Lakota and I with the torch and runner
When the athletes came out for their walk, we left the restaurant and found a great bar with a couple big screens set up on the outside patio. One of the waiters gave us Chinese flags to hold while we watched. Soon after that, about six definitely professional Chinese photographers come up to Lakota and I and ask to take our picture. I've never felt more like the victim of papparazzi in my life. I can definitley feel bad for any celebrity after this experience. We literally had to sit there smiling and waving flags for probably 15 or 20 minutes while they shot picture after pictures. Then we had to wait until the Chinese athletes came out on the big screen so they could get the shot of the American girls waving Chinese flags with the Chinese Olympic Team in the background. Classic. We felt slightly guilty with all our Chinese flag waving, but we had no American flags and we were hanging among locals; the Chinese energy was hard to resist. They are just so excited and so into it, it's pretty cool to see.
I had my Polaroid camera with me that night, and it ended up being a huge hit with some of the Chinese people we met. We bought some drinks from a little stand, and the guy went crazy when I took a Polaroid of him. I gave him one to keep, and then he proceeded to demand more and more Polaroids of him in different poses. Finally I had to cut him off and switch to some others. There was the most adorable little boy that we were playing with and he got a kick out of the Polaroid as well. One of the guys we were with had a pretty extensive conversation with him in Chinese which was cool to watch.
Finally the ceremonies came to a close and we ran next to the lake to catch a glimpse of the closing fireworks from Tiannamen Square. Surprise surprise they were shooting fireworks off right on the other side of the lake we were at, really only a little boat paddle away from us. We literally were standing directly under the fireworks. The debris and ash from the fireworks was falling on us; that's how ridiculously close we were. But it was an amazing show; so so neat. One of the best nights I've ever had.
After the fireworks we started celebrating with all the Chinese people. There was a good mix of tourists and locals, and we all started chanting their Chinese Olympic mantra. We had so many pictures taken of us throughout the rest of the night; who knows how many cameras we ended up on. But it was a great time, met a lot of cool people, and kicked off the Olympics with a bang.
Haven't seen any Olympic events yet. My first event that I actually have tickets for now is on the 14th. I'm going to try to go get some scalper tickets though maybe tonight or Tuesday night. I really really want to see Phelps win some more golds and our program has no swimming tickets, which is disappointing. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get into any of the swimming events, or how expensive it will be. From what we've observed, the security is ridiculously tight, especially when it comes to the area around Olympic Park. Lakota and I ventured over there on our first day just to check out the venues. We couldn't get on the main subway line to the Olympic Park, first of all, because we didn't have a special pass. Everything in Olympic park is locked down. This is definitely completely unlike any other Olympic Games I have been to: there is no central place for everyone to hang out around Olympic Park or Olympic Village. Nothing in this city is even remotely set up for tourists: none of the signs are in English, it is difficult to navigate anywhere throughout the city. Even around Olympic Park you would think they would have made it clear and easy to get from venue to venue or make you way around the area, but there is nothing that helps even a little bit. Everything is in Chinese, everything is guarded, and nothing is easy. This is clearly a case of the Chinese wanting to do everything the Chinese way. Which is fine, but they're going to suffer a lot of bad press for it I think.
You would be so surprised at how few people speak English here. I have been to a lot of places, but I have never never ever been to a place that is as difficult to communicate in as this. Nobody speaks English. The only people who speak understandable English are the vendors in the Silk Market (big huge indoor mall basically of knockoff goods, anything you can imagine pretty much), which is great because you can actually buy something and bargain the price in English, but also not good because I would much rather be able to communicate with taxi drivers or police officers, especially when it's really important.
Speaking of the Silk Market; I've never experienced anything like it. It's an absolute riot. The first time we went there, we went really early in the morning. Thank goodness too, because when we went back again sometime in the afternoon, it was like solid people crammed into eight floors of this building. The whole concept of the place is absolutley hysterical. There are like a million little stands, and each stand has a stationed vendor. As you walk down the aisles, it's like dominoes: as soon as you approach a vendor they start babbling at you asking you to buy their jackets, their shoes, their bags, their whatever. They are so funny, they say "Oh you very sexy lady, you need sexy jacket," or they'll try the "Oh remember me? How are you? Come look and buy beautiful shoe. You need beautiful shoe." The only problem with them is that they have absolutely no concept of personal space. Personally I really dislike being touched by people I don't know, so when these vendors start grabbing my arm and pulling me into their stands, it really sets me off. I've had to literally swat at people's hands when they touch me, and in some cases pry their fingers off of my hands. One salesman even went so far as to slap Lakota's ass as she was trying on pants. Funny, because if you tried even grabbing someone's arm in the U.S. to pull them into your store, you might get either beat up or arrested.
