Beijing huan ying ni!

Beijing welcomes you! And right now, the city is welcoming international guests... there are so many people everywhere; it's madness, but fun to see! I met more native English speakers today than I have since I got here exactly one month ago.

A visit to Starbucks after dinner tonight gave us the chance to meet three American rowers who were off for a few days of touring before the Games begin. Go USA!

This morning, I went to a bilingual yoga class at the Yoga Yard, across from the Worker's Stadium. It was pretty similar to the classes I have attended at home, in terms of poses and such. I liked having the class in Chinese and English; it was sort of relaxing to listen to the Chinese. Afterward, there was a free meditation and chanting session in Sanskrit. I can now say a few words of Sanskrit. Sweet.

It was time for lunch. I walked into a cute cafe across the street and was greeted by the sound of the Backstreet Boys crooning some love ballad. The popularity of boy bands is alive and well in this country, that's for sure. Check some of them out in the music video for "Bejing Huan Ying Ni". All of the singers featured are popular Chinese artists.



As I listened to American music, I read my book about Africa at an Italian restaurant in China and it got me thinking about the international spirit of the Olympics. It is truly an amazing thing to experience, and the Games have yet to begin!

Val and I met up at Tiananmen Square later in the day to see the Olympic madness ensuing there. I arrived first, and we made the mistake of meeting by the entrance to the Forbidden City (aka the giant picture of Chairman Mao), where there are thousands of tourists who want to take pictures of the foreign girl. So awkward. One lady was hell-bent on having her son take a photo with me. He didn't want to, I didn't want to, but she was not having it.

I ended up meeting a couple of guys from BBC-London who had just arrived the day before, and actually could tell them where to go for shopping and such. I really am living here, giving directions to visitors. It was a good feeling to help out, even if it was just directions to the best shopping areas.