Mel's in Beijing

Day 49

2008-08-26T22:55:00.001-07:00

We weren't going to waste any more time in Beijing as we have realised that we only have one and a half days to finish up and fit in all the things we wanted to do. At the Capital Museum they have an exhibit that has some Terracotta Warriors, so Rach, Jess and I venture out to go and see them. It ended up being more of an adventure than we thought.

We got in a taxi and asked the driver if he knew where we needed to go and he indicated yes. So we all got in trusting him. Beth had said that it should cost about Y$15 to get there. We got to Y$26 and he pulled over and was on the phone trying to find out where to go. He had no idea. We kept pointing to the map and the place but he didn't seem to trust us. We asked him if he knew where to go and by this stage he was just ignoring us. So we were brave and just got out and walked away. He called out once, but then just drove off. He knew he was wrong and so he didn't try to follow us at all.

We had no idea where we were or how to get to the museum. We asked a guy and he gestured to go to the subway and take one stop. So we braved it and went down to the subway. The Beijing book again proved to be handy as it told us what station we would need to get off at if you were catching the subway, so we knew where we needed to be. As we have our accreditations it was free and the people there were very helpful. We waited for a minute or so and then it came and we got on. It was a tight squeeze and we only needed to go one stop so it turned out fine. At least we were close to the door. When we got off the museum was pretty much right there. So we ended up getting a free trip.

The museum was huge and we were only interested in seeing the warriors so we didn't want to spend hours wandering around. We got into the museum for free with our accreditation (it is a magic pass), then we went looking for someone to ask where to go. No one there spoke English though. We had some guys try and point us in the right direction, which turned out to be the wrong direction. We then called someone who had been to get directions and she told us to go downstairs and it wasn't. Turned out it was in the room that if off where we walk in. All I could think about was Phil saying never trust people and directions because people are idiots. He is very wise.

So after being given the run around we finally found the exhibit. There were so many people in there so it was quite the squish, but we got to see the warriors. They had a couple of different sorts and a horse. They were so awesome. The detail is amazing, everything is so intricate. I am so happy that I got to see them. We took lots of photos and kept getting into trouble for using our flash. Ah well. The only problem with the other artefacts was that the English translation wasn't particularly useful. There was a wooden instrument and the sign read wooden instrument with five strings. Well thank you that is very helpful. Nothing about who used it or where it came from. It just stated what we could see. It was so typical of everything in China.

After seeing the warriors we went into Houhi to get our nails and toes done. I hadn't been in there before and I am sorry that I hadn't because it was so beautiful. I didn't each lunch but Rach and I sat there while the others did. It was so nice to just sit and relax on the water. Is was made better by the fact that we knew we were getting our nails done afterwards at a place that Brooke had been before.

So after lunch we went for a walk to the place to get manicures and pedicures which was a little bit of a trek but not too bad. As we got there, we saw some girls from our group who had just got it done. They said that there might be a wait. It turned out that they didn't have a spot free until 7.30pm, and it was only 2.30pm. So as we couldn't wait until then we decided that we would try somewhere else, not having any clue where we were going to go. Then we ran into a lady that spoke really good English as she had been living in Wollongong. She was doing a survey that needed tourists to participate. So in exchange for doing her survey she wrote down taxi instructions to take us to a place that would do our nails.

So off we went in two taxis, completely trusting this girl that we didn't know. It turned out that the place we were going to was an underground shopping centre. It was a little bit difficult to find but I am so glad that we did. It was awesome. It had about five levels and it was filled with crap. I got my nails done and I bought myself another canvas bag which was really cheap. I could have looked through this place all day. We were really tired and incredibly hungry by this stage though so we needed to go.

Rach, Jess and I had decided that we wanted our last dinner in Beijing to be at Red Lantern because Rach and I wanted broccoli and fried rice and Jess wanted duck. It didn't go quite as planned as we only got one serve of broccoli and we downed that serve very quickly because we were so hungry and thought another one was coming out. Had we known that was all that was coming we would have savoured it more. We had a little bit of trouble at the end explaining that we only got one, but it all got sorted. To finish off the night I did another trial pack and weigh of my suitcase. My suitcase is at 18kg and my carry on is at 7kg. So it has worked out pretty well. I am very happy with my purchases.

