I just received this email and thought I would share it with you. The following is what went through in a 6 month period.
1,854,600 Eggs
138 tons of melon
77 tons of watermelon
2,376,665 pieces of hand fruit
652,136 total KG of fruit
30,768 pizzas
246,144 slices of pizza
10,888 roast ducks
979,920 roast duck pancakes
6459 bags of rice
161,475 KG of rice
4.29 Million 4 oz (100 gram) portions of rice
158,458 KG chicken
102,340 KG pork
4,453 KG of PC jelly
318,000 portions of jelly
261,856 ice cream cones (including all sticks, cones, cups, etc)
0.5 Million yogurt cups
10,500 Liters soy sauce
1824 KG pepperoni
6.5 tons of Sushi
16 tons of bacon
15140 KG sirloin steak
58,945 KG beef
46,298 KG Tilapia
96,289 KG total fish
649,728 Snickers Bars
14,075 KG Cornstarch
6.7 tons of Sugar Packets
10 tons of Kim chi
36,088 KG skewers
505,232 Skewers total (beef, chicken, lamb, shrimp)
573,141 KG protein (beef, chicken, lamb, veal, fish, pork, sausage, etc)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
See Ya China
It's over! My last day of work was today and I fly home in 48 hours..
What a trip it has been. I have had an amazing time here and have enjoyed almost everything China has to offer...minus the gross food I ate. I really can't believe I am heading home. I was here for 3 months and at times it felt like a century but at other times it felt like it flew by.
I was looking back on my first few posts that talked about where I will be working, where I will be staying, and all the nervous feelings I had a month before leaving. Reading it made me kind of laugh. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, I just knew I needed to show up on July 1. The first day or two I ironed out the nerves and started meeting people and my journey was in full swing. The experience here was truly incredible. This will be the largest Olympic Aramark ever does. There were 237 international managers and over 8,000 employees. On a busy day we would feed roughly 15,000 meals. Looking back on it all and seeing two villages, AV and MV, go from something to nothing is truly incredible. I was so fortunate to be a part of this project. I was one of the youngest managers here and I was working with people who were general managers, regional managers, and even some corporate managers. The connections I have made will hopefully provide a boost in my career. Not only did I meet great contacts I met some great people here who luckily live close to Philly. We hit it off right from day 1 and hung out the whole time. Granted most of these friends I made were almost old enough to be my parents it was still fun! Polishing off a bottle of vodka with regional managers and then trading business cards is something I wont forget.
Of course living in Beijing for 3 months had its ups and downs. There were days I wanted to just pack my bags and get the hell out of here and then there were days that I wanted to stay longer...actually not really! What am I thinking? Let me rephrase..there were days that I really enjoyed the city.
Now for a summary of the things I will miss and the things I hope I never have to see,smell, or hear again!
I will miss:
-cheap meals, cheap beer, and cheap taxi rides.
-the people I worked with and became friends with.
-hearing the annoying Chinese voice on the Subway.
-having my laundry folded perfectly and returned in plastic bags.
-my boxers being hung on hangers with creases.
-the awesome bread place around the corner.
-amazing dumplings, noodles, and steamed bread.
-crazy Silk Market and all the people who try selling you things.
-the translators who made my life so much easier..I could call them no matter what I was doing and they would translate for me.
-negotiating for everything..even at a hotel
I will not miss:
-the nasty smog filled sky.
-everything being a process when you have a simple task at hand.
-the stench in the taxi cabs.
-the little babies wearing assless chaps.
-walking down the street and getting hit with the worst smells ever.
-having staff that slept more then they worked.
-the chaos of work.
-having to wake up at 1am or 7am to watch Phillies games.
-the awful beds here.
-the traffic!
-the lack of personal space.
-people staring at me everywhere I go ( I have had issues with that since I was little!)
Well the things I wont miss out weigh the things I will miss but don't get me wrong...I still had an amazing time. As you all know being in Bejing for 3 months is something I will never forget. Everyone since the day I said I wanted to go to Beijing has been very supportive. Friends, family, and co-workers all encouraged me to come to Beijing to take on this challenge. I think I embraced the challenge of working on the other side of the world and making the best of everything here. It is hard to believe but I barley speak Chinese and still managed to get by for 3 months.
I look forward to getting back to Philly and back to my normal routine. I will be returning back to the Linc for football season. I think being here and working on the Olympic project will open up new opportunities for me.
I can't wait to see my family and friends and of course Game 1 of the Phillies playoffs. No more skype calls at 3am Beijing time to my father screaming about the Phillies game, no more video chats with my sister and cousin Michael at work, and no more emailing my mother to send me every time of medicine Target has to offer.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this long journey. I look forward to seeing everyone when I get back to share stories. Who knows where my next adventure will take me!
Love,
David
What a trip it has been. I have had an amazing time here and have enjoyed almost everything China has to offer...minus the gross food I ate. I really can't believe I am heading home. I was here for 3 months and at times it felt like a century but at other times it felt like it flew by.
I was looking back on my first few posts that talked about where I will be working, where I will be staying, and all the nervous feelings I had a month before leaving. Reading it made me kind of laugh. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, I just knew I needed to show up on July 1. The first day or two I ironed out the nerves and started meeting people and my journey was in full swing. The experience here was truly incredible. This will be the largest Olympic Aramark ever does. There were 237 international managers and over 8,000 employees. On a busy day we would feed roughly 15,000 meals. Looking back on it all and seeing two villages, AV and MV, go from something to nothing is truly incredible. I was so fortunate to be a part of this project. I was one of the youngest managers here and I was working with people who were general managers, regional managers, and even some corporate managers. The connections I have made will hopefully provide a boost in my career. Not only did I meet great contacts I met some great people here who luckily live close to Philly. We hit it off right from day 1 and hung out the whole time. Granted most of these friends I made were almost old enough to be my parents it was still fun! Polishing off a bottle of vodka with regional managers and then trading business cards is something I wont forget.
Of course living in Beijing for 3 months had its ups and downs. There were days I wanted to just pack my bags and get the hell out of here and then there were days that I wanted to stay longer...actually not really! What am I thinking? Let me rephrase..there were days that I really enjoyed the city.
Now for a summary of the things I will miss and the things I hope I never have to see,smell, or hear again!
I will miss:
-cheap meals, cheap beer, and cheap taxi rides.
-the people I worked with and became friends with.
-hearing the annoying Chinese voice on the Subway.
-having my laundry folded perfectly and returned in plastic bags.
-my boxers being hung on hangers with creases.
-the awesome bread place around the corner.
-amazing dumplings, noodles, and steamed bread.
-crazy Silk Market and all the people who try selling you things.
-the translators who made my life so much easier..I could call them no matter what I was doing and they would translate for me.
-negotiating for everything..even at a hotel
I will not miss:
-the nasty smog filled sky.
-everything being a process when you have a simple task at hand.
-the stench in the taxi cabs.
-the little babies wearing assless chaps.
-walking down the street and getting hit with the worst smells ever.
-having staff that slept more then they worked.
-the chaos of work.
-having to wake up at 1am or 7am to watch Phillies games.
-the awful beds here.
-the traffic!
-the lack of personal space.
-people staring at me everywhere I go ( I have had issues with that since I was little!)
Well the things I wont miss out weigh the things I will miss but don't get me wrong...I still had an amazing time. As you all know being in Bejing for 3 months is something I will never forget. Everyone since the day I said I wanted to go to Beijing has been very supportive. Friends, family, and co-workers all encouraged me to come to Beijing to take on this challenge. I think I embraced the challenge of working on the other side of the world and making the best of everything here. It is hard to believe but I barley speak Chinese and still managed to get by for 3 months.
I look forward to getting back to Philly and back to my normal routine. I will be returning back to the Linc for football season. I think being here and working on the Olympic project will open up new opportunities for me.
I can't wait to see my family and friends and of course Game 1 of the Phillies playoffs. No more skype calls at 3am Beijing time to my father screaming about the Phillies game, no more video chats with my sister and cousin Michael at work, and no more emailing my mother to send me every time of medicine Target has to offer.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this long journey. I look forward to seeing everyone when I get back to share stories. Who knows where my next adventure will take me!
Love,
David
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Dinner with a vegetarian
Jordana and Aaron were in town for the past few nights and last night we wanted to try hot pot. Everyone has talked about how great it is so we thought we would give it a shot. We went to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. It was right around the corner from the hotel and when we sat down at the table the entire menu was in Chinese. We tried to figure the menu out but had no clue what was going on so we left the restaurant.
Down the block there was a Korean bbq which we decided to go to. I had been there before and really liked it so I knew it was a good spot. We sat down and started looking through the menu. For those of you who don't know, Jordana is a vegetarian. This place was good for her because they had fish and lots of vegetables. We ordered a few things and then Jordana showed the waiter a piece of paper that said, " I am a vegetarian." The waiter nodded is his and went about his way.
In China they do not have many vegetarians....meat is a big thing. The first thing they threw on the grill was some fish and vegetables. After about 10 minutes they started putting meat on and Jordana stopped him saying she was a vegetarian. The guy gave us a look like she was crazy and stopped. They switched the grill and then we put the meat on. These people were so shocked to see someone not eat meat or not want anything that touched meat to touch her food.
The meal was great and rather entertaining. Aaron and I ordered a meat platter and the guy was cooking it up for us. Each thing was really good although we did not know what each piece of meat was. This one thing the guy put on we both ate and looked at each other and were like this is kind of chewy I don't like it. We asked the guy what it was and he sticks his tongue out. We ate frickin Ox Tongue. I can now add ox tongue to the intestines I ate the first week I was here.
The time that I spent with Aaron and Jordana was awesome. We went to the Summer Palace which was great and had a memorable dinner. It was nice having some family here for a few days.
I have exactly 7 days left here. I think I have 2 days left of work or maybe 3. They are really pulling my chain with when I end which is extremely annoying. I am planning on taking a bike tour of old Beijing at some point this week and finish some other last minute things in Beijing.....hard to believe its almost over.
Down the block there was a Korean bbq which we decided to go to. I had been there before and really liked it so I knew it was a good spot. We sat down and started looking through the menu. For those of you who don't know, Jordana is a vegetarian. This place was good for her because they had fish and lots of vegetables. We ordered a few things and then Jordana showed the waiter a piece of paper that said, " I am a vegetarian." The waiter nodded is his and went about his way.
In China they do not have many vegetarians....meat is a big thing. The first thing they threw on the grill was some fish and vegetables. After about 10 minutes they started putting meat on and Jordana stopped him saying she was a vegetarian. The guy gave us a look like she was crazy and stopped. They switched the grill and then we put the meat on. These people were so shocked to see someone not eat meat or not want anything that touched meat to touch her food.
The meal was great and rather entertaining. Aaron and I ordered a meat platter and the guy was cooking it up for us. Each thing was really good although we did not know what each piece of meat was. This one thing the guy put on we both ate and looked at each other and were like this is kind of chewy I don't like it. We asked the guy what it was and he sticks his tongue out. We ate frickin Ox Tongue. I can now add ox tongue to the intestines I ate the first week I was here.
The time that I spent with Aaron and Jordana was awesome. We went to the Summer Palace which was great and had a memorable dinner. It was nice having some family here for a few days.
I have exactly 7 days left here. I think I have 2 days left of work or maybe 3. They are really pulling my chain with when I end which is extremely annoying. I am planning on taking a bike tour of old Beijing at some point this week and finish some other last minute things in Beijing.....hard to believe its almost over.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Living the Dream
When we got to the airport we went up to the counter to check in. Once again I was wearing my Olympic credentials just in case. The lady took my passport and asked if I wanted window or aisle. I asked for the aisle in the emergency row. She did not really understand me so I just said forget it.
We start walking toward the huge line for the security check. I have no idea why the line was so long...it was almost one of those lines you see Thanksgiving time. As we are about to get in line this lady stops me. Kind of confused I turn around and she goes, "sir, can you please come with me." I follow her back to the counter and I am thinking maybe they made a mistake with my seat or something. She starts getting on the phone and looking at the computer. I asked what was going on and I got the standard, "wait a moment please." So we waited about 5 minutes and this other guy comes up to the counter. He says, "follow me." We didn't have to go through regular security we went through what they called VIP security. He then gives us our tickets. We went from row 15 to 2....first class! I was carrying a big back pack and then a smaller bag and he takes one of them for me to help me carry it. We start walking toward the gate all I can do is laugh.
On the right side of the terminal is all of these first class lounges. We passed about 3 and then the 4th one he says, "right this way sir." Now I am in the first class lounge at the airport. We sit down and he asks if I would like a beer.....sure why not. He brings out a beer and a fruit plate and asks if I would like lunch. I declined and went about drinking my beer. It was 7pm and the flight was boarding soon. We decided to get up and leave and said thanks. They said, "no you can't go yet we will take you in 15 minutes." I told him I wanted to walk around for a little and he didn't seem to understand why I would leave.
We get to our gate but there is no plane...its a bus! First thing that pops in my head is "when in China." We are one of the first few in line and there must be 80-100 people behind us. They take our boarding passes and tell us to get on the bus. Well the bus was the size of one of the rental car buses at the airports in the states minus seats. I get in and go straight for the back and then watch the entire plane board this bus. It is so crowded and with crowded comes hot and with hot comes smells! The bus sat with the doors closed and no air for about 5 minutes and then drove onto the tar mac to our plane. We board the plane and row 2 end up not being first class but it has a huge amount of leg room. Same seats as coach but more leg room then emergency row.
I put my iPod on and start to doze off. The flight attendant taps me on the shoulder and says, "Mr. Salinger if there is anything you need while on the plane please let me know and we will be glad to accommodate you." I said thank you and just started laughing to myself. The flight was a little bumpy and we were a little late. When I walked off the plane there is a woman right on the other side of the door with a sign that says, "Welcome Salinger/David." I went up to her and she says, "welcome to Beijing I hope your flight was everything you expected." We walked into the terminal and she asks me if I am heading to Olympic Village. I said no because I had no idea what would happen if I said yes. I was not sure if they would arrange a car or what. We took the subway home which was easy!
About my badge. This is the greatest thing in the world. These people must have thought I was someone important for them to stop me in the airport, change my ticket, let me in the first class club, and have someone waiting for me in Beijing. The hospitality was amazing. I gave everyone who was helping me Olympic Pins and they were very appreciative.
With that said...when I fly home in 2 weeks I will be sure to wear my badge and have plenty of pins to give out and see what happens. It was a great way to end a great trip.
I need to get to bed..I am exhausted.
We start walking toward the huge line for the security check. I have no idea why the line was so long...it was almost one of those lines you see Thanksgiving time. As we are about to get in line this lady stops me. Kind of confused I turn around and she goes, "sir, can you please come with me." I follow her back to the counter and I am thinking maybe they made a mistake with my seat or something. She starts getting on the phone and looking at the computer. I asked what was going on and I got the standard, "wait a moment please." So we waited about 5 minutes and this other guy comes up to the counter. He says, "follow me." We didn't have to go through regular security we went through what they called VIP security. He then gives us our tickets. We went from row 15 to 2....first class! I was carrying a big back pack and then a smaller bag and he takes one of them for me to help me carry it. We start walking toward the gate all I can do is laugh.
On the right side of the terminal is all of these first class lounges. We passed about 3 and then the 4th one he says, "right this way sir." Now I am in the first class lounge at the airport. We sit down and he asks if I would like a beer.....sure why not. He brings out a beer and a fruit plate and asks if I would like lunch. I declined and went about drinking my beer. It was 7pm and the flight was boarding soon. We decided to get up and leave and said thanks. They said, "no you can't go yet we will take you in 15 minutes." I told him I wanted to walk around for a little and he didn't seem to understand why I would leave.
We get to our gate but there is no plane...its a bus! First thing that pops in my head is "when in China." We are one of the first few in line and there must be 80-100 people behind us. They take our boarding passes and tell us to get on the bus. Well the bus was the size of one of the rental car buses at the airports in the states minus seats. I get in and go straight for the back and then watch the entire plane board this bus. It is so crowded and with crowded comes hot and with hot comes smells! The bus sat with the doors closed and no air for about 5 minutes and then drove onto the tar mac to our plane. We board the plane and row 2 end up not being first class but it has a huge amount of leg room. Same seats as coach but more leg room then emergency row.
I put my iPod on and start to doze off. The flight attendant taps me on the shoulder and says, "Mr. Salinger if there is anything you need while on the plane please let me know and we will be glad to accommodate you." I said thank you and just started laughing to myself. The flight was a little bumpy and we were a little late. When I walked off the plane there is a woman right on the other side of the door with a sign that says, "Welcome Salinger/David." I went up to her and she says, "welcome to Beijing I hope your flight was everything you expected." We walked into the terminal and she asks me if I am heading to Olympic Village. I said no because I had no idea what would happen if I said yes. I was not sure if they would arrange a car or what. We took the subway home which was easy!
