LOOOOOOOOONG DAY

So, today was an intense, intense day of training. At the beginning of the day, we were told that there would be three races that would need covering today. This is very similar to the way things will be set up once the games start.

So we're told that we are covering the Men's and Women's Sprint finals and the Men's Madison, which is the race where two riders essentially fling each other around the track. Look it up. I swear it's true. So, then, we have to try to guess, to the best of our ability, who will win first, second and third (or at least who's expected to). At least in the Sprints we were given who was in the semifinals, so we could narrow it down. In the Madison, we literally had no clue until we were given the results.

So, after our lunch, we were told that person A won the gold, person B won the silver and so on. So, as we already had done our research and knew what to ask them past, "What does it feel like to win?", we hauled it up to the mixed zone and ran a fake mixed zone. Then, we all RAN downstairs (and I mean that literally) and typed out our flash quote reports. Then, after 10 minutes of this...

...we did it again. Then, we had a press conference after fake race B. We'll have to do this, cover a press conference and write up a report, which is just like a flash quote report but longer. Then we had 10 minutes to write up the report. Then...

...we did it again. Then, we watched some video of BMX from the test event they did at the track here at Beijing last year. It was interesting to watch, to see how the riders manouvre this behemoth of dirt and pavement. We saw crashes and passes and riders who literally would just run out of speed and not be able to make it over hills and would just have to...stop!

Then, we watched some of the Chinese team practice on the track. It was nothing lightning fast and nothing crazy, but it was cool to actually see some riders on the track for once.

Then, after we found out that Paul, our Chinese manager, had planned a dinner for all of us, we went with Raul, another volunteer with ONS, to this tea house that he knew about. This is a genuine tea house that brews its own tea (the manager pointed out this fact multiple times) and we were shown how to brew and pour Chinese tea, traditionally.

1. You put the leaves in this pot.
2. You take molten-hot water and pour it in with the leaves. Not too much, though. Actually a better idea, apparently, to go lighter on the water than to overfill it.
3. You put the lid on the pot for 30 seconds at the most. The longer you let it simmer, the stronger the tea will be.
4. You take the cup that you will be drinking the tea out of and clean it by...yes...pouring the tea into it and dumping it out. Let it be said that the woman demonstrating this to us was doing it on a special table that was slanted and drained so that the water could be poured onto it with no problems.
5. You fill the cup up 70%. You leave 30% because, in Chinese culture, this signifies the openness of friendship and possibilities.

It was a crazy thing to watch. Then, we went to this dinner that Paul had arranged for us. It was traditional, like the dinners I told y'all about a couple of weeks ago. We just ordered tons of food, with the help of our Chinese friends Li and Eric who both gave us reccomendations and helped us order. I rocked some steamed scallops with garlic sauce that, other than the can't miss staples of Kung Pao Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken, were the hit of the table.

It was an awesomely fun day that included a lot of hands-on stuff. But, I'm exhausted. Thankfully, we have tomorrow off to do...well...probably, nothing.

So we've started hardcore training at our venue. In the past few days, we've met Ernst and Amy, our two other ONS reporters. They're really awesome and a wealth of information when it comes to both the job and the sport. Tomorrow, we meet our Sports Information Supervisor who is solely there to help us, as well as the journalists covering cycling, with sport and event-specific information.

Today, we got to see where we will be (as of now) living for the next couple months: the mixed zone. Just to let y'all know, if you happen to watch any cycling on TV, and the mixed zone stays where it is right now, you'll see a Purdue student. Flat out. From where we stand, waiting for athletes to come talk to journalists, we're a five yards way from the track. And not even the boring straightaway part of the track...the awesome 43 degree slant of the track. We're able to see pretty much 100% of any race.

Now, the downside is that we're also in the middle of everything: the whizzing bikes, the music and announcements in between events, medal presentations and much much more. But, as I say, we've been hearing rumors that the whole setup might change, so who knows.

If This Doesn't Scream, "Representing the United States on a Worldwide Stage," I Don't Know What Does!

