I was speechless. I stood there and I watched the chaos that was the mixed zone. I was helpless; I was speechless. They had practiced the medal ceremonies a hundred times, but they forgot one thing. You know, that large group of people that let the rest of the world know what is happening. No one knew what was going on or how to fix it. There was a mad rush at the gates and the once-organized journalists flooded into the mixed zone only to be herded behind another fence. It probably didn't help that the competing teams in the gold-medal game were China and the Netherlands...Let me start at the beginning.
There are three things that happen after the gold-medal match: the mixed zone, the medal ceremony and the press conference. At the last minute, 15 seconds before the end of the game, the competition manager decides that the medal ceremony should happen first. The journalists, unaware of this split-second change in plans, think someone is holding them up at the gates that would normally open when the game was over. A few volunteers help to create a human gate, but it doesn't last for long. The journalists break through and are herded into a square corral. They can tell by now that the medal ceremony has taken the place of the mixed zone. A calm starts to settle... until the competition manager changes his mind again. Mixed zone is ON! We remove the gates barring the "press" and "broadcast" sections. Normally the journalists aren't supposed to mix, but there is no way to avoid it this time. People scatter. We, as volunteers, try to organize them and piss many off in the process. Well, I do. The Chinese volunteers don't do much because of their passive attitude. The mixed zone proceeds, but is cut sort because the medal ceremony has to start. Another "oh shit" moment occurs as the host broadcasters realize that the journalists in the mixed zone are in the way of the camera view of the flagpoles where the winning team's flag was going to be risen. The journalists are herded (angrily, on their part) away from the camera's reach. We move the mini fences too. When the ceremony is over, we give the journalists another shot at their desired athletes in the mixed zone, but people are so mixed together now that no one really cares. Uncredentialed volunteers are running around taking pictures, climbing on the podiums and creating all kinds of unprofessional havoc, the journalists are pissed about the disorganization and our supervisors are nowhere to be seen. We have two medal ceremony nights in Olympic Field Hockey. This was one of them, and I hope that the last shot at it is 5 million times better.
The Olympic games have run by me in a blur. It is hard to differentiate between days, hours, games, and people I have met. I expected nothing less. Soon I will be going home, and I want to make the best of this situation before I won't be in China anymore. I am taking the hits and the gifts this experience has thrown at me, and I am keeping all of it.
Tonight was the best night of Olympic field hockey yet. The funny part is that both of my most memorable moments have to do with the same hockey team. ¡España! In one of their preliminary matches, the score was 0-0 until the last 13 seconds. Spain scored to win the game, obviously. The players on both sides gave it their all until those last 13 seconds, and I could tell. It was a really exciting game. When the player for Spain scored, all of the other players on the field collapsed in exhaustion. I finally realized how important these games were to them. It made me love hockey. Tonight made me love it even more. Not only did I get to watch the semifinal matches from the press tribunes, but they were AMAZING games. The first game ended its regular session in a tie so it went into overtime halves in which no one scored again. Afterwards, both teams execute 5 penalty strokes each (like a penalty shot in ice hockey only without the running/skating start). Those ended in a tie as well. Sudden death penalty strokes gave the win to Germany, and that was a huge upset from the Netherlands. It was INSANE!
Anyway, since the game went on longer than planned, the teams for the next game began practicing on the field when the mixed zone was in operation. There was a spare Australian ball that was shot out of the field and I pocketed it.
The second game was really exciting too. Spain beat the favored Australian team 3-2, and I decided I wanted the Australian team to sign their practice ball I stole. I waited after the game and everything had ended and went over to their buses. Not only did half of the Aussie team sign my ball, but they also signed my friend's shirt and we got to talk to some of the Spanish players! They felt very start struck because hockey is generally not popular in their country so they were excited to talk to us and have fans. It feels weird to know so much about these players and have them know nothing about me. I mean, I have followed their games for almost 2 weeks. We talked to this player that was a college student in Madrid and he was really nice. When we said our goodbyes, he kissed us each twice on the cheeks and got on the bus. It was amazing. Tonight has been a good night.
The bus turns the corner and I can see that it is going to be a long day.
On a bus with barely 20 seats and a maximum capacity that cannot be more than 75, there are probably close to 90 people riding this morning. Since I don’t have a choice, I squeeze myself onto the crowded vehicle and it takes off for the next stop, only to pick up ten more people. For 45 minutes I endure the sardine-like experience because, as it turns out, everyone on the bus wants to get off at my stop—Lincui lu, right outside the Olympic Athlete Village. We all stumble out of the sauna that was bus line 7 and go our separate ways.
I walk up the street a couple of blocks to get to my venue security booth. Just like every other day, I take off my fanny pack, scan my card, send the pack through the x-ray machine and get wanded by a nice Chinese girl whose English vocabulary probably only consists of ‘please turn around’ and ‘thank you for your cooperation.’ I exit the security tent and make an immediate right into the building where I am supposed to ‘check in’ for the day. I scan my accreditation and accept a meal and four drink tickets—three for water, one for a soft drink.
