I have a few spare minutes this afternoon- My work schedule is 8pm- midnight the next few days, so hopefully I can do a little sightseeing that I haven't gotten around to yet. I want to start of by saying that yesterday was AMAZING. I went to work at noon and got off at around 3 (super unexciting because it was trampoline and no journalists were covering that). I stayed down on the green with Kelly, one of the Missouri girls I work with. We went to the olympic store, but just the outside because there was a 45 min. wait to get inside. THen we waked down to TGIFridays, which just so happened to be closed. This is the thing about CHina, when I think something is very logical (example: TGIFRIDAY on the green being open because why would you build a restaurant and not open it for the olympics) Well anyways, if it's logical- then it's doesn't really work and it's the opposite. I have thankfully gotten use to this and so now I laugh instead of get upset when things like this happen. Anyways we grabbed ourselves some Mcdonalds (the only option on the green) and then headed to the birdsnest. It is absolutely amazing. We got to see some long jump, the women's heptathlon, and of course the men's 100 meter finals. I was a little disappointed that Gay didn't even qualify, but Bolts run was one of the most amazing athletic moments I've ever witnessed! I hope everyone got to see it. Of course watching Phelps get his 8th this morning was pretty cool too, a little closer than I thought it was going to be. It's funny, I think I've started becoming a local. The past 2 days were some of the best weather days we've had yet in Beijing. Walking on the green yesterday, while everyone else was taking pictures of the birdsnest and staring in awe, I was taking pictures of the mountains. It's only about 2 or 3 days a month that the mountains have been visible- I forget they're there almost everyday. It was just funny that I was more excited about that than the birdsnest, but I guess that's what happens when you see it everyday.
It's so weird to think I've been here almost 7 weeks and a week from now I'm going to start thinking about packing! It's funny because before I left, when I was at dinner with my parents, we were all guessing what I would miss the most. I was guessing food, but I am happy to report as much as I am excited for a giant salad and some fruit when I get home, that isn't the thing I miss the most. I have to say I miss the sky and breathing the most. Really hazy smoggy days can put you in a bad mood. I've seen 2 stars the whole time I've been here- and I know I'm in a big city- but half the time I can't even see the top of the buildings. I also really miss driving a lot. I love public transportation but I'm really ready to hop in my car and drive myself places. Also being able to communicate with anyone and everyone. I've gotten really good at hand signals and pointing, but I can't wait to be checking out somewhere or ordering food somewhere and knowing what exactly I'm ordering. I of course miss people the most, but those are a few things that I have really come to miss. There are a lot of things I'll miss about China too, and I'm sure as the next 2 weeks fly by they will hit me . I'll share them at a later date, but for now its laundry and I might start to get organized for packing! yeah, probably not, but I figured I'd make my mom happy for a split second. And, if anyone has any gift requests from China get them in soon!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
9.69
WOW, I just saw Bold set a world record in the 100 m finals! I hope everyone watched that!!!! Fastest man in the world and he even slowed up at the end! I'll post more tomorrow because it's almost 2 am......but WOW
Friday, August 15, 2008
My life is pretty cool at the moment....
This is just a warning, but my post will be very long today. It's been a few very eventful days since I've last blogged- so bare with me! (I even made a list! haha)
I have actually been working everyday (expect last monday because gymnastics had an off day). My days consist of coming in the afternoon- towards the end of the competition. I have enjoyed this because I have seen 3 of the 4 medal ceremonies (I didn't watch them mens all-around ceremony because I was actually helping someone). I have been able to sneak up to the tribune (where all the journalists sit to watch the actual event) and today's ceremony was AMAZING. I didn't think it would be such a huge deal to see the american flag being raised and the anthem playing, but I got goosebumps! Those girls were AMAZING. The one thing I can't get over is the fact that many of the chinese workers and journalist have been cheering. (it sounds dorky, but it's like the first thing I was ever told when covering a sporting event) Not the biggest deal ever, but the people were cheering when america messed up during the girls team events. That's a bit much for me! Also many of my workers were crying when China won the gold for the girls team event. You're suppose to be working! Its ok though, because each of them came up and personally congratulated me today when the U.S. took gold and silver. I just smile and said "thanks, it was a lot of hard work!". ARE YOU KIDDING ME? haha it is just different and I find that a lot of my supervisors (including my non-chinese ones) don't have a lot of journalism training. I'm probably just a complete nerd, but it kind of bothers me sometimes.
