It's the little things

I got a warm shower last night for the first time since I've been here! It was absolutely amazing and got me thinking about how much more you appreciate simple things when you are in a foreign country.

It's true. I'm easily amused, and I'll be the first to admit it. You may have noticed the photos of penguins in my photo album, and, no, I didn't visit an iceberg somewhere in China. They are just on billboards in the subway station (don't ask me why) and I LOVE penguins. So I took their picture and it made me happy.

Another simple thing that is so great here is when you actually are able to communicate with the locals. For example, ordering food at the dining halls here on campus is so difficult because the workers don't speak any English. The other day I pointed at a bowl of noodles and the food service people started laughing. I have absolutely no idea why. So then I pointed something else and said 'one' in Chinese then back to the noodles. More laughter. It was fabulous. I didn't know what to do and as you can imagine, kind of frustrating. Many other encounters at other places have gone more smoothly, which is nice.

My roommate and I love the Fuwa and also watching CCTV 5 which is the sports channel. And every once in a while, there is a little bit in English! It's amazing.

Val and I are off to shop now. We are going to the Noodle Loft for lunch, a place where apparently the entire dish is one long noodle. Yum!

Our humble abode

I didn't live in the dormitories while at Purdue, and now is my chance to go back and experience dorm life. We are living in the International Center at the CUC. Our room is actually quite cozy, and Val and I have made some attempts to decorate with the pamphlets we get from the places we visit. That, and pictures from the magazines we brought. We are also representing for the Olympics with some patriotic paraphernalia around the room(which doubles as our attire for going to cheer on our athletes at the Games).

I am back to a twin sized bed which makes me really appreciate my new queen waiting back in Naperville. It's okay though because there are drawers underneath where I keep my clothes. I'm going to have to do laundry soon, which is a little tricky. Some people tried to use the washing machines and they don't really wring all of the water out of the clothing. Others have hand-washed their stuff, which still leaves you with some dripping water all over the room while things air dry. I think I'll put it off for another day.

The TV works, and we have tuned in to the CCTV sports channel. Right now they show old Olympic events in an attempt (we think) to help teach the people here more about all of the sports. A pretty good idea, if you ask me. Anyway, we are thoroughly entertained by that as well as the Tour de France coverage. The Chinese commercials are also pretty great. There is everything from L'Oreal to infomercials advertising these corsets that supposedly make you lose weight.

The view ranges from hazy buildings to clear buildings with sunlight reflecting on the windows, depending on the day. There is a restaurant downstairs that is pretty great (menus with pictures) and a lecture hall that has no clock. I would die in class without a clock to tick away the minutes...

I think my favorite part about the room is this fantastic 'magic box' which is basically a nightstand that has all of these switches to power everything in the room. It is phenomenal-- beats the 'Clap On Clap Off' lights any day.

Our bathroom is interesting because the shower and the toilet are together. I don't really know what better way to say it, but here's a photo. I haven't taken a warm shower since I got here, let alone hot, but I'm getting used to it. You will hear a shriek from our room every time we use the shower because it's so cold. Note the water bottles on the sink; we use those because we can't use tap water to brush our teeth. We also have to use a converter and adapter to use a blow drier. Val's straightener bit the dust because it's too high voltage for this place. Ahh I miss the simple life sometimes...

Bring on the hats

It was 106 F (cool for this time of year, apparently) today while we toured the Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace. The latter is basically ruins from the British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. The Summer Palace was the getaway for the Emperor and his crew during the hot summer months. The grounds surround a beautiful lake, which we navigated via paddle boat. After several days of nothing but walking tours, it was nice to have a change.

It was on the boat that I discovered my new favorite Chinese snack: hats. Well, I don't really know what they are called but they are shaped like the round, pointed hats that you can get here and taste like a mix between Teddy Grahams and fortune cookies. Delish.

We paddled past the many halls, temples, and gardens as well as some bridges-- my favorite was the Mirrored Bridge, which is pretty steep and unique, very unlike any bridge I had ever seen/walked across before. I would definitely be okay with spending my summers hanging out here, that is for sure. I think it'd make Camp David seem a little lame, if you ask me.

One thing about the Chinese historical locations, they really get creative with the names. And by really I mean not at all. For example, the 17-Arch Bridge and the Eaves That Play Host to Clouds. And don't forget the Garden of Harmonious Interests. Gotta love literal translations haha.

