It is 12:30am Sunday morning....and...I can't sleep. We put Tucker on the plane today bound for Portland and hope he has an uneventful trip. We are not sure when or if he will be back in China so yesterday was a little nostalgic. However......as life goes here....we have what they call "Shang-high" days and "Shang-low" days and yesterday was a "Shang-very low" day. What I am going to write may be a little graphic so if you have a weak stomach you might want to skip this blog.

Yesterday.....
Tucker and I went to Yu Garden for some last minute shopping before he started packing. It was very busy.....people everywhere....(I think because this is the last weekend before school starts) .....the sky was a little dark and it was pouring down rain.....Tucker and I were sharing an umbrella.....which is sort of a funny sight when I think about it. Anyway.....we finished our shopping and Mr. Zheng picked us up and we drove out of the shopping area. We have been on this road many times....both driving, walking, and scootering. The road is about 1 1/2 lanes wide....it is "one way" for cars and taxis....but "two ways" for scooters and walkers. There are vendors on one side of the road selling all sorts of "stuff". As we drive through this crowded area we notice there is someone laying in the middle of the road. It was hard to tell what was happening exactly but something did not seem right. When we got closer we could see that the person was injured....and Tucker said "Oh my God...he is bleeding...he is really hurt." At this point Tucker jumped out of the car and said...I saw an ambulance...I will go get them....and he took off running. I was afraid to get out of the car because I was afraid of what I was going to see. It was still pouring down rain.....and people were walking and scootering around the guy that was laying in the street. No one was helping him. I was afraid he was going to get hit by a car....and as I got out of our car.....a taxi was trying to get past.....and the driver was honking his horn at the guy on the ground! What the heck??? This was the most bizarre scene I have ever witnessed. I did not know what to do....so I held the umbrella over the guy and tried to protect him from getting hit by a scooter or car. People were standing around watching.... no one helped him. By this time I could tell that the person was an older man and he had a serious head wound.....he had a big cut under his left eye and there was blood everywhere. He sat up a little bit and I had Mr. Zheng help him out of the road...he sat on the curb for a few minutes while I held the umbrella over him.....still no one helped him!!!! People just stood around and watched. I asked for a cloth for his face....and of course they could not understand me....I was in shock and I was disgusted that no one offered to help him. Mr. Zheng talked to him a little bit....and it looked like he was going to be okay but he was still bleeding.....still no cloth....still no help from ANYONE! I called Tucker to tell him that I thought the guy was going to be okay....and Tucker was also in shock. He found the ambulance drivers but they would not listen to him......finally some people came to help Tucker....they translated for him to the ambulance drivers....and the driver rolled up his window and turned away from them. The people that translated said he could call a number for a different ambulance. Tucker was stunned that they would not help him. As I was talking to Tucker on the phone the injured man stood up and stumbled away. When Tucker got back to the car he was soaking wet and in shock. He said....."Mom, if that had been you...they would not have helped me." We both felt sick the rest of the day.....Tucker said he was happy to be going home......

Later that night Tucker and Abi went to dinner with some of Tucker's work friends.....they said that in this culture.....if you help someone....you are responsible for their medical bills. That is why no one helped. I have been trying to process this and justify it as a cultural thing. So far it is not working for me. I just can't grasping this concept. There is no cost in helping someone out of the road....there is no cost in offering a cloth to stop the bleeding...there is no cost in kindness. I even tried to put it in terms that I can relate to....for instance.....in the US....if we witnessed an accident.....and knew that we would be responsible for the ambulance and all hospital bills for that person....would we make the call? I like to think so.....but maybe we would think twice before making the call??? Maybe we would pretend that we didn't see what happened.....maybe we would do nothing....

I do know that it is a lonely and scary feeling to think that in an emergency situation.....it is most likely.....no one will help you.

My whole week has been waisted with a tooth ache. I went to the dentist on Tuesday expecting some relief....but the root canal specialist only comes to that office on Sunday. I almost cried when they said I had to wait. So...then..... they said I could go to a different office today in Hong Qiao and they could start the root canal process. I was in so much pain I was ready to get Tim's drill out and start the process myself.

So...long story....I went to the HongQiao office (bravely by myself) and was pleasantly surprised by the care that I received. I think my tooth is feeling better but I will know more tomorrow morning when the pain killers wear off. Four nights without sleep ended this afternoon. I slept for about four hours and I think I am on the mend.

PS: the dentist office was clean and looked like something from the 60's. They even had a "spit" bowl. A flash back to my childhood!

What is worse than getting a root canal???.......The possibility of getting a root canal in China!!!

