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!