My days start with me picking up the china daily which is published in english currently for my pleasure. The first day I found my first huge fact error in the second article I read (and I have to say I read 96% of articles because they're funny and I'm that bored sometimes). Some news stories/ observances:
-There are no captions- there may be a few, but the picture on the front will have no caption along with about 65% of the pictures. Sometimes I like to know what I'm looking at
- Putin doubled the prize money for athletes to 150,000 dollars- now we know why Becky Hammon really wanted to play for Russia- speaking of her there was a great column on ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?id=3530332
Today I had the pleasure of helping the a sports journalist from the New York Times. He's in charge of graphics and we got on the topics of newspapers. I told him I read the NYT regularly when I'm at school and he asked if I was a person who like to read a paper paper or get it on the internet. I said that I grew up reading the paper paper, being at school I check the dispatch website at least once a day (often times more- I really help get the hits up for the hockey blog) but nothing beats reading a paper paper for me. He said he's the same way, but his job has gotten a lot more interesting with doing stuff for the web, you can just be so interactive. It was a very interesting conversation and when he left (not getting what he wanted after 30 minutes, thank you China and the Gymnastics federations) I got a NYTimes pin (pins are very popular to trade and I probably have close to 30 now) and a NYTimes key chain (which I have to say I felt pretty special!). It's interesting to watch the media work- I think it will always fascinate me. On one hand things frustrate me- not getting taken seriously, stupid and cocky journalist, fluff stories, and worrying strictly about money- and this is why I've had a hard time figuring out exactly what I want to do. But at the same time talking to people like the NYTimes guy and watching people take it seriously and that deadline rush- those are all things that remind me why I wanted to do what I hopefully someday will do. Thats my little rant back to China haha!
Monday I had a day off and BOCOG (who we are ultimately working for) got us tickets to beach volleyball. That was so fun to finally go to an olympic event as a spectator! After that a group of us went to get dumplings and then Eric Allie and I walked around on the green for the afternoon. We stopped in a lot of sponsor buildings and just mingled with different people. That night we realized that the today show was being filmed right beside us so we stayed to get on the today show. This was so fun! We were right in the front and right before the weather Eric started an MIZ chant and we got a shout out from AL! We met them all, but I can't say enough good things about Ann and Meredith. Ann gave us what seemed like a graduation speech and we really should invite her to be out speaker in december. I have pictures up on Picasaweb (the link is in the upper right hand corner). We have seen the Meredith and Ann at gymnastics the last few days and my friend got to escort Meredith out of the building today. AMAZING
One other funny story I have from work is the other day a few journalists from Toronto came in and started talking to me. He asked where I was from and I said Columbus and he responds, "oh, Rick Nash!"..... I just started laughing typical canadian.... I just said I knew who he was- but it was pretty funny. I had to call his cell phone later and he asked me where good bars where. I proceeded to tell him where we usually go out and he ends the conversation with, "well let me know if you find someplace".....seriously, let me just call this guy up next time, he does refer to me as the Ohio girl...I think he was just impressed that I didn't look lost when he said Rick Nash....
On a more serious note, everyone knows about the volleyball coach's father-in-law. When it happened, I have a friend at another venue who was reading it on the web to find out more information. A chinese girl in her group came up and when my friend looked a little upset the chinese girl said "don't worry it's just fake news".... my friend responds with excuse me... and she says "its fake news.....like Tibet....the government tells us it's fake news, they just want to scare us." I just found this interesting
I also was talking to a girl in my group who I think is very intelligent. She is one of 2 people from Remin University (where we are staying) that gets to study abroad in Hong Kong next semester. Her ultimate goal is to study in the United States- she is far smarter than me, so I hope she gets to. I have talked to her a lot about the communist party and her views on China and here are a few things that stood out to me:
- the people of China got no outside news from other countries in the past so she explained to me that her parents and people before her only had China's to compare with the current China. SHe said she is lucky because she has the internets so she now can compare China to something- although she doesn't think this will cause any changes because China doesn't like change- the want harmony and change would disrupt that and that scares them.
-They walk in line and don't question things. She thinks I'm funny because in the green the subway line has 5 entrances and to get to the entrances you have to go down a flight of stairs and there are at least 12 of those. Anyways, there is only one entrance and 1 flight of stairs open one night and I was mad because its 1 am and we have to walk to a different set of stairs. I told them to ask the guards why and they wouldn't they just said because and I said why would you have that many entrances if you can's use them (security is not an issue on the green because everyone on it has already been screened- there is no way onto the green without it) they admitted to me it was stupid, but didn't even question it. I told them I would just go past the guards and down (I have before) and they looked at me like I was the biggest rebel every and wouldn't let me.