Speaking of that, some of the t-shirts we've seen have been absolutely hilarious. My favorite so far is 'Put your hands up and walk slowly towards the moustache' and had a picture of a '70s police officer. These type of things are everywhere! And not just with the younger crowd but older people as well; I love it!

Something of note about the people here: they carry around Nalgene bottles full of tea instead of water. I saw a guy earlier in the week carrying a bottle full of water with something strange floating in the top and I got a little grossed out. I had no idea what it was. Now I realize what it is, and it's everywhere! I really don't understand ho w these people stay fully hydrated in the heat but I guess it works. Wonder if they drink tea while working out...?

Our run yesterday morning went well-- it was actually one of the clearest days since we'd been here. My lungs definitely felt a little strange, though. We felt like champs after that when we climbed the Great Wall at Badaling. I would have liked to visit one of the less crowded parts of the wall, but it was still an amazing experience. Some parts were so steep that my nose almost touched the steps above as I was climbing.

For those of you who have access to CCTV, check it out because our group was the one featured on today's visit (last tour day by BOCOG) and Phil and me got interviewed. It was kind of fun, but a little hard to understand some of the questions the reporter asked. They ranged from 'What is your favorite part of China?' to 'How do you feel about the French burning down these sites?' I tried to give my best, positive answers about how hospitable the Chinese had been, etc. I did make the mistake of saying that the food was one of my favorite parts (which is true-- I don't think I'll want to go back to Chinese American-style once I return!) and so they came up to my table during dinner tonight and informed me that they'd be taping me eating. Great. Thank goodness I am getting the chopsticks thing down. I can just imagine the people watching TV and laughing at my crude skills. I didn't drop a thing! Success.

Tonight was capped off by a night at the opera. We had front row seats to a show that was, well, I hate to keep saying interesting but that is the best word. At first I was afraid I would have nightmares about the people with their scarily made-up faces. I couldn't understand a thing that was going on except that they had English subtitles on screens. I could only see the top row of words, so that didn't help much. Basically, the princess got married, somebody lived and somebody died. And there was a lot of family history and three brothers. For six minutes, the princess (in the most high-pitched, loudest shriek-sing I have ever heard) said "I will marry my man". I am not exaggerating. There were a few acrobatics at the end with some fighting thrown in which was by far my favorite part.

Harry Potter and the Chocolate Factory

Where do I even begin today’s blog?

I guess I’ll start with some interesting observations about the Chinese that have been working with us since we’ve been here. Many of them choose American names because their Chinese given names are literally impossible for us to pronounce. The names they pick, however, are ones that are pretty uncommon in the States, e.g. Cindy, Henry, and Harry—these are the ones we have encountered so far. Two of our university hosts wanted the name Cindy and started arguing about who got the name. A little awkward. The Chinese pronounce Harry and Henry the same, so today we thought we would have two Harrys on the bus, however, the second Harry was as in ‘Harry Potter’. So funny.

Not only is communication difficult between ourselves and the other universities we’re with and the Chinese, but also amongst the different people of the country. There are ten different dialects in their spoken language. Very interesting.

Today was the first of our three-day sightseeing adventure courtesy of BOCOG. You won’t even believe what our first stop was: a water sewage treatment plant. Yep, and I have the pictures to prove it. It was very different from anything in the US (from what little I have seen of these type of places) in that they had incorporated little gardens and landscaping with bridges and ponds—full of clean water. They followed our group around the entire day with a video camera and photographer, and we even saw coverage on the news tonight. They want to show us all of the excellent facilities being used for the Olympics. Personally, I can’t tell the difference between a good sewage treatment plant and a bad one… They even had us sign this poster that said “Happiness” in Chinese, like we were celebrities. We were saluted by the government workers at the facilities, which felt a little awkward and unnecessary, but I guess it was their way of showing us respect.

To add to the celebrity feel, we had a police escort to the rural village which was our next destination. No joke, the closed down the interstate that we were on. I was in complete disbelief. The town we went to, Xiang Tang Cun, was dubbed ‘most beautiful town in Beijing’ in 2007 and is one of the places designated for tourist visits during the Olympics. We saw the art of calligraphy as well as a tai chi (slow martial arts) demonstration.

