Da 5th and last flight

We love Hongkong! From scented pillows to delicious dim sum, our time
here has exceeded our expectations. We've had perfect weather which
has been ideal for our daily shopping excursions. In an effort to get
back on US time, we have enjoyed Hong Kong's vibrant night life. Our
flight boards in 10 minutes and our fervent hope is that we sleep the
majority of the 12+ hours :)

This will obviously be our last entry, and we hope you've enjoyed our
adventures as much as we have!

Sent from Alden's iPhone

Flight KA997 has been delayed

High: There is so much to be high over. Sweet soccer, air conditioning, green tea pound cake, Wu Jao, bags that aren't over the flying weight limit, Mao, massive quantities of Olympic merchandise, beef flavored potato chips, Internet, hot flashes, Jen & John Mayer breaking up, Chels & MarkyMark, world peace and most especially, without doubt, really getting to know the Beijing airport.
Low: We love it so much we couldn't think of leaving...so we won't. We left our hotel around 6...and as we write this, we've been here for three and a half hours. At 6 hours, our travel insurance kicks in, but we're not exactly sure what that means.
AHA: The Olympic Green built for this year's games is over 14 square kilometers and the largest one in Olympic history. We discovered just how big that is first hand, along with at least 500,000 other visitors [see below].

We'll tell the tale of today in reverse chronological order. Why? Because we can.

21:38 > We find ourselves killing time at Beijing Int'l Airport's business center. Yesterday's Typhoon Nori seems to have caused a bit more havoc then expected and consequently our flight to Hong Kong has been delayed. We're currently scheduled to leave at 23:55, which will put us into our hotel around 4am.

12:00 > Kick off! Today's football game (Nigeria v. Argentina) was awesome! It was an Olympic "rematch" as the two teams last met in the 1996 Atlanta games. This was our only event inside the Bird's Nest, and today's game filled the stadium to capacity with 89,201 in attendance. Although our seats weren't awesome, we were sitting 10 rows from the track and when the action was at our end of the field, we could even hear the ball being kicked. Thankfully, our seats were shaded, but temperatures on the field reached 107 degrees (34 C)! Alden was fortunate enough to get some essential playbyplay commentary and rulage from Amy. It turns out that the game is much more enjoyable if you understand what in da heck is going on. The Argentinian players celebrated their one to nothing victory by falling to their knees and simultaneously throwing their hands up in elation.

11:31 > Power walking [see below].

10:12 > We gleefully entered the Olympic Green, eager for another day of spectating. Since our soccer event didn't begin until noon, we thought we'd mosey on over to the China Post and get some postcards "officially" stamped & sent. We sauntered around the Bird's Nest, dodging umbrellas & small children, but soon realized that our quick trip to the post office was going to take a little longer then expected. Thirty four minutes later, with sunscreen in our eyes and our clothes sweaty and damp, we finally spotted the post office...right beside the mecca of all McDonalds. Walking the length of the entire Olympic Green is no easy feat, but the treasure that awaits you is plentiful. The months Alden spent here in 2003 were full of wonderfully conterfeit goods, but it seems the times have changed and Olympic merchandise is only available in a few official Olympic stores. One of these stores was near the post office, so we waited in line for 20 minutes to be allowed to shop. (Please note, this and the airport immigration line, are the only times we've witnessed Chinese people actually standing in line.) Because of our time crunch we pulled a "Supermarket Sweep" shopping manuever and were in and out in record time.

9:06 > Yesterday we discovered this incredible French bakery. Its delicious chocolate chip pasteries and esspresso were so good that we had no choice but to return. SO GOOD. Today's visit was enhanced by sitting next to the parents of Canada's diving silver medalist AND by meeting the designer of China's athletic outfits! Will it ever stop?!

[stop the rewind, enter the present]

22:45 > Why are we still here?

Badabing, Badaling!

High: After 10 days in China, we finally got into the Olympic Park! Seeing all of the venues up close rather than from outside the gates was great, and seeing them all lit up when we left diving at 10 pm was even better. The fountains were keeping time with the music, and there were kids of all ages enjoying the water. Adding to the atmosphere was the moon, sitting low in the sky, waning, and a beautiful bright orange.
Low: We didn't get to be on the Today Show. Alden has been dying to get on since we arrived, and with the timing of our events and the fact that you can't get in the Park unless you have a ticket for that day, it simply wasn't possible. We were, however, momentarily on the jumbotron at diving tonight, and Amy has been unsuccessfully trying to convince Alden that it's pretty much the same thing.
AHA: There was a typhoon in Hong Kong yesterday, which had us momentarily a bit concerned, but we were informed by some helpful Hong Kong residents today that typhoons there are common and that the weather should be just fine by Sunday. We remain dubious.

Well, as we discovered last week, the advantage of braving pouring rain one day is that the weather tends to be beautiful the next. We woke up to blue skies (a rarity in Beijing) and gorgeous sunshine, which was perfect for our day of outdoor touring. We made a quick stop at the Ming Tombs this morning before heading to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. The news that we were going to the Badaling section was a bit disappointing, as it is by far the most touristy and congested area of the Wall, and Alden had confirmed with the tour company ahead of time that we would be going elsewhere. But we were with 6 other people and it was too late to change plans, so we headed out and hoped for the best. When we arrived, our guide informed us that we would be able to take picture of the bears after we finished hiking...