No, I'm not wearing my Adidas Beijing 2008 shoes because I don't have them yet. And I'm not wearing one of my three pair of Adidas socks because you wouldn't have been able to see them because I don't have my Adidas Beijing 2008 shoes. And, you can't see my Beijing 2008 water bottle, which is clipped to my Beijing 2008 fanny pack (or, if you're Australian, bum bag).

We're Breaking Down Cultural Barriers, Here!

So, yesterday, I learned something odd and, to be honest earth-shattering.

Rugby has rules.

Who knew? I could have sworn that it was just a bunch of drunken people from...umm...not America who tossed what appeared to be a football with a glandular issue while they would, periodically and without reason stop play so someone could kick the swollen football across the field. I also knew that, at times, people would cheer, becuase, obviously, something good had happened; and that there was a lot of violent looking tackling.

Well, it turns out, all of this is true. But, there are methods to their madness.

And I freakin' love it.

I went with the Aussies to a pub-style place across from Hooters (yeah...Hooters) to watch the match between Australia (The Wallabies) and New Zealand (The All-Blacks). Australia won, thankfully and I actually learned to love the game.

Then, we went to a Mexican restaurant where I had a delicious quesadilla. And, then, we went to the mecca of karaoke bars.

Let me first say that they don't do karaoke here like they do it back in the states. When we do karaoke in America, we do it in front of everyone. In China, you pay a fee per person and then are taken to a room with your entire party. Then, there is a TV and a computer that has all of the songs available to rock the house with. We went to a place before that wasn't all that great and was, to be honest, pretty shady.

This place was a palace. It was 60 yuan per person, which is just about $10 in America. It looked like a five-star hotel. We walked in and there were giant couches, three mics (unheard of previously) and even a tambourine and a maraca to serenade the singer with. It was a lot of fun.

Today was pretty much a day of nothingness. Tomorrow starts our training...(ominous music plays).

HAHA...I feel satisfied with revenge.

Sitting in a theatre. Not knowing what is going on in front of you. Hearing things that are odd and foreign. Having to read jokes, poorly translated.

I'm describing two things. The first was the American response to Chinese Opera. The second is the Chinese response to Hairspray, which I saw tonight. The parallels between what they must have been going through and what we sat through a couple of weeks ago.

Now, keep in mind, and I'm not necessarily proud of this, but this is my third time seeing Hairspray on stage. I know it well. I know where the jokes should hit, where the big laughs and reactions should be and where. And, to be honest, most of the time, I, along with the three Aussies who i went with, were the only people laughing. It was funny, because I felt like I needed to laugh harder to compensate for the lack of reaction from everyone else.

And, this is not to say that the Chinese didn't love it. They were on their feet nanoseconds after the show ended. Plus, during the intermission, two people came out and taught the audience a dance, which then everyone did with the cast after the show. I had never seen anything like that before.

They reacted totally to the music more than they did the script. They also loved the visual gags and the really broad stuff going on. Even though I feel a little better knowing that they were probably confused for a big chunk of the evening, I know for a fact they enjoyed Hairspray exponentially more than we enjoyed The Marriage of the Moth and the Monkey or whatever that piece of junk was called.

Excuse me, but there's a scorpion in my soup.

It tasted like salted shrimp shells. It tasted like nothing. It did not, in fact, taste like chicken.

A Day of Venues

So, did you know that we're here for the Olympics? I had no idea!! I mean, I got that card thingy that says I'm with the Olympics, but I hadn't really done anything...til today.

Today, we visited our venue(s). First of all, it's about an hour long ride on the subway. We get to ride the subway for free with our accreditation, so, even though I look like Grizzly Adams in my photo, it's not a big deal for us to take the train.

Then, after getting out of the subway station, it's about a 10 minute walk to the cycling cluster.


Yeah...it does look like a spaceship.

The first thing we saw, after walking through the offices that we'll be working in and seeing where the press will be sending their stories after each race, we went into the velodrome. We walk into this area and see one of the Friendlies (see previous post) and about 25 hot Chinese dancers all in a choreographed dance number.



Then, we got to walk on the track, which is really a site to behold.





Then, we traveled outside to the BMX area. BMX, for those of you who may not knew, is new this year.