My friends at the Silk Market. They tried to teach me Chinese and didn't even ask me to buy anything! :)
I miss everyone! If you are reading this I hope you enjoy it and are having a good August! Don't forget to watch the Games and cheer for Michael Phelps!
8-8-08 finally came. Being here in Beijing during the Olympics is definitely a trip. This country, city, and experience is proving to be wildly different than I expected; nonetheless, I'm having a great time.
I flew in on the 6th at 5am, got picked up by some other students in our program, and arrived at our apartment complex. Again, our living situation is not exactly what was represented when we signed up for the program, but it's a place to stay and its definitely not bad in any way. We are living in a very middle class local neighborhood; it's only slightly sketchy. I don't think I have a picture of the area yet, but I'll take one and post it. As much as sleeping on a wood slat with a sheet and dealing with the smell of the sewer outside our window is a bit uncomfortable, it is kind of cool living with locals and getting a little closer to Chinese culture than we would say staying in a hotel. There's a park right next to our building where people have their meditation hour in the morning; in the afternoons groups of men play this board game on the sidewalks that looks like checkers but a little different.
I flew in on the 6th at 5am, got picked up by some other students in our program, and arrived at our apartment complex. Again, our living situation is not exactly what was represented when we signed up for the program, but it's a place to stay and its definitely not bad in any way. We are living in a very middle class local neighborhood; it's only slightly sketchy. I don't think I have a picture of the area yet, but I'll take one and post it. As much as sleeping on a wood slat with a sheet and dealing with the smell of the sewer outside our window is a bit uncomfortable, it is kind of cool living with locals and getting a little closer to Chinese culture than we would say staying in a hotel. There's a park right next to our building where people have their meditation hour in the morning; in the afternoons groups of men play this board game on the sidewalks that looks like checkers but a little different.
The only real complaint about the place we are living is that it is ridiculously hard to find our way around it. There are about 30 buildings in the general area that all look exactly the same. On our first night we were walking home and got lost trying to find our building for about an hour and half. Not a soul was to be found who spoke English, and we had to go through three taxi drivers before one actually knew the address that we had for the place. That was probably one of our most frustrating experiences so far; the fact that no one spoke English and nobody could help us even with a Chinese address was a little unsettling.
Beijing is a very interesting city though. Like Los Angeles, it is very spread out. Luckily there is a great subway system and taxis are incredibly cheap. My roommate Lakota and I spent the first couple days exploring and trying to navigate through the city. In the short period of time we have been here we have definitely had our share of adventures.
Funny thing: I can't walk down the street for more than a few paces without getting grabbed by a Chinese person demanding I take a picture with them. I think it is because my skin is so fair; the girl I'm with is also white and blonde, but very tan and they don't seem to be as obsessed with her photograph. And as soon as one person grabs me and starts to take pictures, every other Chinese person in the direct area runs to get their own shot. It is very very strange, and only slightly annoying. We did have a cool experience where we were grabbed for a picture, and one of the Olympic torch runners wanted to get in a picture with us. He had his Olympic torch and let us hold it in the picture. It was pretty neat. I put up the picture of us.
We went to watch the Opening Ceremonies in a little area called Hoa Hai (sp?), also called the Lake District. It was a beautiful setting: very nice (touristy, but nice) bars and restaurants surrounding this serene little lake on which you can paddle little boats. Very calm and relaxing environment. We had a great dinner on top of this one restaurant, that overlooked the lake and gave us a view of the fireworks from Tiannemen Square. When we got to Hoa Hai, everything was completely blocked off and they wouldn't let anyone in for dinner. There must have been at least 50 police officers keeping people out of the area. Luckily the boys we were with spoke Chinese and were able to figure out what was going on. But eventually it was the power of the female that got us under the yellow tape. We definitely got lucky getting in because this was the place to be to watch the opening ceremonies. So we get to the restaurants, and all of the ones we ask are only serving drinks. We finally find one that says they'll serve us food, which we were stoked for because we were absolutely starving. It was just about 8:00 when we got there and the Opening Ceremonies were just about to start. We put in our order for our food and sat with a bunch of other people watching the ceremonies. About 10 minutes later, one of the restaurant employees comes up to our table and tells us there is no food. They can't make our food because all the kitchen workers are watching the Opening Ceremonies. At first this was surprising and frustrating just because I'm not sure anything like that would happen in the States. But when I thought about it: these people have been waiting years for this very moment, 8.8.08, 8:00, so it totally makes sense they would shut everything down. The Olympics have completely taken over and run these people's lives, so as hungry as we were, we could still understand the situation. However, after negotiating a little bit with the guy and slipping him a little something ;) we finally got our dinner and had a great feast under the Opening Ceremonies.