Afterwards, I wander over to the fenced-off media area where the number four on my accreditation card allows me access. I say ‘hello’ to all of my fellow volunteers (the ones who aren’t sleeping in the press conference room) and sit down to watch whichever sport the lone press conference room TV is playing. Dinner is delivered to the dining areas at 5:00 pm, and we head over to eat at about 5:30. The two small dining warehouses always smell the same, and it is never a good smell. I hand the woman at the door my meal voucher and proceed to the row of tables stacked with coolers containing our Chinese TV dinners. Moving down the line, a banana, dessert, napkin, wet-wipe and a spork are placed on top of my tray. We sit together at a long table and take the lids off our dinners. We find rice, as usual, accompanying several dishes of pork, chicken or beef, a pickled something, cabbage and a roll. Yum. I pick through my dinner avoiding things that look too slimy or green, and wait for the others to be finished. We take our trays outside to a set of six trash cans: two for ‘other waste,’ two for plastics and two for ‘kitchen waste.’ Avoiding spilling something on my pants again, I put everything in its appropriate cannister.
The first hockey game of the night is about to start! I take my place with some Olympic News Service reporters in the press area and take in all that is Olympic hockey. I know more about this sport than any other now, and I am even keeping stats of the teams in the tournament they are playing. With ten minutes to go until the end of the game, I venture down to my post in the mixed zone. The gates separating me from the field of play open when the game is officially over and I take my position at the corner of the field. In the beginning, I helped journalists get to their positions, but now everyone seems to know the drill, and we all know each other’s faces. I watch over the mixed zone operation as the athletes file by me either overjoyed at their win or disappointed with their performance. Journalists grab who they want from the procession, ask a couple questions and hurry off to finish their stories before deadline. The mixed zone empties out, so I go and sneak into a seat in the back of the press conference room for the post-game press conference. By the time it is over, it is time for another game to start, so I go do it all over again. After the last game’s press conference, I leave the venue with some fellow students and pack onto the crowded bus down the street from the security check. In a days work, I have seen several Olympic hockey games, interacted with journalists and athletes from all over the world and met some rowdy fans as far away from home as I am.
What makes it all worth it doesn’t happen until I get out of the bus and start the trek back to Renmin University campus. Occasionally, we run into others walking on the streets and sometimes they strike up a conversation. One night we were walking back, and a group of teenagers said ‘hello’ to us.
We were going in the same direction, so we start a casual conversation about volunteering in the Olympics. “I just want to say thank you,” one of the girls says. “Thank you for coming here to help us.”
It was just two little words, but those words have stuck with me through the tougher times of working for the Games. It makes it all seem worth it in the end.
With the start of the Olympics, thus begins the start of the pin trade. Avid fans, athletes wanting to remember the games and volunteers like us whip out our pins to trade with others. Not only have I traded pins for pins, but also pins for things at the markets. In a city with such diversity as it has, these pins seem to provide a memory of the foreigners that were here. The Missouri School of Journalism gave each of its volunteers 150 J-school pins to barter off during the games. While the pin is not that popular with the spectators (because of its lack of Olympic rings), the journalists are thrilled to have a 100 year anniversary pin. I have heard of a pin-trading market and people waiting outside the venues for prospective tradees. So far, I haven't racked up any unbelievably awesome finds, but with time, I am sure the "Great Olympic Pin Exchange" will harvest some good ones. So far, fellow journalism students have given/traded pins to many well-known people including Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann from the Today show and countless athletes. We are getting our name out there , and it can only get better!
The Olympics started, and I am busy! They have me working 4-midnight every day which isn't that bad if you think about it. I get to see the later hockey games if they let me into the press tribunes. I have had some trouble with that, but I think it is all worked out now. I am a pro at my job. If you didn't know, or I hadn't told you, I am a mixed zone assistant. I help operate the area where the print and broadcast press talk to the athletes after the game. I have gotten up close and personal with not only the athletes, but also the journalists. I met a journalist with the New York Times yesterday. It was nothing special, but he knows my face. I planted the seed, if you will. One of these days I am going to take photos of my day at work. I never remember to whip out my camera while I am doing things. I need to start!
People seem to think that in supporting the Olympics, you are supporting the country where they are hosted. This is not the case.
In applying to have the position of an international volunteer at the Olympics, we not only had to write an essay, take a test and attend countless meetings that prepared us for what we would be facing, but we also had to participate in a mock-debate. One of the debate topics was ‘Is the Olympic Dream dead?’ Now, because it was a debate and you need a positive and negative side, a team had to be on the ‘Olympic Dream is dead’ side. We debated long a hard for our respective sides, but I don’t think anyone that had to make the others believe the Dream was dead actually believed their position. After all, the reason we are here is because we think so highly of the Games. We argued that political drama and/or social drama would put an end to the Games that have brought countries together for ages, but it was all a facade. In reality, most of us here (including myself) think that if the Dream is alive in one person, it will still be carried on. Yes, these Olympics are being held in a somewhat conflictual country, but the reason for the games has nothing to do with the country’s social or political turmoil. The Olympic Games are about sport. Nations come together peacefully to show their strongest, fastest and toughest. The athletes have trained for years to compete, and not letting them show their strength or agility for completely unrelated reasons seems pointless. Being here among the athletes and journalists has really given me strong feelings of pride for the Olympic games. This is truly the largest sporting event in the world and I am so thankful to be here.