I am stuffed after the fantastic lunch and dinner we had today. Lunch was various chicken, beef and fish dishes with all kinds of vegetables. When they eat fish here, it is usually the whole fish, as in head, tail, eyes and all. It is good, though, especially if it has sauce, then you can’t see it so much! My favorite thing was probably the orange chicken (which tastes SOOOO much better than orange chicken from a US restaurant) and these green veggies which tasted like they’d been charcoal-grilled. Yum! Then, for dinner we had the traditional Peking duck (Peking and Beijing are interchangeable names for the city, and our guide referred to the duck as a Beijing duck). I will just stick with Peking. All of the courses of the meal involve the duck, and they use everything. My favorite way to have it was to dip a few pieces into a soy-based sauce, put them on a thin tortilla with endive and some other green that I couldn't identify, then wrap it all up using chopsticks and a spoon-- no hands allowed! It was kind of like having lobster; a lot of work for a small bit of food but well worth the effort. I had never had duck before, and this was a real treat. The skin tasted like bacon and was oh so tasty. I think I may have eaten the equivalent of a whole duck, it seemed like. I am going to sleep good tonight. Tomorrow, Traci and I are going to try for a run before we head off to the Great Wall. I am anxious to see how this will go with the air quality being so different than home.

Note: I have more thoughts about this excursion that will have to wait until after I get back to the US.

Have you seen my ping pong ball?

Today, we took the subway to the Forbidden City, where the emperors of China lived until 1924. It can most simply be described as a box within a box within a box and so on... of halls and rooms and walls and gates. Legend has it that there are 9,999.5 rooms exist within the complex. The buildings are beautiful examples of imperial architecture and thus extend horizontally rather than vertically. I could not believe the extent of this place! It really just kept going and going. We saw buildings with exquisite details. Some parts were being renovated, and other parts were more newly painted and colorful. Standing in the huge squares in between the gates, I couldn't help but imagine the original inhabitants there, working and protecting the emperor, who was apparently pretty unreachable within the compound.

The buildings were mostly made of wood, and have burned down time and time again over the centuries. There are huge copper cauldrons in the squares where water was kept to extinguish the flames. I just don't understand how they got the water out-- these things are taller than people-- and I highly doubt they had the rubber hoses that we do today.

My favorite feature was the dragon and fish carvings that were on many of the railings outside of the gates. I also liked the rooftops which had carved 'beasts' at the edges and painted eaves. The Chinese are very symmetrical in their design and that was apparent in these structures.

The Forbidden City was different from some sites because you weren't able to see very well what was inside the rooms that had displays. It was dark inside them and you could just barely peek into the windows to catch a glimpse of the ancient artifacts inside. We did get to see the ornate throne (or one of) that the emperor would sit on.

The Imperial Garden was another fantastic sight. I think I could have sat next to the koi fish pond for awhile.

We were inside the walls all day, and still did not see everything! There were many, many tourists who were all there to experience the historical site. After visiting, I am very interested in learning more about the history of China's emperors. It was an eye-opening experience into more Chinese culture, history and tradition.

Also, I am going to buy a ping pong paddle so that Lauren and I can play at the table in the recreation area on campus. It's right next to the track, soccer field, and basketball courts. There are also things that resemble playground equipment that people seem to just stretch on. Pictures to come.

Ice cream corn

We got lost again. I'm not afraid to admit it. Well, I guess you could call in lost in translation, or lack thereof. A group of us decided to find a British Football pub that was supposed to be great for dinner and a good time, but after a subway ride, repeated failed attempts to convince taxi drivers (who we can't understand and vice versa) to take us there, and walking for blocks and blocks… we opted for the nearest restaurant to where we were standing. It happened to be good ole' KFC. It was definitely different than ours…. My cod sandwich was decent and the fries were fresh.

Earlier in the day, I needed a refreshing treat and went to the little store on campus for some ice cream. And what did I find—so fitting for an Indiana girl like me – but an ice cream popsicle that had corn on the wrapper. So, I decided to go for it and I actually enjoyed it. It had a cake cone covering that was imprinted to look like a real ear of corn with kernels, with ice cream inside. It really tasted like corn and was pretty great! See, it pays to try new things.

We had a meeting with the BOGOC people today and tried on uniforms. It is still pretty unclear what those of us working as photography assistants will be doing, but at least we've got an idea of our schedule now.

Lesson of the day: if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. We'll try again tomorrow.