Bears? Really? But there they were -- four small outdoor cages chalk full of black bears that were greedily eating the massive amounts of food being hurled at them by tourists. Really weird. Our guide gave us the option of taking the "slider" most of the way up and then hiking the last 25 minutes or so to the top, which sounded good to us. The slider turned out to be a train of individual cars -- the kind you see on rollercoasters, complete with shoulder restraints (which weren't necessary on the way up, but their function became quite clear on the way back down). When we reached the top our guide turned us loose to hike the rest of the way up and back down to the slider at our own pace. The section we were hiking up was the first part of the Wall to be restored post-1911, and it bordered the course for the Olympic bike races. There was a nice breeze as we started up the Wall and things were looking good for about the first 5 steps until we hit our first guardhouse. These are intermitent along the wall and unfortunately create serious traffic jams between the people going up and those coming down. The situation is by no means aided by the fact that as we mentioned earlier, Chinese people simply don't believe in lines. So we hurled our way forward and things dramatically improved on the other side...until we got to the next guardhouse and did it all over again. That said, the views were spectacular and trying to imagine how the Wall, which can be seen from space, was constructed by hand was mind boggling. Walking along something with so much history was quite an experience, and likely a far more comfortable one for us than for the woman we saw in 4-inch hot pink stilleto heels near the top. Amy commented while waiting for the slider ride back down that she was surprised they hadn't turned it into a roller coaster to make the ride its own attraction. Turns out, they basically have, though as near as we could tell there was no warning to the effect of, "this thing goes down much much faster than it goes up -- enjoy."

We got back to the hotel just in time to rush back out again in order to make it to men's diving on time. It turns out that somewhere along the way we got confused about our tickets. We thought that we had tickets to the diving finals, but it was actually the diving preliminaries. And we thought we had tickets to the men's soccer semi-finals, but it's actually the finals. Oops? So the diving tonight lacked the intensity of a final, but being inside "The Cube" was still very cool and our seats were great so we saw all the action up close. The two Americans did well, and we found ourselves sitting amongst a lot of friends and family of the 30 divers and their enthusiasm was contagious.

As our last night in Beijing comes to a close, we wonder when and if we will return. But for now we're excited about soccer tomorrow afternoon and a trip to the bird's nest.

VolleyBALLLZZZ!

High: We didn't realize how meaningful it would be to cheer for an American team playing for an Olympic gold. Watching the American women win this morning filled us with a profound sense of national pride that was stronger than either of us expected. Amy joined Alden in crying the entire way through the medal ceremony. Not to mention, it was a kick-ass game.
Low: This blog has been a great way to summarize our adventures to friends and family, but unfortunately we spend so much time trying to keep up with the blog that we haven't been able to maintain the level of personal emails that we would have otherwise. We miss you!
AHA: Things are never as soft as they appear [shudder]. This includes beds, chairs, and really all furniture in China. Don't let it fool you, as it has both of us on separate occasions. Flashbacks include (but are not limited to), Amy flinging herself exhausted onto a rock-hard mattress and Alden mistakenly slamming her heels on the concrete-like surface of an ottoman.

So you think this year's Opening Ceremony was innovative? Well, so did we, BUT the incredible show we witnessed in Yangshuo demonstrated that Zhang Yimou's talents extend to the "natural" stage. The outdoor show had over 400 performers and an enormous amount of wattage, as 5 of the surrounding limestone peaks were lit up and created a majestic background. And by the way, the stage was a body of water, so most of the performance took place on boats.

Do you ever wonder how the other half lives? We now know. When we arrived back in Beijing yesterday afternoon, we returned to the same convenient hotel near the Bird's Nest. By the grace of some holy Olympic spirit, we are coming to you live and in living color from the bird's eye view of said bird's nest. We know, because we can see it from our private balcony which is attached to our expansive living room, which is between our separate living quarters with private baths. This is unexpected. (Everytime we come home, we hold our breath as we pass the reception desk and fully expect them to graciously inform us that we have been packed and relocated.)

"You don't eat no meat?" Through a partner at Amy's mother's firm, we were fortunate enough to meet and have dinner with a young Chinese lawyer, Cao Yu. He took us and three of his visiting American clients to an amazing vegetarian place called Pure Lotus. We were extremely overwhelmed by the range of meat-less wonders available on the menu, but as a traditional Chinese host, he ordered for the table. His "clients" were only slightly older than us and we ended up going out with them after dinner.

Why did we stay up that late? Six AM comes awfully early when the night ends at a Mexican restaurant...in China. It comes ever earlier when it's pouring down rain. Those of you who watched the women's beach volleyball events will appreciate that we are not exaggerating when we say, it rained...the entire time. This time we remembered our raincoats AND borrowed "Big & Tall" sized umbrellas from our hotel. Of course they confiscated our umbrellas at the game's security check, which we weren't that upset about until we began to realize that magically everyone else still seemed to have made it through with their umbrella. Insult was added to injury when we walked into the stadium to hear the Rihanna's song, "You can stand under my umbrella...ella..ella...aye aye aye." So we got wet, and by wet we mean soaked to the skin, pruney feet, "isn't this rainjacket supposed to be waterproof" wet. However, the event was nothing short of phenomenal.

How many of Beijing's top ten things to do can you accomplish in one afternoon? Mercifully, the rain let up for the majority of the afternoon allowing us to walk Tian An Men Square and see the Forbidden City. Next we did the obligatory Wangfujing Night Market, most famous for exotic foods not limited to starfish, scorpions & snake -- on a stick. :) We had to eat something, so we opted to glazed fruit on a stick, by far the most civilized option. Our final stop for the day was horrifyingly awesome. Six sweet floors of dongshi [stuff] that "fell off the boat." With Alden's shopping savvy & Amy's hard-driven bargaining, we left with more bags than we came with.

We love Beer! Natural Beer! And other musings...

High: Free internet!
Low: Free internet has a price -- copious amounts of 请到撇酒 ("Natural" Beer) ! We just finished our 2nd large bottle, so this is going to be short.
AHA: Alden had thought that perhaps her slightly emotional reaction [read: immediate tearing] to watching sports would not follow her to Beijing -- unfortunately, this is not true. At every photo finish or endearing commercial break -- so flow the tears from Alden's eyes. If an athlete cries, Alden cries. Even with the Chinese commentary, she cries.