- Along the same lines my friend told me she wants to study abroad, but if someone said she couldn't go she wouldn't question it. I told her if someone told me I couldn't do something I would do it just to prove them wrong. With that she told me this joke:
there is a boat sinking and the captain must get everyone off:
He goes up to the German and explains that scientifically he must get off (I guess Germans are scientific....Will are they?) so he jumps off
THe captain goes too the guy from France and says it's really romantic to jump off the boat- so he jumps off
Goes up to the American and says you have more freedom in the water than on the boat- he jumps off
goes to the Chinese (last person on the boat) and says.....everyone else jumped and he jumps off
I just thought it was funny that she told me that and it wasn't like she was sad but she knew it was true. SHe said sometimes she's sad that she has to hide ideas and be less creative thinking, but she explained to me she's lived like this and followed rules for the last 20 years of her life. I guess if I grew up like that (thank God I didn't) I would be the same way. She also said that the chinese was very inefficient something that has been very hard getting use to at work and training- I feel like I'm wasting time. I asked her if she was excited to be in Hong Kong and she said yes because she'll have more freedoms and I asked if she thinks she'll have a hard time coming back and she said that she thinks she'll have as hard a time coming back as I'm having adjusting to how things work around here.
I guess I've bored you with enough stories now. I'm working tomorrow TRAMPOLINE! fun, I feel like I'm at camp again haha! I am going to track finals tomorrow night (sat morning in the states) so look for me on t.v.! I can't believe I have less than 2 weeks left and I will try to write more in the last weeks.
I have actually been working everyday (expect last monday because gymnastics had an off day). My days consist of coming in the afternoon- towards the end of the competition. I have enjoyed this because I have seen 3 of the 4 medal ceremonies (I didn't watch them mens all-around ceremony because I was actually helping someone). I have been able to sneak up to the tribune (where all the journalists sit to watch the actual event) and today's ceremony was AMAZING. I didn't think it would be such a huge deal to see the american flag being raised and the anthem playing, but I got goosebumps! Those girls were AMAZING. The one thing I can't get over is the fact that many of the chinese workers and journalist have been cheering. (it sounds dorky, but it's like the first thing I was ever told when covering a sporting event) Not the biggest deal ever, but the people were cheering when america messed up during the girls team events. That's a bit much for me! Also many of my workers were crying when China won the gold for the girls team event. You're suppose to be working! Its ok though, because each of them came up and personally congratulated me today when the U.S. took gold and silver. I just smile and said "thanks, it was a lot of hard work!". ARE YOU KIDDING ME? haha it is just different and I find that a lot of my supervisors (including my non-chinese ones) don't have a lot of journalism training. I'm probably just a complete nerd, but it kind of bothers me sometimes.
My days start with me picking up the china daily which is published in english currently for my pleasure. The first day I found my first huge fact error in the second article I read (and I have to say I read 96% of articles because they're funny and I'm that bored sometimes). Some news stories/ observances:
-There are no captions- there may be a few, but the picture on the front will have no caption along with about 65% of the pictures. Sometimes I like to know what I'm looking at
- Putin doubled the prize money for athletes to 150,000 dollars- now we know why Becky Hammon really wanted to play for Russia- speaking of her there was a great column on ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?id=3530332
Today I had the pleasure of helping the a sports journalist from the New York Times. He's in charge of graphics and we got on the topics of newspapers. I told him I read the NYT regularly when I'm at school and he asked if I was a person who like to read a paper paper or get it on the internet. I said that I grew up reading the paper paper, being at school I check the dispatch website at least once a day (often times more- I really help get the hits up for the hockey blog) but nothing beats reading a paper paper for me. He said he's the same way, but his job has gotten a lot more interesting with doing stuff for the web, you can just be so interactive. It was a very interesting conversation and when he left (not getting what he wanted after 30 minutes, thank you China and the Gymnastics federations) I got a NYTimes pin (pins are very popular to trade and I probably have close to 30 now) and a NYTimes key chain (which I have to say I felt pretty special!). It's interesting to watch the media work- I think it will always fascinate me. On one hand things frustrate me- not getting taken seriously, stupid and cocky journalist, fluff stories, and worrying strictly about money- and this is why I've had a hard time figuring out exactly what I want to do. But at the same time talking to people like the NYTimes guy and watching people take it seriously and that deadline rush- those are all things that remind me why I wanted to do what I hopefully someday will do. Thats my little rant back to China haha!
Monday I had a day off and BOCOG (who we are ultimately working for) got us tickets to beach volleyball. That was so fun to finally go to an olympic event as a spectator! After that a group of us went to get dumplings and then Eric Allie and I walked around on the green for the afternoon. We stopped in a lot of sponsor buildings and just mingled with different people. That night we realized that the today show was being filmed right beside us so we stayed to get on the today show. This was so fun! We were right in the front and right before the weather Eric started an MIZ chant and we got a shout out from AL! We met them all, but I can't say enough good things about Ann and Meredith. Ann gave us what seemed like a graduation speech and we really should invite her to be out speaker in december. I have pictures up on Picasaweb (the link is in the upper right hand corner). We have seen the Meredith and Ann at gymnastics the last few days and my friend got to escort Meredith out of the building today. AMAZING
One other funny story I have from work is the other day a few journalists from Toronto came in and started talking to me. He asked where I was from and I said Columbus and he responds, "oh, Rick Nash!"..... I just started laughing typical canadian.... I just said I knew who he was- but it was pretty funny. I had to call his cell phone later and he asked me where good bars where. I proceeded to tell him where we usually go out and he ends the conversation with, "well let me know if you find someplace".....seriously, let me just call this guy up next time, he does refer to me as the Ohio girl...I think he was just impressed that I didn't look lost when he said Rick Nash....