This was taken from the starting platform of the BMX track, somewhere that was so crazy to be standing on. The course starts with a HUGE downslope so that the riders can gain speed and look that much cooler when they race.

Then, we hit up the mountain biking course.


That's really the only bit of the course you could see from where we were, since it's carved out of a mountain.

So, now, after that hard, hard work day, we're off until Monday. So, I think I'm going to start looking in to exploring some restaurants and some side trips and things like that.

After I came back and took an American TV break, I went with some of the Australians to go see the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest, the two coolest and most popular venues here at the games.


Me outside the Bird's Nest. I don't know why I look like I just got hit over the head with a frying pan by Tweetie Bird, but it's pretty cool. And, no, I didn't end up in jail. The entire area around the Nest is behind fences and under guard watch because a) it's cool and b) it's where the Opening Ceremony will be held, and they're being so hush hush about it all.

This is the water cube where all of the...uhh...water events will take place. I'll never get in there, but dangit if it isn't so freaking cool.

Well that was the day today. No idea what's coming for tomorrow.

Talk to you all soon...

Phil

Day of Laziness and Spicy Food

Today was a day where we just didn't do a whole lot. I went to bed early last night after a night of karaoke. To those who know me, you would think I was in my element, at the karaoke bar. But, to be honest, the selection of songs wasn't suited to me, it was really hot in the room that we were all in (all 15 Purdue people and the majority of the Australians I've come to know and love) and it just wasn't as pleasant an experience as I had hoped. Apparently, though, there a better karaoke place a bit farther away (this was within walking distance of the dorm), so maybe that will be a better time.

I woke up late(ish), and went to a Korean restaurant that's on the campus here. We had NO IDEA what we were ordering. I got this weird, extremely spicy rice dish (at least I think it was rice) that had, not kidding, a fried egg on the top. It was so spicy I could only eat about a third of it. Water is such a pain to order here, and so expensive, that it's easier, and more economical, to just eat a little bit of something spicy than keep ordering water.

I did laundry when I got back from the restaurant. I think I'm going to just end up buying a bunch of cheap towels from the supermarket here on campus because they're such a pain to wash and dry. Plus, I've had a couple of days where mud and my shoes have gone at war, with the mud infiltrating the majority of our bathroom space. It's just easier to clean up all the mess with a towel than...umm...something else?

So, right now, the little load of laundry that I did is hanging above me. I'm hoping it's dry, or something resembling dry, by the time I need it tomorrow. If it isn't, we have a problem.

I found out today, after about a week of struggle with AT&T and Samsung (I'll call them out. I'm ticked enough I don't really care at this point!), I will have to purchase a Chinese cell phone so I can use the Chinese SIM card that all of the volunteers have.

So, tomorrow, our last free day before training starts, I have to find a phone, hope my laundry is done, and go to a nice(ish) dinner for one of the Australians who is no longer with us (meaning she isn't at our campus anymore...she's not dead!). Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Hope things are going well back home.

Phil

Most Expensive Day So Far

It was an expensive day today because we went to the Olympics Store so I could get souvenirs for everyone back at home.

The Olympics Store is so weird, the way it's set up. You find what you want to buy, let's say a set of chopsticks with these little adorable marketing tools on them.
You find the chopsticks, then instead of just taking them and moving on, you have to find a worker. The worker then writes down what you want on a receipt-type slip with three duplicate copies. Then they take it away from you. It's gone. You can't have it.

Then, once you've done this with all of the items you want (which, in my case, was quite a lot) you then take all of these slips of paper to the cashier. The cashier adds it all up, you pay and then she gives you one of the duplicates for each item you purchased. Then, you have to go back to every "station" you bought something from and get your stuff. It's three times longer than it has to be. But, along with being par for the course for China (we've seen a lot of things that could be done more efficiently) I guess it's the best way to prevent theft.

By the way, those characters are the Friendlies, the official mascots of the games. Beibei, Jinging and all the others. If you take the first half of their names and put them together in the order they're displayed, it spells out, "Beijing Welcomes You". Neat-o indeed.