We actually have blessedly little to report today (I know those of you excited to read our epic posts will be seriously disappointed). After we wrote yesterday we made our way back downtown in Guilin to the pedestrian street, created in 2001, and wandered for a while peering into the numerous shops and stalls. We eventually made our way to "the coffee shop," which was actually an outdoor bar with a huge tv showing women's soccer and then a lively game of table tennis (the Chinese really love their table tennis). Two funny things, 1) Amy didn't know ping pong was an Olympic sport and 2) Table tennis players spit on their balls before they serve. A nice young man was kind enough to create a cut-out of Amy's profile, complete with glasses and a rather oversized chin. This, of course, occurred totally without her knowledge until it appeared in front of her face and he promised to sell it to her for a very good price -- truly flattered, she politely declined.

This morning we woke up early to meet our guide for the short ride to the dock, where we met our boat for the day. The boat was like a small version of a Mississippi River touring boat, and had two levels with a large outdoor deck on the second level and an air-conditioned cabin on the first. There were about 100 people on board, so it was full but not terribly crowded. The views along the Li River were spectacular, and our hundreds of pictures won't do them justice. (Darren -- Alden was bird-watcher woman today and thought of you). We were on the boat for about four hours as it made its way from Guilin to Yangshuo, where we are now. Yangshuo was originally a fishing village, but attained some popularity when Zhang Yimou (who directed the opening ceremonies) created a show depicting life of minorities in the area (Fact: China has over 56 minority groups). We're going to see the show in a few hours, and will report on that tomorrow.

When we disembarked in Yangshuo, our guide, Jenny, suggested that we walk to our hotel. There was a car option, but it was 10 yuen (a little over a dollar) and hardly seemed worth the money, as she said the walk would be about "20 to 20 minutes." Five minutes later it began to rain, but the real challenge came when we actually put on our raincoats, since it is over 90 degrees and at least 100% humidity. Red-faced, sunburned, and exhausted, we arrived at the hotel about 45 minutes later.

We saved ourselves a whole dollar though.

Granted, it is definitely the nicest hotel we have stayed in thus far and it's a shame we're only here for one night. Tomorrow we're back to Beijing and the adventures of the big city! And events, finally!

Dumplings & Toilets, but not in that order

High: The mystery of Alden's one-day knee pain has been solved. The culprit is the squatting toilet. Specifically, squatting over a toilet while on a midnight train to Xian that is swerving violently. Also, this may or may not be too much information, but while Amy and I were in neighboring stalls and talking to each other, the following coversation took place:
Amy: [wearily] "I am not going to miss kneeling over a toilet."
Alden: [alarmed] "Umm, you are KNEELING?!"
(Amy wasn't kneeling but let this be a lesson to you all, no good can ever come of toilet holes.)

Low: Speaking of toilets, what we have discovered while using bathrooms all over China is that Chinese women simply do not believe in waiting in lines. Ever.
(From Alden -- "But it's MY birthday")
(From Amy, reminiscent of looking up at her mother in tears from the playground slide line, "but, when is it my turn?")
AHA: The advantage of traveling outside of Beijing is that we have the same guide for the entire time that we are in a city. This is giving us a chance to both get to know the guide and get a better sense of regional culture. We spent our lunch today discussing marriage in China. Traditionally, the financial burden of the ceremony falls on the man's family (no, Rob, Amy is not moving to China to get married). Also, there is no notion of a proposal -- once a couple has been dating for what is deemed an adequate period of time the parents simply say, "you should get married."

Since we last spoke, we've had quite the adventure! We had the most amazing dumpling feast in Xi'an -- Amy had vegatarian dumplings made especially for her. We drank beer and white rice wine, but not in the same copious amounts as the Chinese men sitting at the 3 tables around us! It was a time of great celebration, and so they were taking shots of their beer! Chinese power hour. Gong bei ["Bottom's up"]! We retired in our room de fish and enjoyed CCTV's coverage of the Olympics.

Early yesterday morning, we were startled awake by an insistant pounding accompanied by the shrill sounds of our doorbell @ 7.15am. "Hallo? You check out today!!!!!!!" <-- dear, sweet Jesus. I thought there was a fire or something was terribly, terribly wrong. Note: We weren't supposed to meet our guide until 9.30 and certainly weren't planning on being awake before 8.

Our breakfasts thus far have been in our hotels. They are buffets with a lot of Chinese elements including fruit, noodles and steamed bums....they also have had a random assortment of "American" additions like french toast, fried pototaoes, and something hard that was called a pancake. It's not our favorite meal of the day, but we're certainly not starving!

Most of our day yesterday was spent at the Terra Cotta Warrior Museum. Our guide, Nina was once again full of information as we toured all 3 pits where the clay men were discovered. If you don't know anything about this, google it. In short, briefly and to the point, the story is: 1974 man dig well to find water, pulls up strange clay head. He think this is god and put on tree to pray to. Jounralist from Beijing visit, see head, report to authorities. Fast forward through bureaucracy -- more than 7000 life size clay warriors, their horses, weapons & charriots were discovered and unearthed. The ruthless first emporer of the Qin Dynasty [600 AD] -- also creator of another world wonder, the Great Wall -- ordered the construction of the soldiers so that he would have an army to protect him in his next life. It took 4 decades and over 720,000 people to harvest, mold, fire & paint the clay men. The majority of the warriors have been uncovered but excavation is still clearly underway. What makes the warriors particularly amazing, is that they all have different facial expressions and armour. They also have a varitey of hairstyles and body positions, indicating their rank.

Our plane trip to Guillin was entriely uneventful save one small incident involving a muffin. Close your eyes (after you read this) and try to imagine.... Girl gets plate of delicious airplane food. Plate has some sort of chicken-rice dish, small salad with mystery meat, sanitary towel and inocuous looking brown muffin wrapped in airtight package. Girl is so hungry for delicious looking muffin. Muffin looks so soft and moist. Girl finish dinner and ready to enjoy muffin. After carefully opening challenging package, girl hold muffin close to face -- smells so good. But slippery muffin leaps from pinched fingers and flies toward girl's unopened mouth. Hit girl hard in nose. Girl not ready for leaping muffin.