On a more serious note, everyone knows about the volleyball coach's father-in-law. When it happened, I have a friend at another venue who was reading it on the web to find out more information. A chinese girl in her group came up and when my friend looked a little upset the chinese girl said "don't worry it's just fake news".... my friend responds with excuse me... and she says "its fake news.....like Tibet....the government tells us it's fake news, they just want to scare us." I just found this interesting
I also was talking to a girl in my group who I think is very intelligent. She is one of 2 people from Remin University (where we are staying) that gets to study abroad in Hong Kong next semester. Her ultimate goal is to study in the United States- she is far smarter than me, so I hope she gets to. I have talked to her a lot about the communist party and her views on China and here are a few things that stood out to me:
- the people of China got no outside news from other countries in the past so she explained to me that her parents and people before her only had China's to compare with the current China. SHe said she is lucky because she has the internets so she now can compare China to something- although she doesn't think this will cause any changes because China doesn't like change- the want harmony and change would disrupt that and that scares them.
-They walk in line and don't question things. She thinks I'm funny because in the green the subway line has 5 entrances and to get to the entrances you have to go down a flight of stairs and there are at least 12 of those. Anyways, there is only one entrance and 1 flight of stairs open one night and I was mad because its 1 am and we have to walk to a different set of stairs. I told them to ask the guards why and they wouldn't they just said because and I said why would you have that many entrances if you can's use them (security is not an issue on the green because everyone on it has already been screened- there is no way onto the green without it) they admitted to me it was stupid, but didn't even question it. I told them I would just go past the guards and down (I have before) and they looked at me like I was the biggest rebel every and wouldn't let me.
- Along the same lines my friend told me she wants to study abroad, but if someone said she couldn't go she wouldn't question it. I told her if someone told me I couldn't do something I would do it just to prove them wrong. With that she told me this joke:
there is a boat sinking and the captain must get everyone off:
He goes up to the German and explains that scientifically he must get off (I guess Germans are scientific....Will are they?) so he jumps off
THe captain goes too the guy from France and says it's really romantic to jump off the boat- so he jumps off
Goes up to the American and says you have more freedom in the water than on the boat- he jumps off
goes to the Chinese (last person on the boat) and says.....everyone else jumped and he jumps off
I just thought it was funny that she told me that and it wasn't like she was sad but she knew it was true. SHe said sometimes she's sad that she has to hide ideas and be less creative thinking, but she explained to me she's lived like this and followed rules for the last 20 years of her life. I guess if I grew up like that (thank God I didn't) I would be the same way. She also said that the chinese was very inefficient something that has been very hard getting use to at work and training- I feel like I'm wasting time. I asked her if she was excited to be in Hong Kong and she said yes because she'll have more freedoms and I asked if she thinks she'll have a hard time coming back and she said that she thinks she'll have as hard a time coming back as I'm having adjusting to how things work around here.
I guess I've bored you with enough stories now. I'm working tomorrow TRAMPOLINE! fun, I feel like I'm at camp again haha! I am going to track finals tomorrow night (sat morning in the states) so look for me on t.v.! I can't believe I have less than 2 weeks left and I will try to write more in the last weeks.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
This week....
Sorry for the delay....things have began to get busy!
Tuesday: my "happy day"... Eric, Allie and I met my friends Seven (her boyfriend is 11) and Jane and they took us to HOT POT. This was one of the best meals I have had in China. Hotpot is a style of food- it's a big pot of water in the middle and you throw all different types of food in. It's a very social thing and we sat there for 2 hours and talked to them. After the meal we took them to cold stone to introduce them to american ice cream. Let me just say cold stone is just as good in China.
Wednesday: This was my last day of training and not as eventful as Monday, but still interesting. I learned many things from the chinese in my group:
1) they explained to me how to tell the difference between chinese, japanese, and korean. It was very interesting to hear their stereotypes and how they can tell the difference between them. I found it very politically incorrect, but it was funny to hear.
2) the marrying age for them is 20 for girls and 22 to guys. I found it interesting that its different for guys and girls- I don't think that would be allowed in America
3) Wendy, my supervisor, spent 4 years in the Netherlands and 6 months in Miami- two very interesting places and I would like to find out more about Wendy!