The Fuwa. A group of five characters created to promote the Olympics in Beijing. Previously called “friendlies” or “good-luck bears,” these five animal-like creatures have taken China by storm. At the Olympic merchandise stores, the cute little bears appear on everything from backpacks to shot glasses to pen sets. Don’t get me wrong, there is some thought behind the Fuwa. Each has their own personality, background and designated sport group. Their names also have significance. In order, they are named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini. The names, when not doubled and said together, create Beijing huanyingni or “Beijing Welcomes You,” one of the themes of this Year’s Olympic games. I am not sure how long ago these creatures were developed, but they now star in their own television series. Coming to China, I did not think much of these creatures. In fact, I thought they were quite ridiculous. Over time, though, I have learned to love the little bear-like beings. I added the facebook application telling me which one I resembled, bought the stuffed version of the cutest one and even attempted to watch one of their television series. I have been sucked in to the Fuwa madness and there is no escaping their unbelievable cuteness. At work one day, I was wandering and I saw that the Fuwa were rehearsing for their half-time show during the upcoming hockey games. There were inflatable Fuwa costumes and plush Fuwa costumes all dancing around the hockey pitch. It was the cutest thing ever! Despite my previous assumption of these fuzzy creatures, I have realized that there was much thought behind them. They are symbolic to Chinese culture and they have caught on like wildfire!
The following I copied and pasted from my weekly memo I had to turn in today explaining the most interesting person I have met so far. The memo is very PG rated, but I still find it 'class.'
All week long I have been racking my brains trying to think of who has been the most interesting person I have met so far. As of Thursday evening, I was still coming up with a blank. However, and most unexpected, I met my most interesting acquaintance while out for a girlfriend’s birthday last night. While leaving a bar, we heard someone calling us back in. We ended up sitting with four guys from the UK. They were all from different parts, and some had met each other at a hostel down town. After much deliberating and barhopping, my friends, new friends and I went back to the hostel to hang out. I ended up talking to a man from Newcastle for hours and hours. He and his buddy had come from St. Petersberg and Moscow last week and were on a self-tour of Asia. He told me all about his adventures, problems he ran into and gave advice for traveling to other parts of the world. While he had not done that much traveling before his current adventures, he was animated and still had “class (or great in English-speak)” advice for me. Another interesting aspect of this guy was that even when he was speaking English to me, I could barely understand the words he was saying. I had never realized that there could be such a difference in accents and dialects among English speakers. Apparently people from Newcastle have a reputation for being incoherent.
So much has been going on the past couple of days. I haven't had time to keep up with it. I will try my best to relay what I have done in my absence...
I did a bit more sight-seeing on my days off from work. A friend and I went to Beihai park to take photos and such of the beautiful scenery. We got directions the subway and then a bus, but we really had no idea where to go in reality. We got off the subway and on to the bus without a hitch, but when it came to the Beihai bus stop, it looked like we were dropped off in the middle of a residential street. We walked onwards thinking we were just missing something until we saw the back end of the Forbidden City. After a couple stops for photo ops (this guy had an awesome kite!), we found the entrance to a park. However, since the tickets to get in were only 2RMB, we quickly realized that it was not the intended destination. We went in anyway, and I am glad we did! The park is basically a gigantic hill made from the earth dug for the moat around the Forbidden City. On the very top is a temple, and you could see every building 's rooftop of the Forbidden City. It was a sea of golden roofs I had never realized how big it was until then! We climbed down and out the opposite gate and continued our search for Beihai park. Luckily it was not too far from the west gate of Jingshan park--the one we had just explored. Once we got there, we were immersed in the beautiful scenery. We walked around, climbed up to the tower on the jade islet and took tons of photos. We couldn't have asked for a better day weather-wise.
The next day I decided to have for myself. I had been wanting to go to Factory 798 since I got here, but could never find anyone willing to travel that far. I got bus directions from the ladies at the front desk of our hotel, and started my trek across the city for a day of art. It took about an hour and several confused bus drivers later, but I made it in one piece! Factory 798 was amazing. It is a grid of streets lined with old warehouses that have been remodeled into individual art studios! It was awesome to see the Asian contemporary art. It was something I had not experienced. The exhibits ranged from housing sculptures and paintings, to a 'motion' exhibit with a cage and more than 10 out-of-control electric wheelchairs. One of my favorites was the Comme des Garcons display. It contained huge billboard-like works of art putting a different perspective to contemporary items. I almost felt bad taking photos, but everyone else was doing it too despite the 'no photo' signs everywhere. I took a break from the exhibits for a while and sat in a coffee house to read. It was a very relaxing day. Another thing I came across was (for lack of better terminology) a shrine to everything Nike. It had a collection of Nike shoes dating back to the early 1900s, and sporting mannequins dressed in the Chinese Olympic team uniforms representing every sport China is in. Go go product placement!
Afterwards, I met up with some friends at Hard Rock Café! The food was just like being back home and we all appreciated it very much. It gets a bit boring eating the same old rice and entree dish every day, Hard Rock was a familiar change.
Training at work is over with, and the venues officially opened on the 5th. Still, nothing really happens at hockey until the 10th. They have us checking IDs in the press area until then. Everyone is getting really excited and I, for one, am so ready for the Olympics!
PS- I will upload more pics soon. Blogger isn't letting me do it at the moment.