Thanks everyone who has been reading this. I won't be doing one for tomorrow as it will pretty much consist of a final meal at Lush and packing. I will see you all very soon.

xxxxx

Day 48

2008-08-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

To try and avoid a crowd of thirty people taking back their fridges, Rach and I decided to take our back one day early. I have only been keeping drinks and yoghurt in there anyway these last few days, I figure I can just get my yoghurt from downstairs for the last two mornings. Things didn't go quite as planned. We were expecting more help, as we ended up having to collect and return our fridges ourselves. When we finally got them downstairs and got the lady at the desk to sign that we have returned them and then had to walk all the way over to the other campus to get our deposits back. Sounds simple enough except that we forgot that they are not open between 11.30am and 2pm and we arrived at 11.33am. It was ridiculous, we missed it by 3 minutes and even though they were still in there they wouldn't serve us until 2pm. So frustrating!

So Rach, Jess and I went up to McDonalds for lunch and then spent the rest of our waiting time walking back down the road and looking in all the little shops. I got a few more little bits and pieces and so did Jess. We were still too early by the time we got back, so Jess went home and Rach and I waited under the trees in the shade. By the time the office opened again it took about 30 seconds for us to get our deposits back. So frustrating!

We then organised to meet for dinner at five, which meant that I had a couple of hours to relax. I was so tired that I just wanted to have a little sleep, but I knew if I did I would not be able to get to bed early tonight, so I pushed through the pain and watched some dvds and spoke to Glen. At five we went and had red lantern for dinner again, it is just so good and so cheap.

At sunrise and sunset everyday there is a flag ceremony at Tiananmen Square, so Jess, Rach, Ash and myself went to go and have a look. There wasn't really anything to it. They just take down the flag, but there are heaps of people that go to see it. It was good to go and see Tiananmen at night, the lights are really pretty so we took more photos. We were also subject to quite a few stalkers. We are like celebrities, Asian people were following us around with their cameras and it is really rude. I don't mind if they ask for a photo, but it is really unnerving when they just have their camera up and they follow you as you walk. Ash was very popular because she is blonde.

After Tiananmen we walked down to Wangfujing to go shopping. Again they have pretty lights and at night it is absolutely packed with people. They have food stalls all the way along where they sell things such as fruit skewers dipped in toffee and what a lady told me was snake on a stick. It is weird.

We went to the Olympics store again and it was packed. We could hardly move there were so many people. Luckily there are a couple along the street, so the further you go down the less people there are. I got my last Olympic merchandise here. I also went to another shop to get a present for someone that I have been talking about for ages. I got it and it is awesome.

By the end we were so tired, and ready to crash. So I went home and did just that.

Day 47

2008-08-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

My first day off, knowing that I have nothing to do again whilst I am here. I couldn't be happier, except that after going to bed at about 3am I woke up at 8.30am for no reason. Not a good feeling. I organised to go to church with Rach in the morning as she has been really missing it and she found an international one. We had to have our passports to get in. The service was so different to anything that I have experienced and it wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was interesting to see how other places work and it was pretty awesome to be in a room with about 1000 people from all over the world. Rach was so happy at the end of it, so it was worth the trip in just to see her smile.

We then walked around the area and found a cold stone, Beijing's version of cold rock. I had cake batter flavour ice cream and it is close to the best ice cream I have ever eaten. It tasted like butter cake batter, delicious!

After church and ice cream we went in to Silk Road for the last time. I got my final presents for people and I have spent way too much money. I also got another coat – this makes three for those counting. We then went to try and get Thai from across the road from Silk Street and we sat down with the menu and found yet another Thai that wasn't really Thai, it is so disappointing. So we left and decided to go to red lantern again. It is so good and so cheap and fills us up, you can't go wrong.

Rach and I then did some washing and I retired to my room to watch the closing ceremony. My lack of sleep had caught up with me. So I just had a relatively early night after talking to Glen on Skype. It is such a lovely way to end the night.

Day 46

2008-08-24T06:26:00.001-07:00

Last day as a worker at the Olympics. It is bitter sweet. I am so ready to be done, but I don't want it to be over because I will never be doing something like this again. We had organised for the four of us (our Taekwondo shift) to go to Lush one last time as a group. As we were about to leave we got a call from the other shift asking if we could also get food for everyone else and bring it to them. This request was not happily received and we whinged about it with each other the entire way there. We were always going to do it but we thought it a little unfair that we would be working a 12 hour shift and they were working a five hour shift and we were bringing them lunch. Anyway we did it still and there weren't any dramas.

We pigged out at lunch knowing that we wouldn't get the chance to eat real food again which was a good idea as we ended up doing an 11 hour shift. Kate and I were copy takers again for a purely selfish reason. I wanted to be able to watch the Opals basketball final on the television in the ONS office.