Meanwhile girl number 2 patiently reading her book, sees leaping muffin out of corner of eye. This is strange. Such big muffin for one bite. Why is other girl throwing entire muffin into her mouth?

[We will now accept your guesses on which girl is muffin face and which girl is not.]
Also note, the muffin was the worst. muffin. ever.

Here we are in Guilin -- a city in the Guangxi province that has about 730,000 people and is most famous for its picturesque scenery. Staggering limestone mountains, 2 rivers, lakes and caves make up the face of this humid city. Today we visited Elephant Trunk Hill, FUBO Hilll, and Reed Flute Cave. We wish we could upload the pictures from our cameras, but are having some technical difficulaties and hope to do so when we return to Beijing (Aug 20). This is most definately our hottest day. HOT! AND HUMID!! Which made the cool temperature inside the cave most welcome. Rob -- Amy thinks the cave is the above ground version of the Blue Hole in Belize. It has huge stalagmites and stalagtites and one of the "rooms" was so vast that they hold concerts and banquets there!

[Congratulations, you made it. Thanks for reading :)]

Trains, and the great tale of the fish smell

High: Our driver for the day asked if we were athletes from America -- does that mean we look fit? How flattering, but Alden thinks something has been lost in translation.
Low: Alden always says when something smells oddly bad, "this smells like China." I never really knew what she was talking about until we walked into our hotel room in Beijing and despite the plush furnishings and obvious newness, everything smelled vaguely of fish. Today, when we arrived in our room in Xian, there was nothing even remotely vague about the fish smell. Eeeewww.
AHA: While standing in the Shaanxi History Museum, overwhelmed by the shear enormity of China's history we were also struck by our own incredibly brief heritage. We've been impressed more generally about how much the Chinese people we have encountered know about their history and culture, as reflected by the hordes of Chinese people in the museum with us today.


We are coming @ you live and direct from the one of the oldest cities in Asia. Xian, a former capitol of China during the Tong Dynasty (618-907 AD) -- 7 million people, a 14km square city wall, the most comprehensive Asian history museum we have ever seen, and a SWEET Internet gaming dungeon (complete with sweaty, adolescent, smoking children.)

[From Alden]
After we wrote to you yesterday, our tour guide, "Lucky" took us and a family of 4 from Michigan to an area just south of the forbidden city for a hutong tour. He spent the short drive talking about Beijing history, noting the Bell Tower & Drum Tower (prior to clocks, the city was to awake at the sound of the bells from the tower and nighttime was signaled by a series of drums). If you've been paying attention to the news, this Bell Tower was the site of the unfortunate stabbing the day of Beijing's Opening Ceremony. They've since closed the tower to tourists, so we were unable to climb it! [how sad for us] Fortunately, there were still rickshaws to be ridden :) The day couldn't have been more beautiful as Amy and I piled into one -- with a sigh of resignation and the sound of unoiled wheels, our peddler was off. We rode around for about 30 minutes -- narrowly escaping death on several occasions (you'd be amazed at the audacity of some taxis)! Our guide had arranged a tour of a hutong which was interesting. A retired chef (you can retire @ age 60 here) shared tea with us and as our guide facilitated an "open chat session" with this man. With a couple more days under my belt, I was able to have some semblance of a conversation with him. So excited to be speaking Mandarin, he didn't slow down at all. It was exhausting. My face is red just thinking about it. I have forgotten more Chinese then I remember -- note to self: use it or lose it. His family had owned this traditional home for over 100 years -- there were 9 people living there including his 85 year old father -- a true commune.

[From Amy]
Arriving at the West Beijing train station last night was the first time that I have really felt the crowds. Our saint of a guide ushered us through hundreds of hurried Chinese travelers and into the room where we would wait for the train. With over 500 people in ONE ROOM, there were no seats for the only white people there. However, it turns out the train station has the equivalent of VIP rooms at the airport, and for 5 yuan (about 75 cents) we could sit in a spacious room with 3 large flat screen tvs showing the olympics and 2 aquariums full of bug-eyed goldfish. Also, sitting in the special room meant that we got to board the train early and navigate our luggage into the small available compartments without an audience. We decided that such privileges were well worth the 75 cents. The train boarded on-time, and we arrived in our small compartment with beds for 4. Each bed had an individual television and set of headphones for our viewing pleasure, but lying down on the beds was roughly the equivalent of lying down on concrete planks. We were joined shortly after boarding by a rather greasy looking Chinese man, who proceeded to sit down on the end of Alden's bed and stare at us, through his bottlecap glasses, for about five minutes before taking his reading material and sitting in the hallway outside of our compartment (apparently we scared him off -- how AWKWARD?). We were both a little worried about getting to sleep, but Alden's melatonin (miracle drug) had me fairly well unconscious within 5 minutes of consumption and with all the lights still on. We both slept reasonably well through the night and awoke to coffee delivery at 7:15 am, about an hour before the train pulled into the station in Xian.

Today's adventure began with rainjackets and eye-level umbrellas <-- this is death to your eyes if you're not wearing some sort of glasses. Unlike yesterday in Beijing, today has been stark and gray. This morning's tour of the impressive city wall was erie, as we were up in the fog and subject to a fairly constant drizzle. This is the first time that we have really sat down all day. We went from the city wall to the impressive Shaanxi History Museum, which covers Chinese history from the Stone Age until 1901. Our guide is a veritable font of historical knowledge, and literally took us both by the arm and led us assuredly from dynasty to dynasty. Next was the Xian Da Cien Temple, but in 600 AD as an emperor's monument to his mother. The Temple reflects the cultural exchange brought about by the Silk Road, as the emperor traveled to Indian and brought back Buddhist sculpture for the Pagoda.

Tonight we have a dumpling feast, and food is always welcome.