About my badge. This is the greatest thing in the world. These people must have thought I was someone important for them to stop me in the airport, change my ticket, let me in the first class club, and have someone waiting for me in Beijing. The hospitality was amazing. I gave everyone who was helping me Olympic Pins and they were very appreciative.
With that said...when I fly home in 2 weeks I will be sure to wear my badge and have plenty of pins to give out and see what happens. It was a great way to end a great trip.
I need to get to bed..I am exhausted.
Xian pronounced She An
What a great trip. This post will be kind of long….we did a lot in less then 48 hours.
When we arrived at the airport our driver was waiting with a sign that said “Meets Mr. David Salinger.” Our driver drove us right to the hotel and it was 100 rmb, which is really cheap. The weather in Xian was pretty bad. We did not think we would have the smog here but while we were here all there was were grey skies…you will see in the pictures.
When we got to the hotel we met Ariel and Michelle who took the train up. We checked in and were really impressed. The hotel was gorgeous and the staff was very helpful. While we checked in Ariel and Michelle were negotiating with the driver for a price for the day. We were doing the Warriors, Hot Springs, and whatever else he suggested. The girls pushed hard and got the guy for 400 rmb for the entire day. Tha is 60 bucks and we spent at least 6 hours driving all over the place.
The first place the driver took us was a place we didn’t even ask to go to but he thought we would like it. It wasn’t that impressive. It was some excavation site were this tribe used to live. Some of the things inside were really interesting but it was just ok. I don’t even remember the name of the place.
After the first place we headed to Huaqing Hot Spring. This is where the emperors would go to hang out with their concubines. The grounds were incredible. Despite the weather it was really cool to see.
After the hot spring we made our way to the Warriors. This place was amazing and anyone who is ever in China should come visit Xian without a doubt to see this. We watched a brief movie about how all of this was found. It turns out it was two local farmers getting water from a well and when they pulled the bucket up there were broken pieces of the warriors. We could not get a clear answer for why the warriors were built in the first place but I think it was because one the emperors took over 6 provinces and built them to show how powerful he is. There are 3 pits of warriors. When we walked into the first one (it has 6,000) I was in shock. For the most part they are all still in decent shape. The size of this pit was enormous…I am not even sure what I could compare it to….maybe 3 or 4 football fields. Each warrior depending on its rank was built a different size. Your normal soldier was hollow because he was at the bottom of the ladder and then generals were built to weigh about 400 pounds. It was incredible and so worth the trip.
After the warriors we were all exhausted and the cab brought us back to the hotel. We asked for some recommendations where to eat and they told us this area is known for lamb and noodles and we should go down the street to get it. Most people don’t know this but Xian is one of the oldest cities in China and it still has the original city wall. Our hotel was located just outside of the south gate. We walked through the wall and into the Muslim Area. The Muslim area had this huge street market with people selling all sorts of weird crap that I would never consider eating. It also had a mini silk market with everyone screaming and saying they have the best things for the best price. I did manage to have someone paint my name in Chinese and it turned out really cool.
This morning I woke up kind of early and went for a run. I ran along the city wall. It was a lot of fun because they have all of this exercise equipment along the way and all the old people were using it. There were also large groups doing tai chi as well. I was running with a USA shirt and everyone kept looking at me. This city is awesome. It is not crowded like Beijing, the cabs stop for you, and the people are great. Everyone is really friendly. When I got back from my run we decided to take a tour of the wall. This wall has a moat and everything. We walked through a drawbridge to get inside. After walking around on the wall we went to a pagoda that had a huge Muslim temple. It was nice but since the weather was kind of bad it was not as good as it could have been.
We got back to the hotel around 3 and asked the front desk for a place to get noodles. This province is known for noodles so we figured we have to eat them. The main guy at the desk says, “Mr. David Evan if you would like noodles I know just the place for you.” He called me David Evan because they wrote my name down from my passport. Anyways he told us there is a place behind the hotel known for noodles and its fantastic…or as he said “very beautiful.” It took us a little bit to find the place because Chinese and directions don’t go together very well. When we walked in there were maybe 2 or 3 people eating. This one guy comes up to us in English and says, “welcome to Xian..do you like China?” We said yes and told them we need a table for 2. At the front counter they had a menu similar to one you would see at a McDonald’s or Burger King. We couldn’t figure out how we were suppose to order so we just grabbed a seat and they gave us a menu. The menu was all Chinese with a picture here and there. I saw a giant bowl of noodles with some stuff in it and ordered it. I was facing the front counter and they kept staring at me like I was from another planet. When my noodles came out they handed me a set of chopsticks. This was not your normal size chopstick—probably 2-3 inches larger then normal. I can handle the regular size ones but these..no chance! The girl behind the counter starts laughing almost out of control as I attempt to use these giant chopsticks to eat my noodles. My chopstick skills have improved since being here but some days you just have a bad day. As she continued to laugh I was getting a noodle in my mouth about ever 3 minutes. She walks into the kitchen and comes out with a fork. Once the fork came out it was great and the noodles were amazing. It was noodles, vegetables, mystery meat, and some egg. They were fantastic and all for 7rmb. 7rmb is roughly 1 US dollar.
We are in the lobby now waiting for the driver to get us to head back to Beijing. I am on the home stretch. I have 2 weeks left until I fly home. This trip was much needed. It was nice to get out of Beijing and see another part of China. It was nice walking down the street and not getting bumped into because it is so crowded or being able to drive in a cab without traffic. This gave me a taste of what “real” China is like. If I could stay for a few more days I would.
The Paralympics end tomorrow night and all the athletes will be out by Saturday morning. Hard to believe it is almost over. Jordana arrives tomorrow and is going to stay with me because she is not checking into her hotel until the 18th. Going out to eat with a vegetarian in China should be pretty interest. When I get back I will post pictures so you guys can see my trip.
When we arrived at the airport our driver was waiting with a sign that said “Meets Mr. David Salinger.” Our driver drove us right to the hotel and it was 100 rmb, which is really cheap. The weather in Xian was pretty bad. We did not think we would have the smog here but while we were here all there was were grey skies…you will see in the pictures.
When we got to the hotel we met Ariel and Michelle who took the train up. We checked in and were really impressed. The hotel was gorgeous and the staff was very helpful. While we checked in Ariel and Michelle were negotiating with the driver for a price for the day. We were doing the Warriors, Hot Springs, and whatever else he suggested. The girls pushed hard and got the guy for 400 rmb for the entire day. Tha is 60 bucks and we spent at least 6 hours driving all over the place.
The first place the driver took us was a place we didn’t even ask to go to but he thought we would like it. It wasn’t that impressive. It was some excavation site were this tribe used to live. Some of the things inside were really interesting but it was just ok. I don’t even remember the name of the place.
After the first place we headed to Huaqing Hot Spring. This is where the emperors would go to hang out with their concubines. The grounds were incredible. Despite the weather it was really cool to see.
After the hot spring we made our way to the Warriors. This place was amazing and anyone who is ever in China should come visit Xian without a doubt to see this. We watched a brief movie about how all of this was found. It turns out it was two local farmers getting water from a well and when they pulled the bucket up there were broken pieces of the warriors. We could not get a clear answer for why the warriors were built in the first place but I think it was because one the emperors took over 6 provinces and built them to show how powerful he is. There are 3 pits of warriors. When we walked into the first one (it has 6,000) I was in shock. For the most part they are all still in decent shape. The size of this pit was enormous…I am not even sure what I could compare it to….maybe 3 or 4 football fields. Each warrior depending on its rank was built a different size. Your normal soldier was hollow because he was at the bottom of the ladder and then generals were built to weigh about 400 pounds. It was incredible and so worth the trip.
After the warriors we were all exhausted and the cab brought us back to the hotel. We asked for some recommendations where to eat and they told us this area is known for lamb and noodles and we should go down the street to get it. Most people don’t know this but Xian is one of the oldest cities in China and it still has the original city wall. Our hotel was located just outside of the south gate. We walked through the wall and into the Muslim Area. The Muslim area had this huge street market with people selling all sorts of weird crap that I would never consider eating. It also had a mini silk market with everyone screaming and saying they have the best things for the best price. I did manage to have someone paint my name in Chinese and it turned out really cool.
This morning I woke up kind of early and went for a run. I ran along the city wall. It was a lot of fun because they have all of this exercise equipment along the way and all the old people were using it. There were also large groups doing tai chi as well. I was running with a USA shirt and everyone kept looking at me. This city is awesome. It is not crowded like Beijing, the cabs stop for you, and the people are great. Everyone is really friendly. When I got back from my run we decided to take a tour of the wall. This wall has a moat and everything. We walked through a drawbridge to get inside. After walking around on the wall we went to a pagoda that had a huge Muslim temple. It was nice but since the weather was kind of bad it was not as good as it could have been.
We got back to the hotel around 3 and asked the front desk for a place to get noodles. This province is known for noodles so we figured we have to eat them. The main guy at the desk says, “Mr. David Evan if you would like noodles I know just the place for you.” He called me David Evan because they wrote my name down from my passport. Anyways he told us there is a place behind the hotel known for noodles and its fantastic…or as he said “very beautiful.” It took us a little bit to find the place because Chinese and directions don’t go together very well. When we walked in there were maybe 2 or 3 people eating. This one guy comes up to us in English and says, “welcome to Xian..do you like China?” We said yes and told them we need a table for 2. At the front counter they had a menu similar to one you would see at a McDonald’s or Burger King. We couldn’t figure out how we were suppose to order so we just grabbed a seat and they gave us a menu. The menu was all Chinese with a picture here and there. I saw a giant bowl of noodles with some stuff in it and ordered it. I was facing the front counter and they kept staring at me like I was from another planet. When my noodles came out they handed me a set of chopsticks. This was not your normal size chopstick—probably 2-3 inches larger then normal. I can handle the regular size ones but these..no chance! The girl behind the counter starts laughing almost out of control as I attempt to use these giant chopsticks to eat my noodles. My chopstick skills have improved since being here but some days you just have a bad day. As she continued to laugh I was getting a noodle in my mouth about ever 3 minutes. She walks into the kitchen and comes out with a fork. Once the fork came out it was great and the noodles were amazing. It was noodles, vegetables, mystery meat, and some egg. They were fantastic and all for 7rmb. 7rmb is roughly 1 US dollar.
We are in the lobby now waiting for the driver to get us to head back to Beijing. I am on the home stretch. I have 2 weeks left until I fly home. This trip was much needed. It was nice to get out of Beijing and see another part of China. It was nice walking down the street and not getting bumped into because it is so crowded or being able to drive in a cab without traffic. This gave me a taste of what “real” China is like. If I could stay for a few more days I would.
The Paralympics end tomorrow night and all the athletes will be out by Saturday morning. Hard to believe it is almost over. Jordana arrives tomorrow and is going to stay with me because she is not checking into her hotel until the 18th. Going out to eat with a vegetarian in China should be pretty interest. When I get back I will post pictures so you guys can see my trip.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
On the Plane
I am currently on the plane and I could not wait to get to Xian to do a post.
I woke up this morning at about 2:30am because I could not sleep so I figured I would check the Phillies score and go right back to bed. Instead I stayed up and spent about an hour on Skype with my dad watching the game and I was able to catch the Mets blowing another lead. If there are any Mets fans reading this…de ja vu?
Before I left the hotel this morning I figured I would wear a USA t-shirt and my credentials to see if I would get preferred treatment in our travels. Getting to the airport was really easy. We took the subway to the airport express line. It is 25 rmb to get to the airport but because I had my credentials on we rode for free.
Once in the terminal we had to go through an initial security check. The line was pretty long but they saw my badge and told us to come up to the front. After the initial security check we had to walk about 15 minutes to the check-in area. The place was a zoo and the lines were killer. We were standing in line and this women came up to us asking if we had to check any bags and we told her no. She said we could check in at the electronic kiosks. We told her we couldn’t read Chinese so that would be impossible. She got a kick out of it and took us to the line with our passports…cut everyone off and printed us our tickets. I asked for 2 aisle seats across from each other.
Going through airport security in China is pretty interesting. There was this huge line and then they allow one person at a time. We waited for a few minutes and then it was my turn. They check your ticket and then it’s the usual security check. I took out my laptop, cell phone, and iPod and put it in a bin and then sent my bag through. They checked my ticket again and I walked through the metal detector. Then another guy signaled for me to come to him. He checked my ticket again and made me stand on a platform where he searched me to make sure I had nothing on me. I passed but noticed they had pulled by bag off to the side. They asked me to open it up and they pointed at my toothbrush and toothpaste. I took it out and they asked what it was! I kid you not they asked what it was. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they maybe have never seen an electronic toothbrush but you never know. I didn’t understand why they checked my ticket 3 times in the security line..a little strange.
Once we got through security we went to look for something to eat. China does not do airports like we do. They had this one place that was selling cold noodles and congee. For those of you who don’t know congee is boiled water and rice. It is the most disgusting thing ever but a staple here. We couldn’t find anything to eat so we just went to wait for the flight. Sitting in the waiting area we noticed a lot of Americans. Xian is a major attraction so it was nice to see and hear Americans.
My flight. Well I asked for an aisle and got a middle seat. I hate middle seats in the states and you can only imagine it here. I tried to sleep but the woman to my right is reading the newspaper and is not very good at keeping it her space. Half the page is on me. The guy to my left is also reading the paper so imagine poor me trapped between two newspapers. The best part about this is they are serving food right now. It is a small white box just like you would get on a states flight except the inside is much more interesting. I passed on the food obviously…I would rather starve! The contents of the box: A small bag of cherry tomatoes, a tuna sandwich (remember we are in a confined area so the smell is just lovely) and congee.
Not only am I jammed in this seat but also both people are going to town on their food. I am trying my best to not get sick. Between the stench of the tuna and other various smells it is making this flight very interesting. Jessica, Michael, Marisa, and Zach….think back to that one flight we took when we were kids and I flipped out….could be the second time I do that in about 5 minutes….The lady on my right just dropped the congee on her pants and is whipping it up with the newspaper!!!
We land in about 45 minutes and we have a driver picking us up and taking us to the hotel to drop our stuff off and pick up the translators. The translators decided to take the overnight train to save some money so they got in around 9am. We are heading right to the warriors first and then on our way back we are going to the hot springs.
I will keep you posted on the rest of the trip later just thought I would share my flight experience.
I woke up this morning at about 2:30am because I could not sleep so I figured I would check the Phillies score and go right back to bed. Instead I stayed up and spent about an hour on Skype with my dad watching the game and I was able to catch the Mets blowing another lead. If there are any Mets fans reading this…de ja vu?
Before I left the hotel this morning I figured I would wear a USA t-shirt and my credentials to see if I would get preferred treatment in our travels. Getting to the airport was really easy. We took the subway to the airport express line. It is 25 rmb to get to the airport but because I had my credentials on we rode for free.
Once in the terminal we had to go through an initial security check. The line was pretty long but they saw my badge and told us to come up to the front. After the initial security check we had to walk about 15 minutes to the check-in area. The place was a zoo and the lines were killer. We were standing in line and this women came up to us asking if we had to check any bags and we told her no. She said we could check in at the electronic kiosks. We told her we couldn’t read Chinese so that would be impossible. She got a kick out of it and took us to the line with our passports…cut everyone off and printed us our tickets. I asked for 2 aisle seats across from each other.
Going through airport security in China is pretty interesting. There was this huge line and then they allow one person at a time. We waited for a few minutes and then it was my turn. They check your ticket and then it’s the usual security check. I took out my laptop, cell phone, and iPod and put it in a bin and then sent my bag through. They checked my ticket again and I walked through the metal detector. Then another guy signaled for me to come to him. He checked my ticket again and made me stand on a platform where he searched me to make sure I had nothing on me. I passed but noticed they had pulled by bag off to the side. They asked me to open it up and they pointed at my toothbrush and toothpaste. I took it out and they asked what it was! I kid you not they asked what it was. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they maybe have never seen an electronic toothbrush but you never know. I didn’t understand why they checked my ticket 3 times in the security line..a little strange.
Once we got through security we went to look for something to eat. China does not do airports like we do. They had this one place that was selling cold noodles and congee. For those of you who don’t know congee is boiled water and rice. It is the most disgusting thing ever but a staple here. We couldn’t find anything to eat so we just went to wait for the flight. Sitting in the waiting area we noticed a lot of Americans. Xian is a major attraction so it was nice to see and hear Americans.
My flight. Well I asked for an aisle and got a middle seat. I hate middle seats in the states and you can only imagine it here. I tried to sleep but the woman to my right is reading the newspaper and is not very good at keeping it her space. Half the page is on me. The guy to my left is also reading the paper so imagine poor me trapped between two newspapers. The best part about this is they are serving food right now. It is a small white box just like you would get on a states flight except the inside is much more interesting. I passed on the food obviously…I would rather starve! The contents of the box: A small bag of cherry tomatoes, a tuna sandwich (remember we are in a confined area so the smell is just lovely) and congee.