So, last night, we went to what is, I'm assuming, the bar district in Beijing. There were literally 30 bars lining the streets of this area. Let me tell you people, you haven't truly heard Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" until you've heard it from a Chinese singer who barely knows the words. Truly transcendent.

Today we are going to start our quest to go see "The Dark Knight", the new Batman flick (in case anyone in America has been in a coma and just woke up). Ever since we started planning for this trip I knew that this comic book/movie geek might not get a chance to see it. So, the quest begins for searching for a theatre that will play it...in English.

More later on DVDs and the art district we visited yesterday. Stay tuned...

So, today we went to our second (half) day of training from ONS and Infostrada. We started the day, after an bus ride that was a bit more expedient than the day before, with some notes on looking at statistics and using the stat sheets and results sheets that the ONS will give us after each race to ask better questions.

For example, instead of asking, "What do you think went wrong today?" you can ask, "You slowed down seven seconds from the second lap to the third. What happened?" This will, in theory, prompt the athlete to give us a better answer that is more in depth and better suited for a Flash Quote Report.

Then, we went through some team building exercises as an entire Cycling Flash Quoter team. Surprising fact of the day: Alongside the Purdue students will be some people from Missouri University. We did some simple little icebreakers and teambuilding activities. The big points that were made during this part of the training were that we are all part of the Olympic News Service and that, when you focus on the team and the organization as a whole entity, everything will go that much better. The name that I put at the end of this post is the closest thing to a byline any of us we'll get in the next two months.

And, to be honest, I'm OK with that, because even though I'm used to credit for what I write, as all of us are, we're here at the Olympics! We've all had to deal with a lot of changes, and, whether it be the food, accommodations, bus trips, humidity, or any of the other 100 things some people have been complaining about, I keep reminding myself that I am in one of the corners of the world that I never would have thought I would end up: China. In Beijing. For the Olympics. It doesn't really get much better for a kid from Attica, Indiana who just always figured he would watch the Olympics on TV every two years. (That's right, people, I totally tune in to the Winter Olympics too. Curling is the greatest sport ever!)

In our training session, we then talked briefly about the biographical content that will be gathered and provided to us by ONS. Biographical information, much like statistics from a race, can greatly enhance how you ask questions and, more importantly, what questions you ask. Yesterday they mentioned something to us that a huge Olympics fan like me found fascinating: The system that we will use for biographies of athletes is the EXACT same system that they use on the television broadcasts. So, when you're watching gymnastics and Bob Costas has one of those weird facts that you hear and wonder, "Where in the heck did he get that from?", rest assured that he got it from the ONS.

Today, most importantly, we got our accreditation.

That lovely lanyard hanging around my neck will get us into the velodrome, the venue that will contain all of the awesomeness that will be the track cycling and BMX cycling. So, other than being vital to us doing our jobs as flash quote reporters...it makes us look really really cool.

Well, that was Wednesday. I hope that everything is awesome back at home. Starting tomorrow the bulk of us have about five days off so if anyone has any suggestions of things for us to see or do while we're here, please post them. We've already done the Great Wall, the Forbidden City (well, at least most of us have done that anyway), the Summer Palace and the sewage treatment plant. So, please, feel free to drop some suggestions on us.

It Was Like the Chinese Oprah...Not the Opera, Thankfully

So, today was our last sort of day off before we start training for the Olympics and our jobs as flash quote reporters. I got to sleep in today, which, even though usually I have been getting up well before I had to, was a nice change of pace; being able to sleep in and not have anything to really get up for. Most people around here took the day off, staying in and blogging or uploading photos onto their blogs, something I've been sadly remiss in. But, I heard of something greater...

...the electronics silk market. That's right, it's like the silk market, with all the bargaining, killer deals and carnival barker-like vendors. But, instead of handbags, shoes and ripoff designer clothing, it's all electronic goods.

It's a bit of a trek, but it's worth it. For a geek like me, it's like Christmas and Heaven rolled into one four-story building. We spent a big chunk of the day there, and after I got an iPod dock with speakers, computer mouse and headset/microphone, we went to the Wal-Mart for some much needed goods. Like Oreos and Chips Ahoy.