Beijing is a very interesting city though. Like Los Angeles, it is very spread out. Luckily there is a great subway system and taxis are incredibly cheap. My roommate Lakota and I spent the first couple days exploring and trying to navigate through the city. In the short period of time we have been here we have definitely had our share of adventures.
Funny thing: I can't walk down the street for more than a few paces without getting grabbed by a Chinese person demanding I take a picture with them. I think it is because my skin is so fair; the girl I'm with is also white and blonde, but very tan and they don't seem to be as obsessed with her photograph. And as soon as one person grabs me and starts to take pictures, every other Chinese person in the direct area runs to get their own shot. It is very very strange, and only slightly annoying. We did have a cool experience where we were grabbed for a picture, and one of the Olympic torch runners wanted to get in a picture with us. He had his Olympic torch and let us hold it in the picture. It was pretty neat. I put up the picture of us.
We went to watch the Opening Ceremonies in a little area called Hoa Hai (sp?), also called the Lake District. It was a beautiful setting: very nice (touristy, but nice) bars and restaurants surrounding this serene little lake on which you can paddle little boats. Very calm and relaxing environment. We had a great dinner on top of this one restaurant, that overlooked the lake and gave us a view of the fireworks from Tiannemen Square. When we got to Hoa Hai, everything was completely blocked off and they wouldn't let anyone in for dinner. There must have been at least 50 police officers keeping people out of the area. Luckily the boys we were with spoke Chinese and were able to figure out what was going on. But eventually it was the power of the female that got us under the yellow tape. We definitely got lucky getting in because this was the place to be to watch the opening ceremonies. So we get to the restaurants, and all of the ones we ask are only serving drinks. We finally find one that says they'll serve us food, which we were stoked for because we were absolutely starving. It was just about 8:00 when we got there and the Opening Ceremonies were just about to start. We put in our order for our food and sat with a bunch of other people watching the ceremonies. About 10 minutes later, one of the restaurant employees comes up to our table and tells us there is no food. They can't make our food because all the kitchen workers are watching the Opening Ceremonies. At first this was surprising and frustrating just because I'm not sure anything like that would happen in the States. But when I thought about it: these people have been waiting years for this very moment, 8.8.08, 8:00, so it totally makes sense they would shut everything down. The Olympics have completely taken over and run these people's lives, so as hungry as we were, we could still understand the situation. However, after negotiating a little bit with the guy and slipping him a little something ;) we finally got our dinner and had a great feast under the Opening Ceremonies.
Blain and Lakota and I in a yummy pizza place last night.
When the athletes came out for their walk, we left the restaurant and found a great bar with a couple big screens set up on the outside patio. One of the waiters gave us Chinese flags to hold while we watched. Soon after that, about six definitely professional Chinese photographers come up to Lakota and I and ask to take our picture. I've never felt more like the victim of papparazzi in my life. I can definitley feel bad for any celebrity after this experience. We literally had to sit there smiling and waving flags for probably 15 or 20 minutes while they shot picture after pictures. Then we had to wait until the Chinese athletes came out on the big screen so they could get the shot of the American girls waving Chinese flags with the Chinese Olympic Team in the background. Classic. We felt slightly guilty with all our Chinese flag waving, but we had no American flags and we were hanging among locals; the Chinese energy was hard to resist. They are just so excited and so into it, it's pretty cool to see.
I had my Polaroid camera with me that night, and it ended up being a huge hit with some of the Chinese people we met. We bought some drinks from a little stand, and the guy went crazy when I took a Polaroid of him. I gave him one to keep, and then he proceeded to demand more and more Polaroids of him in different poses. Finally I had to cut him off and switch to some others. There was the most adorable little boy that we were playing with and he got a kick out of the Polaroid as well. One of the guys we were with had a pretty extensive conversation with him in Chinese which was cool to watch.
Finally the ceremonies came to a close and we ran next to the lake to catch a glimpse of the closing fireworks from Tiannamen Square. Surprise surprise they were shooting fireworks off right on the other side of the lake we were at, really only a little boat paddle away from us. We literally were standing directly under the fireworks. The debris and ash from the fireworks was falling on us; that's how ridiculously close we were. But it was an amazing show; so so neat. One of the best nights I've ever had.