Not only am I jammed in this seat but also both people are going to town on their food. I am trying my best to not get sick. Between the stench of the tuna and other various smells it is making this flight very interesting. Jessica, Michael, Marisa, and Zach….think back to that one flight we took when we were kids and I flipped out….could be the second time I do that in about 5 minutes….The lady on my right just dropped the congee on her pants and is whipping it up with the newspaper!!!
We land in about 45 minutes and we have a driver picking us up and taking us to the hotel to drop our stuff off and pick up the translators. The translators decided to take the overnight train to save some money so they got in around 9am. We are heading right to the warriors first and then on our way back we are going to the hot springs.
I will keep you posted on the rest of the trip later just thought I would share my flight experience.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Wheelchair Rugby
Well last night I went to wheelchair rugby. I really did not know what to expect. People told me how crazy it was and how they just beat the crap out of each other in wheelchairs while trying to get a ball across the line.
The rules of the game are rather simple. They play on a basketball court and the goal line is probably a little smaller then a soccer net. You score when your wheelchair crosses the line. They will call fouls if you reach in trying to steal the ball or ram someone out of bounds when it is not necessary. The ball they use is a volleyball. There are 4 people on a side with substitutions just like any other sport.
For the first game, New Zealand vs. Australia, I had decent seats. This one guy for Australia who had no legs and very short arms scored 26 goals. He was so fast and I could not figure out how it was possible because his arms were not of normal length. The only bad thing about the first game was being surrounded by people with those annoying thunder sticks. I kept getting hit by them or people would bump into me because they were so excited about the game. These were all locals...nobody from Australia or New Zealand but the way they were cheering you would think they were from there. If they were people from either of the countries playing I would understand but there were local Beijingers going nuts and it was so annoying!
The second game we sat second row center court. It was cool because you could hear them screaming and yelling and talking trash on the court. I guess it doesn't matter what sport it is there is always trash talking.
As for the game itself. I wasn't really impressed with it. Everyone made it out to be this crazy sport where they are knocking each other all over ther place. It was physical but probably just a little more physical then wheelchair basketball.
I am at the coffee shop now and things have died down even more. There are only 4 days left of the paralympics and people have started to head out already. We went from slow to extra slow. I have 15 days left and I am looking forward to them because I only have 8 days of work, I am going to see the Teracotta Warriors, and Jordana will be visiting for a few days.
Hard to believe another countdown has begun. It seems like just the other day I was counting down until I leave for China and now I have a countdown until I go back to the states.
I posted pictures from wheelchair rugby so you guys can get an idea of what it looks like. I understand some people are having a hard time viewing my pictures. If that is the case email me and I will try to send you a direct link.
The rules of the game are rather simple. They play on a basketball court and the goal line is probably a little smaller then a soccer net. You score when your wheelchair crosses the line. They will call fouls if you reach in trying to steal the ball or ram someone out of bounds when it is not necessary. The ball they use is a volleyball. There are 4 people on a side with substitutions just like any other sport.
For the first game, New Zealand vs. Australia, I had decent seats. This one guy for Australia who had no legs and very short arms scored 26 goals. He was so fast and I could not figure out how it was possible because his arms were not of normal length. The only bad thing about the first game was being surrounded by people with those annoying thunder sticks. I kept getting hit by them or people would bump into me because they were so excited about the game. These were all locals...nobody from Australia or New Zealand but the way they were cheering you would think they were from there. If they were people from either of the countries playing I would understand but there were local Beijingers going nuts and it was so annoying!
The second game we sat second row center court. It was cool because you could hear them screaming and yelling and talking trash on the court. I guess it doesn't matter what sport it is there is always trash talking.
As for the game itself. I wasn't really impressed with it. Everyone made it out to be this crazy sport where they are knocking each other all over ther place. It was physical but probably just a little more physical then wheelchair basketball.
I am at the coffee shop now and things have died down even more. There are only 4 days left of the paralympics and people have started to head out already. We went from slow to extra slow. I have 15 days left and I am looking forward to them because I only have 8 days of work, I am going to see the Teracotta Warriors, and Jordana will be visiting for a few days.
Hard to believe another countdown has begun. It seems like just the other day I was counting down until I leave for China and now I have a countdown until I go back to the states.
I posted pictures from wheelchair rugby so you guys can get an idea of what it looks like. I understand some people are having a hard time viewing my pictures. If that is the case email me and I will try to send you a direct link.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Noodles
Last night I was hungry and did not feel like going anywhere far so someone suggested this noodle place that is around the corner from the hotel. It was nice to see a menu with English translation when we sat down.
The one thing that drives me crazy about going out to eat here is that when they seat you and hand you the menu they sit there and wait until you are ready to order. We always tell them to go away and give us some time but they just smile and wait...I hate it! Of course as we looked through the menu the waitress sat over my shoulder until we were ready. I ordered some chicken and noodle dish. As soon as we ordered she came back 2 minutes later with the bill. It is very common here to pay for your meal before you even eat it. It is kind of nice because when you are done eating you dont have to wait around for the bill but at the same time they never check up on you because once you are paid they dont come back.
This noodle place probably had about 30 tables and it was pretty full. Naturally we were the only Americans in the place. Everyone around us was busy eating as we waited for our food. I could not stop laughing because all you could here were SLURPS!!! It was the most disturbing thing ever. I was looking around and peoples faces were in their soup bowls making the loudest slurping noises ever...it was gross. Their technique is very interesting. They get the noodles on their chop and then go to eat them but as they are slurping them up they keep putting more on the chopstick so the slurp session could last a good minute. My Uncle Gary would kill these people because I remember having Friday night dinners at the Simms house and if you made the slightest slurp we would get "the look."
Looking past the gross noises coming from around the entire place the meal was really good. A good meal for 3 bucks...you can't beat it.
I have two days until I depart for Xian. I can't wait to go.
The one thing that drives me crazy about going out to eat here is that when they seat you and hand you the menu they sit there and wait until you are ready to order. We always tell them to go away and give us some time but they just smile and wait...I hate it! Of course as we looked through the menu the waitress sat over my shoulder until we were ready. I ordered some chicken and noodle dish. As soon as we ordered she came back 2 minutes later with the bill. It is very common here to pay for your meal before you even eat it. It is kind of nice because when you are done eating you dont have to wait around for the bill but at the same time they never check up on you because once you are paid they dont come back.
This noodle place probably had about 30 tables and it was pretty full. Naturally we were the only Americans in the place. Everyone around us was busy eating as we waited for our food. I could not stop laughing because all you could here were SLURPS!!! It was the most disturbing thing ever. I was looking around and peoples faces were in their soup bowls making the loudest slurping noises ever...it was gross. Their technique is very interesting. They get the noodles on their chop and then go to eat them but as they are slurping them up they keep putting more on the chopstick so the slurp session could last a good minute. My Uncle Gary would kill these people because I remember having Friday night dinners at the Simms house and if you made the slightest slurp we would get "the look."
Looking past the gross noises coming from around the entire place the meal was really good. A good meal for 3 bucks...you can't beat it.
I have two days until I depart for Xian. I can't wait to go.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
My 2 days off
I had Monday and today off and it has been a great 2 days. I was able to get tickets to see wheelchair basketball and I was finally able to make it inside the Birds Nest.
During the day on Monday I went to Tiananmen Square. The square is directly across from Forbidden City. It really is a sight to see...it is huge. For the olympics they made these flower gardens that were really cool. I took a million pictures so you can see.
Monday night was the basketball game. All seats for paralympics are general admission which creates such a nightmare. Everyone pushes and shoves to begin with so just imagine a few thousand people trying to get the best seat. We got lucky and found 2 seats at center court. The game is pretty fun to watch. It is impressive how atheltic they are while being in a wheelchair. I also bought tickets for wheelchair rugby this Saturday night which should be interesting.
This morning I woke up pretty early because I bought a ticket to see athletics. I wasn't really interested in seeing any special event I just wanted to get inside the Birds Nest. Let me tell you, it is as cool as it looks on tv. It is such an awesome building. Walking into it I had the same feeling I get when I walk into Citizens Bank Park for Opening Day or the first time I ever went to Yankee Stadium. You walk in and get chills because the stadium is so huge and all the best athletes were under this roof for 2 weeks. I wandered around for about an hour or so and took some really cool pictures.
My two days off have been great but kind of ended on a bad note. I was told my last day of work would be the 22nd. Today I got an email that said I can't stop work on the 22nd. They said I could have off the 23-26th and then work the 27-30th. There isn't much I can do and because I have to work the last few days I won't be able to travel anywhere. The whole plan was to have 8 days off and spend 4 days in Beijing seeing the things I haven't seen yet and then 2 days in Shanghai and 2 days in a province just south of Shanghai. They also told me I need to work the 30th. I fly out the 30th so that does not make any sense. They claim I can't have time off because they really need my help with closing AV down. I can't see one person making all the difference...to say the least I am really pissed.
I updated my pictures just now. As promised I took a picture of the alley that the student claimed was so small and the wall he backed up itno.
For those of you keeping track..and I am sure there are a few of you....I will be home 3 weeks from today!
During the day on Monday I went to Tiananmen Square. The square is directly across from Forbidden City. It really is a sight to see...it is huge. For the olympics they made these flower gardens that were really cool. I took a million pictures so you can see.
Monday night was the basketball game. All seats for paralympics are general admission which creates such a nightmare. Everyone pushes and shoves to begin with so just imagine a few thousand people trying to get the best seat. We got lucky and found 2 seats at center court. The game is pretty fun to watch. It is impressive how atheltic they are while being in a wheelchair. I also bought tickets for wheelchair rugby this Saturday night which should be interesting.
This morning I woke up pretty early because I bought a ticket to see athletics. I wasn't really interested in seeing any special event I just wanted to get inside the Birds Nest. Let me tell you, it is as cool as it looks on tv. It is such an awesome building. Walking into it I had the same feeling I get when I walk into Citizens Bank Park for Opening Day or the first time I ever went to Yankee Stadium. You walk in and get chills because the stadium is so huge and all the best athletes were under this roof for 2 weeks. I wandered around for about an hour or so and took some really cool pictures.
My two days off have been great but kind of ended on a bad note. I was told my last day of work would be the 22nd. Today I got an email that said I can't stop work on the 22nd. They said I could have off the 23-26th and then work the 27-30th. There isn't much I can do and because I have to work the last few days I won't be able to travel anywhere. The whole plan was to have 8 days off and spend 4 days in Beijing seeing the things I haven't seen yet and then 2 days in Shanghai and 2 days in a province just south of Shanghai. They also told me I need to work the 30th. I fly out the 30th so that does not make any sense. They claim I can't have time off because they really need my help with closing AV down. I can't see one person making all the difference...to say the least I am really pissed.
I updated my pictures just now. As promised I took a picture of the alley that the student claimed was so small and the wall he backed up itno.
For those of you keeping track..and I am sure there are a few of you....I will be home 3 weeks from today!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
My New Bed
What a great night sleep! I actually woke up late this morning because I was so comfortable. It is nice to be in a real bed. I felt like a little kid staying at a hotel when you get to sleep in a big bed...it was fantastic.
Tonight is opening ceremonies for the Paralympics. I do not think the ceremony will be anything like the regular olympics. We might try and go down to hang out around the stadium.
My trip to see the terra cotta warriors has been postponed. Poor planning on my part is not going to allow me to go this week. I went to buy a train ticket yesterday and it was a nightmare. The train station is one of the largest stations in Asia. I walked in and luckily was able to find the ticket area rather quickly. I saw in the distance a ticket window that said "English Speaking Teller." Jackpot!! I walk over there and the line was about 50 deep. 50 deep with Chinese people. I did not understand why they were all in the English line. My sarcastic self taps the guy on the shoulder in front of me and asks, "sir do you speak English?" He responds with hand motions and I just rolled my eyes. Two kids get behind me who were also Chinese. Kind of punk looking kids with spikey hair wearing the jeans that are really tight. Just looking at them I wanted to puke. Anyways, I asked them if the spoke English and they respond "mayo" which means no in Mandarin. An hour rolls by...I am about to lose it. The combination of standing in a long line, the heat, and the stench were getting to me. Once I got to the front of the line I asked for a ticket to Xian. The lady punches it in the computer. The total price comes to 1100 rmb. My friends who went last week paid 800 rmb round trip. I tried to explain that and she didn't understand. I asked for a cheaper ticket and she didn't understand. The people behind me were screaming and yelling and I was shouting back, "this is the English line!" IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.
I got out of line and left. I did some research last night. I am going to fly. It will cost me about 130 usd to fly and I won't have to spend 11 hours on a train with strangers in a 4 bunk cabin. The thought gives me the chills. Since I am going to fly I am going to spend 2 days there. I will get in at 10am on the 15th and check into a hotel. The first day I will go see the warriors and the second day I plan to go to the hotsprings and walk around the city. I am looking forward to it. Someone else might join me or I will fly solo. Either way I am looking forward to getting out of Beijing for a little and seeing other parts of the country.
Work is dead today. Slower then ever. Maybe 3 people have come in. It is time for an espresso and lunch.
Tonight is opening ceremonies for the Paralympics. I do not think the ceremony will be anything like the regular olympics. We might try and go down to hang out around the stadium.
My trip to see the terra cotta warriors has been postponed. Poor planning on my part is not going to allow me to go this week. I went to buy a train ticket yesterday and it was a nightmare. The train station is one of the largest stations in Asia. I walked in and luckily was able to find the ticket area rather quickly. I saw in the distance a ticket window that said "English Speaking Teller." Jackpot!! I walk over there and the line was about 50 deep. 50 deep with Chinese people. I did not understand why they were all in the English line. My sarcastic self taps the guy on the shoulder in front of me and asks, "sir do you speak English?" He responds with hand motions and I just rolled my eyes. Two kids get behind me who were also Chinese. Kind of punk looking kids with spikey hair wearing the jeans that are really tight. Just looking at them I wanted to puke. Anyways, I asked them if the spoke English and they respond "mayo" which means no in Mandarin. An hour rolls by...I am about to lose it. The combination of standing in a long line, the heat, and the stench were getting to me. Once I got to the front of the line I asked for a ticket to Xian. The lady punches it in the computer. The total price comes to 1100 rmb. My friends who went last week paid 800 rmb round trip. I tried to explain that and she didn't understand. I asked for a cheaper ticket and she didn't understand. The people behind me were screaming and yelling and I was shouting back, "this is the English line!" IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.
I got out of line and left. I did some research last night. I am going to fly. It will cost me about 130 usd to fly and I won't have to spend 11 hours on a train with strangers in a 4 bunk cabin. The thought gives me the chills. Since I am going to fly I am going to spend 2 days there. I will get in at 10am on the 15th and check into a hotel. The first day I will go see the warriors and the second day I plan to go to the hotsprings and walk around the city. I am looking forward to it. Someone else might join me or I will fly solo. Either way I am looking forward to getting out of Beijing for a little and seeing other parts of the country.
Work is dead today. Slower then ever. Maybe 3 people have come in. It is time for an espresso and lunch.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Handicap Restroom
I just got to work and had my daily espresso and muffin. About 20 minutes ago my stomach started to hurt really bad so I ran to the bathroom. I open up the first stall and it is one of the hole in the ground things...no way! I open up the second stall and its filthy...no way! The third stall, a handicap stall, is available. I open the door and it is really clean inside. I think to myself...self...these are the paralympics and a majority of the guests are in wheelchairs, canes, etc. and maybe I should not use it.
I didnt want to go in because I had a flashback of a Curb episode when Larry David uses the handicap bathroom and someone in a wheelchair was waiting to use the bathroom. While sitting there and laughing to myself about that episode my stomach starts turning. I look around and nobody is around so I decide to use the bathroom. I take care of my business and take a deep breathe before opening up the stall door. OF COURSE!!!!! There is an athlete in a wheelchair. He was not American so I could not explain myself. He was from Iran and I just looked at him and said sorry. Hopefully he understood me and hopefully he was not waiting long. What are the chances that early in the morning someone would be waiting to use a public bathroom?
Tonight I am going to purchase my train ticket for Sunday. There is an English speaking window but from what I hear the woman at the window knows just as much English as I know Chinese so it should be interesting. Tomorrow is opening ceremonies and the coffee shop closes earlier. I have not been asked to help out tomorrow night but I am sure I will.
Oh yeah! Tonight I will also be moving into a real bed! One of my roommates went home so I now have a real bed and a door. I will also have my own bathroom..it is not in my room but its always nice to have your own bathroom. This is a pretty big day for me. I have been fighting for this since July 2nd and they finally took care of it. I guess my weekly email to the same lady got to her. I can't wait to go to bed tonight.