I have a very bad tooth ache that started while I was in Hong Kong and it has gotten worse every day. Yesterday I spent all day on the sofa taking Advil and wishing I could take our pliers and remove the tooth myself. The tooth ache did not go away..... so..... today I have an appointment to have a crown removed and probably a root canal. I am a bit freaked out about this! Soooooo freaked out about it that I asked Tim to take time off work and go with me.......

I am still behind in our "Olympic experience" blog so I will just continue to add things as I have time....I guess I should hurry up and finish since the Olympics are now officially over!

These are photos and our experience from our last day in Beijing....

Basketball Day

We started our day at Starbucks....again.......hey....it was air conditioned and we were "regulars" by this time

On our way to the subway again!....by this time we were getting to be really good navigating the "underground!"
Tickets please! All bags have been through the x-ray machine and we are on our way to line 10 and then to line 1..
This is a picture of the fabric in Tuckers shirt....read below to see why I have a picture of this.

Our favorite quote of the day....

While we were getting our caffeine fix Tucker said to Abi... "Why are you wearing a soccer shirt?..We aren't going to a soccer game. And Abi replied back to him....Why are your wearing a giraffe shirt?.....we aren't going to the zoo!" I think Abi wins this one!

We arrive at the Basketball Venue...it looks really cool on the outside...sort of like it is made out of bamboo.

We made it through all the security checks but they took my Fiber One bar AND my gum!!!

We are excited about another day at the Olympics!!!

The "bamboo" on the building is actually rows of metal mesh...very cool!
Inside the basketball venue...



We watched two basketball games....the first was Lithuania vs Iran
Let the games begin..
Lithuania's fans....they were really fun!




We love Basketball!!!
Go Lithuania!!!



Between games Tim and the kids explored the venue. They came back with a variety of drinks and SNACKS! Oh my gosh....the basketball venue actually had food. They had hot dogs on a stick.....you had to buy the bun (which was really a round roll)separately and they had real popcorn!!!

Abi after the games...

wearing her Olympic flag...
We stopped for a picture in front of this statue and suddenly 5 different people wanted their picture taken with Abi....too funny!



We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch....it sounds like all we did was eat...but most of the time we were starving or melting or freezing...



We went back to our apartment to pick up our suitcases. Tucker could not find his phone but thought he had left it in the charger at the apartment. When we got to the apartment the cleaning lady was already there. Tucker found the charger.....but no phone. We asked the lady if she had seen a phone anywhere while she was cleaning and she said no....but then she got really nervous and started dumping her purse out on the floor so we could see that she had not taken it.....poor thing...I think she thought she was going to get blamed for the missing phone...we tried to explain to her that we did not think she took the phone....but she emptied her purse three different times while we searched the sofa and beds. Remember....Tucker lost his phone the first day of our Olympic experience because it fell out of is pocket in the taxi. By this time we had been on two subways...in the basketball venue...in two taxis...and in a restaurant.....not much hope of finding it this time.

He decided that he could have had it at Starbucks that morning so he walked across the street to see if it might be there. He asked the barista and they said "Mai You!" He searched the chairs where we sat that morning and found nothing. Then the barista realized what he was looking for and....guess what?......they had his phone. Tucker was soooooooo lucky....again!!!



We went to the airport and.....WOW! It was beautiful and has the biggest open space in an airport that I have ever seen. The place was gigantic! This is part of the decoration....a large iron sculpture with several dragons.

We were all very tired when we got on the plane. Abi and I had seats together and Tim and Tucker had seats together. A family of....mom, grandma and grandpa, and two little boys got on the plane and sat in front of us. Grandma and grandpa sat in front of Abi and I......the mom and little boys sat in front of Tim and Tucker. The boys were really cute and really energetic. The boys tray tables were up and down about 10 times before we took off and that activity alternated with their seats going up and down into Tim and Tuckers laps. The plane was not very full so Tucker and Tim moved to a "less active" area and Abi moved a few seats forward so she could have "sleeping space".
The flight was uneventful with the exception of the active little boys. The mom moved one seat away from the boys and went to sleep...or at least pretended to be asleep. The boys played all sorts of games and made all kinds of "boy noises" making their seat belts space ships and cars and guns. After a while I feel asleep......then I woke up to a really bad smell....I was not really sure what it was but it was not pleasant. The boys were still going strong.....standing in their seats, laying on the floor, making their blankets into capes......Oh my gosh....there is that bad smell again.....I finally figured out that either Grandma or Grandpa had really bad gas.....and they were sitting right in front of me.....It was really bad....I put my blanket over my nose and tried to go back to sleep. No go on sleeping....the boys were still going strong..... The mother was still "asleep" so every few minutes Grampa pooty pants would reach across the isle and smack one of the boys on the head....at this time Tucker was awake and thought this activity was really funny......I was still suffering from the "pooty pants" and I was not very amused! Our plane landed and one of the boys yelled....Jia you China!!! (Jia You is what you say when you cheer at a sports event in China) So....the little boy...happy for the safe landing...... said GO CHINA!...which caused us all to burst out laughing. The boys never ran out of energy and the girl next to Tucker said....the performance continues!!!

