Olympics

Phil and I cruised from one end of the Olympic park to the other today. It’s ENORMOUS! Long lines preceded entering the Olympic park, Olympic super store shopping, and ordering dinner at McDonald’s (the only food choice by the way). However, we had a BLAST!
We managed to make our way down to the almost front row seats for the “Women’s Final Pole Vaulting” competition (not our original seats). We got to see an amazing Russian athlete, Isinbaeva, earn the gold medal in the sport as well as set a new world record for vaulting 5 meters and 5 centimeters. It was incredible to be a part of her process conferring with her coach and managing her level of nervousness. It was a total rush to be surrounded by so many people with Olympic athletes performing long jump, pole vault, steeple chase (I’d never even heard of this before-very similar to hurdles and involving water), discus, 200 meter prelim, 800 meter run, 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles, and I’m sure I’ve already forgotten something.
The buildings were fascinating and unique. The Olympic Park subway station was artistically framed in red lights and decked out red and white drums that sort of look like white caviar to me. The Water Cube continuously changed colors while the Bird’s Nest was consistently red. Armies of Olympic workers kept things running smoothly. And at the end of the night, they lined up military style and marched in step out of the building as all of the visitors left.

Jamaica Mon’

Based on a last minute invite by 2 of my yoga retreat students, Phil and I dashed off to Beijing last night to watch the men's 100-meter dash for the Olympic track and field event at the Jamaica House. Jamaica House is where the country of Jamaica holds it's swanky events for athletes and their families during the Olympics. We thought it would be an open event. However, when we arrive at what we thought was the designated time, a large sign informed us that it was a private party. A bit nervous about barging in and obviously NOT being Jamaican, we decided to use our foreigner status as a tool for inquiry. We didn't even make it in the door as a young women intercepted us and informed us that we were too early. Period. no negotiation. In somewhat disbelief, we headed off to procure some Indian food-the first non-Chinese cuisine of the past 2 months. It was good, but I still like the authentic Chinese food better. After dinner, we went back to the Jamaica House. Walking in as if we belonged, we looked around and clearly saw that the race wasn't on and that there were very few people. We were informed that things would not begin until about 10:00pm. Phil asked the waiter for is name, Eric, and we headed out to Beijing's only designer bar. We managed to make it for Happy Hour. It was a trip as it totally catered to westerners. So we all ordered mojitoes. Talk about a cross-cultural evening! After a drink, we decided to give Jamaica House a final try. Again, walking in like we owned the place, we encountered some Chinese-speaking people who Phil informed that were invited by 'Eric'. Then we met the ladies with the guest list. In quick loud English, Phil shared his invitation from 'Eric.' Carefully examining the guest list, the ladies asked, "Erin?" Phil nodded, they crossed someone named Erin off the list, and all four of us quickly entered the Jamaica House. Things were going full swing! Chinese, Jamaicans, British and Americans were everywhere. Relatives and well -known Jamaican musicians were being interviewed by multiple magazine and television reporters and video cameras and photographers worked nonstop. Unlimited wines and mixed drinks were flowing free of cost. The only thing we had to pay for was water! And it was expensive! Life music, dancing, mask wearing, and Olympic viewing-awesome!

Time

I have no sense of time living in China. I have a vague awareness of days of the week because weekends are set up differently than weekdays and Monday is supposed to be my free day. But dates have completely blown passed me. Phil and I got our tickets to the Olympics today. We were so excited that it’s all going to work out. I looked the date on them and realized they are two days before we return to the U.S.A. Then I had to find out what day today was. So we just realized that we only have about 2 ½ weeks left here at our private Shangri-La. How quickly the time has gone by! It’s going to be so strange to go back to a ‘regular’ life of work, deadlines, scheduling, no mid-day naps, and no cook in the house! (Although Phil may beg to differ on that point.)

I am looking forward to things like air-conditioning, cold water, cold hard cider, salads, eating fruit with the skin on it, fewer mosquitoes, having the shower separated from the toilet, and a dryer for our clothes. But I will miss the popsicle flavors, the crazy variety of fruits and vegetables, the slower pace of life, the naps, the sound of the cicadas, the birds of happiness, the amazingly detailed paintings and artwork at temples, and seeing how babies are so doted upon with total love an adoration by everyone in the family.

We had quite an adventurous night last night. A yoga teacher ran and got Phil and me from our room because a snake had appeared in the reading room. Everyone was freaked out and didn’t know what to do. Phil’s response was hilarious. He said to me, “And what am I going to do about a snake? Get you?” I am the animal control person in the household typically. It made me realize how hard it must be to be a parent when your child runs in with some emergency that you have no idea what to do about. Whew! Anyway, we went in armed with brooms, a really (I mean REALLY) long soup ladle, and a large cooking pot (I couldn’t find a sturdy enough bag or pillow case) ready to do battle. We couldn’t find any trace of a snake. So we ended up pulling apart 2 couches and looking in and under every object in the room to help calm everyone. I was quite glad that we weren’t successful in finding the critter since they described it as a more yellow than black snake about 4 feet long with the circumference of a garden hose. Of course, we put on a good show though. At breakfast this morning, Phil reveled in freaking out everyone with stories about how my dad used to catch snakes and cook them up for breakfast. He got some great reactions. Even better, I understood the story he told in Chinese! Hurray!