Hard to believe that I only have 25 days left in China. Time flew and I feel like I just got here.
It is another beautiful day in Beijing. Everyone said September is the best month here and so far they are right.
I didnt want to go in because I had a flashback of a Curb episode when Larry David uses the handicap bathroom and someone in a wheelchair was waiting to use the bathroom. While sitting there and laughing to myself about that episode my stomach starts turning. I look around and nobody is around so I decide to use the bathroom. I take care of my business and take a deep breathe before opening up the stall door. OF COURSE!!!!! There is an athlete in a wheelchair. He was not American so I could not explain myself. He was from Iran and I just looked at him and said sorry. Hopefully he understood me and hopefully he was not waiting long. What are the chances that early in the morning someone would be waiting to use a public bathroom?
Tonight I am going to purchase my train ticket for Sunday. There is an English speaking window but from what I hear the woman at the window knows just as much English as I know Chinese so it should be interesting. Tomorrow is opening ceremonies and the coffee shop closes earlier. I have not been asked to help out tomorrow night but I am sure I will.
Oh yeah! Tonight I will also be moving into a real bed! One of my roommates went home so I now have a real bed and a door. I will also have my own bathroom..it is not in my room but its always nice to have your own bathroom. This is a pretty big day for me. I have been fighting for this since July 2nd and they finally took care of it. I guess my weekly email to the same lady got to her. I can't wait to go to bed tonight.
Hard to believe that I only have 25 days left in China. Time flew and I feel like I just got here.
It is another beautiful day in Beijing. Everyone said September is the best month here and so far they are right.
My Coffee Shop
I am currently at work. It is my 3rd day in AV and things are going great. I come in at about 8:45am get the place up and running and then relax until about 4:30pm when I head home. I have about 8 students working all of which speak enough English to make the job very easy.
When I get in I walk to the main office to pick up the keys and golf cart. I drive to the coffee shop and let the kids in. We set up everything and then one of the students and I go pick up the sandwiches from the kitchen. We have runners in the coffee shop and they are the ones who drive the golf cart back and forth and pick up food all day...by all day I mean the one time in the morning.
Today I went to drive and in broken English the runner goes, "no i drive car." I let him take the wheel. We had to make a 3 point turn in this somewhat small alley way. For us in the states it is a huge space for locals the space is very tiny. The kid puts the car into drive and then as he reverses he slams into the side of the building putting a huge dent in the siding. My natural reaction is, "what the fuck." The kid looks at me and goes, " i no drive well...so sorry." I figure what the hell, I will let the kid drive the rest of the way and see what happens. There is this one stretch to the kitchen where nobody is and you can hit this little red button that allows the cart to go faster. I showed him the button and he hits it---the car goes from 5mph to probably 8mph and he starts flipping out. He screams, "sir, make stop--it goes so fast." I can't stop laughing and the kid slams on the breaks. We finally make it to the kitchen and I tell him to leave the car out front and I will grab the stuff. He decides to follow me and forget to put the parking break on. The cart rolls back like 20 feet and just missed nailing another car. Long story short...a 5 minute trip to pick up sandwiches took about 25 minutes. I drove on the way back and he was gripping onto the side of the cart because we were going 8mph. We are going to practice driving later if I have enough patience. I felt like my father when he was teaching me how to drive.
Back to the coffee shop. I do not drink any coffee. I will have the occasional latte from Dunkin Donuts but I would not call myself a coffee drinker. Working in a coffee shop where it is really slow there are only so many things I can do. I can be on my computer...walk around...talk to the students in English and watch them laugh at me or I can drink coffee. Well---I now drink all types of coffee. When I get in I have a double espresso. Then I will have a bagel or muffin while talking to the kids. A little later on I will have a cappucino and on the way out I will grab a latte. The stuff is pretty good. Being a novice coffee drinker it is probably crap considering it comes out of a machine but I am enjoying it.
I am still finalizing plans for my trip to see the warriors this weekend as well as trying to figure out plans for the end of the month. I really would like to go to Thailand or Vietnam but at the same time there is still so much I have to see in China. I would love to do everything but time does not allow it. I may do Shanghai and some other small provinces instead of going to another country. Airfare is out of this world and a train can only take me so far.
When I get in I walk to the main office to pick up the keys and golf cart. I drive to the coffee shop and let the kids in. We set up everything and then one of the students and I go pick up the sandwiches from the kitchen. We have runners in the coffee shop and they are the ones who drive the golf cart back and forth and pick up food all day...by all day I mean the one time in the morning.
Today I went to drive and in broken English the runner goes, "no i drive car." I let him take the wheel. We had to make a 3 point turn in this somewhat small alley way. For us in the states it is a huge space for locals the space is very tiny. The kid puts the car into drive and then as he reverses he slams into the side of the building putting a huge dent in the siding. My natural reaction is, "what the fuck." The kid looks at me and goes, " i no drive well...so sorry." I figure what the hell, I will let the kid drive the rest of the way and see what happens. There is this one stretch to the kitchen where nobody is and you can hit this little red button that allows the cart to go faster. I showed him the button and he hits it---the car goes from 5mph to probably 8mph and he starts flipping out. He screams, "sir, make stop--it goes so fast." I can't stop laughing and the kid slams on the breaks. We finally make it to the kitchen and I tell him to leave the car out front and I will grab the stuff. He decides to follow me and forget to put the parking break on. The cart rolls back like 20 feet and just missed nailing another car. Long story short...a 5 minute trip to pick up sandwiches took about 25 minutes. I drove on the way back and he was gripping onto the side of the cart because we were going 8mph. We are going to practice driving later if I have enough patience. I felt like my father when he was teaching me how to drive.
Back to the coffee shop. I do not drink any coffee. I will have the occasional latte from Dunkin Donuts but I would not call myself a coffee drinker. Working in a coffee shop where it is really slow there are only so many things I can do. I can be on my computer...walk around...talk to the students in English and watch them laugh at me or I can drink coffee. Well---I now drink all types of coffee. When I get in I have a double espresso. Then I will have a bagel or muffin while talking to the kids. A little later on I will have a cappucino and on the way out I will grab a latte. The stuff is pretty good. Being a novice coffee drinker it is probably crap considering it comes out of a machine but I am enjoying it.
I am still finalizing plans for my trip to see the warriors this weekend as well as trying to figure out plans for the end of the month. I really would like to go to Thailand or Vietnam but at the same time there is still so much I have to see in China. I would love to do everything but time does not allow it. I may do Shanghai and some other small provinces instead of going to another country. Airfare is out of this world and a train can only take me so far.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Almost the end
Tonight was the last night for the majority of people who worked at Media Village. The guys I have eaten almost every meal with and drank multiple beers with depart tomorrow. Our group of international managers has really shrunk as we enter the final stretch of the 2008 Olympics.
Today was my first day at Athletes Village and what a day it was. I am in charge of a coffee shop in the International Zone. This area is where there is a dry cleaning place, the big Olympic store, a newsstand, etc. etc. The coffee shop on average during the regular Olympics was doing about 50 people a day....at media village we were doing 50 people in about an hour. Anyways, they sell sandwiches and coffee. It is a nice little place where you can find some media members hanging out all day interviewing the athletes as they come in.
For the past two months my life has been crazy. We were putting in long hours and always on the move at work. This last month will be the complete opposite. I am working 9a-5p Wednesday through Sunday with Monday and Tuesday off. A pretty sweet way to end my 3 month assignment in China. All of my off days will be spent touring what is left on my list of Beijing.
This Sunday night my plan is to take an overnight train to Xian. Xian is where the Terra-Cotta Warriors are. It is about a 12 hour train ride so we will leave Sunday night and get in early morning Monday. We are going to tour the city and the warriors all day Monday and then get back on the train Monday night and be home Tuesday morning. I am really looking forward to seeing other things outside of Beijing.
The rumor is that my last day of work will be September 20th. If I can get written confirmation that I will be done work then I am going to try to plan a trip somewhere. I figure if I am in this area right now I might as well take full advantage. I am considering Vietnam or Thailand.
I went back to the Great Wall yesterday. It was even better this time because there were no clouds...it was a perfect day. I was suppose to go in September on a private hike but the guy had to cancel so I tagged along with some other people. The first time I went the weather was terrible and I still thought it was awesome. Adding a bright blue sky to the mix made it amazing. I took pictures so if you click the link to the right you will be able to see it.
Time for bed.
Today was my first day at Athletes Village and what a day it was. I am in charge of a coffee shop in the International Zone. This area is where there is a dry cleaning place, the big Olympic store, a newsstand, etc. etc. The coffee shop on average during the regular Olympics was doing about 50 people a day....at media village we were doing 50 people in about an hour. Anyways, they sell sandwiches and coffee. It is a nice little place where you can find some media members hanging out all day interviewing the athletes as they come in.
For the past two months my life has been crazy. We were putting in long hours and always on the move at work. This last month will be the complete opposite. I am working 9a-5p Wednesday through Sunday with Monday and Tuesday off. A pretty sweet way to end my 3 month assignment in China. All of my off days will be spent touring what is left on my list of Beijing.
This Sunday night my plan is to take an overnight train to Xian. Xian is where the Terra-Cotta Warriors are. It is about a 12 hour train ride so we will leave Sunday night and get in early morning Monday. We are going to tour the city and the warriors all day Monday and then get back on the train Monday night and be home Tuesday morning. I am really looking forward to seeing other things outside of Beijing.
The rumor is that my last day of work will be September 20th. If I can get written confirmation that I will be done work then I am going to try to plan a trip somewhere. I figure if I am in this area right now I might as well take full advantage. I am considering Vietnam or Thailand.
I went back to the Great Wall yesterday. It was even better this time because there were no clouds...it was a perfect day. I was suppose to go in September on a private hike but the guy had to cancel so I tagged along with some other people. The first time I went the weather was terrible and I still thought it was awesome. Adding a bright blue sky to the mix made it amazing. I took pictures so if you click the link to the right you will be able to see it.
Time for bed.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
A Beijing "thunderstorm"
Today is 8.24.08, the last day of the 2008 Olympics. It is hard to believe they are over already. These past few weeks have really flown by.
Last night I had to work the night shift which is from 9pm - 5am. Not the best shift in the world but it was my turn. At about 1:30 am it started to rain. I was standing underneath the over hang just watching the rain. After a few minutes thunder and lightening started. In the states when you have thunder and lightening you usually hear a big boom and then the lightening strikes...not in China.
I got the inside scoop on how China controls the weather. The thunder struck and then I heard what sounded like a bottle rocket and then the lightening struck. It is not rocket science but I am pretty sure they were making sure the rain would not effect the closing ceremonies tonight at 8pm. It was pretty wild to hear and I thought you guys would be interested to hear that.
Today was some of the kids last day because they have to go back to their universities. They were all pretty sad to say goodbye just because for the past 6 weeks they have seen us everyday. When I look back on the first day when we met the kids I thought my life at work was going to be horrible. They had no idea what to do and they did not understand English...or at least they said that. Now, several weeks later, the kids did a complete turn around. It got to the point where they were speaking English and taking care of their jobs without asking us. It is a good feeling to help develop kids and make their first job experience a good one. On my way out I passed out about 100 business cards because they all want to stay in touch.
Its 6am and I am pretty tired. I am heading to bed so I can wake up to watch the US basketball game. Monday afternoon I am having an early dinner at the Italian restaurant at The Ritz. One of my friends here actually has a friend working at the hotel for the Olympics so they are taking care of us...I can't wait.
Last night I had to work the night shift which is from 9pm - 5am. Not the best shift in the world but it was my turn. At about 1:30 am it started to rain. I was standing underneath the over hang just watching the rain. After a few minutes thunder and lightening started. In the states when you have thunder and lightening you usually hear a big boom and then the lightening strikes...not in China.
I got the inside scoop on how China controls the weather. The thunder struck and then I heard what sounded like a bottle rocket and then the lightening struck. It is not rocket science but I am pretty sure they were making sure the rain would not effect the closing ceremonies tonight at 8pm. It was pretty wild to hear and I thought you guys would be interested to hear that.
Today was some of the kids last day because they have to go back to their universities. They were all pretty sad to say goodbye just because for the past 6 weeks they have seen us everyday. When I look back on the first day when we met the kids I thought my life at work was going to be horrible. They had no idea what to do and they did not understand English...or at least they said that. Now, several weeks later, the kids did a complete turn around. It got to the point where they were speaking English and taking care of their jobs without asking us. It is a good feeling to help develop kids and make their first job experience a good one. On my way out I passed out about 100 business cards because they all want to stay in touch.
Its 6am and I am pretty tired. I am heading to bed so I can wake up to watch the US basketball game. Monday afternoon I am having an early dinner at the Italian restaurant at The Ritz. One of my friends here actually has a friend working at the hotel for the Olympics so they are taking care of us...I can't wait.
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Water Cube Experience
All international managers were given tickets to events. I asked for tickets in the Birds Nest and the Water Cube because I wanted to see both stadiums. I did not care what I was going to see I just wanted to get inside to check it out. Lucky me got exactly what I asked for. 1 ticket to diving and 1 ticket to track and field...both on the same day.
Thursday morning I woke up and it was raining. My friend Josh and I got on the subway and headed to the Water Cube. It was a 10 minute subway ride followed by a 10 minute walk give or take. When we got off the subway we followed the mass of people towards the exit. This is hard to picture but I will try to explain it as best as I can. The width of the corridor to exit the station was probably the size of 2 tennis courts and as long as 2 football fields with escalators (called elevators here..have no clue why) and stairs at the far end. I kid you not..this walk through was packed wall to wall and people were walking so slow to get out.
I am sure some of you know this but tight spaces freak me out a little bit. What freaks me out even more is when there are tight spaces and it smells horrible. Josh and I are both trying to figure out what could be the hold up until we see this lady in front of us taking pictures. 2 girls, probably my age, were having a photo shoot in the middle of this whole thing. Fulfilling the obnoxious American role we started screaming saying move out and everyone around us looked at the two of us like we were crazy. Once we broke up the photo shoot it was still slow but we were close to the stairs. I had people bumping in to me, touching me, and coughing on me. I went through a bottle of Purell while all of this was going on.
We finally make it up the steps and discovered why there was the giant hold up. It was not the photo shoot it was because it was down pouring. Now picture this...we get to the top of the escalator and there is the big over hang just like any other train station. Well the Chinese refused to get wet so the hold up was every single one of them opening up their umbrella underneath the awning. I started getting poked by umbrellas and was about to lose it. We finally barged through and ran from the train stop to the Water Cube.
Soaking wet we finally made it into The Cube. This building is incredible. It looks awesome on tv and even cooler in person. The outside of the building is actually some kind of plastic that has air pumping through to create the bubble look. I was really impressed with it. We walked around for a bit to check out the entire stadium. Everything was very modern and very high tech looking. I will post pictures soon so you can all see them.
The Olympic sport of Diving??? Probably the worst thing I have ever watched in my life. There were 10 rounds and someone jumps probably every 30 seconds. As soon as the first person jumps the play some music and the second person gets ready. The first person gets out of the pool and the second one jumps. This continues until everyone goes. We were sitting there bored out of our minds. The event went from 10am to about 12pm. I think we left at about 10:45am.
When we left we decided to go out and find some good dumplings. If you recall, one of my first weeks here we went out for a great dumpling place and paid 14 usd for an amazing meal. Well, we had not been able to find the restaurant since then. We got in a cab and told the guy to drive us in the direction in which we thought the place was. About and hour later we found it. It took 3 weeks to find this place but it was so worth it. The 2 of us ate like kings for 10 usd. If only we had something like this at home.
I had tickets to go to the Birds Nest at night but the day was long and I needed to be at work the following morning at 2am. I decided to pass on it. I plan to get tickets for the para olympics to see the stadium.
My day was awesome. We had not had a day off in a long time so being able to relax and not worry about anything was really nice. A week from today, Friday, Media Village will be closed. I am pretty excited about that because I get to start the next phase of my olympic experience but at the same time everyone who I have become good friends with will be leaving in a week. There are roughly 30 of us at MV1 and I believe only 5 people are staying and getting sent to Athletes Village.
I will post my pictures later today or tomorrow so you can get an idea of what we had to deal with just go get out of the subway.
Thursday morning I woke up and it was raining. My friend Josh and I got on the subway and headed to the Water Cube. It was a 10 minute subway ride followed by a 10 minute walk give or take. When we got off the subway we followed the mass of people towards the exit. This is hard to picture but I will try to explain it as best as I can. The width of the corridor to exit the station was probably the size of 2 tennis courts and as long as 2 football fields with escalators (called elevators here..have no clue why) and stairs at the far end. I kid you not..this walk through was packed wall to wall and people were walking so slow to get out.
