anecdotal update

Three brief anecdotes:

Emergency services in the States (particularly California) always complain about the lack of respect afforded them by the public. Well, Beijing is an entirely different story: an ambulance with sirens wailing barely made it past our hotel as we crossed the street this morning, stuck behind a customary logjam of buses at their stops, taxis picking up passengers, and other motorists doing their best to get around them. I felt bad for whoever the ambulance was going to pick up.

But you can't blame other drivers entirely, for only moments later, the ambulance came whizzing up the street the other direction after hitting a U-turn down the way... all the yielding in the world can't help when the driver doesn't know where he's going.

At lunch, I managed to get my first vegetables since being here. I realized KFC serves sides of corn, so I went to supplement my all-grease temporary Chinese diet. Lacking the picture menus that were there just two days ago, a helpful Chinese woman offered to translate my order for those behind the counter. I began to wonder, however, when I was told I would still have to pay three yuan for my order whether or not I got the ice cream with it (?!?). My suspicions were confirmed when I was handed an empty cone. (After a little further explanation, I was able to get a hunk of corn on the cob...)

I've finally found a situation in which rain can be a positive (if not preferable) circumstance- it's raining here again today, which has several desirous effects:

lower temperature
lower humidity
less smoggy skies in coming days

Now, you are all quite aware how the monsoons of the Oregon rain forest have made me hate basically any type of precipitation, so please don't accuse me of hypocrisy. In Oregon, rain only leads to rain, rain, and more rain (and green, but that doesn't do me any good, either). Here, rain presents the only chance to glimpse the sun, and that's the most important goal anyway, eh?

For dinner, we're heading to a Russian restaurant! Been craving Russian for AGES.

Hard Shadows

Today was the first sunny day since we've been here in Beijing. It was also the first day that I noticed hard shadows accentuating the architecture of the building that houses our rented office.

Our hotel is chock-full of English speakers, and it's clear that most of them are not here primarily as spectators. To keep it purposefully vague (for now), they're here for reasons similar to ours-- at least, our end goal is similar. The providential connections made even in our housing within the body are astounding.

For instance (and as a necessary aside), I met a man traveling with an intellectual group who also happens to be personally associated with a prominent clinic in the States. I mentioned briefly my (poor) experiences with chiropractors and orthopedists, and after hearing my story he gave me a real diagnosis (with prognosis) on the spot for my injury which occurred nearly four years ago. This diagnosis was far and away the best news I have received since getting notice that I was in the first place being scouted for football, for now I can begin to break what has become a veritable cage for all areas of my life. And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street!

At lunch, we dined with the manager of the business that has so generously and hospitably played host for us. This entity is primarily focused upon business, and while they must naturally remain mindful of their fiscal standing, their endeavor is to bring (quality) Christian materials to this land. For instance, during these Games they are responsible for the translation and printing of a great many informational pieces distributed by international groups in the Village and throughout the city; another massive project they've undertaken is to translate the Awana program for this society.

One can speak of missionaries who devote themselves to those things we pragmatically deem as 'ministry,' and I can judge that group neither individually nor as a whole. At the same time, one can look at organizations similar to our humble host and see that this business, which operates entirely within the law, within the secular and convoluted framework established by the hand of man, has been placed here so that when the sun blazes it will cast a hard shadow and not fade away like the mist of man.

A strange thing

A strange thing transcribed while I was holed up over the weekend. It would seem that the Chinese workers in the shopping complex beneath our office building have been replaced by other Chinese with perfect English. Since we have had the chance to be here for several days and therefore come to recognize many members of every staff, it seems in many cases that this is not simply a few of the same crew members who have extra shifts, but an entirely different front end staff brought into the McDonald's, the Pizza Hut, the coffee shop... and even the taxi drivers are miles better at English than last week (though that's more a result of exposure).

But it's great, because the Chinese are helping me with Chinese (I can sufficiently order my English Breakfast tea for caffeination) while I can help explain why we English speakers call "hoong cha" (red tea) black (we reference the leaves while the Chinese reference the water).

One world, one dream indeed.

opening ceremonies

I know it's been about two days since the opening ceremonies, but illness has prevented me from posting until now, and the following events have been the most singular experience thus far.