Tianqi (The Weather)

High: Excited to be at our first olympic event we were thrilled to hear the speakers boom the olympic theme song. We were a little less thrilled the second, third, fourth, and fifth time it played (in a row) and actually became quite concerned that it was never going to stop. Never fear, however, we were saved by the sweet sweet sound of Ms. Shania Twain. Hallelujah!
Low: We were so well prepared for our first event. We made a special trip to the grocery store to make sure we would be neither hungry nor thirsty. Alas, when we arrived at the front of the line to enter the park we were told by a friendly, but rather stern young Chinese man that we would not be allowed to bring any food our liquid into the park -- he went so far as to confiscate our gum.
AHA: We went out for our first Chinese meal and we were a little overwhelmed by the 400+ items available on the rather thick menu. Never fear, however, because most entries were accompanied by helpful and remarkably accurate pictures.

Yesterday was out first olympic event -- Kayaking Women's Semi-finals and Finals and C2 Men's Semifinals and Finals. We were picked up by our guide at 11:30 even though the event wasn't until 3:00 because she was concerned about how long it would take us to get to the venue if there was traffic...30 minutes later we arrived at the whitewater park. The park was cool -- the course is entirely man-made and actually runs in a semi-circle which gives fans optimum viewing (and we had a full 3 hours to admire the optimum viewing before the first race began). Unfortunately, we also got to experience rain -- serious rain. Flashback to the morning, we packed a grand day bag. Complete with water, lovely Chinese seasme cookies, Chinese melon flavored bubble gum, sunscreen, a 2nd layer, event tickets and lots of cash money. How, HOW did we manage to forget our rain jackets?! The pertetual smog had fooled us. No sooner had we arrived at the venue then what did we see? A huge cloud of rain and large wind blown tree. (thank you Dr. Alden Suess). With our choice of seats, we opted for the higest (and thankfully covered) seats, and we able to watch the storm come in, lightening, thunder and all! The spectators streamed in, everyone with clear plastic rain coat. And then a wave of light pink plastic rain coats, followed by purple and then green. we got the hint, braved the rain and obtained our very own (wihich were aparently being given out at the entrance).

And on with the races! The C2 race was great and the Slovakians were the most vocal, but by the end of the men's C2 semi-finals the lightening storms had gotten so bad that they decided to postpone the women's kayaking event for 30 minutes...and then they postponed it again...and then a note flashed up on the screen that the remaining races were being cancelled until the following day. So we flooded out of the park with the rest of the fans and joined the immense taxi line, only to realize that there weren't any taxis. A helpful woman in line told us that if we got on the K-19 bus it would take us back to olympic village and so we fought our way onto a bus that we were assured was a K-19. About an hour into the ride, right as Alden was mentioning that we were in a part of Beijing that you don't generally see on tours, then bus stopped and everyone piled off. We were decidedly not in olympic village. But, like manna from heavan, a taxi was heading towards us as soon as we left the bus terminal and he delivered us safely back to our hotel without further adventures.

After changing into drier clothes, we headed out for our first chinese dinner at a restaurant about a block from our hotel. Mushrooms in oyster sauce with bok choy, beef noodles, and shrimp wonton and noodle soup, topped off with two Tsing Dao beer -- we were happy and full. And on the walk back to the hotel we discovered that the advantage of pouring rain for 5 hours is that it actually clears the smog. We woke up this morning to the cleanest air we will probably have for the entire trip.

Tonight we leave for Xian and we will undoubtedly have much to say about our first overnight train experience in China. Xie Jian (Goodbye).

Wo e su le ["i'm starving to death"]

High: we slept so wonderfully! once we got to sleep :) it's amazing how last night neither of us could construct sentenses or formulate simple plans for dinner. sleep is such a lovely thing.
Low: smog. [see below]
AHA: the Olympics are EVERYWHERE!! And always, always in high def :) Seriously, you can't walk around without seeing a screen full of CCTV's coverage. It's focused mostly on the Chinese teams, obviously, so we've seen weightlifting (whoa.) badmiton and women's volleyball & basketball. They are so very proud!

We arrived. and that was good. Fortunately, they were no screaming kids BETWEEN us...however, there was a motherless howler that posted up in the aisle 2 rows ahead of us. For a good 30 minutes, this poor child lamented something. we're still unclear what she was upset about, who she belonged to and why she chose us. we were honored.

the flight: turns out you get 5 movies, which is pretty sweet. our selections inlcuded Kong Fu Panda -- how apprapo (or something), Made of Honor & 3 other selections that were bad. Amy didn't sleep, but decided to 'meditate' with her eye mask, neck pillow and iPod. Alden was out like a light. thank you sweet melatonin. 12 hours later... we arrived. There were Olympic athletes on the flight as well as spouses. Aparently, the spouses don't automatically get tickets, they're asked to order them. Which sucks, right? Most of the people on the plane were headed to track and field events. In the end, there were more non-white people than we had originally observed.

We landed in Beijing in their brand new Int'l Terminal (Number3) which is the largest terminal in the world. It was really quite cool and actually pretty quiet. Customs and immigration went smoothly and there was even someone to pick us up!

Amy says, "smog". and there's a lot of it. we have seen the sun. but it looks really weird. we have seen the bird's nest --- it's about a 5 minute walk from our hotel -- but can't get into the olypmic green area, unless we have that day's event tickets. So we won't be able to see it until we return on the 20th (we're traveling to Xian and Guillin before then).

My Chinese is horrible. it's broken up english and choice phrases like "we're starving to death" which are actually recieved quite well. :)

the hotel is pretty sweet. we're typing this from a wirless keyboard. looking at our 52 inch high def TV/Monitor screen (we are assumung the internet is free???). last night we managed to stay up until 8:15pm Beijing time = 5:15am Cali time...unfortunaly, our guides for today's adventures didn't start calling until about 10pm last night. and didn't stop until somewhere around 11. at one point i asked amy if we could take the phone off the hook, she said no. it's all good though, coordinating getting us around the city and to the events is certainly no easy feat.

today we're off to the white water complex outside of the city for the men and women's kayaking finals :) and tomorrow we're to one of the oldest and unchanged neighbordhoods in the city to visit a traditional Chinese house called a Hutong. And there will be rickshaws...to haul our fat american asses around. perfect.