I don't know what it is about this country, but for some reason I have been very popular with native and foreign boys here. I have met several Chinese guys that have given me their number, gifts, stalked me via phone calls, etc. I am not bragging either. I find it odd. What is it about me here that I don't have back home? Well, obviously besides the natural beauty. But seriously. I know I am foreign, but my friends are too and they don't attract near as many admirers and well-wishers. This post doesn't have much to do with China, but my personal inquisition to the male mind. The ones you don't like want you, and the ones you want don't want anything to do with you. I have gotten some cool stuff out of the deal though. Wow, that makes me sound horrible.
Anyway, I am off tomorrow and I am planning a longer post about more of the goings on of me in the fair city of Beijing. Stay tuned!
I met a guy and his father on the subway who had waited 3 days and 3 nights in line for swimming finals tickets. "China gives a shit about the Olympics," he said to me. He was so excited to be able to go to these finals. He and his father were from a different province in China and slept/lived on the concrete sidewalk in front of the ticket office for three whole days. When We had met them on the subway they were on their way to the history museum. It is amazing what people here will do for a simple swimming heat even if it is more than that.
The past week or so I have been consumed by Press Operations training. For some reason we have to come in every day and spend about half of the day doing nothing. I don't get it, but apparently that is how things work here. Training has gotten more relevant, however.
I actually ate lunch with a bunch of the volunteers today. We get free lunch, but we have to eat it in the cafeteria. I followed my group in and sat with them during lunch. I was the only person in the building that wasn't Chinese. I never thought it would feel like it did either. I completely know how foreigners feel like now. I was in a strange place all by myself with a language barrier separating me from comprehension. I could feel eyes all around me and there was no escaping it, so I talked to people. It was kind of like an awakening. It was good for me.
I have been talking to the Chinese volunteers a lot. I have gotten more of a culture shock from being at work and talking to them than any of the other places I have been thus far. I think it is because they really are just like us, only not like us. They are college students and all, but their perspective is so much different. They all know what they want to do in the future, how far they want to go in school, who they want to be. They DON'T (well, rarely) fail out of school, either. They seem to understand the concept of money far better than American students who can piss away so much money failing their college classes. They also do what they're told. They don't complain, and they make the best of things. Granted some of the reasoning for the obedience is fear, but a lot of it is cultural habit. They live so much differently here.
I want to say something to all of those people that said I dyed my hair to fit in to the culture here. I definitely DO NOT fit into the culture. People stare. All the time. There seems to be no decency rule for staring. People just do it and don't stop. I can have sunglasses on (to shield the blue eyes), be in my volunteer uniform (like the thousands of other Chinese volunteers), be completely confident in where I am going and people will still stare. I have started to smile back at them, wave, say hello and take pictures. It is getting quite ridiculous.
Today was the first day of training for me on the Olympic Green. I was really excited, but I should have expected what I got. Any first day of training would be the same: a generalized version of what you are supposed to do without any actual specifics. I am technically not supposed to talk about BOCOG training in my blog, so I will just leave it at that.
We got our uniforms today too. Again, both exciting and blah. They are decent uniforms, don't get me wrong, they just aren't what I would pick first to wear for 2 straight weeks. They don't breathe very well and it is hot here. Oh well.
I also met my managers and other higher-ups. There is one guy that is from Australia that is basically there in case the Chinese managers screw up. He worked the Sydney games and almost every other huge sporting event since then. He is really cool and I am so glad he will be there helping us out. We all (all 5 of us plus Scott [the Aussie]) toured the archery and tennis venues on our 2-hour-long lunch break. Both those and the hockey (my assigned sport) pitches are in the Olympic Green North (OGN) cluster. I will be able to see some tennis matches hopefully! I only have access to the OGN though which means I can't even get to the outside of the Water Cube or the Birds nest. I am going to steal someone else's pictures I think.
We don't have our schedule yet so I have no idea what the next two weeks look like of training and what not. If I have days off, I would love to travel even though I am restricted to China because of my visa. Time will tell. That seems to be the answer to a lot of things lately...
I found out why the Chinese can so easily dart in and out of traffic on bikes, use squat toilets like they are nothing and are so f-ing thin. Chinese Acrobats. Well, I guess it doesn't really explain anything, but oh well. Basically tat can do anything. Not only did they fit 12 people onto a bike, they were able to lift other humans up by their shins, arms, pinky fingers, you name it. The entire show I had my hands up to my face just hoping people wouldn't fall to their deaths. If you ever get the chance to see any kind of Chinese acrobatic show- go. It will be well worth it.
So the line 10 subway route opened today in Beijing. I was entirely too excited about it. Actually a lot of us are. It makes traveling life so much easier! Instead of having to take a bus or a taxi to the subway station, we can now just hop on the subway right outside the west gate of the university and go on our way. Amazing.
People are enthralled by us. People will stop in their tracks, stare from the table across the room and follow us down the street. The etiquette for staring must be entirely different here than back home. When you are younger, you are taught not to stare at people because it is not polite. Apparently here it is an entirely different story. Either that or people are not used to blond-haired, blue-eyed Americans. Despite the staring, the people are actually quite nice. Most laugh and try to communicate as best as they can, and others will just mind their own business. I have had a few experiences in the past couple of days, though that have permanently and positively affected the way I look at this culture.