I am sure some of you know this but tight spaces freak me out a little bit. What freaks me out even more is when there are tight spaces and it smells horrible. Josh and I are both trying to figure out what could be the hold up until we see this lady in front of us taking pictures. 2 girls, probably my age, were having a photo shoot in the middle of this whole thing. Fulfilling the obnoxious American role we started screaming saying move out and everyone around us looked at the two of us like we were crazy. Once we broke up the photo shoot it was still slow but we were close to the stairs. I had people bumping in to me, touching me, and coughing on me. I went through a bottle of Purell while all of this was going on.
We finally make it up the steps and discovered why there was the giant hold up. It was not the photo shoot it was because it was down pouring. Now picture this...we get to the top of the escalator and there is the big over hang just like any other train station. Well the Chinese refused to get wet so the hold up was every single one of them opening up their umbrella underneath the awning. I started getting poked by umbrellas and was about to lose it. We finally barged through and ran from the train stop to the Water Cube.
Soaking wet we finally made it into The Cube. This building is incredible. It looks awesome on tv and even cooler in person. The outside of the building is actually some kind of plastic that has air pumping through to create the bubble look. I was really impressed with it. We walked around for a bit to check out the entire stadium. Everything was very modern and very high tech looking. I will post pictures soon so you can all see them.
The Olympic sport of Diving??? Probably the worst thing I have ever watched in my life. There were 10 rounds and someone jumps probably every 30 seconds. As soon as the first person jumps the play some music and the second person gets ready. The first person gets out of the pool and the second one jumps. This continues until everyone goes. We were sitting there bored out of our minds. The event went from 10am to about 12pm. I think we left at about 10:45am.
When we left we decided to go out and find some good dumplings. If you recall, one of my first weeks here we went out for a great dumpling place and paid 14 usd for an amazing meal. Well, we had not been able to find the restaurant since then. We got in a cab and told the guy to drive us in the direction in which we thought the place was. About and hour later we found it. It took 3 weeks to find this place but it was so worth it. The 2 of us ate like kings for 10 usd. If only we had something like this at home.
I had tickets to go to the Birds Nest at night but the day was long and I needed to be at work the following morning at 2am. I decided to pass on it. I plan to get tickets for the para olympics to see the stadium.
My day was awesome. We had not had a day off in a long time so being able to relax and not worry about anything was really nice. A week from today, Friday, Media Village will be closed. I am pretty excited about that because I get to start the next phase of my olympic experience but at the same time everyone who I have become good friends with will be leaving in a week. There are roughly 30 of us at MV1 and I believe only 5 people are staying and getting sent to Athletes Village.
I will post my pictures later today or tomorrow so you can get an idea of what we had to deal with just go get out of the subway.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
2 months down....1 to go
It seems like it was just the other day I was getting off the plane getting ready to start my adventure in Beijing. Now, 2 months later, things are starting to wind down.
Since the start of the games everyone has been putting in long hours and the time has finally come to start preparing to break down Media Village. The past two weeks have flown. I can't believe there are only a few days left of the Olympics.
I have not posted in a pretty long time so everyone is probably curious as to what I have been doing. I have been working and sleeping! I had a few days off and was able to experience the Olympics as a fan.
Last week a friend and I decided we wanted to go and scalp tickets for the USA basketball game. We were willing to pay pretty much whatever because who knows when the next time I will get to see Olympic Basketball. We headed over to the arena and naturally we got lost. I think everything in China has to be a process...we had the name of the arena written down in English and Chinese. The guy had no clue where it was. We kept saying "Kobe Bryant" and he just smiled. Finally, frustrated as hell as I watched the meter keep going up I shouted "Yao Ming" and the crazy cab drive goes, "oooh yao ming." Long story short we were there in 2 minutes.
We had heard a few stories about fake tickets and to be careful scalping from the locals. In the states if you want tickets you usually walk around shouting "who has extra tickets" but in China they don't really understand English so we had to use hand gestures for extra tickets. Time was running out and we couldn't find anything until a Canadian guy came up to us. We bought 2 tickets behind the basket about 30 rows up. USA played Angola and killed them. It was awesome to watch. Sitting and watching the game and being around people from all over the world was really cool...it is an experience I will never forget. The second game was Australia vs. Argentina. We moved down and sat right behind the basket for the first half....Australia is horrible at basketball.
Yesterday I got out early and a friend and I headed to Olympic Village. Olympic Village is where all the athletes stay. They created what felt like a college campus for the athletes. It was incredible. The main dining room is the size of 3 football fields and is open 24 hours. They do about 40,000 meals a day. One of the managers showed us around and the whole time my head was on a swivel trying to spot out athletes. While there we grabbed lunch. We found a table that had the US womens basketball team to our left...the Jamaican track team to our right....US gymnastics behind us. It was incredible! The whole time I kept pinching myself because I could not believe I was sitting in a dining room with the worlds best athletes.
After we ate we walked around the village. Every apartment had flags hanging outside to show which country was living in which building. We tried to find USA but had no luck...I don't think the accommodations are up to their standards so they stay in hotels.
My next week looks like this:
Tomorrow I have tickets to Diving in the morning and then in the afternoon I have tickets to Track and Field. I have been looking forward to tomorrow since I got my tickets 2 weeks ago. I will finally get to see the inside of the Birds Nest and Water Cube.
The media is scheduled to leaver the 25th and 26th and then we will start to break down Media Village. Once it is broken down I am hoping to get a few days off and possibly go to Shanghai or Hong Kong. After the few days off I will move over to Athletes Village for the month of September.
It will be pretty strange when people start heading out of here. All the people I have been hanging out with leave September 3rd and the group of 700 international managers will get cut down by more then half. Hopefully at that point I will get a real bedroom with a real bed. YES...I am still in the stupid little bedroom on the worst bed in the world.
A quick little note. I met the chiropractor of the US decathlon team on the train the other day. We got to talking and I told him how bad my back hurts because of the beds and he told me that there are only 6 chiropractors in the city of Beijing. I should have got an adjustment on the train but it was crowded.
I am heading out to wander around the city and check out some areas I have not been to yet. I posted pictures from the basketball game and the olympic village. Check them out when you get a chance.
Since the start of the games everyone has been putting in long hours and the time has finally come to start preparing to break down Media Village. The past two weeks have flown. I can't believe there are only a few days left of the Olympics.
I have not posted in a pretty long time so everyone is probably curious as to what I have been doing. I have been working and sleeping! I had a few days off and was able to experience the Olympics as a fan.
Last week a friend and I decided we wanted to go and scalp tickets for the USA basketball game. We were willing to pay pretty much whatever because who knows when the next time I will get to see Olympic Basketball. We headed over to the arena and naturally we got lost. I think everything in China has to be a process...we had the name of the arena written down in English and Chinese. The guy had no clue where it was. We kept saying "Kobe Bryant" and he just smiled. Finally, frustrated as hell as I watched the meter keep going up I shouted "Yao Ming" and the crazy cab drive goes, "oooh yao ming." Long story short we were there in 2 minutes.
We had heard a few stories about fake tickets and to be careful scalping from the locals. In the states if you want tickets you usually walk around shouting "who has extra tickets" but in China they don't really understand English so we had to use hand gestures for extra tickets. Time was running out and we couldn't find anything until a Canadian guy came up to us. We bought 2 tickets behind the basket about 30 rows up. USA played Angola and killed them. It was awesome to watch. Sitting and watching the game and being around people from all over the world was really cool...it is an experience I will never forget. The second game was Australia vs. Argentina. We moved down and sat right behind the basket for the first half....Australia is horrible at basketball.
Yesterday I got out early and a friend and I headed to Olympic Village. Olympic Village is where all the athletes stay. They created what felt like a college campus for the athletes. It was incredible. The main dining room is the size of 3 football fields and is open 24 hours. They do about 40,000 meals a day. One of the managers showed us around and the whole time my head was on a swivel trying to spot out athletes. While there we grabbed lunch. We found a table that had the US womens basketball team to our left...the Jamaican track team to our right....US gymnastics behind us. It was incredible! The whole time I kept pinching myself because I could not believe I was sitting in a dining room with the worlds best athletes.
After we ate we walked around the village. Every apartment had flags hanging outside to show which country was living in which building. We tried to find USA but had no luck...I don't think the accommodations are up to their standards so they stay in hotels.
My next week looks like this:
Tomorrow I have tickets to Diving in the morning and then in the afternoon I have tickets to Track and Field. I have been looking forward to tomorrow since I got my tickets 2 weeks ago. I will finally get to see the inside of the Birds Nest and Water Cube.
The media is scheduled to leaver the 25th and 26th and then we will start to break down Media Village. Once it is broken down I am hoping to get a few days off and possibly go to Shanghai or Hong Kong. After the few days off I will move over to Athletes Village for the month of September.
It will be pretty strange when people start heading out of here. All the people I have been hanging out with leave September 3rd and the group of 700 international managers will get cut down by more then half. Hopefully at that point I will get a real bedroom with a real bed. YES...I am still in the stupid little bedroom on the worst bed in the world.
A quick little note. I met the chiropractor of the US decathlon team on the train the other day. We got to talking and I told him how bad my back hurts because of the beds and he told me that there are only 6 chiropractors in the city of Beijing. I should have got an adjustment on the train but it was crowded.
I am heading out to wander around the city and check out some areas I have not been to yet. I posted pictures from the basketball game and the olympic village. Check them out when you get a chance.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Pictures
I just posted some pictures. It has been a while. They are just pictures from the last couple of weeks.
Enjoy
Enjoy
Saturday, August 2, 2008
What a week
We are open! All 7 restaurants are fully functional. Almost all of the media is now here on site with a few to come in during the week. It has been quite the experience. I have been here for a month now and I have been able to see us start from nothing and end with fully stocked restaurants....it has been great.
Last Monday I was off and was able to go to the Great Wall. We wanted to go on a private trip where you hike for about 3 hours but the guy was booked. I am going to try to go on his trip in September. Anyways, we all rented a driver for the day and he took us out to the wall. It was about a 1 hour ride to the wall. We got there and we had two options; you could hike up the mountain to get to the wall or take a ski lift. Feeling good I talked most of the crowd into hiking up. The first set of stairs were like walking any steps and then we get to the second set. Straight up! Huffing and puffing we made it to the next flat spot and we all looked at each other and said, "should have taken the ski lift." After 30 minutes of hiking up to the wall we had made it. Standing on a structure that old was amazing. It was so peaceful up there. Unfortunately we did not have a very clear day so pictures did not turn out great but I still took a bunch which I will post later. The actual steps on the wall were so uneven. Some steps were your average steps while others were 2 feet. There were times where we were on our hands and knees to get up steps. It was a great experience and I hope I can go back in September for the private hike.
After we got back we were all trying to figure out where to eat. We were trying to pick a place from the list I had and someone suggested noodles and I suggested a place called Made in China. The description of the place said "best duck in china." After convincing everyone we should go there we jumped into a cab and headed to the Hyatt. The part of town the Hyatt is in is awesome. All the great restaurants and bars are in this area. Made in China was awesome. In the dining room they had 3 open kitchens. 1 was a duck kitchen, the other a dumpling kitchen and the third was a wok kitchen. We had the best seat in the house because we were surrounded by all 3. As I had told you before I have been hanging out with mostly chefs so eating is always fun because they always explain exactly what each dish is. They did all the ordering. We started out with lamb pancakes, geoduck, smoked duck breast, cuttlefish, beef knuckles, and duck gizzards in peanut sauce. You guys are all probably thinking there is no way I ate any of this...but I did. We took our time with those dishes because it took an hour to prepare the Peking duck. The duck finally came out and they carved in right in front of us. The chef came out and was showing us what to dip the duck in based on what part of the duck it was. The duck fat came out first and he handed me the plate. In broken English he goes, "duck..sugar...mouth." On the spot I grabbed my chopsticks and went to pick up a piece. I guess the pressure got to me and I kept fumbling with the chopsticks...the chef is looking at me like what an idiot and everyone at the table was cracking up. I finally just jabbed at it and got it and it tasted great. The meal was awesome and we will probably go back there before my time is up. There were 6 of us for dinner and we had two bottles of wine to add to all the dishes and the total was 1500 rmb which is 220 usd...pretty cheap for eating at a place in the Hyatt.
After dinner we went to the night market. The night market is the famous street in Beijing where you go and eat all the gross things like bugs, snakes, etc. The smell alone was enough for me not to want to eat anything. The market opens from 4pm to 10pm everyday. They don't store their food properly so that is where the wonderful smell comes from. I ate a pancake and that was it. One of the guys I was with ate a silk worm and almost died. I took some pictures so you guys can see...it was cool but I don't think I will go back there.
The past couple days, Tuesday - Sunday have been intense. We have been busy opening up everything so my hours have been very long. I have not slept much due to work and not feeling well. The city has become very busy and we are staring to see more Americans.
Just to touch on the weather and air quality here. I know the news has been saying how everything is going great here and the smog is down. I don't know if anyone was on cnn.com yesterday but the cover article was about the smog and there was a picture of the Birds Nest and you could see these thick clouds in the air. For the past month or so that is what it has been. It has been raining almost every night for the past week. Yesterday was a clear day but it seems like after they shut down the factories and limited the car use things did not get any better. Today is a little better. Hiking up to the great wall was rough due to the air so I can't imagine how the athletes will be able to handle this.
I am off tomorrow and heading to this park that overlooks the Forbidden City and possibly trying one of the 3 restaurants at The Ritz. I will try to post pictures of the wall tonight or tomorrow.
Last Monday I was off and was able to go to the Great Wall. We wanted to go on a private trip where you hike for about 3 hours but the guy was booked. I am going to try to go on his trip in September. Anyways, we all rented a driver for the day and he took us out to the wall. It was about a 1 hour ride to the wall. We got there and we had two options; you could hike up the mountain to get to the wall or take a ski lift. Feeling good I talked most of the crowd into hiking up. The first set of stairs were like walking any steps and then we get to the second set. Straight up! Huffing and puffing we made it to the next flat spot and we all looked at each other and said, "should have taken the ski lift." After 30 minutes of hiking up to the wall we had made it. Standing on a structure that old was amazing. It was so peaceful up there. Unfortunately we did not have a very clear day so pictures did not turn out great but I still took a bunch which I will post later. The actual steps on the wall were so uneven. Some steps were your average steps while others were 2 feet. There were times where we were on our hands and knees to get up steps. It was a great experience and I hope I can go back in September for the private hike.
After we got back we were all trying to figure out where to eat. We were trying to pick a place from the list I had and someone suggested noodles and I suggested a place called Made in China. The description of the place said "best duck in china." After convincing everyone we should go there we jumped into a cab and headed to the Hyatt. The part of town the Hyatt is in is awesome. All the great restaurants and bars are in this area. Made in China was awesome. In the dining room they had 3 open kitchens. 1 was a duck kitchen, the other a dumpling kitchen and the third was a wok kitchen. We had the best seat in the house because we were surrounded by all 3. As I had told you before I have been hanging out with mostly chefs so eating is always fun because they always explain exactly what each dish is. They did all the ordering. We started out with lamb pancakes, geoduck, smoked duck breast, cuttlefish, beef knuckles, and duck gizzards in peanut sauce. You guys are all probably thinking there is no way I ate any of this...but I did. We took our time with those dishes because it took an hour to prepare the Peking duck. The duck finally came out and they carved in right in front of us. The chef came out and was showing us what to dip the duck in based on what part of the duck it was. The duck fat came out first and he handed me the plate. In broken English he goes, "duck..sugar...mouth." On the spot I grabbed my chopsticks and went to pick up a piece. I guess the pressure got to me and I kept fumbling with the chopsticks...the chef is looking at me like what an idiot and everyone at the table was cracking up. I finally just jabbed at it and got it and it tasted great. The meal was awesome and we will probably go back there before my time is up. There were 6 of us for dinner and we had two bottles of wine to add to all the dishes and the total was 1500 rmb which is 220 usd...pretty cheap for eating at a place in the Hyatt.
After dinner we went to the night market. The night market is the famous street in Beijing where you go and eat all the gross things like bugs, snakes, etc. The smell alone was enough for me not to want to eat anything. The market opens from 4pm to 10pm everyday. They don't store their food properly so that is where the wonderful smell comes from. I ate a pancake and that was it. One of the guys I was with ate a silk worm and almost died. I took some pictures so you guys can see...it was cool but I don't think I will go back there.
The past couple days, Tuesday - Sunday have been intense. We have been busy opening up everything so my hours have been very long. I have not slept much due to work and not feeling well. The city has become very busy and we are staring to see more Americans.
Just to touch on the weather and air quality here. I know the news has been saying how everything is going great here and the smog is down. I don't know if anyone was on cnn.com yesterday but the cover article was about the smog and there was a picture of the Birds Nest and you could see these thick clouds in the air. For the past month or so that is what it has been. It has been raining almost every night for the past week. Yesterday was a clear day but it seems like after they shut down the factories and limited the car use things did not get any better. Today is a little better. Hiking up to the great wall was rough due to the air so I can't imagine how the athletes will be able to handle this.
