Today is Wednesday

We arrived home last night at about 11:30pm. I think I have used up all my Olympic Spirit.

I will be updating the blog of our "Adventures in Beijing". On my best day I could not have "made up" the craziness of our trip to the Olympics.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Saturday morning we woke up ready for a shower and.......we had no hot water. I was pretty sure that was supposed to be included in our rent....ha ha. I turned on the tub and very red old rusty water came out.....this we are fairly accustom to after living in Shanghai....but it would be nice to at least have hot rusty water. We called the landlord (Carol) to report this problem and she called back later to say that there was no hot water in the building at this time and it would be restored by the afternoon. Her assistant call a few minutes later to say that we would not be going to the police station because it would take more than an hour and she did not want us to be late for our event. The night before we worked very hard to work through this arrangement so we did not have to release our passports to the assistant. We were not sure if we would need them to get into the Olympic venues. Finally she agreed that we would go to the police station together to expiated the registration process and still have position of our passports in case we needed them. She agreed but now I think "yes" in this case was code for "I hear you but I am not even considering coming in the morning because it is too early".

For ease and familiarity we stopped at Starbucks for breakfast every morning we were in Beijing. It was just across the street and it was "easy" and predictable.

Breakfast.......da bai bing cha (large cup of iced tea) and muffins or cinnamon roll....

We asked one of the Olympic volunteers (there were many many volunteers on the streets) how to get to the volleyball venue....

"Take subway #10 to #1 to #2.....then get directions from there.....

Abi and I descending into the subway station...

All of our bags went through an xray machine before entering the actual subway train area. The subway was free to all those with Olympic tickets....simply show the agent your ticket and they gave you a free pass.

We went through the check point and down another set of escalators. Everyone quickly got on the subway train and the doors closed.....right in front of me. Tim and Tucker and Abi were looking out the window in disbelief....I motioned to Tim that I would meet them .... somewhere? ( Note to self...have a plan in case you get separated from your party!)

But....guess what happened...the guard came to the door and it opened to let me on! We could not believe it! Tucker said....that would NEVER happen in Shanghai.

Subway #10 was very nice, new. clean, and very nicely air conditioned. #1 was much older and more crowded and not very air conditioned.

We got to the end of our subway trip and emerged back into the very muggy city. There was a mall just across the street from the subway and another volunteer station. Oh man was is hot and muggy!!! I felt like I had taken a shower with my clothes on. The mall was a cool place to hang out for a little while. The volunteers said we could take a two stop bus ride, a 30 minute walk, or a few minute taxi ride to the venue.....this was no brainer.....TAXI PLEASE! We take the taxi to the volleyball venue. We are a little early...so we walk around the area looking for a lunch place. As we are walking Tucker discovers that his phone is missing...probably fell out of his pocket in the taxi......we did not have a taxi receipt so we have no idea how to contact the driver.

Our volleyball matches started at 12:30 and ended at 4:00. We tried to find a lunch place before entering the venue but could not find anything except a pizza place....and we all said "no thank you" after our previous nights pizza experience. No problem....we were sure they would have food in the stadium.

The line getting into the venue was fairly efficient.....however we walked in a long line just to be told to go around the building to a different line because the first one was full.

Security was over the top intense. I appreciate the need for security but I think we have gone a little too far. At the first stop we were told that liquids and food are not allowed in the building....okay fine...I will throw away my water bottle....I can live with that.....I am all about safety.....then we were ushered to the "with bags" line because Abi and I each had a purse and the guys had backpacks. We placed our bags on the xray machines, then walked through the metal detector, then we were wanded. Our bags were then opened and every thing was suspect!!! My lip gloss (I thought they were going to confiscate all three of my new glosses that I brought back from the US....luckily I showed them what it was and proceeded to gloss my lips with everyone and put them back in my purse), they continued to search every pocket and item in my purse....packages of gum were opened.....Tuckers camera case and camera were suspect...they made him take a picture with it.....okay fine....I am still all about safety.....everything was opened and searched......and while I was glossing my lips ......we had what we are all referring to as

"THE INTERNATIONAL TAMPON INCIDENT".