The shift started out pretty routinely. There was nothing much coming through at the start and the continuous whinging of athletes that they had been treated unjustly. This time though it turned out to be correct. Sarah Stevenson from Great Britain should have won her match against Chen from China. The judges gave it to the Chinese athlete and then there was a protest and the World Taekwondo federation actually changed the ruling to let the girl from Great Britain go through to the semi final instead of China. This led to a very negative reaction from the crowd. I have never seen anything more disrespectful at a sporting event than this. Stevenson only got 20 minutes to prepare for a fight she didn't think she was going to be in and when she came out the crowd booed her for her entire match. She also ended up crushing her foot, but went on to win the Bronze medal. She turned up to the medal ceremony on crutches. We thought that this was great drama aside from the fact that the days schedule was delayed by half an hour and there was a 30 minute press conference that we had to cover. We were excited that something actually happened at our venue.

Then there was a great scuffle of people in the office and we saw the Cuban athlete kick a referee in the head after being disqualified for taking too long during injury time. This was huge, we were prevented from talking to anyone while the tried to work out what to do. They stopped all competition for ages and then the head Taekwondo guy came out and announced that both the athlete and the coach would be banned for life. I thought this was a pretty quick response to something like this. I don't condone what the guy did at all, but surely there is supposed to be some sort of hearing before he is banished? Anyway he wasn't very nice all day so we didn't really care for him. This was very exciting but it also meant that we were delayed yet again and that there would be yet another press conference.

So much for watching the basketball. I didn't finish typing until 11pm. It was exhausting. To finish was really sad, but the others were super keen to go out and left as soon as permitted, Kate and I were left to say good bye alone which was nice that we did say goodbye but it was not a lot of closure.

It took a fair while to get a taxi afterwards and when we finally got one it was the first one who understood our mandarin when we asked to go to Bei Wei. We were so excited that we accomplished this feat on the last day, however after about two minutes in the taxi we decided that we were too hungry and too awake to be going home so we changed our minds and went to Lush for the second time in one day. This confused the taxi man, but to his credit he took us there anyway.

There were so many people there and it took a while to get a seat, but we eventually did and ended up with French toast and a beer. What a combination! We chatted until 2am. It was a really nice way to finish the Olympics experience because if I didn't have Kate with me I don't know if I would have got through it, she is awesome. We also met an American guy who is living in Beijing who was really nice and really interested in what we had been doing here. He is a freelance writer and was working on a story about how medals don't aren't distributed evenly according to populations per country. He wanted to know why Australians were so good at sport. We did our best to help and then sent him on his way.

I then came home and tried to use my internet, but it wasn't working, so I watched tv until I fell asleep. An exhausting last day.

Day 45

2008-08-23T18:57:00.001-07:00

Ok so I have been pretty good up until this last week and now I am becoming a lazy blog writer, so sorry to anyone who is waiting for each new post (I am sure you cannot go on without it).

We aren't really doing much in the days before we go to work anymore because we are too tired. Today I went with Kate and Rachel to the Red Lantern for some Chinese lunch. I haven't eaten a good Chinese meal in weeks so I wanted to before I left. It was really good. We got fried rice without meat and broccoli with garlic. It sounds bland, but it was awesome and the chopsticks that they give you at this place are so easy to use which is good because sometimes I am so bad, my hands get tired it is not my fault.

Rach and I then picked up our photos and they turned out really good. Now I will have some to show you all as soon as I get back. Don't worry I won't make you look through them all. It is mostly just me standing in front of places and you have already seen me and the places so the combination of the two really isn't that different.

We then headed in for our second last shift. Kate and I got to be copytakers which we were quite happy with because we enjoy getting to hang out in the office together. There was drama all night as one of the favourites lost in the afternoon and he thought it was unfairly and so they lodged a protest. Then the Taekwondo people said that they couldn't do that because they signed a contract earlier in the year saying that they wouldn't protest. The protest was denied but they couldn't find the document and it turned out to be this huge mess and it was quite embarrassing for the Taekwondo officials. The guy went on to win Bronze.

That was my second last night. So excited that it is nearly over!