I am off tomorrow and heading to this park that overlooks the Forbidden City and possibly trying one of the 3 restaurants at The Ritz. I will try to post pictures of the wall tonight or tomorrow.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Busy Busy Busy
It has been a few days since I have last posted. Since Wednesday my hours have been pretty long. The media is slowly starting to arrive and we are expecting them all here by the end of next week. Right now we have 4 restaurants open and we will open the final 3 I believe next Monday.
My schedule came out and my hours are not bad. A few 3am shifts and the rest are day shifts which balances out nicely. I was trying to plan a trip to The Wall but the trip we wanted to go on is booked until September. I found an ad on craigslist for this tour to the wall in an area were not many people go. It is a 3-5 hour hike and the guy said the only tourists there are the people you go with. We all want to do it however most people leave at the end of August. I might try to go on one of the tourist trips now and then this guys trip in September.
Here is an email I got from one of the people on the project about the local happenings with the Olympics less then 2 weeks away. I thought you guys would enjoy it:
1. Steel giant helps to clear the skies
The Capital Steel Group has reaffirmed its long-standing promise to cut production during the Games in a well-orchestrated publicity move by Beijing authorities to show the world its efforts to provide athletes and visitors with a clear sky and cleaner air.
Group president Zhu Jimin said that its plant in the capital's western suburbs would run at only 27 per cent capacity to help cut emissions.
"Shougang [the Chinese name of the company] is a group with a strong sense of social responsibility," he said. 'I’m happy we can do our part to help present a great Olympics."
He said Shougang could afford to cut production temporarily.。
"Our group had record profits in the first half of the year, and I believe our profit in the second half should still be all right after we resume production after the Olympics."
The group posted net income of 5.26 billion yuan (HK$6.03 billion) in the first half of the year- much higher than last year's total of 4.36 billion yuan.
The company has shut down three big plants this year, allowing only one to run while the Games are on. Full operations will resume after October 1. However, Shougang will move all its steel production to Caofeidian in neighbouring Hebei province (~) by 2010.
Founded in 1919 in Beijing, the group has contributed dramatically to the economic development of the capital, but its emissions are thought to be one of the main causes of the city's pollution problems.
Although it has invested billions in the past decade to upgrade its filtering systems, the group has been at the centre of criticism whenever Beijing's air pollution problems are mentioned. Some academic research suggests the group is responsible for a tenth of all air pollution in Beijing.
2. Non-Games flights banned for opening
Beijing will restrict aircraft landing and taking off during the opening ceremony on August 8 airline officials said yesterday, forcing the rescheduling of dozens of flights due to security concerns
Domestic media reports quoted aviation Sources as saying Beijing Capital International Airport would be closed to all non-Olympic traffic between 8pm and midnight on the evening of the opening ceremony.
Officials at the Beijing airport and the mainland's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China，said they were Unaware of the order or unable to comment．
Aircraft are already banned from flying over Beijing，though authorities are taking no chances and have placed anti-aircraft missiles near the National Stadium．known as the Bird's Nest．
From Sunday, passengers in Beijing，Shanghai，cities with airports designated as diversion airfields during the Olympics，and the restive regions of Xinjiang(新疆)and Tibet(西藏)will have to clear security before entering terminals．
Travel agents said some domestic flights were already fully booked on the evening of August
3 Buildings silent as workers exit, cranes stop July.21st
Building sites across the capital fell silent yesterday and the last of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers began leaving the city in Beijing's last-ditch effort to curb pollution and ensure Games security for the Olympics.
As part of a flurry of sweeping measures taking effect during the countdown to the Olympics, thousands of construction sites within the city's Sixth Ring Road came to a standstill and will stay that way for 60 days.
Infrastructure projects, including interior decorating operations at office buildings and residential areas have also been banned since yesterday in Beijing.
But Olympic-related projects have been exempted, with workers being kept busy adding final touches or cleaning up construction sites.Factories were shut down July 21st and for the first few days we could tell the difference. Things were not as smoggy and the air seemed a little better. It has now been a week and it seems to me like it is right back where it began. We had a good run of seeing the sun and moon but now its back to clouds. Since I have been working 12pm - 10pm I have not been able to see how the traffic has been. We have actually been taking the subway in and a cab back.
The Subway is really nice here. Either the whole thing is new or they just got new subway cars but everything is very clean. It takes about 40 minutes to get to work and it is free. We show our Olympic credentials and we ride for free. It might switch to 24 hour service which would be awesome because I would not have to worry about turning in cab receipts anymore. We still do not have a bus to take managers back and forth. We are the furthest venue away and do not have a bus...we don't get it!
I need to head to work but just wanted to give everyone an update as to where I am what is going on. 12 Days until the opening ceremonies!
My schedule came out and my hours are not bad. A few 3am shifts and the rest are day shifts which balances out nicely. I was trying to plan a trip to The Wall but the trip we wanted to go on is booked until September. I found an ad on craigslist for this tour to the wall in an area were not many people go. It is a 3-5 hour hike and the guy said the only tourists there are the people you go with. We all want to do it however most people leave at the end of August. I might try to go on one of the tourist trips now and then this guys trip in September.
Here is an email I got from one of the people on the project about the local happenings with the Olympics less then 2 weeks away. I thought you guys would enjoy it:
1. Steel giant helps to clear the skies
The Capital Steel Group has reaffirmed its long-standing promise to cut production during the Games in a well-orchestrated publicity move by Beijing authorities to show the world its efforts to provide athletes and visitors with a clear sky and cleaner air.
Group president Zhu Jimin said that its plant in the capital's western suburbs would run at only 27 per cent capacity to help cut emissions.
"Shougang [the Chinese name of the company] is a group with a strong sense of social responsibility," he said. 'I’m happy we can do our part to help present a great Olympics."
He said Shougang could afford to cut production temporarily.。
"Our group had record profits in the first half of the year, and I believe our profit in the second half should still be all right after we resume production after the Olympics."
The group posted net income of 5.26 billion yuan (HK$6.03 billion) in the first half of the year- much higher than last year's total of 4.36 billion yuan.
The company has shut down three big plants this year, allowing only one to run while the Games are on. Full operations will resume after October 1. However, Shougang will move all its steel production to Caofeidian in neighbouring Hebei province (~) by 2010.
Founded in 1919 in Beijing, the group has contributed dramatically to the economic development of the capital, but its emissions are thought to be one of the main causes of the city's pollution problems.
Although it has invested billions in the past decade to upgrade its filtering systems, the group has been at the centre of criticism whenever Beijing's air pollution problems are mentioned. Some academic research suggests the group is responsible for a tenth of all air pollution in Beijing.
2. Non-Games flights banned for opening
Beijing will restrict aircraft landing and taking off during the opening ceremony on August 8 airline officials said yesterday, forcing the rescheduling of dozens of flights due to security concerns
Domestic media reports quoted aviation Sources as saying Beijing Capital International Airport would be closed to all non-Olympic traffic between 8pm and midnight on the evening of the opening ceremony.
Officials at the Beijing airport and the mainland's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China，said they were Unaware of the order or unable to comment．
Aircraft are already banned from flying over Beijing，though authorities are taking no chances and have placed anti-aircraft missiles near the National Stadium．known as the Bird's Nest．
From Sunday, passengers in Beijing，Shanghai，cities with airports designated as diversion airfields during the Olympics，and the restive regions of Xinjiang(新疆)and Tibet(西藏)will have to clear security before entering terminals．
Travel agents said some domestic flights were already fully booked on the evening of August
3 Buildings silent as workers exit, cranes stop July.21st
Building sites across the capital fell silent yesterday and the last of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers began leaving the city in Beijing's last-ditch effort to curb pollution and ensure Games security for the Olympics.
As part of a flurry of sweeping measures taking effect during the countdown to the Olympics, thousands of construction sites within the city's Sixth Ring Road came to a standstill and will stay that way for 60 days.
Infrastructure projects, including interior decorating operations at office buildings and residential areas have also been banned since yesterday in Beijing.
But Olympic-related projects have been exempted, with workers being kept busy adding final touches or cleaning up construction sites.Factories were shut down July 21st and for the first few days we could tell the difference. Things were not as smoggy and the air seemed a little better. It has now been a week and it seems to me like it is right back where it began. We had a good run of seeing the sun and moon but now its back to clouds. Since I have been working 12pm - 10pm I have not been able to see how the traffic has been. We have actually been taking the subway in and a cab back.
The Subway is really nice here. Either the whole thing is new or they just got new subway cars but everything is very clean. It takes about 40 minutes to get to work and it is free. We show our Olympic credentials and we ride for free. It might switch to 24 hour service which would be awesome because I would not have to worry about turning in cab receipts anymore. We still do not have a bus to take managers back and forth. We are the furthest venue away and do not have a bus...we don't get it!
I need to head to work but just wanted to give everyone an update as to where I am what is going on. 12 Days until the opening ceremonies!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Phils Win!
Most of you know I am huge Phillies fan. Knowing they were entering a 3 game series at Shea and I would not be able to watch it made me a little sad. All I have to say is THANK YOU SKYPE. I called Jess at around 9:45pm East Coast time and had her face her computer so I could watch the 9th inning of the game. I woke up one of my roommates while watching and cheering. I was at Shea last year when they had a mental break down and blew it and it was amazing....watching them blow a game from 7,000 miles away is just as sweet. My prediction is they take 2 of 3 from them and we don't look back. I hope that when I fly home October 1st I will be watching Phillies playoffs.
Back to life in China. I am still having bed issues. I got the pad and extra blanket and it worked for a little. Now I can't really sleep which is horrible because 12 hour days require some sleep. I just sent out another email to the person in charge and hopefully something will happen. I think I will send an email a day until they get annoyed and just give me a new room.
Media Village goes 24 hours Friday. We planned to open up all 7 service areas for 24 hour dining this Friday but the media is arriving in waves so only 4 areas will be open. I never thought I would be looking forward to 24 hour service areas but it will be nice to finally display what we have been working on for the past 3 weeks. On my side we have a great team. The operations people and the culinary team have a great relationship which makes it very easy and we both help each other out. Everyone seems pretty happy about our food selection.
I am sure all of you have heard in the news how they would be shutting down some factories and limiting the cars on the road in hopes the reduce the smog. It is working. It it not perfectly clear but it is nicer then before. Just this week alone I have seen the sun twice and the moon three times.
Before I left for Beijing Peter Tannenbaum told me I had to get a haircut here. He said they were amazing and if only they did haircuts like this in the states. Peter, you were right! My friend and I went the other day to get a hair cut. We walk into this place that looks like your regular barbershop in the states. They direct us to the back to sit down. They put a towel on us and get all of their supplies ready. They take a water bottle and get or hair wet and they start to shampoo us at the chair. At first we both looked at each other like "wtf" but just rolled with it. They washed our hair the way you would wash a dogs hair...get it a little wet and then rub shampoo in it. After the shampoo they took us to wash our hair and then back to the chair. The next 20 minutes we got a neck and back massage. Once that was over they bring us to the front to get our hair cut. The guy cuts our hair and then washes it. The whole process was about 45 minutes and we walked out of there so relaxed and only spending 3 us dollars.
A last note before I leave. I have found the supply chain for Nintendo Wii's and Wii Fitness as well as a million other video game related things. If anyone wants or needs anything let me know. I am still trying to figure out if they will work in the states. I am pretty sure they will.
I am off to explore some more.
Go Phillies!
Back to life in China. I am still having bed issues. I got the pad and extra blanket and it worked for a little. Now I can't really sleep which is horrible because 12 hour days require some sleep. I just sent out another email to the person in charge and hopefully something will happen. I think I will send an email a day until they get annoyed and just give me a new room.
Media Village goes 24 hours Friday. We planned to open up all 7 service areas for 24 hour dining this Friday but the media is arriving in waves so only 4 areas will be open. I never thought I would be looking forward to 24 hour service areas but it will be nice to finally display what we have been working on for the past 3 weeks. On my side we have a great team. The operations people and the culinary team have a great relationship which makes it very easy and we both help each other out. Everyone seems pretty happy about our food selection.
I am sure all of you have heard in the news how they would be shutting down some factories and limiting the cars on the road in hopes the reduce the smog. It is working. It it not perfectly clear but it is nicer then before. Just this week alone I have seen the sun twice and the moon three times.
Before I left for Beijing Peter Tannenbaum told me I had to get a haircut here. He said they were amazing and if only they did haircuts like this in the states. Peter, you were right! My friend and I went the other day to get a hair cut. We walk into this place that looks like your regular barbershop in the states. They direct us to the back to sit down. They put a towel on us and get all of their supplies ready. They take a water bottle and get or hair wet and they start to shampoo us at the chair. At first we both looked at each other like "wtf" but just rolled with it. They washed our hair the way you would wash a dogs hair...get it a little wet and then rub shampoo in it. After the shampoo they took us to wash our hair and then back to the chair. The next 20 minutes we got a neck and back massage. Once that was over they bring us to the front to get our hair cut. The guy cuts our hair and then washes it. The whole process was about 45 minutes and we walked out of there so relaxed and only spending 3 us dollars.
A last note before I leave. I have found the supply chain for Nintendo Wii's and Wii Fitness as well as a million other video game related things. If anyone wants or needs anything let me know. I am still trying to figure out if they will work in the states. I am pretty sure they will.
I am off to explore some more.
Go Phillies!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Electronics Electronics and More Electronics
I had the day off Tuesday and the people I usually hang out with were working so I had to fly solo. I wasn't feeling that great so I did not go anywhere far and decided to just stick around my area. People consider the area I live in the Silicon Valley of Beijing. Everywhere you look you see people with boxes of computers, tv's, laptops, etc....
My digital camera is about 3 years old so I was looking into buying a new one. I walked about a block from the hotel to this building that had posters of the different camera companies. As soon as I hit the door, just like Silk Market, people start screaming and yelling trying to sell me laptops, cameras, and iPods. I wandered around for a little until I found a Nikon booth.
The way this place is set up is that its an office building and they just create these spaces for people. Some stores are big some stores are small. On the outsides are the bigger ones and then the inside they are just counters you walk up to and look at things.
At the Nikon store, pronounced "knee-con" here there were these 4 cute sales girls. They spoke maybe 5 or 6 words of English. I asked how much a camera was and they didn't say it they just punched it on the calculator. They punched in 4500 rmb. ( I am looking at the Nikon D60 which is a 700 dollar camera in the states so I want to see if I can get it cheaper here) I told the girl it was a very high number and she then punched in 4200. We get to talking about the features and she had no clue what I was saying. She pulls out a piece of paper and reads, "my master is upstairs. If you buy now you talk to him and he speak good English. You want go now?"
Not really knowing what she was talking about I said sure. They walked me through the whole first floor...out the door...into another building loaded with electronics and we stopped at an elevator. As we are waiting for the elevator a few things popped in my head. I was either going upstairs and going to get robbed 0r I was going upstairs to talk to the "master." I get in the elevator and it's just me and her. She hits the 15th floor but we stopped on almost every floor on the way up. By the 10th floor I was jammed in an elevator with out any air conditioning and the smell was not the best.
We got off on the 15th floor and it was an office setup. Names of companies on the outside of the door. We walked around the corner and her company had the office in the back. It looked normal so the idea of getting robbed was no longer in my mind. When we walked into the office there were sets of couches all over the place with a coffee table in the middle. She sits me down and there is a calculator and booklet of cameras. The "master" came over and we talked about the price. It is a 700 dollar camera in the states and all of his prices were right around there. I told him I wanted it for 2700 and he said there is no way. He kept trying to talk me into and eventually into buying a whole different camera.
I ended up not buying but the experience was pretty crazy. When I rode the elevator back down I walked around to check out the other things. On the first 3 floors it was all cameras and computers. The next few floors was all stuff to build a computer and memory cards. The memory cards here are dirt cheap for some reason. You can buy an 8gb flash drive for 30 bucks.
On the work side of things everything is going well. We have been feeding Aramark and Olympic staff since Friday. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. The Olympic people seem pretty happy with the food. They complain in the mornings because there are not enough carbs on the menu and every morning we have to tell them how hard it has been getting food it so we are doing our best. This coming Thursday the shifts are changing. There will be a 3am-1pm shift and a 12pm-10pm shift. I am not sure which I would prefer. This is our last week of just feeding the staff. The media arrives the 25th and that is when it will get crazy. I am actually looking forward to that because I want to get into it already.
It is hard to believe I have been here for 21 days already. It seems like a lot longer. Yesterday they started shutting down factories and only certain cars are allowed to drive each day. You could tell right away because there was a blue sky and you could see the sun. At night we were able to see the moon which was a first. Living in an environment where the sun is barley seen is very strange for me.
I have to get going. I got lucky and scored another day off today so we are going to try and see some sites.