On the way back from dinner one night, a friend and I walked over to watch a class of old ladies dancing with fans. While there, a teenage boy started talking to us (in English) and urged us to join their "English corner." It was about 75 feet away and consisted of Chinese people spanning a wide range of ages and English language proficiencies. When my friend and I got there, two huge circles were formed around each of us and we were bombarded with questions: What is your name? What are you doing here? Where have you visited? Do you like Chinese food? and so on. I answered each question and even ask some myself: How do you get a Chinese name and an English name? Have you been to America? Do we look different to you? What started as a 10 minute detour turned into an hour-long conversation with more than twenty aspiring English-speaking people. It was fun. They meet every morning (5am blech) and Wednesday and Friday nights. I am planning on going back next week if I have nothing else going on.
People are also enthusiastic to help us. A couple of days ago we needed to find the right bus to the subway station. I asked a random guy at the bus stop about it. He had on his BOCOG accreditation so I thought he may know a little english. I was right. Not only did he tell us what bus to go on, he got on with us and personally escorted us to the station. I found out his name is Guanghui (nicknamed Joe because that is easier), he is 24 and he is working for BOCOG to earn money for his family in another CHinese province. He was really nice, and completely dropped what he was doing to help us out. That is not the only time that has happened either. A woman today walked about a half a mile out of her way with us to show us to the gym one of the girls wanted to find. Is this because we are American? People in the states are never this nice. They will tell you where to go (maybe), but they will rarely (if never) take you there. I could get used to this. However, I do still miss home.
This weekend was quite possibly the most culturally awakening weekend of my life. The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) set up a 3-day tour for all of the international student volunteers. We filled at least nine coach buses and ravaged (seriously?) the city with digital camera flashes. The following is an account from those three days—some of which you may have already heard or read.
The tour was started with a propaganda stunt from the Chinese government (see previous post). However, they did feed us lunch and dinner, like they did every single day this weekend. Every meal was the same style and at many different restaurants. There were about 10 people to a round table and a huge round rotating disc in the middle, a ‘lazy susan’ if you will. When we got there, it would be laden with two one-liters of Coke, one liter of Sprite, and maybe tea or water. Then the waiters and waitresses would periodically bring out different dishes, always including white rice—which I am addicted to. The plates of meat or vegetable entrees would always exceed the available space on the table and would always be succeeded by a plate of watermelon slices (sometimes accompanied by other melons or grape tomatoes). In other words, A LOT of food. We never cleared all of the plates, and the food was so wasted at the end of the night. However, most of it was delicious. I ate things from Peking Duck, to a chicken and peanut thing, to duck wings, to a heated salad. The sad part about it is that I have no idea what all I ate. I mean, the waiter/ess would announce the meat present in the dish to the table, but the official name of the dish was an unknown.
Friday ended late because of the Beijing rush hour. Holy god. If you thought rush hour in the states was bad, try going to a city with 17 million people. It seemed as though every street, highway and sidewalk was blocked with cars. I just kept reminding myself of the 26 hour bus ride from El Paso in order to not complain like everyone else was. It sucked though because at least we were moving most of the bus ride to El Paso. So anyway, traffic mixed with the crazy Chinese drivers equals a headache for all.
We had an early call on Saturday in order to go to the Badaling Great Wall. It was the first renovated section opened to public, and was absolutely beautiful. There are other parts that are opened and other parts that the mountains have claimed. The drive there was amazing though. It was really nice to get away from the city to see something that wasn’t a propaganda ploy. It was a brilliantly clear day sans clouds and pollution. It was good and bad. Good because the pictures and experience was better than if it had been raining or smoggy. Bad because every single person from China was at the wall. Ok, not really. We did get delayed quite a while though because the President of Mexico was visiting that day. And of course, the President gets special treatment and blocked off streets and sidewalks for his presence, but I am not bitter. Really. We got up to the wall eventually. The crowd to get through the small gate was so bad though. People with umbrellas and sweaty smelly grandparents were pushing and prodding at people to move. It sucked for us because we had to somehow stay with our tour group in order to get it. It was similar to a mosh pit with umbrellas in 120 degree weather with no breeze. Fun fun! We got in eventually and OH MAN.
I did not think it would affect me as much as it did, but I was moved. The thought of people lugging the material and men up these mountains without machinery and building a 1,000 km (a little over 600 miles) wall is just insane. Granted, it was built in three separate dynasties and is not all connected, but the feat is still unimaginable. I climbed as high as I could before I thought I was going to pass out (and almost did anyway). Some of the parts of the wall were steep ramps, and others were sets of uneven stairs. I think the ramps were worse than the stairs for sure. Once I got to my “top” I looked down and it was such an incredible view! I would see mountains, distant parts of the wall, and Hawaii! OK, maybe not Hawaii. It was unbelievable though. Another cute addition to the scenery was a “Hollywood”-like sign built into one of the walls. It was advertising the Olympics. Anything for those g-damn cute-lookin’ bears. Anyway, we made it back down the wall, and it was a lot harder than coming up just because you had to really pay attention to what you were doing or you would roll all the way down a cement and brick hill. I could have spent all day there though. It sucks that we only got an hour and a half, but we visited other things that day too—though a lot less awe-inspiring.