Day 44

2008-08-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today was my last morning shift ever and I couldn't be happier. It was a horrible start to the day as I didn't get to sleep until 2am the night before (who knows why) and then I had to get up at 6.30am. This does not make for a happy Mel. It was made worse by the fact that it was absolutely pouring rain and I do not have an umbrella. So we went out to get taxis and because it was so early and pouring rain there were not many available, we had to walk down to get to the main road in the hope that there would be more going past there. Trouble with Beijing is that drainage does not exist, so to walk anywhere in the rain means that you will be getting wet feet. Also doesn't help that our Olympic shoes are not water proof, so we were well and truly soaked through by the time we found a taxi. I did have a poncho but it ripped as I was putting it on, so the only thing it was good for was to keep my bag moderately dry.

We were 10 minutes late getting to the venue, but no one cared. We got very little sympathy from those who were dry in the venue. We then tried drying our shoes and socks under the hand dryer but they were so wet that it didn't really help at all. I could wring my socks out in the sink and I couldn't believe how much water came out of them.

Today I was on inside broadcast again which I didn't mind except today there didn't end up being any broadcasters today. So I spent the entire day just watching Taekwondo and waiting to see if any broadcasters turned up.... they didn't. It was not a pleasant day as Taekwondo is not as interesting as it may seem and as I was wet, the air conditioning was freezing me and my poor toes.

It was Alex's last shift and he left on a golden note. In the mixed zone whilst we were finishing up with some final interviews with the athlete from the Netherlands (who was very lovely) Alex was left in charge of interviewing the athlete from New Zealand, not a particularly hard task. His opening question was "excuse me do you speak English?" We just all stopped and turned, couldn't believe it. He was so embarrassed (as he should be), but the guy from New Zealand was really nice about it and had a fairly long interview with him. We finished our interview and went to provide moral support for the poor guy.

In the end it was sad to see the little yank go. He is really nice and I will miss hanging with him, he is always so positive and happy.

By the time we were leaving it had stopped raining and we were so excited to be going home. I had no plans for the afternoon. I had another chat with Kobie which was so good because I miss the little princess. My internet wasn't working and I was so frustrated with it, so I went for a walk with Rachel and we ended up getting some photos printed, I just got some enlargements because they are so cheap here. Jess has already got some and they turned out ok so we decided to give it a go. We also ended up getting some Chinese food for dinner. Vegetarian fried rice and garlic broccoli, it is so good and so cheap. I ended spending the entire night with Rachel having some girl time. It was great, we had some ice cream and a chat. She showed me photos of all her friends that she has been talking about which was good because now I have faces to put with the names. Jess, Brooke and Ash then came in and we had a coke party to drink all the coke cans that Rach can't take home full. This involved piercing a hole in the bottom so that even when empty they will look untouched.

It was a great night and it was so good to just hang out with other people relaxing. So often we only see each other if we have some sort of outing planned. I then spent the rest of the night trying to Skype Glen and watching the Olympics – Go the Opals!!!!!!!!!!

Note: Rachel collects coke bottles and cans. She has way too many to take home full so we are emptying some so that they won't weigh anything and she won't be heaps over the weight limit.

Day 43

2008-08-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

Today we got to start all over again, but this time it was at 6am as we had to be at our venue at 7. This was not pleasant as I didn't get to sleep until really late last night because I wasn't tired because I don't usually go to sleep until 12. My body just didn't want anything to do with an early night. So when my alarm went off I wasn't particularly happy and I was so tired.

We met downstairs in the lobby to get a taxi. Surprise, surprise there are not as many taxis at that hour. We finally flagged a lady taxi driver down and she was really lovely but didn't know where we wanted to go. As we didn't really have time to find another taxi, Brooke volunteered to direct her. The lady was so lovely and chatted to us even though we couldn't understand. Brooke did an amazing job with the directions, we got there right on time.

There wasn't much need for us to be there that early, but it was more of a – it's the first day so just in case type of thing. So we all went to go and buy souvenirs. I got Judo and Taekwondo pins and I bought a pin for Brooke as a thank you for the basketball tickets.

I was in the broadcast section today, but as there were not many broadcasters I did not have to squat – my legs were very happy about this. It was a pretty quiet day. Taekwondo is a far more technical; and a slower sport than Judo. It is really hard because we don't understand what gets a point and what doesn't. It makes it very hard. The nice thing about it is there are half the athletes to Judo so we didn't have to wait around too long and it is a set amount of time so we knew that we would definitely finish at 1.

We then went to Lush again for lunch because Alex really wanted to go and it was going to be our last meal with him as tomorrow will be his last shift. It is quite sad. I had a salad bagel which is always good but I can't eat there again tomorrow, I am having an overload.

Spent the rest of the night watching the Olympics, talking to Glen and Kobie and just relaxing.