It is about 8:30 on Monday morning and a huge thunder and lightening storm is just ending. I think our building was hit by lightening because the lightening/thunder/ and a little fluttering noise went across our window just as I was turning on my computer.



Our girls weekend in Hong Kong was even shorter than we planned. We left on Saturday morning and flew to Hong Kong...only to circle, circle, circle and then be sent to Xiamen to refuel. We sat on the plane in Xiamen for.....not one...not two...but three and 1/2 hours!!! They would not let us get off the plane. We finally took off back toward Hong Kong and got to our hotel at 9:30pm. We were starving and calculated that we could have almost flown to the US because we had been on the plane for 10 hours!!! The flight should only be 2.5 hours from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

The other part of our group experienced the storm in Hong Kong....they went to a movie to get out of the weather and then back to the hotel because everything else was closed.




At the airport on Saturday morning......we look so fresh and ready for the day....little did we know we would spend ALL DAY on the airplane!
Fun on the plane!!! We entertained ourselves with "hangman", name that tune, make a picture from this scribbled line, we discussed many topics....from hair removal to world politics.....and we still had time to read our books!!! Thank goodness Angie had three power bars or we would have waisted away to nothing!
Breakfast Sunday morning.....okay girls we have about 6 hours to be back on the train heading for the airport!!!

Our group divided into two.....some went to the peak....some went to an outlet shopping area. Since I have been to the peak before....I opted for the shopping!!!
This is a store inside a large warehouse. There were many many stores....on 27 floors...offering discounted prices for clothing and furniture....it was fun and I will plan to go back to this place again......
Rebecca behind the bar......

Rebecca's new dining room table???
I met the "peak group" at the IFC mall for a late lunch.....I just had dessert....this is chocolate cake with mint ice cream and some chocolate sticks with sesame seeds....we called these "tootsie rolls with fiber"....the whole thing looked better than it tasted.
Who knows how long we will be on the plane this time.....it is good to eat before get on the plane!

We arrived at the airport....got on the plane....the weather was beautiful....we are ready for take off....the pilot says into the speaker....."I'm sorry we will be delayed for at least 20 minutes"...we all groan!!!!! I got home last night at 10:20pm. Oh my gosh!!! Even with all those "delays" it was a fun and very memorable trip!!!

Well...our girls weekend in Hong Kong has gotten a slow start. Our flight was canceled this afternoon because of the big storm moving in to that area. We are scheduled on a flight tomorrow morning at 9:30...it will still be fun but just a little shorter than planned. The earlier group got out this morning just fine so they are already there.....the "later group" that is still in Shanghai are meeting for dinner and spirits and going to pretend that we are in Hong Kong.

Tim and the kids are heading to the Olympic soccer match tonight. They are playing for the men's bronze medal. It should be an exciting time.

Today we are venturing out to another Olympic Event.

Women's Football (soccer)! We have tickets to three matches this week....all being played in Shanghai. Tonight is the Women's semi final...Tomorrow is the Men's semi final and Friday we have tickets to the Men's Bronze medal match. I have gave up my ticket to Fridays match to our friend Xiao Wu because I will be on my way to Hong Kong for a "girls weekend". Yippee!!!

In tonight's match.....Abi and Tim are cheering for Brazil and Tucker and I are cheering for Germany....the family alliance is split....I chose Germany so the family would be evenly split and because I liked their jerseys! Abi bought flags and green and yellow garb at Yu Garden yesterday and is planning to dress in Brazil colors including face painting. I think we got our Olympic spirit back! We will wave from the crowd!

Photos from our third day at the Olympics in Beijing

We had four tickets for the evening fencing match and two tickets for afternoon diving competition. We all went back to the market to pick up Tim's glasses, which by the way were perfect!....and cost about 1/5th the cost if we had ordered them in the US. We gave the diving tickets to the kids and they headed to the Olympic area and Tim and I went to Tian' a men Square. We have been there before but wanted to see the Olympic decorations. And...we had several hours before we had to be at the fencing match.




The taxi driver could not stop at an of the normal stops....they were not allowed to stop anywhere around the Square. So we walked from the taxi stop....went into the underground entrance and then through security. We came out of the underground into the square.
There were lots of people at the Square and it was decorated beautifully.