4) I wished I paid a lot more attention in french class or was Will- because it would be so nice to know a second language right now. Journalist come in and mumble things under their breath in spanish or french or german and I would pay to know what they were saying!
5) I have become addicted to coffee in the last 2 weeks- I guess I'm my mothers daughter
6) I have gotten 2 of my chinese friends to join facebook- it might run the world someday
Thursday- Allie and I went with one of our friends to a place called Lush for breakfast. It's like a coffee bar during the day, a restaurant and then a bar- really everything you could need. We had pancakes and eggs and Allie finally got her bagel with cream cheese. We met up with some students from Iowa for breakfast and one of them went with Allie and I to a famous art district called 798. This is a bunch of warehouses that chinese artists have converted to art galleries. It was amazing- finally some free speech and it was cool to see how far these chinese artists have come in the last few years. We also ran across the Swiss house. Every country has a house where they have parties and celebrate victories. Our goal is to get into as many countries houses as possible. All the sponsors from the country have booths and hand out free stuff. In the Swiss house we got free coffee, ice cream, and chocolate. I was in heaven to say the least. THat night we went to a pizza place that had beer pong set up- Allie and I beat a couple boys- they weren't too happy!
Friday- 08-08-08. We went down on the green- I was the only one who could actually get on the green since my venue is located there. So I went out and sat with my friends because I wanted to share the experience with them. I went on the green a few times to get everyone drinks and just venture around. We ran across the street to a hotel to watch the stuff on t.v.- and 9:30 they turned the t.v. off and tried to kick us out, but one of the chinese people there watching got in a fist fight with the owner and they let us stay. There was a kid who got it on video, so when we get back to the states and everything isn't blocked we'll try to find it on youtube. We ran outside right in front of the birdsnest for the lighting of the torch and the fireworks. It was overall a great night and I'm glad I was down there. It took us and hour and 1/2 to find a taxi home, not the fun part. WE also saw Bush's motorcade before the ceremonies which was pretty cool. I spent most of the night texting Wes, we decided it was pretty cool he could be at work and I could be in China and we could be instantly texting. I'm trying to put a video up, but its not working so hopefully I can figure out how to do that soon- It's on facebook for those of you who have it.
Saturday: this was my first day of work. The story of the volleyball coaches family broke while I was at work. I got a text message and tried to find it online, but all sites were blocked except for fox news. I was told if a journalist asked about it to tell them to contact the USOC and not say anything else. It was just interesting how they reacted. I had dinner with one of my friends and she had a conversation with me about the communist party- she just joined the party this year and said that it's hard but you're a lot better off if you're a member. She said she didn't really like it, but there's nothing to compare it to besides past generations. Thank God for a 2 party system! She is studying in Hong Kong this fall. I'm very excited for her because Hong Kong has a lot more freedom because they use to be controlled by Britain, but recently given back to China. My favorite comment of the night had to be from some European journalist how told me I should go comfort an athlete who fell off the bars. I wanted to punch him in the face- but I just responded with I think I'll pass. I'm glad I can get comments like that in China too!
That's it for now- I work today from 4- midnight then have an off day tomorrow- my last one until the 24th. I should have more time to update this week, but the last week I'll be super busy and working really late so we'll have to see.
Tuesday: my "happy day"... Eric, Allie and I met my friends Seven (her boyfriend is 11) and Jane and they took us to HOT POT. This was one of the best meals I have had in China. Hotpot is a style of food- it's a big pot of water in the middle and you throw all different types of food in. It's a very social thing and we sat there for 2 hours and talked to them. After the meal we took them to cold stone to introduce them to american ice cream. Let me just say cold stone is just as good in China.
Wednesday: This was my last day of training and not as eventful as Monday, but still interesting. I learned many things from the chinese in my group:
1) they explained to me how to tell the difference between chinese, japanese, and korean. It was very interesting to hear their stereotypes and how they can tell the difference between them. I found it very politically incorrect, but it was funny to hear.
2) the marrying age for them is 20 for girls and 22 to guys. I found it interesting that its different for guys and girls- I don't think that would be allowed in America
3) Wendy, my supervisor, spent 4 years in the Netherlands and 6 months in Miami- two very interesting places and I would like to find out more about Wendy!
4) I wished I paid a lot more attention in french class or was Will- because it would be so nice to know a second language right now. Journalist come in and mumble things under their breath in spanish or french or german and I would pay to know what they were saying!