After the fireworks we started celebrating with all the Chinese people. There was a good mix of tourists and locals, and we all started chanting their Chinese Olympic mantra. We had so many pictures taken of us throughout the rest of the night; who knows how many cameras we ended up on. But it was a great time, met a lot of cool people, and kicked off the Olympics with a bang.
Brian this picture is for you: Lakota is trying to convince tourists to steal the giant panda behind them. We picked it up and carried it at least a few feet before we got chased away by the restaurant. But you can't say I didn't try right?
Haven't seen any Olympic events yet. My first event that I actually have tickets for now is on the 14th. I'm going to try to go get some scalper tickets though maybe tonight or Tuesday night. I really really want to see Phelps win some more golds and our program has no swimming tickets, which is disappointing. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get into any of the swimming events, or how expensive it will be. From what we've observed, the security is ridiculously tight, especially when it comes to the area around Olympic Park. Lakota and I ventured over there on our first day just to check out the venues. We couldn't get on the main subway line to the Olympic Park, first of all, because we didn't have a special pass. Everything in Olympic park is locked down. This is definitely completely unlike any other Olympic Games I have been to: there is no central place for everyone to hang out around Olympic Park or Olympic Village. Nothing in this city is even remotely set up for tourists: none of the signs are in English, it is difficult to navigate anywhere throughout the city. Even around Olympic Park you would think they would have made it clear and easy to get from venue to venue or make you way around the area, but there is nothing that helps even a little bit. Everything is in Chinese, everything is guarded, and nothing is easy. This is clearly a case of the Chinese wanting to do everything the Chinese way. Which is fine, but they're going to suffer a lot of bad press for it I think.
The funniest and most adorable little man we met dancing at the Temple of Heaven. Wanted to take him home with me! :)
You would be so surprised at how few people speak English here. I have been to a lot of places, but I have never never ever been to a place that is as difficult to communicate in as this. Nobody speaks English. The only people who speak understandable English are the vendors in the Silk Market (big huge indoor mall basically of knockoff goods, anything you can imagine pretty much), which is great because you can actually buy something and bargain the price in English, but also not good because I would much rather be able to communicate with taxi drivers or police officers, especially when it's really important.
Speaking of the Silk Market; I've never experienced anything like it. It's an absolute riot. The first time we went there, we went really early in the morning. Thank goodness too, because when we went back again sometime in the afternoon, it was like solid people crammed into eight floors of this building. The whole concept of the place is absolutley hysterical. There are like a million little stands, and each stand has a stationed vendor. As you walk down the aisles, it's like dominoes: as soon as you approach a vendor they start babbling at you asking you to buy their jackets, their shoes, their bags, their whatever. They are so funny, they say "Oh you very sexy lady, you need sexy jacket," or they'll try the "Oh remember me? How are you? Come look and buy beautiful shoe. You need beautiful shoe." The only problem with them is that they have absolutely no concept of personal space. Personally I really dislike being touched by people I don't know, so when these vendors start grabbing my arm and pulling me into their stands, it really sets me off. I've had to literally swat at people's hands when they touch me, and in some cases pry their fingers off of my hands. One salesman even went so far as to slap Lakota's ass as she was trying on pants. Funny, because if you tried even grabbing someone's arm in the U.S. to pull them into your store, you might get either beat up or arrested.
My friends at the Silk Market. They tried to teach me Chinese and didn't even ask me to buy anything! :)
Lakota working on her bargaining skills. Super tough!
Anyways, I did not buy anything yet at the silk market. You definitely have to be in the right mindset to shop there because you have to be able to do some serious bargaining. You are supposed to pay (maximum) 10% of their asking price. I was not confident in my bargaining skills at the time, and opted to watch Lakota (the expert bargainer) get the right prices for the goods (basically a bunch of really cheap junk that they try to sell you for ridiculous prices.) But it's really fun and you have to be tough. Basically if you stick to one price, a very low price, they salesman will keep working down and down. Then, if you walk away and say thank you but no thank you, they will literally follow you out, chase you down, and eventually give you the price you're asking for. It's great.