Day 42

2008-08-20T02:25:00.000-07:00

As I have been very tired and wasting away my free time in my room I decided that I only have one week left here and I need to make the most of it. I have also not had a lot of Rachel time, so to kill two birds with one stone we organised a trip to the markets. I have not been in a while and as I had my trusty Phrilly transfer money into my account I was cashed up (not much left though).

I got most of the things I needed at bargain prices. I am not going to enjoy coming home and having to pay money for things. When I get back I will really need to get my eyes tested because I have been having trouble with them over here. At night and when I am tired they hurt and are giving me headaches. So I think that I will probably need to get glasses when I get back. Just in case I do I am going to go and get some frames as they are so much cheaper here. If it turns out I don't need them then I guess I will just use them for fancy dress.

We then had to hot-foot it back to the uni so that I could leave to go to training with Kate. We did some Taekwondo stuff that didn't really last that long and then we all went to Lush again for lunch/dinner. At training Yanlin told myself, Kate and Fran that our uniforms were here. So we followed her around to the venue manager's office. It was here that we were told that our sizes were not available and that they were not going to be available. So instead we took what was there and I will keep them in their packets and in a few years time I will flog them on ebay. Really sucks that we didn't get them. We are volunteers, our only payment is to get a uniform. It really sucks.

We found some scales downstairs and as we are all starting to stress about how much our luggage is going to weigh with all our purchases Rach and I decided to do a trial run. So we packed up our suitcases with all our stuff and made the journey downstairs. We felt like idiots walking down with our fully packed suitcases but for peace of mind it was definitely worth it. Mine weighed in at 15.5kg. That is a kilo lighter than what I started at, including all my purchases. So now I can go and buy more and know that I do not have to stress next week at the airport about excess luggage.

It is such a relief. I then spent the rest of the night unpacking my stuff, watching tv and thinking about what I have bought and what I still need to get. Not looking forward to getting up at 6am tomorrow to get to Taekwondo. It is all starting again. It is only four days until I finish my Olympic work.

Day 41

2008-08-20T02:24:00.000-07:00

We are into single digits now and I am quite excited about it. I have loved y time here, but I am so ready to be back at home with everyone. It is quite lonely over here, I wish you could all come over to visit.

Today was a pretty uneventful day. I had a lazy morning and then went into training for the afternoon with Fran and Kate. On the way we got Lush and I had an omelette filled with onion, tomato and mushrooms – all the nutrients! We did nothing at training other than photocopy some articles that have published our quotes. We didn't really mind though because we got an early mark.

During the night we had another venue bonding dinner that I was not super keen on going to, but felt like I should because it would most probably be our last outing. As it were, not many people turned up so it was quite unnecessary for me to attend. I was tired and cranky.

It was not a particularly enjoyable day so not really worth writing about. The only thing that made it worthwhile was that when I got home from dinner Skype finally decided to work and I got to talk to Glen for more than 30 seconds at a time.

Day 40

2008-08-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

Only ten days now until I come home. I hope all of you reading this thinks that this is exciting news and are not going oh damn she's coming back.

So after about five hours sleep I had to get up early to go to the basketball. I actually felt sick because I was so tired, but I wasn't going to dwell on it because it is the basketball and it is the only thing that I wanted to do while I was here and they were free tickets. Fran and I taxied it there and it turned out to not be very far away. It was again another amazing venue. Beijing certainly has the top spot for creating the best venues for an Olympics (pity they can't fill them). Right next door were two baseball stadiums, so we got to have a look at them too. We went over to the merchandise stand and had a little look and Fran was asked to trade her Aussie wrist bands with the workers at the stalls. She did and it pretty much made their day, they were so happy. She now only has one left because when she did one, they all wanted to do it.

The actual basketball stadium is huge. It seats 18,000 people. It is so steep though, the people in front of us had their heads at about our knee height and there was no room for your legs once you were sitting, you just hoped that no one had to get past you. It never would have been given approval in Australia. Can't complain though because we were seeing the basketball for free!

The first game was Spain and Mali (never heard of it), Fran and I decided that we could do a better job for Mali if we played for them. It was all over the place. There were air balls everywhere, they would throw it to someone and it would just go out. There was no structure, they would just get the ball, run and shoot. It was very frustrating to watch. The best things about it was that they were obviously trying to do it American style and so they had English commentary. It was so exciting, we could actually follow what was being said.