At the airport!

High: (Alden) after much deliberation, I will be flying high above the
pacific ocean in spandex!!!! The jeans we cute, but man, 12 hours of
anything stiff can't be good!
Low: (amy) "seeing the little kids in the check in line and knowing
that inevitably, they will be sitting between us :)
AHA: we're pretty sure that only white people are allowed to go to the
olympics as evidenced by the sea of white faces that are beginning to
amass around us!!

Yippee!

Sent with my new iPhone :)

Amy Arrives in SF

High: No more driving. Having left DC last Saturday, I drove into San Francisco yesterday afternoon. Mark and I had a great time seeing friends on our way out here and camping in the Grand Canyon, but it feels really good to be out of the car for a while.
Low: Leaving Mark at the airport in LA on Friday afternoon. So sad.
AHA: Driving up Route 101 really is as beautiful as everyone says. The challenge on the way up from LA was not driving off the road while staring at the scenery.

Alden and I packed this morning, or rather, I packed and Alden commenced packing (for some it's apparently a multi-day process). Now we're watching swimming -- Alden loves Michael Phelps, but he's not really my type.

Our first High, Low & A-ha!

High: Claudia's delightful recount of our history & being Olympic correspondents for HLA
Low: the looming prospect of packing for the HOT & the HUMID
AHA: Opening Ceremonies in Beijing are already over and apparently, this Chinese welcome party is the MOST expensive ceremony of all time!! China has officially put on their hospitality britches at a low estimate of $100 million...that's about $476000 per minute and almost $8000 per second!

As Amy arrives from her X-Country road trip through the Grand Canyon, today marks the beginning of our "High, Low & A-Ha" themed chronology! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this interesting practice -- it's a great recipe for a 'quick & dirty' download of information. Claudia, the empress of HighLowAha -- the blog -- summarizes it best:

"Each night at dinner my family members share their high for the day, their low for the day, and something they have learned. No matter how good, bad, or busy each of our days has been this simple reflection immediately brings us together and helps slow the world down – if only for a minute."

Amy and I are excited to incorporate this ritual into the storytelling of our adventure, and we hope to be able to interact and encourage conversation. Bring it on :)

Until next time!

Olympic Coverage & Our Events Schedule

Bookmark it!

NBCOlympics.com has been working hard to be your "Online Olympic Home"....and I think they're doing a pretty good job! They've got profiles on all the athletes, sporting events, countries as well as the latest news, interviews & videos from this year's games. I'm even using a "widget" of their's that links to the latest news stories...

Look for it over here ------------------------------------------------->
(you may have to scroll up or down)

If you're wondering what time a particular event is playing on your local NBC station or want to watch an event ONLINE -- click here -- and select your event/day from the drop down menus.

We'll be @ 4 events (more info & our event locations here)!

Your best chance to catch us live from the FRONT ROW (oh la la) is @ the Men's 10m High Dive Finals!!!

Below are our event times with conversions (SF=San Francisco; DC=Washington, DC; FB=Fairbanks, Alaska; WY= Lander, Wyoming)

8/14 @ 3:40pm Kayaking
SF: 8/14 @ 12:40 am
DC: 8/14 @ 3:40 am
FB: 8/13 @ 11:40 pm
WY: 8/14 @ 1:40 am
8/21 @ 9am Volleyball
SF: 8/20 @ 6:00 pm
DC: 8/20 @ 9:00 pm
FB: 8/20 @ 5:00 pm
WY: 8/20 @ 7:00 pm
8/22 @ 7pm Diving
SF: 8/22 @ 4:00 am
DC: 8/22 @ 7:00 am
FB: 8/22 @ 3:00 am
WY: 8/22 @ 5:00 am
8/23 @ 12pm Soccer
SF: 8/22 @ 9:00 pm
DC: 8/22 @ midnight (btw 8/22 and 8/23)
FB: 8/22 @ 8:00 pm
WY: 8/22 @ 10:00 pm

MOOOO!

Moo.com --> awesome.

<-- Laugh it up.

In ultra preparation mode -- I've been trying to figure out the best/most efficient way to keep in touch with the people that we'll meet on this adventure. I was reminded of a creative "calling card" by my incredibly creative friend, Jen. Moo Mini Cards are half the size of business cards, and customizable in about every way possible. You can choose up to 20 different images to have reproduced. The cooloest thing is that you can crop and rotate the images to your hearts content. This lovely little montage of pictures of Amy and me was turned around in 5 business days (no extra shipping costs) and looks AWESOME! This would be a great idea for kids studying abroad or starting the job search, artists that want to show their work or simple name cards. Moo also carries a variety of creative ready-made designs that would be fantastic if you didn't have images you wanted to use.

So this is an awesome idea in theory, but we'll have to see how well it works in practice...I'm pretty sure no one is going to hit on me or my "partner" Amy when we hand them these cards. Mark (Amy's finance) can rest assured :) With a minimum order of 100 cards, we may be passing these out for years to come!

Do you have any creative ways to keep in touch with people you meet while traveling?!?

Opening Ceremony Fashion

Amy's taking the BAR today & tomorrow! WAHOO!! She'll be dressed in a suit & if I remember correctly, has to wear pantyhose....I love Virginia :)

Some of the headlines I've been reading:
the new traffic plan seems to have made little improvement for Beijing's air quality
Coach K & the boys are in China training
Ralph Lauren's Olympic Uniforms sneak peak :)

The opening ceremony is a mere 10 days away -- and we're getting VERY close to leaving!

Whoa- the CDC is rocking my world, in a good way.

The extremely comprehensive CDC website is awesome. I’ve spent the majority of my time there looking at the children’s section that includes facts about China, facts about the Olympics AND cool stuff to do on the plane! That was unexpected.