My digital camera is about 3 years old so I was looking into buying a new one. I walked about a block from the hotel to this building that had posters of the different camera companies. As soon as I hit the door, just like Silk Market, people start screaming and yelling trying to sell me laptops, cameras, and iPods. I wandered around for a little until I found a Nikon booth.
The way this place is set up is that its an office building and they just create these spaces for people. Some stores are big some stores are small. On the outsides are the bigger ones and then the inside they are just counters you walk up to and look at things.
At the Nikon store, pronounced "knee-con" here there were these 4 cute sales girls. They spoke maybe 5 or 6 words of English. I asked how much a camera was and they didn't say it they just punched it on the calculator. They punched in 4500 rmb. ( I am looking at the Nikon D60 which is a 700 dollar camera in the states so I want to see if I can get it cheaper here) I told the girl it was a very high number and she then punched in 4200. We get to talking about the features and she had no clue what I was saying. She pulls out a piece of paper and reads, "my master is upstairs. If you buy now you talk to him and he speak good English. You want go now?"
Not really knowing what she was talking about I said sure. They walked me through the whole first floor...out the door...into another building loaded with electronics and we stopped at an elevator. As we are waiting for the elevator a few things popped in my head. I was either going upstairs and going to get robbed 0r I was going upstairs to talk to the "master." I get in the elevator and it's just me and her. She hits the 15th floor but we stopped on almost every floor on the way up. By the 10th floor I was jammed in an elevator with out any air conditioning and the smell was not the best.
We got off on the 15th floor and it was an office setup. Names of companies on the outside of the door. We walked around the corner and her company had the office in the back. It looked normal so the idea of getting robbed was no longer in my mind. When we walked into the office there were sets of couches all over the place with a coffee table in the middle. She sits me down and there is a calculator and booklet of cameras. The "master" came over and we talked about the price. It is a 700 dollar camera in the states and all of his prices were right around there. I told him I wanted it for 2700 and he said there is no way. He kept trying to talk me into and eventually into buying a whole different camera.
I ended up not buying but the experience was pretty crazy. When I rode the elevator back down I walked around to check out the other things. On the first 3 floors it was all cameras and computers. The next few floors was all stuff to build a computer and memory cards. The memory cards here are dirt cheap for some reason. You can buy an 8gb flash drive for 30 bucks.
On the work side of things everything is going well. We have been feeding Aramark and Olympic staff since Friday. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. The Olympic people seem pretty happy with the food. They complain in the mornings because there are not enough carbs on the menu and every morning we have to tell them how hard it has been getting food it so we are doing our best. This coming Thursday the shifts are changing. There will be a 3am-1pm shift and a 12pm-10pm shift. I am not sure which I would prefer. This is our last week of just feeding the staff. The media arrives the 25th and that is when it will get crazy. I am actually looking forward to that because I want to get into it already.
It is hard to believe I have been here for 21 days already. It seems like a lot longer. Yesterday they started shutting down factories and only certain cars are allowed to drive each day. You could tell right away because there was a blue sky and you could see the sun. At night we were able to see the moon which was a first. Living in an environment where the sun is barley seen is very strange for me.
I have to get going. I got lucky and scored another day off today so we are going to try and see some sites.
Friday, July 18, 2008
My 17 dollar meal
It has been a few days so I would like to apologize to those who have created a routine of waking up and reading my blog. Things at work have been a little hectic which has caused me to be very tired at the end of the day and just pass out.
As I have mentioned before Media Village has 7 restaurants. I am on the side that has 4 and work with 3 other operations managers. Starting today we will be serving staff meals everyday from 7am - 8pm. July 25th is when the media arrives and we start our 24 hour service. Today went very well. I worked the 5am-3pm shift which was nice considering I am a morning person. We pretty much worked everyday this week. I was able to have a day off on Tuesday.
Tuesday morning me and a few others decided to go to the Silk Market. For those of you who don't know the Silk Market is where you go to buy things dirt cheap. 90 percent of the stuff is probably not real but it is really cheap. We took a taxi to the Silk Market that took about 30 minutes. I was always under the impression that the Silk Market was outside but was happy to find out that it is indoors and has air conditioning. Right off the bat it just looks like a giant flea market. I took two steps in and realized it is a giant flea market on crack. As you walk the aisles people stand in front of their booth shouting, "mister mister...buy a watch" "sir do you need jeans" "rich American buy from me." After walking down one aisle I kind of wanted to go home.
As I continued wandering I found a place that sells Polo. I asked the woman how much the polo is and she says 120 rmb. I tell her no way I will give you 30. For a few minutes we go back and forth until we agree on 45 rmb. Doing the math that is about $ 6.80. 10 Polos later I had only spent 66 usd. When I left her booth other sellers saw my huge bag and started screaming and pulling on me to buy more. It was horrible. I did not enjoy being pulled on and them all coming in front of me trying to stop me to buy something. I needed a bag to hide the shirts.
I went down to the bag section and found a backpack I wanted. The woman tells me its 1500 rmb and I tell her I spent all my savings on shirts. She laughed and goes "you are a funny man, for that I give you bag for 1200." I responded with, " I thought I was funnier then a 300 rmb discount." She didn't get it. We continued debating the price on the calculator. She punched in 1100 and hit the clear and punched in 500. Back and forth we went. She hit 1000 I hit 300. I was kind of cornered which made me uncomfortable so I tried to say forget it I will go else where. The woman then takes my shirts out of the bag and starts putting them in the backpack. She keeps going, "ooo so much room in this bag...it very nice." Once she packs the bag she puts it on my shoulders and tells me I look great it in. After about 10 minutes I pull out 200 rmb and say take it or leave it. Just my luck she accepted it and I walked away with a 30 dollar bag.
All in all the Silk Market was crazy. I plan to go back and possibly get a custom made suit or some winter gear for football season. If anyone wants anything let me know and I will see what I can do.
Now for my 17 dollar meal. My Aunt Lori forwarded to me an article from Vogue Magazine about this guy who toured Beijing restaurants. He listed his favorite places to go. We have all been sick of eating around here so last night we pulled the list out and picked a dumpling house. The front desk wrote the address down and told the cab where to go. There were 4 of us for dinner and were all American. We get to the place and they give us two menus.
As I have mentioned before Media Village has 7 restaurants. I am on the side that has 4 and work with 3 other operations managers. Starting today we will be serving staff meals everyday from 7am - 8pm. July 25th is when the media arrives and we start our 24 hour service. Today went very well. I worked the 5am-3pm shift which was nice considering I am a morning person. We pretty much worked everyday this week. I was able to have a day off on Tuesday.
Tuesday morning me and a few others decided to go to the Silk Market. For those of you who don't know the Silk Market is where you go to buy things dirt cheap. 90 percent of the stuff is probably not real but it is really cheap. We took a taxi to the Silk Market that took about 30 minutes. I was always under the impression that the Silk Market was outside but was happy to find out that it is indoors and has air conditioning. Right off the bat it just looks like a giant flea market. I took two steps in and realized it is a giant flea market on crack. As you walk the aisles people stand in front of their booth shouting, "mister mister...buy a watch" "sir do you need jeans" "rich American buy from me." After walking down one aisle I kind of wanted to go home.
As I continued wandering I found a place that sells Polo. I asked the woman how much the polo is and she says 120 rmb. I tell her no way I will give you 30. For a few minutes we go back and forth until we agree on 45 rmb. Doing the math that is about $ 6.80. 10 Polos later I had only spent 66 usd. When I left her booth other sellers saw my huge bag and started screaming and pulling on me to buy more. It was horrible. I did not enjoy being pulled on and them all coming in front of me trying to stop me to buy something. I needed a bag to hide the shirts.
I went down to the bag section and found a backpack I wanted. The woman tells me its 1500 rmb and I tell her I spent all my savings on shirts. She laughed and goes "you are a funny man, for that I give you bag for 1200." I responded with, " I thought I was funnier then a 300 rmb discount." She didn't get it. We continued debating the price on the calculator. She punched in 1100 and hit the clear and punched in 500. Back and forth we went. She hit 1000 I hit 300. I was kind of cornered which made me uncomfortable so I tried to say forget it I will go else where. The woman then takes my shirts out of the bag and starts putting them in the backpack. She keeps going, "ooo so much room in this bag...it very nice." Once she packs the bag she puts it on my shoulders and tells me I look great it in. After about 10 minutes I pull out 200 rmb and say take it or leave it. Just my luck she accepted it and I walked away with a 30 dollar bag.
All in all the Silk Market was crazy. I plan to go back and possibly get a custom made suit or some winter gear for football season. If anyone wants anything let me know and I will see what I can do.
Now for my 17 dollar meal. My Aunt Lori forwarded to me an article from Vogue Magazine about this guy who toured Beijing restaurants. He listed his favorite places to go. We have all been sick of eating around here so last night we pulled the list out and picked a dumpling house. The front desk wrote the address down and told the cab where to go. There were 4 of us for dinner and were all American. We get to the place and they give us two menus.
A quick side note: every place we go out to eat the never give you a menu per person. If you are 4 people you are lucky to get 2. I have no clue why this happens.
The menu is all in Chinese and no pictures. Pictures usually get us through every meal. Obviously when ordering dumplings pictures wouldn't help but an English menu would have been nice. We called the waiter over and after 5 minutes of playing charades we were able to determine what was pork, beef, and vegetable. My friends do really good animal noises. We ordered 3 different types of dumplings from each category, pancakes, and another dish. We had about 60 dumplings total and 2 rounds of beer. The food was incredible. This guy was dead on.
The bill comes out and it was 114 rmb. The 4 of us were shocked it was that cheap. 114 rmb is 17 usd. In the states a meal like that would have been well over 100 bucks. Since the place was so good we are going to make sure we hit every place on the restaurant list and I will be sure to keep you posted on what we find.
I am heading out for drinks and dinner. Until next time.
The menu is all in Chinese and no pictures. Pictures usually get us through every meal. Obviously when ordering dumplings pictures wouldn't help but an English menu would have been nice. We called the waiter over and after 5 minutes of playing charades we were able to determine what was pork, beef, and vegetable. My friends do really good animal noises. We ordered 3 different types of dumplings from each category, pancakes, and another dish. We had about 60 dumplings total and 2 rounds of beer. The food was incredible. This guy was dead on.
The bill comes out and it was 114 rmb. The 4 of us were shocked it was that cheap. 114 rmb is 17 usd. In the states a meal like that would have been well over 100 bucks. Since the place was so good we are going to make sure we hit every place on the restaurant list and I will be sure to keep you posted on what we find.
I am heading out for drinks and dinner. Until next time.
Monday, July 14, 2008
THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR
It has been talked about for the past two weeks. I have told you how I was dreading stepping into it. This Friday it came out. Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you....The 2008 Beijing Olympics Manager Uniform!!!
Isn't it lovely? This is what I will have to be wearing every time I go to work not. How it works is I show up to work in whatever and I go downstairs to the uniform room. I give them my name and they give me my pants and shirt. I then have to go to the changing room. The changing room is pretty much a hole in the wall....probably the size of the smallest cubicle you have ever seen. There are a few benches and that's it. My first day I walk in there and there are about 5 Chinese chefs and 1 American..me being the one American. They are all smoking and screaming and yelling laughing about something. For those of you who know me, being clean is a top priority. This changing room, NOT CLEAN. The floor creeps me out. I find a little corner to put my things down. I take off my shoes and then stand on them because there is no way in hell I want my feet to touch the ground. I have socks on but still...I am balancing on a pair of shoes while trying to get one leg into my pants, it is a very tough task for those of you who have never had to do this. The Chinese guys are all looking at me like I am nuts. I asked them to put the cigarette out and they just smiled and offered me one. After balancing on my shoes I was able to get both legs into my pants. I put on my fancy blue button down that has the extra extra starch. I put on my fanny pack and hat and I was good to go.
Enough about my couture outfit. I spent yesterday at the Forbidden City. It was amazing. The place was gigantic. We spent about 4 hours there exploring all over. I took some really great pictures. One thing that stood out to me was the condition the buildings were in. When you go around Europe everything looks very well maintained. In the Forbidden City it seemed like they just let it go. Things were very old looking and in pretty bad condition.
After the Forbidden City we headed to Houhai. Houhai is this little area that is surrounded by a lake. It is a pretty big tourist trap. They have all these shops and bars sitting on the lake. You can rent boats but we chose not to considering everyone we saw driving them was crashing into something. It was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
I just posted pictures that will sum up my past two days. Tomorrow I have a day off and I am heading to the Silk Market. From what I am told I can get a custom made suit for 150 usd. It should be interesting. People who have already gone said be prepared to get pulled and yelled at to buy things. I am ready for it.
Make sure to look at my pictures.
Enough about my couture outfit. I spent yesterday at the Forbidden City. It was amazing. The place was gigantic. We spent about 4 hours there exploring all over. I took some really great pictures. One thing that stood out to me was the condition the buildings were in. When you go around Europe everything looks very well maintained. In the Forbidden City it seemed like they just let it go. Things were very old looking and in pretty bad condition.
After the Forbidden City we headed to Houhai. Houhai is this little area that is surrounded by a lake. It is a pretty big tourist trap. They have all these shops and bars sitting on the lake. You can rent boats but we chose not to considering everyone we saw driving them was crashing into something. It was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
I just posted pictures that will sum up my past two days. Tomorrow I have a day off and I am heading to the Silk Market. From what I am told I can get a custom made suit for 150 usd. It should be interesting. People who have already gone said be prepared to get pulled and yelled at to buy things. I am ready for it.
Make sure to look at my pictures.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Soft Opening
I am not even sure where to begin. Our soft opening was Friday and Saturday. I worked Friday from 9am-3am and then Saturday 7am-4pm. It has been a long 48 hours.
The soft opening went really well and the client was very happy. We served dinner Friday night to VIP media. Pretty much the media gets these passes to give to family and friends for them to come stay at the village for 2 nights and experience the Media Village. We had 3 restaurants open and they all opened at 6pm. There were roughly 2,200 people all dieing to get in. People were pushing and shoving to get in. All the food was free. It was a chance for us to test everything and a chance to get feedback from the client.
There was a situation with all these people trying to come in at one time. We set it up that 25 guests at a time would come in. People starting pushing and shoving and I couldn't take it anymore. I kind of gave this one guy a forearm and had the translator say "if you act like this none of you are eating." Once that was said they formed a line and it was smooth sailing.
As for what they ate. We had all sorts of food but these people were piling their plates so high. It was ridiculous. They were stealing drinks in their bags, putting tea bags in their pockets, and taking fruit like it was going out of style. I could not believe it. It is kind of hard to explain how it went and how everyone acted. I guess to sum it up they did not act like VIPs.
BOCOG is Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games. They are our client. They all walk around in these Adidas jumpsuits. They eat and drink at all the places to make sure everything is ok. One of the BOCOG members stopped me to say hello and we started talking. He was telling me how happy he was with the way everything was going and how excited he was to be working with Aramark. We continued talking and he started saying how proud he is of me and how he is impressed with how hard I was working. It caught me off guard that he was saying these things because he was a complete stranger. He then asked if I had eaten anything all day and I told him no. He said I must eat but I explained to him that I do not like to eat in front of customers while working. Well he talked me into eating with him and he tried to get me to have a beer with him as well. It was really nice to sit down with Chinese business men and hear their story. When this guy is not doing BOCOG he is a miner.
MY UNIFORM. The much anticipated uniform came out Friday. I got to work and the seamstress gave me the pants she fixed. I put on my horrible khaki pants and my blue button down short sleeve dress shirt. The collar of the shirt had so much starch it killed. I looked in the mirror and could not stop laughing. The outfit was not complete until I put on my fanny pack and hat. Let me tell you, I looked like a real winner. I found out that the pants can withstand anything. Someone told me you could pour a bottle of water on them and nothing would happen. I felt like I was in an infomercial but I took a glass of water and poured it on my pants. Sure enough dry as a bone. The outfit is so uncomfortable. As soon as I post pictures I will be sure to post them.
It has been a long 2 days considering I am working on 3 hours of sleep. We are heading to the Forbidden City tomorrow and this time we are really going. One of the hourly employees is going to take us and be our translator. I am looking forward to it. It is my second day off since being here.
One last thing. I was informed that Sandy Baron has been calling my dad nonstop asking about my blog. Sandy, I will try to post as often as possible so my dad can get a break!
The soft opening went really well and the client was very happy. We served dinner Friday night to VIP media. Pretty much the media gets these passes to give to family and friends for them to come stay at the village for 2 nights and experience the Media Village. We had 3 restaurants open and they all opened at 6pm. There were roughly 2,200 people all dieing to get in. People were pushing and shoving to get in. All the food was free. It was a chance for us to test everything and a chance to get feedback from the client.