Our ticket was for two games and the second game was for ......... Australia. That's right we got to see the Aussie girls take it to Russia. It was so exciting. They sing both national anthems at the start of the game, so we actually got to be in the stadium with the national anthem playing. I was so happy to be watching a game that I know, with players that I know. The Opals weren't at their best for the first half, but as soon as they came out to start the second half they were switched on. Lauren Jackson wasn't in her best form and she was quite cranky at the end of the game and left straight away. The others stuck around for a while to soak up the crowd. There were quite a few Aussies there.

Afterwards we were really hungry, so Fran and I decided to make yet another trip into Lush. I got a salad bagel and French toast. I ate until I was exploding. They made the most awesome French toast. The rest of the day was a bit of a write off. Kate and I cooked dinner for ourselves and Rachel. More pasta and veggies. I don't think I will be eating pasta for a very long time when I return home. I then caught up on blogs and uni work. It never ends!

Day 39

2008-08-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Day 39

Today was our first day off in ages. Judo is finished, so as a reward for working so hard and so awesomely, Chris gave us the day off. This worked out extremely well because today also happened to be the day that we were offered tickets to the Bird's Nest to watch the athletics.

As I knew I was going to have a long night I spent the day inside resting. My internet is again being sucky so whilst I had planned on Skyping with Glen we had to settle for msn, which also didn't work particularly well. Frustrated I went for a walk along the streets of Beijing, which was really needed and really enjoyed as it was a beautiful day and we actually had blue sky.

After I got back from my walk I started to get ready for the athletics as I needed to Aussie myself. I am now regretting not bringing more stuff over with me because being Aussie is fun. I caught a taxi in to the stadium with Ngaio and Kate at about 4.30pm. We didn't actually get into the stadium until about 6.30. We had to walk for ages to get to the gate and then we had to wait in line for forever to get through security which consisted of being frisked and asked if I had anything metal in my bag. When I said only my camera, they took my word for it and didn't even check. Lucky I am not a terrorist. "Excuse me do you have any explosives? No? Ok go straight through." It is just strange.

The Bird's Nest is amazing and we took photos for ages. I think we managed every angle and person combination available. We got so excited when we saw the flame, it really is amazing. I am so lame.

I had Rachel's ticket because she was at work all day and wasn't able to pick it up, so when we arrived it took quite a while to find her. It didn't actually help that we stopped every ten metres to take more photos. When I found her we went to the Maccas at the Olympic Green. It was the busiest place that I have ever been to and everyone was so pushy. It was not an enjoyable experience. It was made better because we met two Aussie guys who had had a few too many beverages and were quite loud and very merry. They made sure we didn't get pushed in front of which was nice.

By the time we got back to the Bird's Nest it was all lit up and looking pretty and the Cube's lights were coming on too. It was really surreal walking into the stadium. It doesn't look as huge as it actually is from the outside. I think it seats about 90,000 people and it was pretty much full. We got to see javelin, shot put, hurdles, 800 metres, pentathlon, long jump, women's 100 metres heats and the men's 100 metre semi final and final. We were really lucky to be going that night. We also got to see the Aussie walker get presented with his bronze medal, so we actually got to see our flag up in the Bird's Nest, probably the only time all week.

Maybe the best part of the entire night was watching the Chinese man in front of me. He was so happy, he waved his hands in the air the entire time. He was so excited when Jamaica won the 100 metre final that he did a little dance. It was just precious, he was so into it.

Right at the end of the night Brooke came up to me and asked if I would like to go to the basketball. I almost cried I was so happy. She had met a Judo judge at the press conference the night before who offered her the tickets and she said that she didn't want them but that she knew I would love them so she gave one to me and one to Fran. We had to go and pick up the tickets at the end of the night and ended up chatting for ages. He had with him two German guys who have been living in Beijing and were asking us all about Australia. It is so nice to talk about Australia. I really love it and miss it. I want everyone to love it as much as I do.

We then met some American guys who had also had quite a few drinks and were very merry. They wanted to have photos with us decked out in our Aussie gear. They were so American and a little obnoxious but also kind of funny at the same time. They did chant U S A a lot and it is something I don't think I ever need to hear again. That and the Chinese national anthem – stop winning Gold already people. Share it around.

By the time we got a taxi we were really hungry so we stopped at Maccas for the second time that day and I got a thick shake, which was ok. When I got home it was so late (or early) that I just wanted to crash, but I was so filthy from wearing thongs and just walking around that I had to shower. I didn't get to bed until 2am which was really sad considering I had to get up at 7am to go to the basketball the next day.

Such a mood lifter though. I was getting really down about missing home, so this was the perfect thing to make me smile again.