The remainder of this post highlights some of the health and safety issues we are to be aware of…

Amy – I know you haven’t used your inhaler since your were in high school, but perhaps now would be the time to bring it? :)

Posted from CDC :

Stay Healthy

• Follow safe food and water practices (see section below).
• Wash your hands with soap and water before you eat, after you cough or sneeze, and after you go to the bathroom. If you can’t wash your hands, use an alcohol-based hand gel (with at least 60% alcohol).
• To reduce the changes of heat-related illness:
• Drink plenty of water and eat regularly.
• An adult should drink about two liters of water each day (about eight, 8-ounce glasses) to stay hydrated. In extreme temperatures, two to four 8-ounce glasses of fluid an hour will help keep you hydrated and decrease the risks for heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
• Wear a hat or head covering to prevent sunburn, and wear sunglasses with UV protection to prevent sun damage to your eyes.
• Use sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher to prevent sunburn, and wear sunglasses with UV protection to prevent sun damage to your eyes.
• Use an insect repellent containing DEET (30-50%) or picaridin (up to 15%).
• Use condoms if you have sex.
• Avoid touching or petting animals, especially birds and dogs.
• Swim only in chlorinated water.

Follow safe food and water practices

Hygiene and safety standards for food and water are different in China from what you are used to at home. Use these tips to help make food choices:

• Eat foods that are fully cooked and served hot.
• Eat and drink only dairy products that have been pasteurized.
• Drink beverages that have been bottled and sealed (water, carbonated drinks, or sports drinks).
• Do not put ice in drinks.
• Eat only fruits and vegetables that you can wash and peel yourself.

Stay Safe

• Don’t drink and drive.
• Wear a helmet when you ride a bike or motorcycle.
• Wear a seatbelt.
• Be careful when participating in recreational activities, including swimming.
• Be careful crossing the street.
• Be careful and stay alert in crowds.
• Follow local laws and customs and Olympic Games security regulations.
• Avoid political protests and rallies.
• Make a photocopy of your passport to carry with you at all times.
• Develop plans for where to meet if you become separated from the group with whom you are traveling.

See a doctor before your trip

You’ll need to decide which travel vaccines and medicines are right for you. A doctor who is a travel medicine specialist or a doctor who is familiar with travel medicine can help. Plan to see the doctor at least 4-6 weeks before you leave to make sure you’ll have time to get all the vaccines you need. Also, take this opportunity to make sure you are up-to-date on routine vaccinations like measles/mumps/rubella and tetanus. To find a list of these vaccines and when it is recommended that you get them, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines.

CDC does not recommend specific doctors, but you can use the information on the Travel Clinics webpage to help you find a travel clinic in your area.

Pack a health kit

Health products available in China are different from the ones in the United States. They may not be effective for you. Pack your own health supplies to be sure you have what you need, and talk to your doctor to make sure you pack everything for your specific health needs. Items to include:

• Any medicines you take every day in their original containers. (Bring more than you think you will need.)
• Copies of your prescriptions
• Malaria prevention medicine, if you need it
• Antibiotic for travelers’ diarrhea
• Over-the-counter medicines like pain relievers and diarrhea medicine
• Alcohol-based hand gel (at least 60% alcohol)
• Sunscreen (at least SPF 15)
• Insect repellent containing DEET (30-50%) or picaridin (up to 15%)
• Oral rehydration solution packets
• First aid items, such as bandages, gauze, and antiseptic ointment
• Thermometer
• Battery-powered smoke alarm

See other ideas for your health kit on the Travelers’ Health Kit page.

Prepare for an emergency

Register with the U.S. Department of State in case of an emergency.

• The U.S. Department of State provides a free travel registration service to U.S. citizens who are traveling or living in another country. Registration allows a traveler to record information about his or her upcoming trip abroad that the Department of State can use to assist in case of an emergency. See the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Registration site.
• See the Tips for Traveling Abroad page on the U.S. Department of State website for more safety and security tips.

Check your health insurance plan to see if it will cover your health needs abroad.

• Think about purchasing additional health insurance for your trip if your health insurance does not cover you while you are traveling.
• To find a list of possible travel health and medical evacuation insurance companies, visit Medical Information for Americans Abroad (U.S. Department of State).
• For more information, visit the section Health: What You Need to Know in Advance of Travel (U.S. Department of State).
• Be prepared to pay out-of-pocket at the time you receive any medical services while traveling, even if you do have insurance.

Sitting

>

> Sitting at my new fab coffee shop in SOMA, attempting to type
> quickly on the iphone. I'm on a break from a video editing class at
> BAVC. We've watched 1film called from Mao to Mozart about the
> initial visit of an American concert violinist to China in the 70s.
> I'm wondering if there r any additional china documentarys that I
> could watch. It's just been too long and I wonder what our
> experience will be? How best to prepare and what I'm sure to be
> forgetting!
>
>
> Sent with my new iPhizzle

the Segway Squad

Reposting from http://www.danwei.org/
This article was contributed by Jennifer Conrad.
It also appears in the July issue of Beijing's Urbane,
a magazine on design, architecture and urban development.

The Securolympics: record breaking security

Posted by Lydia Wallace, July 15, 2008 11:40 AM

This Segway assault squad is prepared!

The Securolympics

While athletes from around the globe make use of years of intense training at August's Olympics, Beijing's law enforcement will be hoping their own preparations will pay off too. According to a report by the U.S. trade group Security Industry Association, China spent approximately USD 6.2 billion on security between 2004 and 2007. With all its new toys and rigorously trained personnel, Beijing's security teams should be well prepared to beat records at their own set of Olympic events.

Hide and Go Seek
RFID chips are embedded in tickets prevent reuse and counterfeits, but they can also be used to track a ticket-holder anywhere in a venue or to tell how many people are in an area. Tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies also contain digital versions of the holders' photos and passport data.
Record: USD 720, the estimated price of opening and closing ceremony tickets.