Friday evening, I was tasked with traveling via mass transit across town to purchase a particular cable from Beijing's brand new Apple Store. Those of you who know me will understand that exploring a foreign locale is one my absolute favorite things in life, and the language "barrier" only serves to add to the excitement.

The trip across town was uneventful. After reaching the closest stop, I took a quick taxi ride the last 3/4 mile to the center (I would have walked had I not been in a hurry). Inside the cab, however, I noticed this:


Since then, I've noticed at least four such microphones placed into taxis. Saying as little as possible, I jumped out and made for the center, which has apparently just been finished and is filled with stores allowed "just for the Olympics" (a phrase we're hearing quite often these days).



This mannequin occurs in a great many iterations around Beijing. There's one in McDonald's that's bigger than I am; this body alone stands over 20 feet tall.



The Apple store, opened last week. In spite of the fact that it features an identical guaranteed-to-make-you trip translucent staircase as the store in New York, this location blows 5th Avenue out of the water. Downstairs was a Fossil shop featuring only the most fashionable of watches at bargain basement deals. I picked one up; if any of you want the hippest watch on earth send me some money and I'll get you a something that would cost 3 times as much in the states. Seriously.

And this is where things really got interesting, though decidedly less pictorial. Leaving the center, city traffic had dramatically subsided (this was about 6.45pm, just over an hour before the ceremony). Walking to the subway station, I could not help but notice the spike in police, military, and paramilitary presence. There were two police cars on every corner and three police officers in each, as well as military at every large building and on all bridges. I hopped in the subway and rode back to the hotel without incident, then began to watch TV (and work some more). One channel appeared to be little more than every main traffic camera in the city, which clearly showed that only taxis, buses, and military vehicles remained on Beijing's streets. As the opening ceremonies began, the smog outside my window lit up with fireworks that were lit all around the city. Apparently NBC wasn't informed, because Chinese CCTV had an exclusive helicopter shot of the fireworks lighting all the way from the Bird's Nest through the Temple of Heaven and Tienanmen Square to the Forbidden City. This led into what we all now know as the most incredible opening ceremony ever staged.

The massive police force has more or less subsided, though traffic remains lower than the days immediately preceding the Olympics. In summation, if you want a job that allows for multitudinous hours of people watching, sign up for the Chinese military. To an outsider, many of the precautions seem slightly exaggerated yet entirely understandable. China is a nation with many real and legitimate threats against its security both within and without of its borders, and with over 40 heads of state in one city one can allow for a certain amount of zeal in pursuing safety. What strikes me as odd is the perennial phrase "just for the Olympics." More on that in an upcoming post. I'll also post photos from the sight-seeing day on a slow news day.

Hello, Everybody!

We made it here safely. Despite being literally the last one to receive my bags, customs seemed simpler even than entering Ireland.

Our plane was chock full of athletes on the trek over. Serena Williams pushed me out of the way to grab her luggage at the baggage claim.

Today we'll be seeing the sights: the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and the
Temple of Heaven. I'm sure tomorrow's post will bring many more pictures, but I'll post this one. Remember the promise to eliminate smog completely by the Olympics?






I'll never complain about LA again.

bull in a china shop

Yep, I'm going to China. Ordinarily I dislike posting personal feeling things in an outright and explicit manner on this here blog, but after a friend suggested it I realized that this just may be among the only unfiltered perspectives on the Olypmics in Beijing.

Beijing which is open.

So open they're holding our equipment at customs. Here's hoping that the Chinese officials have the courtesy to pass our meager shipment of one sound board, three microphones, a computer and several miscellaneous items pass through in their recent affliction of (dare I steal a communist phrase) glasnost.

Several friends came over this evening for an evening of socializing, replete with Hold 'Em. Elijah was kind enough to give me a pictorial history of Dylan.

I've stuffed my bag with 48 Nature Valley granola bars-- as much as I'd like to turn this venture into an opportunity for a no-calorie diet, the rumored menu of octopi and other sundry seafoods would quickly become a negative calorie diet. So just to be safe I've three weeks worth of American safety net.

In about three hours I'll be leaving my new home in Fullerton for the great expanse of Eastern Asia that is China. I still haven't determined how long my flight will endure, due to time zone complications, but it'll be long.

And here's hoping there isn't any stress among the leadership on our team of two.