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.