Joshua's going to art school!

Some quick sketches showing emotion.
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Sitting at the cafe waiting for a friend...

I'm so tired. ... And I just learned that I spelled phlegm wrong (phlem) in the post about that guy sitting next to me at the Bird's Nest. I feel like the "g" makes the word so much grosser...

I'm barely recovered from jet lag. I got off the plane and slept for 2 days, then went from work to rehearsals all week. I'll be in two shows in October. One will be a collection of stage combat performances, and the other the last play Harry Kondoleon wrote before his death.
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SF cab from the airport

Yes, this is from a San Francisco cab.

I'll post more pics from the trip in the next week.

Thanks for reading along with my adventure! :)

I may continue posting about my SF adventures because this has been so strangely fun. I have two shows coming up in October which should provide more than enough material. We'll see how it goes...
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Welcome to San Francisco

I just landed and am standing in line at customs.

Right off the plane, I walked into the woman's bathroom and pushed open an already partly open door to find an elderly Chinese woman greeting me happily from the pot. I'm assuming the door came open after she sat down so she couldn't do anything about it, but the greeting felt like she'd left the door open and had been sitting there waiting to see me.

Speaking of bathrooms, one thing I don't understand about the Chinese is why they don't put toilet paper in the toilet. They put it in a trash can next to the toilet. ...or next to those little squatter things.

My legs are so sore from sitting for so long.

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Peking duck!

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On our way to get Peking duck for my farwell from China

Josh will stay with his family for a few more days while I head back to the Bay Area for work and to start rehearsals.
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USA!!

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Painting with water on the street...

A man in the street had an umbrella full of water. He used the tip to paint pictures on the sidewalk.
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This is a pic of our room from the window sill i'm sitting on.
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Gongti bar district

So, apparently that WAS Star Bar Street, it was just kind of lame. We decided to ditch it and try the Gongti district instead.

We ended up in a club called Angel. They played all American hip hop. Fun! We met a wrestler from Iran.
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Star bar street

We asked to go to star bar street, supposedly where pop stars open bars and restaurants in Beijing - and we ended up here... ?? It's fascinating how none of the cab drivers here know where anything is.
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Shopping!

We didn't have any tickets to events today, so we decided to go shopping. I was hoping that getting out would help me to feel a little better, and surprisingly it did.



I went into one store and was looking at skirts. I grabbed an X-small and was approached by one of the salesmen. I asked him if he spoke English. He gestured for another salesman to come over. The new salesman asked "would you like to try it on?". I said yes. Then, both salesmen looked at my hip area, discussed a bit, and traded the X-small for a Small! I didn't argue, I just went in the dressingroom and tried it on. It seemed too big to me, but I went out and showed Josh. He said, "hm, that's too big, do they have a smaller one?". The first salesman gave the second one a look like he thought the first skirt was the right size. The second salesman gave me the X-small to take back into the dressingroom. It fit perfect, but neither Josh or I really loved it, so we left it behind.



When I told Josh the story as we were walking out, we were laughing that the sales guys would size me like that! But then, Josh was saying that size isn't as big of a deal in China because nobody's fat...

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7-11

...did not come to my rescue like I was hoping it would...
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Sick

Yup, i'm sick. My stomach was feeling better, but now it's worse, so we went back to the clinic and talked to the doctor again. The language barrier was still a problem, so they brought in someone to help us translate. It was pretty weird translating my...uh, symptoms...through multiple people... Yeah. Fun stuff. The doctor kept telling me I need to go to the hospital! Geez, I really just need some Pepto Bismol or something. At least, that seems like a better place to start.
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it's raining today!

I love summer rain... :)

We're watching a documentary on the forbidden city. It sounds like all of the buildings were built with interlocking pieces - no nails were used.
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Stomach ache

I've had a stomach ache for 3 days. I believe it's acid reflux, but no one here seems to understand what that is, and apparently China does not have antacid tablets.



There's a clinic in the hotel, so we went there today. Josh thinks the doctor said acid reflux as the diagnosis, but he's not completely sure...so, i'm now taking medicine for whatever the doc thinks I have. My stomach does feel a little better, but it's strange taking foreign medicine when not knowing what it's really for.



We took it pretty easy today after our journey to women's swimming. It took us a subway ride, two walks, and two cabs to get there. We were first told we could get there by subway, so we took the subway where we were told to go, but then at the transfer point we were told we needed to take a bus and everyone had a different idea of where the bus stop was. After walking aimlessly for a while we decided to just take a cab. The cab driver we got didn't know how to get to the location, so he drove us to another cab, jumped out, and told the other cab to take us where we needed to go. That cab got us to the location, but dropped us off at the wrong spot, so we had to walk all over the place trying to find our entrance. I think it ended up taking us about an hour and a half to finally get there. Luckily it was the woman's swimming marathon so we made it for the end of the race. :)



Cabs here are pretty cheap. We drove for about an hour and it only cost us $18 dollars. The ride is a bit scary though. Josh calls it jungle driving, where anything goes.