(Side note: tampons are very hard to find in China....they are always on our "must purchase" list whenever we are in the states......so....I guess they are not a common known item among Chinese people)....anyway....as they are searching every inch of Abi's purse.....guess what they find? A tampon! The security guard holds it up and wants to know what it is.....he does not speak English and this is way beyond my Chinese language skills to explain. AND....this is not exactly where you want to use charades to explain their purpose. Abi was very cool and opened the wrapper thinking that this would clear things up....the guard examines it closely turning it every direction......this is no help....he still looks very puzzled.....then we start laughing....the guard motions to other guards to take a look.....four guards are now examining the tampon.....they still can not explain this....the Chinese girls behind me recognize this and also start to smile....the guards continue to ponder it. (I totally wish I had a picture of this) We are still laughing....Abi is saying....its a girl thing....ask a girl....then I turn to get help from the two girls behind me and they have disappeared.......I guess they did not want to "get involved"......so....we are now laughing so hard I am starting to get tears.....we motion for a girl guard....she comes over to have a look....AND.....she does not know what it is....Oh my gosh!!!! Now we are really laughing.....finally Abi pulls out a pad and shows the girl.....Abi says...."same" in Chinese and the light bulb comes on! By now the guard searching my bag has also found many of these "suspect items" in my purse as well. The girl guard is slightly embarrassed but explains to the boy guards the purpose of this strange item. All is well now...... and we are quickly ushered away from the security area. We are free to enter the building!!! We are still laughing... Tim said his guard also found a tampon in one of the pockets of his backpack.....(which is actually my backpack from one of our previous trips. However....Tim's guard knew what it was but did not rush over to explain it to his buddies that were searching us!

Note to self....plan for a very long security process prior to all Olympic events and empty purse of all things that might get confiscated!

The volleyball games were held at the Capital Gymnasium which was an older building but had been updated very nicely! While living in China I judge buildings by their bathroom facilities....and they were first rate!!!!
Whahoooooooo!!!! We are at the Olympics!!!!!!!!!!

The Volleyball Venue...

The court was very nice and we had good seats. The building was VERY air conditioned which felt good for the first few minutes and then we were all freezing. Everyone one around us was hugging themselves to stay warm. We went from blasting muggy heat to freezer.

We have tried to call Tuckers phone several times.....at first the phone line was busy....then no one answered....Tucker said the battery was running low....maybe the power had run out.

Photos for prosperity!

As we were waiting we noticed all the camera men were named Bob. Each one had a number....so there was Bob 1, Bob 3, Bob 8. I am sure BOB stands for something but we thought it was funny and called them all Bob.

The Olympic mascots on the big screen....
The mascots danced and entertained us...
While we were waiting for the "games to begin" Tim and I went in search for food. We saw signs at the concession areas on our way into the stadium that said drinks, hotdogs, sandwiches, chips, and other typical snack food items.



Tim tries to call Tuckers phone again....no answer

Then he sends a text message to see what happens.....


We find a concession area that serves food and get in line. The lines are typical Chinese style lines....which means...there is no line it is just a mass of people crushed into a small space all pushing forward. We have a strategy.....Tim stands in one area...I stand in a different area...we see who gets there first. Tim wins and when he orders hot dogs...they say Mai You...which means...We don't have that....okay...sandwich....Mai You....okay....chips Mai You. What??? This is the first day of the Olympics and there is no food??? They show Tim that they have bread...okay we are hungry and he orders four "breads", two waters, and two sodas and a bag of little snickers bars. The food and drinks are very inexpensive....very unlike similar events in the US....if they had hot dogs today they were only Y8 which is about $1.25.



We walk back to our seats and Tim gets a text message....a student at one of the universities has Tuckers phone!!! We are totally amazed. We make arrangements to meet her later to pick up the phone. We are soooooooooo lucky!!!


By this time we are all starving....the early morning muffin did not last very long. This is the packaging on the bread.....it says Fruit Bread....
We open the package and that is exactly what it is.....bread with chunks of candied fruit. I am really wishing I had a hot dog by now.....I think.....they must have food somewhere else...maybe a different floor... We all pick at the fruit bread.....and eat all the snickers bars.
More entertainment.....sword dancers...they were very good...




More dancers.....they are also good....
Brazilan fans warming up...they were also very entertaining.



Women's Volleyball


Algeria vs Brazil


Shake hands and exchange Olympic pins...
Time for the team photo....you could tell these teams have done this many times....they were really fast getting in "photo position"!
The match begins....we learn that they will play best of five sets...each set is first to 25 points.