Day 38

2008-08-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

I got off to a great start today because for the first time in about a week I was not woken up by banging noises. I got to sleep in until just after 10am. It feels so good to be able to get as much sleep as your body needs. It is nice when I wake up that I get to start my day with swimming finals, even if our team is not at its golden best. I got to see Libby Trickett, Liesel Jones and Eamon Sullivan win silver

As I have no food in my room I ventured out this morning and stocked up on crackers, bread, yoghurt, fruit and Pepsi max (I still need a vice). So for all those concerned, there is a shopping basket full of nutritious goodness. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich on grain bread to have whilst working tonight so that I do not pig out on Pringles when I get back.

I met up with some of my crew to go out for lunch at Lush. It is a nice way to start a shift relaxed and allows us to vent any built up stuff from the night before (as long as those involved are not present). I got another salad bagel and it is so good to be eating fresh food. Lush is the best, next time I will be getting French toast though because it is so good.

I had a bit of a rough start to my shift because there are some people that are making me boil, it is really only because I have spent so much time with them. I just need a break, so tomorrow can't come soon enough. I was copy taker again for the night and Emma and I had a pretty relaxed evening. There were not many quotes coming through. Bloody China won yet another Gold medal, at least tonight they won it fairly. When they win it makes our job very difficult because we cannot hear a thing, they go mental.

We finished the night off with a clean-up of the office and treated ourselves to Maccas to celebrate. Whilst we were at Maccas they had China and USA playing each other in the volleyball. Every time China did something, the entire restaurant erupted in applause and cheering. They get so into Chinese teams and athletes, but if China is not around they just do not care. If you have noticed emptiness in the stadiums you can guarantee it is because there are no Chinese competing.

We came home to find Paul in the lobby and he had our tickets for the bird's nest tomorrow night. It was very exciting I actually have my ticket in my hand. I can't wait. We also got to have a chat to Paul about everything that has happened in the last week. It was so nice to actually see him react when we told him that we still haven't got our uniforms because a lot of other people just have the attitude of ah well. He was outraged, he can't do anything about it but it was nice for him to feel our pain. According to Yanlin maybe Sunday – just in time for the last four days. No need to worry about the first seven.

Day 37

2008-08-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

There is someone in this building that finds it necessary to bang between the hours of 8 and 9 am. It is very annoying and difficult to sleep through. Today I persevered though and didn't wake up until 10.30am, it was so good, I really needed it. I then spent the most part of the morning watching the Aussie girls smash it, in the relay and finishing off my readings for this week. It seriously feels like I am never finished with them. They are so long and boring. In the middle of my summaries we had a blackout (probably has something to do with the raging storm going on outside). It was quite strange because the building has absolutely no natural light, so everything was very black. It didn't last very long which was nice.

On the way to our venue I got soaked due t the bucketing rain and Beijing's lack of drainage. When we got inside some volunteers gave me a poncho, I am not sure what purpose it was to serve once I was already soaked and inside, but a nice gesture all the same. Our shifts are very straight forward now. Once we have been assigned our position for the night we know exactly what to do, where to be and who we have to make friends with. No one who medals speaks English, so it is very important to make friends, otherwise you will not get any quotes.

I was copy taker for the night. I really enjoy this job because I do not enjoy having to rely on others to get quotes, it stresses me out. I have had shifts out in the mixed zone so that I can say that I have done it, but at night I just do not enjoy it. I get far better stories on the inside anyway because I get to hear from everyone. The other difficulties that have occurred at night are with the media as some of them are quite inexperienced. Apparently at the press conference the media were all over the place. Mongolia won their first Gold medal ever and their media went nuts. The translator couldn't translate and the media would stand up and rather than ask a question they would make statements such as "Mongolia is proud of you". They then proceeded just to talk to their athlete themselves and out of turn. It was very much like a circus. It was funny for us, but we didn't end up with many good quotes.

We taxied it home as usual and I ate half a tub of Pringles for dinner because I was too tired to prepare anything myself. Don't stress people (Kerryn), I promise that tomorrow I will eat more substantial and nutritious food.

Day 36

2008-08-13T21:29:00.001-07:00

Day two of the night shift and I have to say that I am enjoying it so much more than the day shift. The athletes actually want to talk to you, the time goes so much quicker, there are actually journalists there to ask the questions, really it is just better. My legs are still unbelievably sore but what can you do, it is only really bad walking up and down stairs and going from standing to sitting or vice versa.