We saw the Ming Tombs on Saturday Afternoon. They were not as astonishing as the Great wall, but an important part of Chinese history nonetheless. They are basically one temple per tomb then a huge-ass mound of dirt. Under the dirt is an ‘underground palace’ meant to house the dead and their valuables. There is only one excavated tomb because it is difficult to find the entranceway to the others. I enjoyed it.
Sunday was cram-packed as well. We went to the Summer Palace in the morning/afternoon. It is 3 times the size of the Forbidden city and is home to the world’s longest corridor. I walked in it. Does that make me cooler than you? Probably. It was all beautiful, but it was so hot and humid. Everyone was about dead by lunchtime, but the show needed to go on. We drove then to the Winter Palace which is a bunch of ruins from when the Anglo-french fought a war with the Chinese. I don’t know. Everything was a blur by that point. We had dinner then were taken to the Chang an opera. That woke us up for sure.
I had been to an opera before, but it was nothing like this one. I was in a pretty close row to the stage, but I was too close to be able to see most of the subtitle screen. I only got half of the dialogue I think, and the actions did not explain what was going on at all. The opera was called ‘The Marriage of the Pheonix and the Dragon.’ It was very traditional the costumes, movements, musical instruments and theme (from what I got anyway). However, some of the instruments and music sounded like pots and pans, and the signing was at times worse than nails on a chalkboard. The ability to reach such high decibels should be rewarded. See below video. It is worth seeing, believe me. Even if the music was iffy and a lot of the plot was lost in translation, I am so glad I got to go. It was the most culturally awakened I have ever been. That and when I learned the importance of an umbrella in my life.
So today I learned that the Chinese government has eliminated poverty, has amazingly clean tap water and is clean and modern while still holding onto its traditional values. At least, that is what they wanted us to think by the end of the tour today.
We, being the entire set of foreign student volunteers (people from Iowa, North Carolina, Ithaca, Australia, England, etc.), took an amazing tour of one of Beijing's 13 water purification plants. It sounds interesting right? Ha. Actually it was about as boring as it sounds. Full of propaganda and selling points of the water system, and completely irrelevant considering even the locals don't drink the water.
If that wasn't government-enforced enough, next they took us to the "Beijing suburbs." It is kind of like a gated community, only lower class than anything in the states. However, it did have a country club (that more than half of the people living in the community weren't members of albeit) and a golf course. Anyway, they let us tour these 3-courtyard houses that the Chinese government had built for some of these people after buying (taking) their land (for building buildings for the Olympics maybe?). It was so ridiculous. They were built in 2002, but were made to look like the traditional courtyard-style house. The inside of them was perfectly and modernly furnished, decorated and the like. It was as if they were telling us that this was how all of the citizens in China lived even though we had been here long enough to know tat is not the case. They also took us to a "temple" in the community. After seeing the REAL temples and buildings of the Forbidden City, these were just plain costumey. The painting was new, the lawn and sidewalks were perfect, the "old" urns had colorful (fake) flowers in them. It was similar to Epcot's Chinatown in that it was so incredibly made up.
I knew that the government wanted the city to look good to foreigners, but seriously. Our tour guide even said something like, "now you can tell your friends how good chinese community is and they can think better of us and come visit." I have never been a part of a bigger propaganda scheme in my life.
On a completely different note, I had Peking Duck and it was delicious.
If there is one thing I don't understand about this culture, it is their potty--training habits. When a child here is an infant, the parents put them in diapers because they are too young to know when they are about to use the restroom. However, once the infant becomes a toddler, they shed the super-absorbent trousers and replace them with something a bit more breezy. Kids are literally toddling around the city with cotton ass-less chap-like shorts. The slit (more like gaping hole) in the little shorts goes all the way around to the front, leaving all their junk exposed too. However, it isn't even the shorts or excess baby butts that I keep seeing that bug me. I am confused because these kids learn (with help from the ass-less chaps) that they can pee anywhere without getting uncomfortable. Walking to the subway station today we saw a mother holding her 2ish year old daughter under her arms and by her legs so her urine outlet would be exposed and she could piss on a nearby tree. What is this teaching kids? Also, once we got onto the subway platform a while later, we see a little boy literally popping a squat to urinate on the platform. Take that kid to a goddamn toilet!
Aside from the odd potty-training habits of the Chinese culture, today has been really fun. Some friends and I went to the Silk Market to buy some gifts for people back home. In order to keep the gifts a surprise, I will explain to you the process of bartering when I just wanted to buy a package of 10 postcards. "120 yuan" she tells me. I laugh, "Oh no no no, this is just paper. It is worth nothing compared to your other items." I wave around at fancy chopsticks and mah jong sets. "You want something else?" she asks. "No," I say. "Just these." I type in 8 yuan on the calculator. She looks at me astonished. "You ask too little," she says. "But I am a poor student," I plea. "OKOK," she responds. "For you. Just for you, I take 80 yuan..." Anyway, I think you get the gist of things. I talked her down to 12 yuan (a little less than $2). There is SO MUCH to buy there! I spent entirely too much money because everything was so cheap! I need to go back though and get some more things. You get tired fast there because everyone is yelling and haggling and trying to get you to buy their products. Completely a nut house. The sales people are so determined to sell you their things too. They will literally grab you and pull you back to their booth if you walk away. They will lower the price drastically then too. It was fun.
