the big-group mentality, my friend Mike (who is engaged to a girl from Newmarket, NH!! See, we're all connected.) and I headed to the Art District, 798 (pic above). It was a lot of fun...the galleries and museums were fabulous. I bought a couple prints, and we had a delicious lunch. I splurged and ordered a smoothie, it was worth the 30 RMB. We aren't supposed to eat any fresh fruit with a skin (strawberries, apples, etc.) But bananas, kiwis, and oranges are okay. So the fresh smoothie was like heaven.

After the art district, Helen and I ventured back to Sanlitun, where she had lost her camera the night before. After not finding her camera, we wandered into a restaurant called Cappucinno--I had been craving pizza, so Cappucinno seemed like a safe bet. Well, it ended up being all Middle East inspired. We sat in a huge booth, we each had practically a couch to ourselves...and it was happy hour! Over a plate of delicious homemade hummus and some Tsingtao beer, we lounged comfortably.

Sunday morning Suzy (my roommate) woke me up and invited me to her ONS manger, Bob's tea house. He and his wife were going to make us dumplings for lunch, too. It sounded like fun. So we headed out to Bob's tea house. It was a bit of a hike, similar to riding the Red Line from one end to the other. But it was well worth the trip! We had a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, and even had a turn at the end to pour for our host, too (pic above). We practiced Chinese calligraphy, too. The dumplings were delicious, too! I bought a travel-size tea set so when I come home I can make tea for all of you!

Sunday night's dinner was delightfully delicious. We headed to the hutong (local Chinese neighborhood) for dinner at a Uighir (pronounced Weeger) restaurant. Uighir food is from the region of China that borders Pakhistan and Afghanistan. We ate delicious flat bread, lamb kebabs, rice, noodles, even thinly sliced potatoes that were like potato chips, but better.

Monday morning we headed to the Silk Market for another day of haggling and bargain shopping...I could totally get used to this. Good news is my souvenir shopping is pretty much done!

Now it's Monday night and I am ready for bed. Tomorrow we head to the Bird's Nest! I am giddy with anticipation.