I also got a bucket to do laundry in. Even though they told us that laudry facilities would be on site, and even though they are, they aren't the best in the world and they only work about half the time. So, I'm turning the time machine back and washing my clothes by hand. We'll see how that works out.

After we got back, and a little down time, we went to a Chinese talk show. It's aired on CCTV, which is the main (perhaps government-run) television station in China. In fact, there are about 9 CCTV stations on our cable here in the dorm, one of them in English. And, another interesting tidbit: CCTV is the exclusive home of the Olympic Games once they start.

So, after a long bus ride, we got to the basement of this CCTV building. This is the old building, as an extremely amazing new CCTV building is being built within the city. After a dodgy-looking box dinner in a green room/waiting room, we got to this studio...where we were the special guests.

The host was this guy who immediately started talking to us, sort of like a monologue from Jay Leno or David Letterman. We all listened to the show through headphones that were feeding us an English translation. He immediately involved the audience in a couple of activities and then brought out his first two guests: the Games' oldest volunteer and the co-leader of the volunteer effort.

Then, after talking to some more of us in the audience, he brought on a woman from a project called Together in Beijing. TiB was started in Norway to benefit disabled children and send them to the Paralympics here in Beijing, which will take place after the Olympics. Then, the host brought out a blind girl and partially deaf girl who made crafts and drawings. Then, they all gave us gifts. It was an extremely emotional time, and an interesting look at the Chinese media.

Tomorrow starts our training. Wish me luck.

Phil

That Was Quite a Long 3 Days

So, tonight, today for y'all, is the end of our three day tour provided by the Olympic Committee. Two days ago we went to some wall, apparently, according to some people, it might be considered Great.

That's right, guys and gals, I climbed up the Great Wall Saturday. First of all, I'll say that Saturday was the FIRST TRULY BLUE SKY DAY we have had since I arrived. It was perfect. The humidity went away, the pollution was gone and it was nothing but sun and blue skies to escort us to the Wall.

The Great Wall is part of this giant community that has been built around it. It has homes, but mostly a lot of restaurants...including a Starbucks. For anyone who knows me, they'll know that this is like an oasis in the middle of a mocha-less desert.

When you enter the Great Wall part of it all, you wait. And wait. And wait some more. We waited for what was, supposedly, an abnormally long amount of time because the President of Mexico was there and half of the wall that is open to tourists was temporarily shut down so he and his security detail could get up to the Wall safely without all of the other people around.

Well once we finally got past an initial staging area that felt similar to what I imagine a sardine feels like, we got some clean air and started our descent up the Wall.

Let it be said that, not to toot my own horn, but getting up the Great Wall is no easy feat. It's incredibly steep, switching from wicked inclines to steps that are probably a foot to a foot and-a-half high. There are railings, but they're low and not very useful. Combine these obstacles with a gorgeous yet brutal, beating sun and you have a heck of a climb.

But, after many water breaks and stoppages to make way for locals and their umbrellas, which are just begging, it seems to poke your eye out, we made it to the top. Oddly enough, the top of the Great Wall is incredibly small. It was really just meant as a lookout point, it seems, so all of these people who have been making this trek up there are, all of a sudden, crammed into an extremely tiny area.

A group of us, once we got to the top, sang "Hail Purdue!" Video of it will hopefully be up soon.

After the Great Wall, and lunch, we visited the Ming Tombs. The majority of emporers and empresses from the Ming Dynasty are buried there. Again, the tombs suffered a similar fate to some of the other things we've seen: they've been really overdeveloped. What might have been a very cool look into the Ming emporers became kind of cheapened when you walked down an "ancient" courtyard and a woman is selling ice cream right next to you.

Skip to today, which, going into it, promised to be a somewhat mixed bag. We started it off with the Summer Palace, which was built in 1750 as, obviously, a summer home for the emporer. But, in its long history, it has been burned and pillaged and rebuilt, and then added onto and developed for tourism purposes. The odd part of the Summer Palace is that 75% of it is water, a giant lake, more specifically. So, in the couple of hours of free time we had to use, I had some calligraphy done, which looks very cool, and then me and a group of the Aussies took a trip of a boat down this little alcove of the lake.