5) I have become addicted to coffee in the last 2 weeks- I guess I'm my mothers daughter
6) I have gotten 2 of my chinese friends to join facebook- it might run the world someday
Thursday- Allie and I went with one of our friends to a place called Lush for breakfast. It's like a coffee bar during the day, a restaurant and then a bar- really everything you could need. We had pancakes and eggs and Allie finally got her bagel with cream cheese. We met up with some students from Iowa for breakfast and one of them went with Allie and I to a famous art district called 798. This is a bunch of warehouses that chinese artists have converted to art galleries. It was amazing- finally some free speech and it was cool to see how far these chinese artists have come in the last few years. We also ran across the Swiss house. Every country has a house where they have parties and celebrate victories. Our goal is to get into as many countries houses as possible. All the sponsors from the country have booths and hand out free stuff. In the Swiss house we got free coffee, ice cream, and chocolate. I was in heaven to say the least. THat night we went to a pizza place that had beer pong set up- Allie and I beat a couple boys- they weren't too happy!
Friday- 08-08-08. We went down on the green- I was the only one who could actually get on the green since my venue is located there. So I went out and sat with my friends because I wanted to share the experience with them. I went on the green a few times to get everyone drinks and just venture around. We ran across the street to a hotel to watch the stuff on t.v.- and 9:30 they turned the t.v. off and tried to kick us out, but one of the chinese people there watching got in a fist fight with the owner and they let us stay. There was a kid who got it on video, so when we get back to the states and everything isn't blocked we'll try to find it on youtube. We ran outside right in front of the birdsnest for the lighting of the torch and the fireworks. It was overall a great night and I'm glad I was down there. It took us and hour and 1/2 to find a taxi home, not the fun part. WE also saw Bush's motorcade before the ceremonies which was pretty cool. I spent most of the night texting Wes, we decided it was pretty cool he could be at work and I could be in China and we could be instantly texting. I'm trying to put a video up, but its not working so hopefully I can figure out how to do that soon- It's on facebook for those of you who have it.
Saturday: this was my first day of work. The story of the volleyball coaches family broke while I was at work. I got a text message and tried to find it online, but all sites were blocked except for fox news. I was told if a journalist asked about it to tell them to contact the USOC and not say anything else. It was just interesting how they reacted. I had dinner with one of my friends and she had a conversation with me about the communist party- she just joined the party this year and said that it's hard but you're a lot better off if you're a member. She said she didn't really like it, but there's nothing to compare it to besides past generations. Thank God for a 2 party system! She is studying in Hong Kong this fall. I'm very excited for her because Hong Kong has a lot more freedom because they use to be controlled by Britain, but recently given back to China. My favorite comment of the night had to be from some European journalist how told me I should go comfort an athlete who fell off the bars. I wanted to punch him in the face- but I just responded with I think I'll pass. I'm glad I can get comments like that in China too!
That's it for now- I work today from 4- midnight then have an off day tomorrow- my last one until the 24th. I should have more time to update this week, but the last week I'll be super busy and working really late so we'll have to see.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Let the games begin!!!!
I just got back from being down on the green. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!! watch it tonight. When I wake up tomorrow I'll blog all about it and post pictures- but we walked around for over and hour and 1/2 trying to find a cab and I just got home at 2am and am exhausted. So sorry- but watch it- USA was kind of disappointing on the outfit! AHHHHH I can't believe I just saw that! I"ll post everything soon!!!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Organizing Workroom 2
I had a great day at work. My morning started off well when I arrived at the venue and we were given tickets so we could receive coke at lunch. My group was so excited about it that they went and got them at 10 am. You could chose between coke and juice and I was the only one out of 15 to get Coke. One Chinese girl told me it was too sweet. Lets just say that I unfortunately didn't find it too sweet and am excited for diet coke and crystal light when I get home- I've gained at least 10 pounds so far and it may just be from the pop I've drank! I know this doesn't seem like a huge deal- but it was a good start.
The second main highlight was the fact we got wristbands. They are exactly like livestrongs but the writing is in chinese. The other volunteers told me it said something about smiling and volunteering. I got 5- one for each color of the olympic ring. Lets just say I'm pretty stoked and may share. Wendy also gave me 3 posters that didn't fit on the walls. I have to say she is so amazing and loves me! Great news considering she gave me a snickers and coffee (I'm turning into my mom and drinking coffee daily haha) and I have a feeling she'll save my life and sanity a few times in the next 3 weeks.
I had lunch today with 3 girls in my group and learned a lot about them and their lives. I always get asked if I have siblings and always brag about Wes and Will ( and Em and Lenny!) Today I was surprised to find out 2 of the 3 girls had younger brothers. I of course ask too many questions and innocently ask what the rules are for that and they were very candid. This is what I learned:
*A large majority of chinese are one nationality (the word they used) these people can only have one child- if they have more than one they "must pay a lot of money" (I would have totally be worth it- Will maybe not)
*The other nationalities (they told me there were 58 total nationalities but over 90% where the one- not sure if these numbers are 100% correct.....translation!) these people can have as many children as they want
*The past I found most interesting was that there is a "new" rule that if you are of the majority nationality and are an only child and you marry an only child, you are allowed to have 2 children. The only child in the group was very excited about this- I'm guessing she would say no to a guy if he wasn't an only child.