There was a situation with all these people trying to come in at one time. We set it up that 25 guests at a time would come in. People starting pushing and shoving and I couldn't take it anymore. I kind of gave this one guy a forearm and had the translator say "if you act like this none of you are eating." Once that was said they formed a line and it was smooth sailing.
As for what they ate. We had all sorts of food but these people were piling their plates so high. It was ridiculous. They were stealing drinks in their bags, putting tea bags in their pockets, and taking fruit like it was going out of style. I could not believe it. It is kind of hard to explain how it went and how everyone acted. I guess to sum it up they did not act like VIPs.
BOCOG is Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games. They are our client. They all walk around in these Adidas jumpsuits. They eat and drink at all the places to make sure everything is ok. One of the BOCOG members stopped me to say hello and we started talking. He was telling me how happy he was with the way everything was going and how excited he was to be working with Aramark. We continued talking and he started saying how proud he is of me and how he is impressed with how hard I was working. It caught me off guard that he was saying these things because he was a complete stranger. He then asked if I had eaten anything all day and I told him no. He said I must eat but I explained to him that I do not like to eat in front of customers while working. Well he talked me into eating with him and he tried to get me to have a beer with him as well. It was really nice to sit down with Chinese business men and hear their story. When this guy is not doing BOCOG he is a miner.
MY UNIFORM. The much anticipated uniform came out Friday. I got to work and the seamstress gave me the pants she fixed. I put on my horrible khaki pants and my blue button down short sleeve dress shirt. The collar of the shirt had so much starch it killed. I looked in the mirror and could not stop laughing. The outfit was not complete until I put on my fanny pack and hat. Let me tell you, I looked like a real winner. I found out that the pants can withstand anything. Someone told me you could pour a bottle of water on them and nothing would happen. I felt like I was in an infomercial but I took a glass of water and poured it on my pants. Sure enough dry as a bone. The outfit is so uncomfortable. As soon as I post pictures I will be sure to post them.
It has been a long 2 days considering I am working on 3 hours of sleep. We are heading to the Forbidden City tomorrow and this time we are really going. One of the hourly employees is going to take us and be our translator. I am looking forward to it. It is my second day off since being here.
One last thing. I was informed that Sandy Baron has been calling my dad nonstop asking about my blog. Sandy, I will try to post as often as possible so my dad can get a break!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
It Works
Sorry for the confusion. If you scroll down the page past the "About Me" part there is a link that says "Pictures" in a blue box. That link will allow you to view all pictures. It should work!
Pictures
I have posted a link for pictures. It is on the right side of the blog. It should work. If you have any questions or it doesn't work let me know.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Crunch Time
We have 3 days until our soft opening. We have been working with our employees for a little while and they are doing alright. The language barrier is near impossible and at times we have so many kids and not enough work. Hopefully once the games start everything will iron out.
I found out the reason behind the squatters. PKL is the company that is in charge of all the equipment and they need people to watch it while the building is open and before it is turned over to Aramark. They hire people to sit and sleep in the building the whole time. I thought they were people who did not belong but it turns out they were people on the job. Either way we got rid of them because sleeping in the middle of a dinning room or in the middle of a kitchen doesn't help when you are trying to run an operation.
Tomorrow we are getting issued a uniform. I have tried to postpone this as long as possible but tomorrow is the day. Whoever picked out the uniform should be smacked. We will be sporting khaki polyester pants, a blue button down short sleeve shirt, a black baseball hat and a frickin fanny pack. I am going to look like my great grandfather in a short sleeve button down shirt. I can't even imagine how hot I will be. I will make sure to take a picture because I will probably look like a tourist.
I was talking to my sister and she was just asking about everyday things. The topic of dogs came up. I have been here for about 10 days now and in those 10 days I have seen about 5 dogs total. One of the dogs had its tail and ears died. The other dogs looked disgusting. When you walk around the states for 10 days you see a million dogs probably...not here. I'm not sure why there is a lack of dog, I will let you decide that one.
I recently discovered the hotel does a breakfast for 5 usd. It is a continental breakfast with both American and Chinese food. This morning they had buffalo wings which was a bit different. Lately my breakfast has consisted of a glass of juice, a piece of bread, and 3 flavored Tums. Tums has become my Trident of the trip. I carry tums and purell wherever I go.
We have finally been assigned a bus to take us to and from the village. Before the bus we took cabs to work. Everyday we would go a different route. I have never been on the same route since being here, we always seem to go a different way each time. The best part about it is we will have the door man tell the taxi where we want to go. He understands him very well but when we want the cab to stop we have issues. Someone told us the word "ting" means stop. We all tell the driver "ting" and he doesn't stop. Then we scream "ting ting ting" and he still doesn't stop. Finally the guy in the front just opens up his door and the cab goes " ooo ting?" It is amazing!!
My time here has been unreal. Some of the things I see are so hard to describe in words.. I am having a blast here despite the filth. I am meeting some pretty important people and have tried to take on as much responsibility as possible. We open up in 3 days and I can't wait to get into action.
I found out the reason behind the squatters. PKL is the company that is in charge of all the equipment and they need people to watch it while the building is open and before it is turned over to Aramark. They hire people to sit and sleep in the building the whole time. I thought they were people who did not belong but it turns out they were people on the job. Either way we got rid of them because sleeping in the middle of a dinning room or in the middle of a kitchen doesn't help when you are trying to run an operation.
Tomorrow we are getting issued a uniform. I have tried to postpone this as long as possible but tomorrow is the day. Whoever picked out the uniform should be smacked. We will be sporting khaki polyester pants, a blue button down short sleeve shirt, a black baseball hat and a frickin fanny pack. I am going to look like my great grandfather in a short sleeve button down shirt. I can't even imagine how hot I will be. I will make sure to take a picture because I will probably look like a tourist.
I was talking to my sister and she was just asking about everyday things. The topic of dogs came up. I have been here for about 10 days now and in those 10 days I have seen about 5 dogs total. One of the dogs had its tail and ears died. The other dogs looked disgusting. When you walk around the states for 10 days you see a million dogs probably...not here. I'm not sure why there is a lack of dog, I will let you decide that one.
I recently discovered the hotel does a breakfast for 5 usd. It is a continental breakfast with both American and Chinese food. This morning they had buffalo wings which was a bit different. Lately my breakfast has consisted of a glass of juice, a piece of bread, and 3 flavored Tums. Tums has become my Trident of the trip. I carry tums and purell wherever I go.
We have finally been assigned a bus to take us to and from the village. Before the bus we took cabs to work. Everyday we would go a different route. I have never been on the same route since being here, we always seem to go a different way each time. The best part about it is we will have the door man tell the taxi where we want to go. He understands him very well but when we want the cab to stop we have issues. Someone told us the word "ting" means stop. We all tell the driver "ting" and he doesn't stop. Then we scream "ting ting ting" and he still doesn't stop. Finally the guy in the front just opens up his door and the cab goes " ooo ting?" It is amazing!!
My time here has been unreal. Some of the things I see are so hard to describe in words.. I am having a blast here despite the filth. I am meeting some pretty important people and have tried to take on as much responsibility as possible. We open up in 3 days and I can't wait to get into action.
Monday, July 7, 2008
The past few days...
It has been a few days since I have posted. I haven't posted for two reasons: one I got really sick from eating something gross and the other was lack of sleep.
Things have been really coming along at Media Village. My side has stepped up and everything is rocking. There are a few issues that we are trying to take care of but we should be good for our soft opening Friday/Saturday. I am working with some great people who make work fun and the experience great. I am of course the youngest guy here and find myself hanging out with people who are almost old enough to be my parents. All great guys and we have been having a blast at work and in the city.
Saturday night we had a July 4th party at a bar. There was American food, good beer, and it was in a really cool part of town. It reminded me a little of Olde City. Bars all over the place and you could just tell it was a fun area.
We decided Saturday night that we would head to the Forbidden City in the morning. We got off to a late start and I was talking to someone in the lobby who said you really need a whole day there. Since we didn't go there we decided to explore the area around the condo. My bed is still terrible so we found a Wal Mart. We asked the front desk where a Wal Mart is. They had no idea what we were talking about and then the little lady goes "ooooh War Mart." The 4 of us could not stop laughing as she wrote down directions. We arrived at the War Mart and were in shock. The place was huge. 4 stories of everything you could think of. We check out the food market and were shocked. I was more shocked then the other guys because they are all chefs. They had a fish area where this lady would catch a fish in the fish tank and then give it to the butcher. The butcher would take the fish int he net and just whacked it on the ground. The place was so unsanitary. They had a bucket of rice and people were just playing with it.
The experience here is amazing. I think Beijing if filthy but looking past that it is incredible. Every morning when we drive to work I just can't believe I am in China working. The employees are pretty difficult to work with. For most of them this is their first job. You really have to stay on them to do their work or they will just sit and do nothing. After the eat lunch they all fall asleep. I asked one person who speaks English why this happens and she told me that from first grade to twelfth grade they would always take a nap after lunch. It is pretty crazy so we really push them.
This week is going to be crazy for me. We were told that we will be working 10 hour plus days up to the soft opening. The games are getting closer can you can feel the buzz in the city. I am really looking forward to the media arriving and the games to start.
I will try to post pictures as soon as I can. I am having trouble posting them. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
Things have been really coming along at Media Village. My side has stepped up and everything is rocking. There are a few issues that we are trying to take care of but we should be good for our soft opening Friday/Saturday. I am working with some great people who make work fun and the experience great. I am of course the youngest guy here and find myself hanging out with people who are almost old enough to be my parents. All great guys and we have been having a blast at work and in the city.
Saturday night we had a July 4th party at a bar. There was American food, good beer, and it was in a really cool part of town. It reminded me a little of Olde City. Bars all over the place and you could just tell it was a fun area.
We decided Saturday night that we would head to the Forbidden City in the morning. We got off to a late start and I was talking to someone in the lobby who said you really need a whole day there. Since we didn't go there we decided to explore the area around the condo. My bed is still terrible so we found a Wal Mart. We asked the front desk where a Wal Mart is. They had no idea what we were talking about and then the little lady goes "ooooh War Mart." The 4 of us could not stop laughing as she wrote down directions. We arrived at the War Mart and were in shock. The place was huge. 4 stories of everything you could think of. We check out the food market and were shocked. I was more shocked then the other guys because they are all chefs. They had a fish area where this lady would catch a fish in the fish tank and then give it to the butcher. The butcher would take the fish int he net and just whacked it on the ground. The place was so unsanitary. They had a bucket of rice and people were just playing with it.
The experience here is amazing. I think Beijing if filthy but looking past that it is incredible. Every morning when we drive to work I just can't believe I am in China working. The employees are pretty difficult to work with. For most of them this is their first job. You really have to stay on them to do their work or they will just sit and do nothing. After the eat lunch they all fall asleep. I asked one person who speaks English why this happens and she told me that from first grade to twelfth grade they would always take a nap after lunch. It is pretty crazy so we really push them.
This week is going to be crazy for me. We were told that we will be working 10 hour plus days up to the soft opening. The games are getting closer can you can feel the buzz in the city. I am really looking forward to the media arriving and the games to start.
I will try to post pictures as soon as I can. I am having trouble posting them. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
Friday, July 4, 2008
200 Chinese Employees....
What a day. We got to work around 8:30. It is horrible how long it takes to get around here. There is so much traffic that wherever we go it takes forever. Today 200 employees showed up. 115 were for culinary and the rest were for facilities and operations. We broke them up into groups and got on our way. It was pretty chaotic but we were given a translator which was awesome. It turns out that the 10 employees I have actually speak a little bit of English which was a huge bonus. As I said before we have our soft opening July 11th so we were having them clean and get everything organized. The way these people clean is amazing. They work really hard and never miss a spot. I might see if one can fit on my carry on because we are in the market for a new cleaning lady.
While cleaning I was moving stuff around and had to push trash cans into those big trash holder type things. I don't know the name for them but its like the trash bins you see in a food court. I opened up one of the doors and there was all this cardboard and bubble wrap. I started pulling it out so the trash can would fit and this guy stops me. He starts speaking Chinese and I just say " I don't understand." He does a hand motion for sleeping and I just tell him to move it. Bottom line is, it was the guys bed and he thought I was throwing it out. I told the translator to just tell him to put it else where.
The whole bed thing is something I have seen multiple times since here. I am not sure who hired them but there are people who sit in each building and don't do anything but just look out for the stuff. I am not sure if they are Aramark employees or what but all they do is sit and watch. They also sleep there. It is very common to see people sleeping behind a cooler or under a staircase. It is a bit disturbing and I am not sure what will happen when the games start.
When I was given my assignment I was told that I would be dealing with Coca Cola. Today the guys came to make sure everything was up and running. They spoke maybe a word or two of English. The guy was trying to explain that we need converters for some of the coolers. It took forever but once I realized what he was talking about he was very happy and gave me a hug. I thought a hand shake would work but it is what it is.
I just want to give you guys some background on what I have observed about Beijing. I have been here for 5 days and seen the sun once. It is so humid you could die. Traffic is horrendous no matter what time you travel. You walk in the street and smell something horrible and go "that is the worst thing I have ever smelled" but one block later you smell something even worse. Employees love to sleep. At any given point you will see someone passed out on chair or even standing up. When we went for dinner last night our waitress was sleeping while we were eating.
Eating here has been a huge culture shock. Most of you probably know I am a very picky eater. The first day we ate amazing food and since then it hasn't been so amazing. Last night all I wanted was noodles with some chicken. The menus here are designed for people like me, all pictures. I paged through the menu until I saw noodles with chicken. I ordered that with a small bowl of what I thought was rice but came out as something that I can't even describe. The noodles come out and they are this brown color and don't look like noodles. I dug my chopsticks right in and they turned out to be really good. The chicken however was not so good. I took one bite and almost broke my tooth on a bone. I don't understand why they can't just get rid of the bones. I had to pick out all the bones and was left with a piece or two left. The food is starting to frustrate me a little. I am willing to try some random things but when you go to take a bite of chicken and its a bone it really kills your appetite. I might Google "kosher deli" and see what I come up with.
This weekend we are heading to the Forbidden City. I am looking forward to seeing some of the history this city has to offer and I will be sure to take pictures.
I still don't think I am over the jet lag. Today was a very long day. It could be my allergies though. It is so stuffy outside you feel kind of hungover when you are walking around.
Until next time.
While cleaning I was moving stuff around and had to push trash cans into those big trash holder type things. I don't know the name for them but its like the trash bins you see in a food court. I opened up one of the doors and there was all this cardboard and bubble wrap. I started pulling it out so the trash can would fit and this guy stops me. He starts speaking Chinese and I just say " I don't understand." He does a hand motion for sleeping and I just tell him to move it. Bottom line is, it was the guys bed and he thought I was throwing it out. I told the translator to just tell him to put it else where.
The whole bed thing is something I have seen multiple times since here. I am not sure who hired them but there are people who sit in each building and don't do anything but just look out for the stuff. I am not sure if they are Aramark employees or what but all they do is sit and watch. They also sleep there. It is very common to see people sleeping behind a cooler or under a staircase. It is a bit disturbing and I am not sure what will happen when the games start.
When I was given my assignment I was told that I would be dealing with Coca Cola. Today the guys came to make sure everything was up and running. They spoke maybe a word or two of English. The guy was trying to explain that we need converters for some of the coolers. It took forever but once I realized what he was talking about he was very happy and gave me a hug. I thought a hand shake would work but it is what it is.
I just want to give you guys some background on what I have observed about Beijing. I have been here for 5 days and seen the sun once. It is so humid you could die. Traffic is horrendous no matter what time you travel. You walk in the street and smell something horrible and go "that is the worst thing I have ever smelled" but one block later you smell something even worse. Employees love to sleep. At any given point you will see someone passed out on chair or even standing up. When we went for dinner last night our waitress was sleeping while we were eating.
Eating here has been a huge culture shock. Most of you probably know I am a very picky eater. The first day we ate amazing food and since then it hasn't been so amazing. Last night all I wanted was noodles with some chicken. The menus here are designed for people like me, all pictures. I paged through the menu until I saw noodles with chicken. I ordered that with a small bowl of what I thought was rice but came out as something that I can't even describe. The noodles come out and they are this brown color and don't look like noodles. I dug my chopsticks right in and they turned out to be really good. The chicken however was not so good. I took one bite and almost broke my tooth on a bone. I don't understand why they can't just get rid of the bones. I had to pick out all the bones and was left with a piece or two left. The food is starting to frustrate me a little. I am willing to try some random things but when you go to take a bite of chicken and its a bone it really kills your appetite. I might Google "kosher deli" and see what I come up with.
This weekend we are heading to the Forbidden City. I am looking forward to seeing some of the history this city has to offer and I will be sure to take pictures.
I still don't think I am over the jet lag. Today was a very long day. It could be my allergies though. It is so stuffy outside you feel kind of hungover when you are walking around.
Until next time.
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