Large topiaries were sculpted into different designs relating to the Olympics other Chinese events.
Beautiful flowers
A sculpture of a bridge that has recently been built in Hangzhou

Lots and lots of people




One World One Dream is the motto for the 2008 Olympics
More people

More sculptures
More guards

From the Square we went to the Olympic Village. We were very excited about this.....today was the first day we could enter this area because our tickets were in buildings in the Village.

This is the birds nest taken from outside the village.
Other interesting architecture...

The above street walk way to the Village...love the flags! There were lots of people hanging around outside the village...

We went through security.....no lines....and then we were in the "official Olympic area".

We were so surprised.....there were no people...the place was a ghost town!
Drink vendors....
The Cube....this is where the swimming and diving events are held.



The village area was huge!!!! It has a lake in the middle of it and we walked and walked and walked....we saw very few people....



There was music playing over an intercom system but it was very sleepy music.



I was so surprised.....I thought there would be people, and restaurants, and bands playing, and big TV screens and shopping and EXCITEMENT!!!!!

This area was a little garden under the main street of the village. This was next to the only restaurant in the village.....and guess what it was.....McDonald.
McDonald's...

In the entire village there were two McDonalds and several drink/snack vendors. So....guess what we had for lunch....again!!! And we were happy because at least they had all the items listed on there menu. Ahhhh.....this is where all the people are!
workers keeping it tidy....

There were several corporations that had exhibits.....this was the State Grid building....showing how they put in power lines in remote areas.
This was the China Mobil ....this is a giant size figure reaching through the walls of the building. It was pretty funny.
These pictures are from the VW exhibit

We were still looking for a place to buy Olympic T-shirts...

There was an Adidas exhibit show casing all their cool Olympic wear....I asked where we could buy their shirts....At the Super Store at the end of the village...... we walked some more and found the "Super Store". It was big....but had only one small area where they were selling shirts and hats....and...they were out of every shirt we asked for. "Mai You"! AHHHH there are those words again....remember this is day three of the Olympics! The rest of the super store was filled with more small "trinkets". We bought a few pins and some flags....and left the store a bit disappointed.
We walked and walked and walked....and saw many beautiful things in the village.
We found an area with many different displays of Chinese culture and history. They were interesting and the group from Shanghai gave us each a little gift for coming to their tent.

Still no people.... we continued walking....
This is the lake area with the birds nest in the background.
I started noticing lots of signs and "closed areas" in the village....and after a while I started taking pictures of them just for fun....

This sign was next to a beautiful walking/sitting area by the lake.....it looked great but no one was allowed to use it.....hmmmmmmm
More signs...No Entry

More beautiful landscapes...
and sculptures...
This entire area was "closed".
AH.....we heard music and found a small parade.....I thought...we must have just been early for the entertainment...now the place is going to "liven up"!


The costumes were beautiful

The parade lasted only a few minutes...

By this time the diving event was over and we met the kids outside the Cube.

Tucker and The Cube
Inside the Cube....
A cool waterfall on the inside walls of the Cube

Interior archatecture of the Cube Mens sincrinized diving competitors
Mascots entertian the crowd

Diving begins....
around....
and down...

and around...
down...
all most there...
stretch....

and splash!!!
Medals presentation


Country flags being raised.

Streets in the village..

More signs...
More closed areas....
Park......closed....
Direction signs....

Drink and snack vendors...
More signs....

The kids thought the "no Entry" signs were pretty funny too!
Nope....can't go in here!

Tucker decided to change the moto to "One World No Entery"

Can't walk on this either.....

I was starting to think that they had built another "Forbidden City". We heard that this whole area will be open to the public after the olympics and The Cube will be a public swimming center. I hope that is true.

Time for Fencing!!!!!

Inside the fencing building...birds nest in the background


Inside the fencing building.....
Womens Fencing finalists....three from Italy and one from Korea

Let the games begin!
take that...

this was really cool....around the back and over the shoulder....and Score!
take that!
and that!!

We loved the fencing matches....we watched three games.....all were pretty close scores and all were very exciting! This was Abi's favorite event!
The gold medalist ....her coach carried her around the staduim. Normally during the matches they can confur with their coach...but since two of the matches were Italy vs Italy the coach remained in the background....each player was on her own.

The medals presentation...

the flag ceremony...
The press....
Kiss those medals!

The kids during the break...
Nice....only faces a mother could love!

It was dark when we left the stadium...

The cube all lit up...it was very impressive! We walked to the Super store again after the fencing match hoping that they would have more shirts.....but arrived just in time for them to close. We exited the Olympic Villiage by taking the mysterious subway line #8 to the end of the Village...It really does exist!!!

More sights from earlier in the day...

Bomb squad.....

the nest
Water way....No entry!
Water fountains in the lake...

Oops....can't go here either...
Abi with the Olympic Moto!