These girls also told me they live with 6 girls in a room and must go outside to the public restrooms-they were very jealous of where I was staying.
I have many stories about the media from today including NBC commentators, canadian gymnasts, and hot guys from ESPN Brazil- but I am unable to blog about it. If you're interested email me and I will forward you the email that I emailed my parents- or bug them and they can forward it to you. All I'll say that I smiled and said "Welcome to China" many times as people were cursing under their breath. I did get an unofficial promotion to supervisor of the workroom and Wendy told me that I now get to talk to any foreign media because they are nicer and handle talking to me better.
My afternoon was capped of by getting passed a note like I was in middle school inviting me to go shopping tomorrow on our day off. I said yes and have that to look forward to tomorrow. They are also taking me to Hot Pot and maybe a film. They said they were excited to give me a "happy day". I'll try to update you in the next few days and leave your email address on comments if you want to hear the details of work!
The second main highlight was the fact we got wristbands. They are exactly like livestrongs but the writing is in chinese. The other volunteers told me it said something about smiling and volunteering. I got 5- one for each color of the olympic ring. Lets just say I'm pretty stoked and may share. Wendy also gave me 3 posters that didn't fit on the walls. I have to say she is so amazing and loves me! Great news considering she gave me a snickers and coffee (I'm turning into my mom and drinking coffee daily haha) and I have a feeling she'll save my life and sanity a few times in the next 3 weeks.
I had lunch today with 3 girls in my group and learned a lot about them and their lives. I always get asked if I have siblings and always brag about Wes and Will ( and Em and Lenny!) Today I was surprised to find out 2 of the 3 girls had younger brothers. I of course ask too many questions and innocently ask what the rules are for that and they were very candid. This is what I learned:
*A large majority of chinese are one nationality (the word they used) these people can only have one child- if they have more than one they "must pay a lot of money" (I would have totally be worth it- Will maybe not)
*The other nationalities (they told me there were 58 total nationalities but over 90% where the one- not sure if these numbers are 100% correct.....translation!) these people can have as many children as they want
*The past I found most interesting was that there is a "new" rule that if you are of the majority nationality and are an only child and you marry an only child, you are allowed to have 2 children. The only child in the group was very excited about this- I'm guessing she would say no to a guy if he wasn't an only child.
These girls also told me they live with 6 girls in a room and must go outside to the public restrooms-they were very jealous of where I was staying.
I have many stories about the media from today including NBC commentators, canadian gymnasts, and hot guys from ESPN Brazil- but I am unable to blog about it. If you're interested email me and I will forward you the email that I emailed my parents- or bug them and they can forward it to you. All I'll say that I smiled and said "Welcome to China" many times as people were cursing under their breath. I did get an unofficial promotion to supervisor of the workroom and Wendy told me that I now get to talk to any foreign media because they are nicer and handle talking to me better.
My afternoon was capped of by getting passed a note like I was in middle school inviting me to go shopping tomorrow on our day off. I said yes and have that to look forward to tomorrow. They are also taking me to Hot Pot and maybe a film. They said they were excited to give me a "happy day". I'll try to update you in the next few days and leave your email address on comments if you want to hear the details of work!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Countdown: less than one week
Sorry for the delay in posting. There are many reasons for not posting sooner. For one, I have had a sinus infection-so anytime that I haven't been working I have most likely been sleeping. Also, things for me personally have been going very well- however things with other people and things with China have been pretty frustrating the last few days. But I guess it's time to just push myself to write.
First of all training is going really well. My boss, Wendy, have been great. Since there isn't really anything to do she has us coming in every other day in shifts. It was great timing with me not feeling so hot. Every day I went in this week I got sent home after lunch because of my lovely coughing (mom I used lovely just for you). The chinese students I'm working with are great, they are so helpful and always so energetic to learn and ask questions. They always apologize for their lack of english- but I try to explain to them I'm just so thankful they are patient and try with me. I'm the one not speaking the language- if we were in america people would have a fit if they didn't speak english. I have to say that it wasn't that hard the first few weeks, we always had a translator with us and people are always willing to help. But the longer we stay here its more and more frustrating to not know the language.