Blame it on the Wal-Mart

Today was an American day in Beijing. I went to Wal-Mart AND Pizza Hut. Yes, that’s right, for those of you that know me, it is going to come as a shock that I even set foot in Wally World. Although I was doing it as more of a cultural experience, to see the differences compared to the ones at home. There were major differences, let me tell you. First of all, instead of aquariums to sell pet goldfish, there were tanks of large live fish and crabs fresh for the cooking. Also, octopus and snails that were sorted through carefully by shoppers to be taken home and cooked… followed by live turtles (and I don’t think these guys were in the pet section, if you know what I mean). In the meat area, there were smoked ducks and whole chickens and sausages the size of small children. I am not exaggerating any of this. I opted to pass on the live animals and pick out some snack food (you can’t go wrong when there’s a cartoon king on the label… and yes, they do have Oreos).

Pizza Hut in China is a more upscale dining experience than in the States. I had a Beijing-esque Stuffed Crust Pizza with shrimp, (real!) crab, calamari, and pineapple. It hit the spot. I will be ready for more traditional Chinese food tomorrow, but tonight the group consensus was that our stomachs needed some home cooking. We also visited the Silk Street Market, which is a huge building full of vendors that sell everything from shoes and pearls to knockoff purses and real silk. In China, you have to barter with about everyone, and I think I did pretty well today. The vendors are very anxious for your attention and will do anything to get you to buy their goods. I got two pairs of cute shoes for 170 RMB (about $26 USD) and some other small items. The trick is to walk away after asking a price and they will come after you with a lower offer. Very fun, I thought, but tiring. Then we got lost on the way to Wal-Mart, after getting three different sets of directions. Such is life; tomorrow we are meeting with the Olympic Committee organizers to learn more about our work—I can’t wait! 30 days til Opening Ceremonies!

Photo: Andrea enjoying some cow tongue on special at Wal-Mart
Note: I stand corrected on a pronunciation in an earlier post: If you need to order something mild in Chinese, it’s boo-lah, boo-lah, not blah-blah as previously mentioned :)

Say nai lao!...(cheese)

Yesterday, our first full day in Beijing, we mastered (I'm being optimisitic here) the city subway system to Tiananmen Square. It was a great time to visit; it was relatively uncrowded, and apparently the workers have Mondays off—so we were unable to go inside some of the buildings. The subway ride was VERY crowded; on the way back we were packed in like sardines. There are also signs to ‘mind the gap’ in Chinese which I found an interesting take on the London phrase. Also, outside of the train stations, instead of parking lots for cars, there are hundreds of bikes, maybe even thousands (I apologize in advance for my poor estimation skills). We found our first Olympic gift shop… so exciting! The military/guards are very interesting as well, they walk in twos wherever they are patrolling, in unison. It is kind of a silly sight, though I’m not sure why. And even sillier… apparently over here, we are celebrity look-alikes (or something like that). As we were walking around the Square, myself and a couple of the others were asked to pose for pictures with the people. It was very interesting. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with those… like, how are they going to caption that one in the photo album? But it definitely did give us a good laugh.

A little background on Tiananmen Square: this is where, in 1919, Chinese university students protested the Versailles Treaty, which said that China should relinquish territories to Japan. It’s also the site of the 1989 democracy protests in which the government responded to unarmed citizens with tanks instead of tear gas and riot police. Surrounding the Square are the Mao Zedong Mausoleum (which we want to go back and see), two of the few remaining gates of the old wall of Beijing from the 15^th century, the Great Hall of the People (where parliament meets), and the currently renovated National Museum of China.

We had dinner at one of the dining halls on campus, where we have a dining card that can be recharged with money, and swiped for food and snacks. I am pretty sure that Traci and I had tripe (cow stomach). Oh yummy. Well, I did say I wanted to try new things… the dog stew will have to wait for another day.

Journey to the other side of the world

...via the North Pole. Yes, that's right, I flew over it on the 'short' route to China. Very white and icy, from what I could see but otherwise unremarkable, kind of like my flight. I sat next to a very nice older woman from New Jersey who had traveled the world and had great stories to tell. I also learned how to say 'not spicy' in Chinese (very useful for me with my acid reflux) -- it sounds like 'blah blah' while moving your hands in front of you. I hope this will work, we'll see. After 16 hours in the air, I finally landed at the Beijing Intl. Airport where I got my luggage and met up with Andrea, a fellow Purdue volunteer who was on my flight. We had an interesting few hours as we waited patiently for two others to arrive on different flights (which happened to be in a different terminal). Long story short, we refused to give up on them, and luckily found them and took a cab to the CUC (Communications University of China) where we will be staying for the duration of our time here. While in the cab, I remembered something that has come to mind each and every time I have traveled in a vehicle abroad: I am SO glad I will never have to drive here. Vehicles coming towards you, turning in front of you with no apparent warning, as well as people walking in front of the vehicles, not to mention a myriad of bicyclists all over the roads. We arrived safely and went to a restaurant, where we had the experience of ordering our first meal (no pictures, just Chinese symbols). We actually lucked out and got some small chicken wings on a stick, covered in an interesting glaze that made your mouth tingle. Very interesting. I went to bed and woke up at 1 a.m. (Beijing time) ready to start my day... Hopefully I'll have this jetlag thing out of my system soon.