My program here started yesterday. We had a big meeting in which we signed up for all of our activities. I definitely signed up to do volunteer work in Beijing, and as it turns out I don't think we'll be doing any volunteer work. It's hard for me to complain because I am in Beijing and I am at the Olympics; but for the price of this program, I could be doing the same thing as I'm doing now and probably staying in a decently nice hotel with my own schedule. None of our food is really paid for, like was promised. And our schedule consists of our Olympic events, and organized trips to the main Beijing tourist destinations. Apparently in the extra time we have left over we are supposed to do some volunteer work. When I asked the director exactly what we would be doing, I didn't really get a straight answer. The only thing he could really say was that we are going to be helping a professor from the U of Missisippi who is with the program do some surveys for the University of MI, which is absolutely ridiculous. I did not come to Beijing to do that. And basically now, I'm at the point where I'm going to do whatever I want on this trip, and I don't think our director really has any say in that decision. We paid money to come volunteer: we were promised most of our meals covered, nice apartments, humanitarian volunteer work, among other things. And we're definitely getting none of what we were promised. It is probably the most unorganized program I've ever seen. Honestly, if I was really doing some volunteer work, then I wouldn't be complaining, I wouldn't be disgruntled about the food or lodgings. But at this point, I'm asking, what exactly did I pay for?
On a side note, my roommate and I were discussing the irony of volunteer programs that have a program price of thousands of dollars. It is slightly ridiculous that you would be paying to volunteer time, especially because in a sense, you are already paying for your time. If the price of the program is going towards improving the program and being donated to the cause, then more power to it, but at least in our case, the money we're paying is definitely not going to the program, because nothing is being paid for at all, and there is no "good cause" I can see that it could possibly be going to, except perhaps to build the new pool the director and his family have always been wanting. Sufficed to say, I am very disappointed with the program and have lost a lot of faith in international volunteer programs. I will definitely be smarter about researching these things next time i decide to go volunteering.
Well, I can't think of many more adventures to right about, although more will definitely come I am sure. At the moment, I am slightly frustrated by the loss of my wallet; this could be one of the worst countries to lose your wallet in because it is so hard to deal with remedying the situation thanks to the language barrier. But I will figure it out shortly I'm sure.
My program here started yesterday. We had a big meeting in which we signed up for all of our activities. I definitely signed up to do volunteer work in Beijing, and as it turns out I don't think we'll be doing any volunteer work. It's hard for me to complain because I am in Beijing and I am at the Olympics; but for the price of this program, I could be doing the same thing as I'm doing now and probably staying in a decently nice hotel with my own schedule. None of our food is really paid for, like was promised. And our schedule consists of our Olympic events, and organized trips to the main Beijing tourist destinations. Apparently in the extra time we have left over we are supposed to do some volunteer work. When I asked the director exactly what we would be doing, I didn't really get a straight answer. The only thing he could really say was that we are going to be helping a professor from the U of Missisippi who is with the program do some surveys for the University of MI, which is absolutely ridiculous. I did not come to Beijing to do that. And basically now, I'm at the point where I'm going to do whatever I want on this trip, and I don't think our director really has any say in that decision. We paid money to come volunteer: we were promised most of our meals covered, nice apartments, humanitarian volunteer work, among other things. And we're definitely getting none of what we were promised. It is probably the most unorganized program I've ever seen. Honestly, if I was really doing some volunteer work, then I wouldn't be complaining, I wouldn't be disgruntled about the food or lodgings. But at this point, I'm asking, what exactly did I pay for?
On a side note, my roommate and I were discussing the irony of volunteer programs that have a program price of thousands of dollars. It is slightly ridiculous that you would be paying to volunteer time, especially because in a sense, you are already paying for your time. If the price of the program is going towards improving the program and being donated to the cause, then more power to it, but at least in our case, the money we're paying is definitely not going to the program, because nothing is being paid for at all, and there is no "good cause" I can see that it could possibly be going to, except perhaps to build the new pool the director and his family have always been wanting. Sufficed to say, I am very disappointed with the program and have lost a lot of faith in international volunteer programs. I will definitely be smarter about researching these things next time i decide to go volunteering.
Well, I can't think of many more adventures to right about, although more will definitely come I am sure. At the moment, I am slightly frustrated by the loss of my wallet; this could be one of the worst countries to lose your wallet in because it is so hard to deal with remedying the situation thanks to the language barrier. But I will figure it out shortly I'm sure.
We've had incredible food on this trip. Our first great restuarant was called the Noodle Loft and we got to watch them make the noodles right in front of us. Lakota's dish was called an Oat Noodle and looked like a giant honeycomb.
Another great restaurant. Reminded me of the Tiki Room at Disneyland. But very peaceful and relaxed; great food.
This kid was completely naked running around the subway in just his smock...so cute.
It's so hot here, so the Chinese men decide to do this: insert your own caption.
Really cute little girl.
I miss everyone! If you are reading this I hope you enjoy it and are having a good August! Don't forget to watch the Games and cheer for Michael Phelps!