Today we (Matt, Mark, Allie and I) decided since we all have the same day off (prob. the last for the rest of the trip) we would take a day trip. We took the bullet train (2 days old) down to Tianjin which is the 3rd largest city in China behind Beijing and Shanghai. First let me say that the train ride was worth it. It went up to 350 km per hour and we went about 180 miles in 30 minutes. We all decided that the U.S. needs this- esp. between St. Louis and Como! Let me just say the language barrier was very prevalent today. It wasn't too smart of us to just get on a train and not know anything about the city or have a map- but it turned out. The city itself was amazing and very different from Beijing. It has a lot of European influence from days it was occupied by the Dutch, France, and England. We found our way (somehow) to the center of the town where there were lots of shops. We then made our way to one of the most amazing Catholic Churches I've ever been in. I will post pictures on the website as soon as I can- prob. tomorrow. After that we went through a bunch of allies where there was an antique type market. This was another highlight because they had a lot of trinkets from the cultural revolution. We got stuck eating at McDonalds when we realized that no one could talk to us and it would have been impossible to order.
Those have been the main highlights from the past week. There are a lot of things that have happened that I can't blog about (talk to my parents) But we'll just say I'm getting a lesson and its not the one I thought I would be getting. I am learning a lot about how journalism works in China and how I could never live in a place where the media is so controlled and has no code of ethics. I know a lot of chinese journalist are reading out blogs, so I won't say much but it has definitely been a learning experience. I am VERY curious to find out when journalist get over here how much of what is going on now behind the scenes and publicly has happened at other olympics. There are things that I think won't get done or organized in time, but everything could pull together at the very end and look perfect. My venue officially opened today, so there will be a lot of journalist around this week. I'm excited. I've already met a few photo guys from the New York Times who seemed to be very relieved to see an American to help them. I have a feeling I'll get that reaction from a lot of journalists- which won't bother me at all, I'll just remind them all that I need a job starting in January! haha
I have to work tomorrow and Wednesday and will try to update on my off days. We're going to try to camp out thursday night to get somewhere close to the birds nest for the opening ceremonies and then I start working everyday on sat.
Also happy birthday to my Uncle Brian today......I won't say how old he is- but it's a HUGE birthday!!!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!
First of all training is going really well. My boss, Wendy, have been great. Since there isn't really anything to do she has us coming in every other day in shifts. It was great timing with me not feeling so hot. Every day I went in this week I got sent home after lunch because of my lovely coughing (mom I used lovely just for you). The chinese students I'm working with are great, they are so helpful and always so energetic to learn and ask questions. They always apologize for their lack of english- but I try to explain to them I'm just so thankful they are patient and try with me. I'm the one not speaking the language- if we were in america people would have a fit if they didn't speak english. I have to say that it wasn't that hard the first few weeks, we always had a translator with us and people are always willing to help. But the longer we stay here its more and more frustrating to not know the language.
Today we (Matt, Mark, Allie and I) decided since we all have the same day off (prob. the last for the rest of the trip) we would take a day trip. We took the bullet train (2 days old) down to Tianjin which is the 3rd largest city in China behind Beijing and Shanghai. First let me say that the train ride was worth it. It went up to 350 km per hour and we went about 180 miles in 30 minutes. We all decided that the U.S. needs this- esp. between St. Louis and Como! Let me just say the language barrier was very prevalent today. It wasn't too smart of us to just get on a train and not know anything about the city or have a map- but it turned out. The city itself was amazing and very different from Beijing. It has a lot of European influence from days it was occupied by the Dutch, France, and England. We found our way (somehow) to the center of the town where there were lots of shops. We then made our way to one of the most amazing Catholic Churches I've ever been in. I will post pictures on the website as soon as I can- prob. tomorrow. After that we went through a bunch of allies where there was an antique type market. This was another highlight because they had a lot of trinkets from the cultural revolution. We got stuck eating at McDonalds when we realized that no one could talk to us and it would have been impossible to order.
Those have been the main highlights from the past week. There are a lot of things that have happened that I can't blog about (talk to my parents) But we'll just say I'm getting a lesson and its not the one I thought I would be getting. I am learning a lot about how journalism works in China and how I could never live in a place where the media is so controlled and has no code of ethics. I know a lot of chinese journalist are reading out blogs, so I won't say much but it has definitely been a learning experience. I am VERY curious to find out when journalist get over here how much of what is going on now behind the scenes and publicly has happened at other olympics. There are things that I think won't get done or organized in time, but everything could pull together at the very end and look perfect. My venue officially opened today, so there will be a lot of journalist around this week. I'm excited. I've already met a few photo guys from the New York Times who seemed to be very relieved to see an American to help them. I have a feeling I'll get that reaction from a lot of journalists- which won't bother me at all, I'll just remind them all that I need a job starting in January! haha
I have to work tomorrow and Wednesday and will try to update on my off days. We're going to try to camp out thursday night to get somewhere close to the birds nest for the opening ceremonies and then I start working everyday on sat.
Also happy birthday to my Uncle Brian today......I won't say how old he is- but it's a HUGE birthday!!!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!
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