After lunch, we went to a botanical garden that, shockingly enough, is on the site of a old palace...that had been burned...and then developed for tourism. (Are you sensing a theme here?)

Dinner.

Then, a Chinese Opera. This was something that I wasn't sure if I would look forward to and my suspicions were...correct. I mean, the Chinese Opera is something, supposedly, steeped in tradition and is full of meaning and history. But, honestly, it didn't come through in what we watched.

Firstly, it was hard to see the screens with loose translations of what the characters were saying, so we missed out on a ton of what was going on in the play. But, we caught the gist...and it still didn't really help.

Secondly, there was one woman, playing some sort of princess that had a truly grating voice. Nails on a chalkboard is an understatement.

So, the opera was kind of a bust...BUT, it was still very cool to see and, if nothing else, a pretty fun story.

So, that is the end of our three day extravaganza with BOCOG and our tour guide Henry. Tomorrow, Monday, is a free day, so I think there is some laundry in my future and then, tomorrow night, a taping of a Chinese talk show.

Talk to you all soon,

Phil

2 Days in 1 Post

I was going to post yesterday, but after a long LONG day yesterday, I was too tired to post.





Yesterday, we went to the Forbidden City and Tiennamen Square. The Forbidden City, for those who don't know, was the palace where all of China's emporers lived until the final emporer in 1911(ish).

The Forbidden City is one of the most opulent things I've ever seen. It is part magnificent palace, filled with gold and jade and all sorts of things that signified a higher social status in the Chinese culture. But, the other part is that it served a number of functions, including the last defense between attackers and the Emporer, the place of business and the living quarters for the Emporer, his wife, and all of his subsequent mistresses.

That's right, he had thousands of mistresses. Who lived on site.

So, when we got to the palace, after we took our obligatory pictures, we went and found a tour guide. For anyone who ends up ever going to the Forbidden City, totally get a tour guide. It's the only way to go. Without our tour guide, Amy, I wouldn't have known anything I just typed out. It would have just been a lot of pretty buildings. But, during the tour, I learned about what all of the architecture meant and what everything was used for. Definitely the way to go, and, to be honest, a bargain at 40 yuan. (6 yuan = 1 dollar, by the way)

So, since we had a tour guide, it was a long day at the palace.

Today, we started a three-day tour provided to us by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG). We started with, I kid you not, the sewage treatment plant.

It turns out that the plant will take a lot of the sewage and provide a lot of the non-drinking water for the Olympics area. We then went to a rural village in China that, while being poorer, is developing. We went to what was supposedly an ancient Buddhist temple that's been around for ages. But, it became clearer as we went on, that, while that may be true, it was more like a theme park/gated community that, if it had been ancient at one point, was tremendously TREMENDOUSLY renovated.

We walked through a nursing home type area where the staff sang a song for us, which was pretty surreal. We've really been getting sort of a VIP treatment here, police escort included. Now, keep in mind that the police escort really doesn't mean a whole lot, as there are no rules on the roads. We saw an ambulance tonight with its lights on and no one...NO ONE...was getting out the of the way. Kind of amazing.

Anyway...Buddha Theme Park.

We went then and watched a group of people from the community do Tai Chi, which is a slow, steady form of martial arts that is meant to preserve the body and soul as opposed to defend the person against any attacker.

After we left the village, and a long LONG bus convoy back to the city, we went to a restaurant in Beijing proper (the name of the joint escapes me right now) that has been around for almost 200 years and is famous for its Peking Duck.

Peking Duck is literally a process.

Step 1: They bring the duck out to you and take off the skin. Using bread or wontons, vegetables and sauces that are at your table, you make a sort of duck skin sandwich, along with some of the duck meat.

Step 2: The meat is all carved off and you eat it with rice, bread products or one of the many MANY sides that are brought out to you. We were given all sorts of sides, including everything from steamed vegetables to beef dishes.

Step 3: The bones are taken back into the kithcen, ground up and boiled to make a soup, which is then served to you. Sadly, we were running so late that, I have a feeling that part of the meal was taken out so that we could get back to the dorm at a reasonable hour.