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Women's swimming marathon

We've decided to speak Spanish at this event just to stir things up. We keep saying "where are you?" and "I like your pants".
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At the ballgame

I just dodged this giant bug, and then it landed on this guy!! EWWWW!!! And now I have the heebie jeebies... *shudder*

Being here is like being in the stands wearing your high school team's jersey and rooting for the rival team.
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USA vs. Taiwan

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Artwork

The hotel is full of beautiful artwork, including these pieces they display on easles.
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Mei guo ren

That's how you say "American" in Chinese. I'm finding that saying "hello" and "thank you" in Chinese just reinforces the impression that I AM Chinese, which is to my complete disadvantage...because then they continue to speak to me in Chinese and, when I can't understand them, they apparently think i'm a "mountain person".



Last night, Josh and I went to the gym in the hotel. After working out, I decided to go to the steam room. I ran into an attendant in the locker room whom I greeted in Chinese. She helped me set up the steam room, and then we had a weird exchange about me needing a locker - but then I was off to relax in the steam. Steaming is kind of boring, so after a few minutes I headed back to my locker. On the way I passed the oxygen room, which sounded intriguing, so I tried to get in. I was pushing all of these buttons to open the door which eventually called the attendant again. She politely opened the door, escorted me to a reclined chair, put an oxygen mask on my face, turned "I believe I can fly..." on the stereo, dimmed the lights and left. I hadn't intended on having an...oxygen treatment?...I just wanted to check out the room, but I sat and relaxed for about 10 minutes, and then decided to go. The attendant was right outside the room folding towels when I opened the door. She smiled and started speaking to me in Chinese while escorting me back to my chair in the room. She had me sit down and put a towel over me seeming to tell me that my treatment wasn't over. I sat there for 10 more minutes thinking i was supposed to wait for her to come tell me when to leave. She finally came in with a notebook, and on one of the pages she had written something in Chinese using English letters. I had no idea what it said, but I looked at it for a minute, then shook my head signaling that I didn't know what she was trying to tell me. She laughed, then kind of hunched over like she was unsure how to tell me whatever she was trying to tell me, and then she left. I decided to leave.



Josh was waiting for me in the lobby. He said he was waiting for me for a while, and was listening to staff talk about the girl in the locker room that they couldn't understand. "Is she a mountain person?!" I think they finally figured out I was an American, but the little bit of Chinese I was using must've confused them.



Josh said that Chinese people will sometimes write down Chinese if they can't understand each other's dialects, because the written language is always the same.


Being from Colorado, I actually am kind of a mountain person... ;)
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I got a glimpse of the poverty in China today as we drove to the house Josh's dad is building in a city near Beijing. Josh said he could see me planning a revolution in my mind as we sped down the highway past rows upon rows of dilapidated housing - full of single child families...



After viewing the new house, we went to the apartment where Josh's dad presently stays when working in this area. (In the building pictured above.) As Josh and I began to discuss the government and the state of the economy in China, we received a phone call that we were to meet one of Josh's dad's colleagues for dinner. We were picked up and whisked away down the road past a security check point toward a gorgeous building. I was about to point it out when I realized it was where we were going. We walked in to meet Josh's dad and the Mayor of Lang Fang. Quite a strange place to find yourself when you're in the middle of planning a revolution in your mind... I walked in wearing jean shorts, sneakers, a tank top, and the previously photographed hat worn sideways on my head. Definitely the appropriate attire to challenge the present company, but instead I sat quietly and ate my shark fin soup...



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Men's volleyball!

They are all about keeping the floor clean at this event. At every time out they do this synchronized sweeping thing, and after every point these guys with towels run out onto the floor and frantcially wipe off any spot where a player has touched the ground with anything other than his shoes.
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On our way to volleyball

We must look like Americans today - they are greeting us in English.
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Alone in China

Josh's dad got 2 tickets to diving for tonight... He said Josh and I could go, but seemed sad to miss the event. I decided to offer to stay in the hotel to let Josh and his dad go together, so i'm wandering around the shopping mall below the hotel to help pass the time and maybe get in a little shopping.

Shopping is proving to be a bit stressful. I'm immediately greeted in Chinese (of course) when i enter a shop, and then i'm followed around the store...but, i'm not sure why they're following me. I'm guessing it's what they're supposed to do, but it makes me kind of uncomfortable. When I try to speak English, they blush and run around looking for someone who speaks English just for me to tell them that i'm just looking. The little bit of Chinese that Josh has taught me I either can't remember or doesn't help me understand what they're saying to me - so, back to the hotel room I go... I forget that I entered this country with the perfect disguise to fit in.
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Inside the forbidden city

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The forbidden city

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Cycling track!

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This guy sitting next to me...