The bed is as hard as a board, but our room is decent sized--- actually bigger than some of the dorms at Purdue. Val and I have great plans to decorate, which will be very fun. We have air conditioning, too, a welcome break from the 90 degree air outside.

I'm tired... more to come tomorrow. Goodnight!

Getting closer...

Well, I finished my last day at work. Whew. I can't believe I am almost ready to head out on this big adventure. Thoughts going through my head (at all times, even in my sleep): When am I going to pack? Yes, that's right, I'm leaving in less than 36 hours and I have thrown a couple of t-shirts into my suitcase. Also, I'm wondering what I'm going to forget. Or what I need to get or write down so I don't forget. I'm also worried that I haven't prepared enough for entering a country that's so culturally different from my own. But I usually adapt pretty well, so I hope everything will work out just fine. Oh, and I did have a dream the other night that my luggage never did catch up to me once I arrived at the airport (Never say never; it happened to me while I was in Italy!) but other than that... I'm ready to go. I've been warned and cautioned and encouraged. I have all the necessary vaccinations, medications, and enough t.p. to last quite awhile-- it is in short supply, apparently, in some places. Last night, some friends from work took me out for dinner and drinks at BDubs and I finally saw one of the Olympic commercials on ESPN... I've been living without cable/satellite since I just moved and am leaving so soon... It was SO exciting. I think it hit me right then and there. The other thing was tonight at Walgreen's when I picked up some Neosporin for the first aid kit and saw the Olympic Rings logo stating that it's the 'Official Wound Care Product' of the Games. Who knew? It's the little things in life, I guess, but I am really excited to get there!

Tomorrow's plan: laundry, packing, cleaning, last minute errands, enjoying Fourth of July festivities here in Naperville with my boyfriend (Cody), and a good American barbecue at RibFest! And while I may sound confident that this will all get done and go smoothly, guess we'll have to wait and see. Really, I just have to make it on the plane and the rest will fall into place... Eh, who am I kidding? I'm going to double-check my packing list right now.

Fashion forward?

I have been getting questions about what we'll be wearing during the Games, so here's a sneak peek. We have uniforms, designed by Adidas, which include a funny little hat and fanny pack... I wonder if we'll be required to sport the pack?! They also show shoes, so maybe we will be provided those to wear as well. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the uniforms, to be honest. It'll be interesting to see what they're like in person! Although, it'll be hot, so who knows, zip-off pants/shorts might be kind of nice...I have yet to be convinced.

Can't pass this up

I’m going to Beijing!

It’s going to be a loooong flight, but it was a much longer process to get to this point, and well worth all of the time to do it…

In September 2007, I heard about the opportunity through a professor of mine. I filled out the application, called it a ‘long shot’ and waited to see what would happen. Since I would be graduating in May, I was hesitant to apply since I was about to enter the ‘real world’. Shouldn’t I be applying for full-time jobs instead? After talking with some helpful faculty and friends, I opted to take a chance and go for it.

So glad I did! December finally came around, along with an e-mail stating that I was in a group that would advance to the next round of selections. I had made it one step further!

I held my breath, waiting to see what the next steps would be, and finally learned that members of the BOGOC (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad)– hmm, maybe I should think about a glossary on here! – would be coming to the States in March to make the final selections.

On March 1, they administered the tests, and eighteen days later I found out I was going to the Olympics. And let me tell you, those eighteen days were pretty crazy for the fifteen of us who were waiting to hear the news.

Since then, I have been getting e-mail updates from our professor on details about the trip. I booked a flight, interviewed for full-time jobs (and accepted one-yay!), and finished up my last semester at Purdue. Since I graduated on May 10, I have found an apartment, moved away from West Lafayette and into a new city and started a new job a week there a week later. Yep, pretty stressful, but more importantly, an exciting place to be in my life.

More to come soon…