they "give a shit about the Olympics."

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.

organization isn't a strong point.

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...

the Chinese are such good bike riders.

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.

I think I have been here too long...

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.

Americans are like a tourist attraction in themselves.

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.

Did I mention I got 'Joe's' phone number? :D

if you have an umbrella, you make the rules.

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.

it is the best country in the WORLD.

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.

there are holes in that kid's pants!

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.

it is easy to find familiarity.

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).

its elderly are very flexible.

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.

there is so much to see.

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.

the rain even smells like pollution.

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. 

even the little things are different.

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!