Scooter Racing
Self-balancing, battery-powered, nerd-hip Segway scooters have been purchased for use by Olympics grounds staff and anti-terror forces to ensure a quick and agile (if slightly awkward) response to security incidents.
Record: About 100 Segways

Capture the Flag
Volunteers, identifiable by their red armbands, will help visitors – and keep an eye out for for illicit banners emblazoned with taboo messages. Reportedly, volunteers will come prepared with large stickers to keep naughty T-shirts under wraps.
Record: Almost 60,000 volunteers

Synchronized Surveillance
Closed-circuit TV feeds from apartment complexes, public spaces and transportation hubs will all be networked with the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, as part of the so-called Grand Beijing Safeguard Sphere.
Record: USD 28.5 million spent on video systems

Aerobatics
Beijing police have acquired the city's first surveillance helicopters in anticipation of the Games – one of many security upgrades that will hover over the city after the torch departs.
Record: About 30 choppers

Hoop Jumping
Though officials say they won't necessarily realize it, spectators
will be required to jump through a series of security hoops to enter each venue: the "soft ring" (protected by video surveillance); the "hard ring" (security checkpoints and bomb-detectors); and the "security zone" (access-control systems and patrols).
Record: 3 rings

Dog Sniffing
A pack of new explosive-sniffing dogs will join the 44 already nosing around Beijing.
Record: 160 new dogs

Missile Lobbing
Two camouflaged Hongqi 7 surface-to-air missile launchers have been temporarily installed in the Asian Games Village, just south of the Olympic Green. Only broadcasters' helicopters are permitted in the skies above the stadiums, but any wayward aircraft could result in fireworks bigger than those of the opening ceremony.
Record: 15 kilometers, the missile's maximum striking distance

"I don't eat meat" and other useful phrases...

I'm sure Amy's relying on my amazing Mandarin language skills, but after neglecting them for 5 years, I'm going to provide her with a few choice phrases. You too can learn Mandarin :)

I don't eat meat.

Do you have a knife and fork?

• Thank you —— xiè xiè
[pronounced: shea-shea]

• I don’t understand —— wo bù míng bái
[pronounced: whoa - boo - ming - by]

• Help —— jiù mìng
[pronounced: jew ming]

• How much it is —— duō shao qián
[pronounced: doe-show (as in the beginning of 'shower') kwan]

• Goodbye —— zài jiàn
[pronounced: Zie (rhymes with die) Gin]

Real pretty XXIX tickets.

I received a FedEx today containing some b-e-a-utiful tickets! [see slide show pic] All of the sections are and events are correct -- smooth sailing!

Our events & links:

Canoe/Kayak Slalom
Beach Volleyball (women's finals)
Diving (men's 10m high dive finals)
Football/Soccer (men's final's)

Of course, we wanted to get gymnastics, track & field, basketball, swimming and obviously, table tennis, but weren't able to secure these tickets in the lottery. I can't believe it was May '07 when we were trying to decided which events to bid for...so long ago!

Bar review takes over my life...

I was getting the sense that Alden might replace me on our upcoming trip if i didn't write something soon. I'm living at the Eastern Shore these days cramming for the VA Bar Exam, which commences exactly 2 weeks from today and is 12 hours in length (over a period of 2 days). So needless to say, I don't imagine I'm be sending much in the way of updates until August rolls around, except for possibly the occasional "still studying...and have not attempted to drown boyfriend out of sheer frustration with Virginia law."

My visa experience was definitely better than Alden's, mostly because I took Helen with me to share the pain. Things were looking a bit grim at first, as the "now serving" ticker above the counter did not move from number 121 for the first 30 minutes that we were in the office (and I was number 148). Plus, I had gotten poor Helen all excited about going to the Chinese embassy, and it turns out that the Visa Office is entirely separate from the embassy, and in a run-of-the-mill office building. I think she forgave me, however, when the line starting actually moving and we were out the door in just under an hour.

That's all for now, as I must get back to secured transactions -- in a dispute between a purchase money security interest and an after-acquired collateral financier, who wins?

the holy iPhone cometh

today i parked my car in the Lucas garage at 6:45am...to walk down Chestnut street and get in line for the most glorious piece of technology ever invented.
the i*Phizzle.
[chorus of heavenly angels sing]

I ended up waiting for about 4 hours -- but after using the Lucas' transportation incentive giftcards I've been hording, I payed a mere $82 for the WHITE 16GB, for this peach of a product.

life is good. and i'll get over myself soon, but being in line with die hard fans of Apple (half the people in line already owned the first iPhone) for 4 hours really makes you obsessed with the hype. By the end of the line I was thinking, "I earned this. I totally deserve this phone. i am worth it." wtf? Obsessed.

visa

amy had no problems getting her visa @ the Embassy in DC. Over here on the left coast, obviously, I did. But only an hour and a half's worth of one. The agent didn't enjoy my "group hotel reservation" because it didn't have my "name on it" [i'm making those quotation marks with my fingers and rolling my eyes].

AND, I said thank you in Chinese (that's Xie Xie, pronouced "Shea Shea") and she was not pleased. shot me this look like, "Don't even think about patronizing me, crazy blonde lady. I hold your fate in my hands!" note to self: don't try to speak chinese with influential people.

trying to attain a visa

Tomorrow morning, I will journey to the majestic confines of the Chinese consulate, buried deep within San Francisco's Japantown. Japantown, huh....

This illusive office is only open for 6 hours a day. 9-12 and 1-3. Allegedly, there's no proper que and I'm supposed to bring every possible form of Olympic identification possible. This includes but is not limited to my passport and plane tickets, hotel reservations in china, travel itinerary in china, proof of purchase of Olympic tickets (because we haven't received them yet), 2nd form of identification, the visa application AND a check for $120. To this list, I also will be bringing a good book in preparation for the 2-3 hour wait. Jeez. I'll let you know how this goes.

Friday will bring a whole other kinda of line as I plan on arriving at the Apple store early for the piece of technology I'll be using the most in Zhongguo [that means China]. Sweet iPhone glory!

I'm starting to get really excited :) It's hard to believe I first purchased tickets almost a year and a half ago!

Countdown Begins

30 Days...
17 Hours...
10 Minutes...

until the Opening Ceremonies! It's time to think about packing...