Has some kind of phlem problem. He keeps sucking phlem into different parts of his head. It's constant. He does it every 10 seconds. Coughs it into his mouth. Snorts it back into his sinuses. Sucks it down into his throat. Coughs it back up. Ugh!!!

I have an ID card with a picture of myself on it from the hotel. it's the kind that you might get at a conference that you clip on to your clothes. He was starring at mine earlier with a lot of intensity. Feeling his stare, I looked over at him. He looked away very fast. Then a few minutes later started staring again, so I put it in my purse.

He's now decided to take videos and pictures of the audience around him... Everytime he points his camera my way I turn my head the other way. What is with this guy?

And now, he keeps trying to sneak a peek at what i'm writing....
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Men's track

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into the bird's nest for track!

We got surprise tickets tonight! Men's 100 meter track. We're on the first tier for this one - pretty amazing! We haven't been to an event this big yet. The bird's nest is a beautiful stadium.
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Women's wrestling!

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Little divas on the wall

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The climb

Steep, crowded, uneven, a bit terrifying, and completely spectacular.
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Small door

There's about 500 people trying to fit through this door at once.
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Great wall

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My new awesome hat!

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The events

I finally know what we're going to see. Here's the list:

Judo
Wrestling
Cycling track
Volleyball
Athletics (track and field)
Swimming

No more ping pong or tae kwon do. we actually had tickets to ping pong, but Josh's dad used to be a ping pong champion in college and really wanted to go, so he took the tickets back. :) it was a pretty funny exchange.

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Taxi!

China is beautiful... I love the trees, the buildings, the bikes, the rickshaws, the ladies with umbrellas, and the lights on the buildings at night...

Tonight, Josh and I are on our own. We were on our way to getting lost while trying to hail a taxi - but then one finally stopped, ending our adventure pre-maturely. It felt good to have to navigate the streets the Beijing by ourselves.
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Women's judo

I'm completely emotional after watching women's judo... if you can, watch it!
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Judo

Yay! We're at the Olympics!
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The rickshaw ride

Somehow we ended up on a rickshaw. Our driver was pretty funny - he was singing and verbally beeping at people and making lots of jokes as we were riding down the road.

All of the buildings were so small.

We passed a guy shaving with an electric shaver in another rickshaw, almost hit a few people, saw a 1st grade class running down the road, and I think we maybe raced a couple other rickshaws... :)
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View from our hotel room

I slept soo good! I woke up at 4am cause josh wasn't feeling well after our feast and his sake challenage with one of his dad's colleagues (Josh doesn't really drink!).

we're staying at the China World Hotel. According to Rain (the previous mentioned colleague who is acting as our guide today) it's a super 5 star and presidents from some of the countries attending the Olympics are staying there! I was writing to my boss that I was trying to pretend that I was a celebrity to excuse my wacky t-shirts and combat boots in such a nice place...which just means I walk around with my head held high looking a tiny bit suspicious and posing from time to time... I don't imagine my celebrity status is being communicated as I would like to believe. :)
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So tired

I'm feel like i'm minutes away from hallucination from sleep deprivation... We landed in Beijing and had a wonderful Japanese dinner at the beautiful hotel where we're staying. I think I've been up for 22 hours...
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7 hours to go...

This won't post until i'm on the ground, but i'm not sure what to do for the next 7 hours. I've taken 2 naps, eaten ... lunch?, watched the opening ceremonies on Josh's computer... It's really warm in the cabin so, as Michael would put it, i'm a hot mess (although, am I using that expression correctly?), and I have 7 hours to go...

Today i'm wearing goucho pants because I thought they'd be comfortable to travel in. When I was going through security at the airport, they put me in this little glass cage because, even though I didn't beep going through the metal detector, my pants were too baggy and I needed to be frisked. Josh took pictures of me standing in the cage.

I have no idea what's going to happen once we reach China. That's been one of the hardest things for me in traveling with this side of Josh's family. We just show up and they have a place for us to stay and an agenda all laid out. When we were in Japan I never ordered a meal for myself, it was all arranged...and all of the arrangements were in Chinese or just taken care of for us as we went. It's not a bad way to travel, just hard for me - probably because I'm used to being the one who's responsible for making the plans and knowing the details, and used to making at least a few decisions during the course of a day. :) ...but I think it's good to learn to let go every once in a while. Josh said this will be different than Japan because his dad lives here and we'll be at the Olympic events. Aside from judo, ping pong, and tae kwondo, i'm still not sure what we're going to see.

I'm not really as unhappy as that photo might lead you to believe, I had just woken up and discovered 7 hours...but now it's less.... :)


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At the airport

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Curly hair

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Off to China

I'm a total stress case right now as I speed along the highway in a yellow cab past the townhouse covered hills of San Francisco... The cab driver has a great head of curly brown hair. I'm going to photograph it. :)
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i'm headed to china...

for the olympics. i'll post soon - i promise.