The match is really exiting to watch....I can't believe we are actually at an Olympic event!
Brazil wins in three sets....25/11, 25/11, and 25/10. The Brazilian fans were a hoot!!!
The players talk with the press after the game....



I went to the restroom between matches and to look for another food consession area. I am convinced that there is "real" food in this building somewhere.....but.....no go. I stand in another line and ask for several things on their menu....and they say Mai You....(We don't have). My stomach is growling.....I step outside for a few minutes to get warmed up....I am not alone in this "thawing out" activity. I return to my seat...wishing I had smuggled a cerial bar into the building....Note to self....do not disgise cerial bars as tampons....they attract too much attention!

Abi and I during the break...

The second match begins...Poland vs Cuba
This match was even more exciting...the teams were closer matched in ability.
Wow!!! Look at her jump!


Enternatinment between sets...
Poland wins the first set....25/21



Olympic fans...


Cuba won the next three sets....17/25, 20/25, 21/25


We were really hungry by now.....
We found a taxi very quickly and asked the driver to take us to the closest McDonalds. We can say this in Chinese, it was fairly predictable (we already had enough unfamilar events for the day)and it only took about 15 minutes to find one. The place was packed!!!! No one in line to order food....but lots of people sitting in the air conditioned restuarnt watching the olympics on television.



From McDonalds we got a taxi to the the south gate of the Chinese Acadamey of Agricultural Sciecenes to pick up Tuckers cell phone. Lucky for us the student that found Tuckers phone sent us a text message with directions in Chinese charaters so we could show the taxi driver. The school was not far from McDonalds. We waited just a few minutes for the young girl to bring the phone. She would not accept our offer for a reward. She was very nice and told us to have a good time in Beijing.

We went back to our apartment by taxi to find that our air conditioning had been turned off by the cleaning ladies. AAAARRRRRGGGGG!!! We were hot and tired and it took a while to cool the place down.

We hung out for a while, checked for hot water.....Yes!!!....Good news....we have hot water. We decided to adventure out for a late Peking Duck dinner. The resturant was only on city block from the apartment.

We called this Duck Night!




The ducks are cooked in this open fire oven....
We had duck fried rice, duck with cashews.....
duck with pineapple sauce, a steaming pot of Chinese cabbage soup, and of course the traditional roasted duck with pancakes, onions, brown sauce, and cucumbers. Oops..."Mai You" on the cucumbers. We are starting to cringe when we hear these words.

Dinner was fun and we walked back to the apartment....the weather had cooled down slightly.
Showers for everyone...we were still very "muggy" from the days adventures.

The Great Flood
Abi gets in the shower and comes out of the bathroom saying...."there is water all over the floor." I go to inspect the situation...and yes...she was correct...water was running under the shower wall and onto the floor. We do not have extra towels.....we have one small mop.
I call Carol...she says someone will be over within the hour to assess the problem.

We wait....we watch the USA vs China basketball game on television....
The flood guy comes......assesses the problem...calls Carol......has a long conversation with her....hands me the phone.....Carol says..."it will be fixed in one hour"....Flood guy #1 will wait for Flood guy #2 to bring the equiptment. Okay.....we invite Flood guy to watch the game while he waits.

Flood guy watches us watch the game more than he watches the game....

A while later....someone knocks on the door...Flood guy goes to the door....has a short discussion......and goes back to work in the bathroom. I never see Flood guy #2.

A while later....Flood guy comes out to the "living room" and wants to show me his work. I go to the bathroom and he has put a shower rod and a shower curtain on the inside of the shower .....problem fixed! He is so proud.

For just a while that night I forgot we were in China.....watching basketball on television transported me for just a few minutes. I return to reality quickly....

Using my best chardes I explain that this solution will not work......show him again that the water is running out of the shower at the floor. I show him that the caulking is broken.

In the mean time Abi comes to see what is happening.....She has a great idea!!! We show Flood guy that the shower curtain could be very useful in the other bathroom as we do not have a way the keep the water in the tub while taking a shower.

Flood guy makes another phone call to Carol.....they have a long conversation....he hands me the phone....Carol says that he will be back to fix the shower in the morning....for now he will place a towel on the floor to soak up the water as it pours out of the shower.

I say okay....and Abi devises a way to put the floor mat against the inside of the shower wall so the water will not exceed the capacity of the towel.

Basketball game over.....I take a shower with the nice new curtain....and we all go to bed!!!

What a bizaro day!!!