I went to the grocery store about half a mile from the hotel where I am staying. It is not a grocery store, but a 4-story, full blown department store. The bottom two floors were the food sections, third floor was health and beauty, fourth floor was clothing, shoes and bedding. It was an experience. I felt oddly calm in the food sections. It was all so familiar to me that it was scary. The layout, the food groups, the shoppers. I scanned every aisle for interesting finds. I didn't get much, but I spent nearly 2 hours there. Everything was intriguing to me. From the way they buy and sell raw meat (touchy-feely), to the shovelfuls of rice and the lack of dairy products, everything was fascinating. I roamed through every floor taking stock of all of the products, and it never got boring. Finally, I decided I have picked out all of the things I wanted, and I went down to the ground level to pay. The cashier checked out my food items without charging me for the pillow I had also picked up. Apparently I was supposed to pay for that on the "bedding" level. I had to walk out of the store and then back in, go up 4 flights of stares, and try to figure out how I was supposed to pay for this pillow. Luckily, I ran into some other American students who directed me. I had to go to an individual saleslady who wrote me a receipt. Then, I had to take the receipt to another lady sitting in a strange cubicle to pay for it (18 yuan, if you wanted to know). THEN, i took the new receipt I got from her back to the previous lady where I re-claimed my pillow. Was it worth the trouble? Probably not, but I was not about to become a thief in a foreign country.
Thus, I left the store and began my small trek back to campus. I became side-tracked by some pretty dresses in a window. I walked in to find that they were not poorly priced, and the workers were very nice. One of them got a bigger size for me and I tried on a traditional-looking Chinese dress only to be saddened by the fact that my proportions are not the same as Chinese women. The dress was too big in my stomach area, but too tight in the butt area. Conclusion: no one in this country has booty. The women in the store were very nice though, and I thanked them (xièxiè) and continued on my way with my pillow, peach juice, and Chinese Skippy (even though moms choose JIF).
I realized this today. I used my first "squat toilet" today, and it was very difficult. Not in the sense that is was so awkward to pee in a floor, but more in the sense that I could not stay squatted for that long with my capris around my ankles without propping myself up with a wall. The Chinese people have done this all their lives. They have the ability to stay at this awkward position, which is why the elderly are so flexible. See, I got to the point eventually.
The Golden Resources Shopping Mall. It is the biggest mall in the WORLD. I went to it today. While the things there are very high-end and expensive, the experience of another culture's shopping habits was awesome. The clothes were so cute too! Most were not unlike the clothing you can find in the States, and I wish I could have bought at least 5 of the adorable dresses I saw.
The money is so hard to get used to here as well. The fact that something that is $50 in the States is 350 Yuan in China is a little confusing. The initial reaction is horror at the prospect of a $28 frappuccino, when it is -- in reality -- only $4. The good part is that I have been here 5ish days and I have only spent the equivalent of about $60. However, I have not gone shopping in the bargain sectors of the city yet... :D
We also ventured into the Black Bamboo park in the northwestern corner of the city. It was beautiful. It also smelled amazing. The city has all kinds of smells, and this park is definitely the best I have smelled. The bamboo-- though not black-- was everywhere. Along with other Asian plants and trees. A completely different side to this huge city, and I absolutely love it.
Today (July 5) might possibly be the best, most exciting day of my life. The University of Missouri (I think so at least) paid for a tour of some parts of the city. EVERYTHING was paid for. This tour must have cost thousands of US dollars considering how many people we are. I am definitely NOT complaining.
We started off in Tiennamen Square, which is basically just a MASSIVE courtyard. It is the largest town square in the world (i think), and much Chinese history has been made on it. Aside from the history, the Square was pretty uneventful. The weather was pretty shitty too, which was good and bad. Good because it warded off a lot of the people (even tho there were A TON of people there), bad because it was spitting smelly rain at us most of the time.
Next we ventured into the Forbidden City. It is the size of 60 soccer fields and once housed the current emperors of China. We were only allowed in 1/3 of it because the other 2/3 is under construction. The 1/3 was SO worth though! The buildings, history and beauty of the city were overwhelming. It was just like all of those asian-like movies I had seen before. Only better. The rain subsided a little, and there were still a ton of tour groups, but it was an amazing experience anyway. We walked 1km through the city and I was never bored or not taking a picture.
This combination tour thing also paid for our lunch. It was at this swingers restaurant that kept bringing food out for us. The bathroom was the best part (aside from the food). The sinks were naked or panty-clad women bent over with the basin being in their lower back. So it was like you were doing them from the behind when you were washing your hands. Yeah. The stalls were weird too. The back wall of them was one-way glass, and yes it was for sure one way glass. We could see out a staircase that we had walked up earlier. Just... weird.
