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?