It was truly an amazing meal. The way the overwhelming majority of meals work here in China is that a bunch of different dishes are brought out and people take small portions at a time. Everything is placed on a giant lazy susan that you just rotate to get to whatever you need. It's completely different from America, where we order everything separately and rarely eat anyone else's food.

So, suffice it to say, it's been a long couple of days. Tomorrow, we head off to the Great Wall and then to some sort of tunnel system underground.

Talk to you all soon,

Phil

Details on the Job

So, we just had a meeting with Krystyna, our Australian Manager for the Cycling site. We found out a few things I thought I would pass along to whoever cares.

• We don't officially start work until Day 7 of the Games. This gives us a TON of time to train and, more importantly, learn all of the rules and strategies of the various cycling events.
• The chance of seeing any other events and getting tickets is slim to none. I'm a little disappointed with that, but I'm focusing on the positives.
• Monday night, we are going to a Chinese talk show taping.
• The actual job itself will be a lot less stressful than it may have seemed in the first place. While this news is awesome to hear, I'll believe it when I see it. I'm a very stressful person by nature. :)
• Part of our training will include talking to some cyclists about why they do what they do.

So, that's an update. Talk to you all soon.

First Full Day

So...today, we had a tour of the campus here where we're staying. It's sprawling and, to be honest, easy to get lost in, but I think we'll be OK.

I got my computer situation taken care of so I have that HUUUUUGE hurdle taken care of. I was feeling a little lost this morning. It's very odd to be in an environment where you know absolutely nothing, unless it's in English. There's nothing to reference and, very rarely are there people around to ask questions to.

Today, during the tour, I got to know the Australian students here working for the Olympics and staying the same place we are. It's honestly as if we've known each other for a real long time. They're all very nice and I think getting to know them will be a huge benefit to this trip.

Today, after our tour, we visited the Silk Markets. First of all, there's not a lot of silk at the silk market. But, whenever you know people who have been to China and they come back with a cheap, knock-off designer something that they got for a quarter, they got it at the Silk Market. As SOON as you walk it, you just have a billion people asking you to buy purses, luggage, shirts, etc. It's very intimdating and, to be honest, a little frightening. But, there are good deals to be had if you're ruthless enough to bargain them down to the price you want to pay.

After that, we went to a Chinese Wal-Mart. Honestly, it was a lot like an American Wal-Mart except for a couple of things.

Firstly, it's cheaper. I know that may be hard to believe because, let's be honest, Wal-Mart is the most inexpensive place around. But, when you convert the prices, it really is a whole lot cheaper than it is in America.

Secondly, there were a lot of people just sitting on these benches that are placed all around the joint. Like it's a park or something, you just see old men reading the newspaper, sitting next to the giant containers of Tide.

Now, I'm back here, wondering whether I should take a nap or not. Other than that, not much shaking here.

Talk to everyone soon,

Phil

Landing on a Jet Plane

I landed in Beijing at 2:30 PM here in China, 2:30 AM back at home. It was a long day after a flight from Indy to O'Hare this morning and a long LONG layover in Chicago. But, hey, any excuse to eat a Chicago dog is alright with me.

The flight from Chicago to Beijing is sort of a blur because, to be honest, I slept a lot. I remember watching some mediocre Disney Channel shows and starting to watch a movie, but I fell asleep soon thereafter. Then, every hour and a half or so, I would get up, mull around and try to amuse myself somehow, but eventually fall back asleep again.

Then, we took a ride on a taxi from the airport to our dorm, the Communications University of China. Finding a taxi driver who knew where we were supposed to go was a challenge in itself. Then, the adventure began.

Let me say this about China drivers: Watching out the windshield was like watching me playing "Grand Theft Auto". Except it was all real and not nearly as fun.

Our rooms are alright. Small, but, to be honest, more storage space than I expected.

Speed Bump #1: The adapter I brought with me to fit the plugs here in China doesn't fit with my computer's adapter. And my battery is about to die. So, I have to either look for a new one or give up on mine entirely and use the computers in the lab here, which just isn't nearly as fun.

Other than that, it's been a long first day here. Tomorrow, we start some sightseeing and things like that.

Talk to you all soon,

Phil