Next was the Hutong/Ricksha tour! Quite possibly the best part of the entire trip (so far that is). We rode rickshas through a living area of the city. It is basically alleyways where people have their homes. Our driver (rider?) was so awesome and he drove like crazy! We got off at some place and toured Prince Gong's Mansion, which is basically a devotion to the bat. There were no actual bats, but the shape of a bat took the decoration of everything. There, I also ran up the Staircase of Promotion and sauntered down the Staircase of Longevity. A promotion would be nice... if only I had a job. hahaha Anyway, then we got to tour an actual home in the hutong. They are built around a courtyard and a are basically a square hallway around a square garden. It was the coolest thing ever. The family whose home we got to see was so nice, and they had a lot of pets. They had like 4-5 birds, fish, turtles, a chipmunk thing and a dog. The house was very old, but had modern day things as well. The man that we talked to that lives there was incredibly nice too! More ricksha riding brought us to Hohi (phonetically, I am not sure how it is spelled in Chinese). It is a long strip of an area with shops, clubs and restaurants. So awesome! Some of us actually went back there later that night.
We walked through there, and ended at the Drum Tower. It is very high up with a huge, narrow staircase to get to it. Inside, there are HUGE DRUMS that were used long ago to tell people the time, i guess. We saw a drum show and I realized that drummers are the same everywhere. Cocky. Outside of the high-up drum tower, you could see the many skylines of the city. You could ACTUALLY see them too. It was a non-pollutiony day, so visibility was high. It is amazing how huge this city is. Usually you have one cluster of sky-scrapers then the rest of the city. Here, the tall buildings go on forever! It is incredible how huge this city is.
So, happy 4th of July everybody! We rang in the holiday here with... well... nothing really. However, it seems to rain every 4th of July, even here.
Today, we toured a few news outlets in Beijing. We got to see the goings-on of the People's Daily website (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn) and the Beijing Youth Daily newspapers and magazines. The newsrooms there seem so much less hectic than the ones I have worked in or visited before. The reporters are very calm it seems. They may have just been wary because of the mass of Americans in their space, though. We all got some free things from the places too, including a blue mouse backpack. Adorable, I know.
In between our two media tours, we went to a superfancy restaurant buffet at The Emerald restaurant in a Zhalong Hotel (I think that is what it was). It cost 100 yuan a person, which is about $15. Considering we have also eaten for 2.5 yuan, it was a lot.
We returned to our hotel where I slept some more. I tend to be doing that a lot. I don't know what it is. Jetlag? I hope so. Anyway, when I woke up, we wanted to go get some Americanized food in honor of our country's birthday. Since Hard Rock Café was so far away, we opted for Pizza Hut. The pizza was delicious. Oh man. Cheese is always good. On the way back from our walking adventure to the Hut, it was raining really hard. The rain smelt like the rest of China too. Just... lovely.
The toilet paper, the food, the people, the personality of the people. Everything. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was going to be different, I just didn't plan for the little things.
So, if you didn't know, I am in China with the University of Missouri. I will be here for 2 months volunteering with the Olympics and taking a class. I am going to start from the beginning and work my way to now... let's go.
So I got on the plane. Woohoo more plane rides. While the seat was not comfortable, I never really got bored on the plane. It was 12.5 hours long, and it only felt like 8. I only slept for about 20 minutes. I am still feeling that too.
Customs was pretty lax, which is kind of surprising. We met at the end of the customs line, then took a bus to Renmin University, where we are staying. We drove past the Birds Nest, Water Cube and etc on the way. It is so amazing that I am going to be working there.
Not much of my experience yet has been very organized, but it will probably get better once we start with the Olympic News Organization. The Chinese people are very happy we are here though. They are making a huge deal out of this. There are a lot of news organizations and stuff following us around.
The food isn't bad either. I am eating a lot of things I wouldn't normally eat. I guess I don't really have a choice though. Ordering food is another story though. Especially if there aren't pictures. Then you basically order and see. There are some people that are diabetic or vegetarians that need to be careful. It will get easier though I am sure.
Tomorrow we are touring the major news outlets in Beijing. It should be tons of fun. I am taking a lot of pictures, and I will upload them to either facebook or flickr when I get the chance. Hope everything is going ok for you guys!
I am a newspaper designer and forever a word nerd living in Des Moines, Iowa. Briefly, the Mizzou Tigers are my team, I am addicted to entertainment news and I love to travel.
I'm Lyndsey. Nice to meet you.
A calm starts to settle... until the competition manager changes his mind again. Mixed zone is ON! We remove the gates barring the "press" and "broadcast" sections. Normally the journalists aren't supposed to mix, but there is no way to avoid it this time. People scatter. We, as volunteers, try to organize them and piss many off in the process. Well, I do. The Chinese volunteers don't do much because of their passive attitude. The mixed zone proceeds, but is cut sort because the medal ceremony has to start. Another "oh shit" moment occurs as the host broadcasters realize that the journalists in the mixed zone are in the way of the camera view of the flagpoles where the winning team's flag was going to be risen. The journalists are herded (angrily, on their part) away from the camera's reach. We move the mini fences too. When the ceremony is over, we give the journalists another shot at their desired athletes in the mixed zone, but people are so mixed together now that no one really cares. Uncredentialed volunteers are running around taking pictures, climbing on the podiums and creating all kinds of unprofessional havoc, the journalists are pissed about the disorganization and our supervisors are nowhere to be seen. We have two medal ceremony nights in Olympic Field Hockey. This was one of them, and I hope that the last shot at it is 5 million times better.