The other great thing about the night shift is that you have all day to get things done such as washing, uni work and grocery shopping – all the fun things! So I spent the best part of my day summarising readings whilst on Skype to Glen so that I am not totally out of my mind with boredom. It was also good because I could watch some of the events that were on such as Australia thrashing South Africa in the hockey and some more swimming.

After finishing all my domestic chores the night time crew (Me, Kate, Brooke and Emma) decided that we should treat ourselves to lunch out, so we headed over to Kro's Nest. This is the place with the giant pizzas. We ordered too much and therefore we also ate too much – Brooke I'm talking about you. We were so full by the time we got to the venue, it is a good thing we have two hours before the night session starts. In our break we have a meeting with the day shift and find out anything that we need to know about what went on in the day, for example were there many upsets? We then had some free time so Kate and I went exploring around the stadium in search of souvenirs. This involved more stairs than my legs were happy with. We finally found the souvenirs store out the front of the venue where the spectators come in. It was quite the trek.

Out the front there are a stack of volunteers keeping the peace. I am not sure whose idea it was but someone has given a group of them microphones and as we were walking down we were treated to them singing in turn the Beijing welcomes you song. They would sing about four lines each and then the next one would start. It was very precious. When we finally got to the store we found that there wasn't anything that we particularly liked so we went back inside.

My job for the night was to be in the print section. This is where all the non-television journalists are. Other than copy taking this is my favourite position as it doesn't involved crouching. The only problem with it today is that there were no English speaking athletes left for the night time session. This meant that I had to try and make friends with the journalists that were bi-lingual and get them to translate what was being said. I was so surprised by how lovely some of them were. They actually came out of their way to find me and help me. There was one guy from Brazil who was exceptionally lovely. Alex had already organised to help him in return for getting some quotes, but it turned out the Alex wasn't needed so we thought we were back to square one. After the Brazilian athlete left the journalists all dispersed and I was left with nothing. Tis guy then came over looking for Alex to tell him the quotes but couldn't find him and noticed that I was wearing the same sexy bib, so he gave the quotes to me. It was just precious.

The highlight of the night was when the Algerian won Bronze. Apparently Algeria didn't win any medals in Athens and this week this was their second at the Judo. All their media was there and they were so excited. They cheered and sang and then the guys team burst through some doors singing Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, and it was like a big party. The Algerian journalists don't have laptops so they write out their stories by hand and then fax them through. It is just precious.

The contentious match of the night went to Russia and Georgia. There were journalists from everywhere wanting to cover it. There wasn't really any more punch in this bout compared to any other bout. The Georgian won and went on to win the Gold medal. The Russian lost and went on to lose the Bronze medal. It turned out to be a big nothing.

I covered the women's press conference which was really good. Press conferences are so much easier because the athletes have translators who speak quite slowly and you get to sit down. It is just more relaxed. After putting in my quotes for the women's press conference I went into the men's one which had finished but had given journalists the opportunity to go up to the individual athletes and ask questions. We went up to the Algerian guy who doesn't speak English, his coach did a little bit though and was so nice and translated for us. They were both so lovely and helpful and gave us some good quotes. It was a nice way to end the night.

Somehow we ended up with the ONS bibs to wash, so when we got home Kate and I washed them and then I took them up to Sophie so that she could take them back in the morning. Our last job of the night. I was so tired, so I had some cheese and tomato on biscuits and then went straight to bed.

Day 35

2008-08-12T08:19:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning in intense pain in my legs, it is from squatting all day yesterday and trying to stay out of the camera view. It feels like the muscle is ripping off the bone. For future reference squatting for five hours is going to hurt.

Because of my pain I spent most of the morning sitting at the computer catching up with work, emails and blogs. When we get home really late I don't have any energy to do stuff and I think my last couple of blogs have suffered. Sorry to all of you who are enthralled with my adventure. As a present I have put up some more photos for you. I did also venture out to the shops and back which was quite the effort given the whole leg situation.

Today we are swapping our shifts to start nights which has been great. It was so good to sleep in until I woke up rather than having to wait for my alarm to go off. It means that we can relax when we are fresh, rather than when we get home at six after the day shift and we are too exhausted to do anything.

We left at 3.30 to get there because the others are always there so early and are quite noisy, so we thought we'd get there right on time. Turns out the taxi driver felt like going the wrong way so we were 5 minutes late. It was fine though we then sat around for two hours and waited for the competition to start again.

I volunteered to be copytaker again because my legs are so sore I can hardly walk let alone run or squat again. We found the night shift so much better. It is much shorter and there is so much more going on. The time flies. It was good because Kate was also copytaker and so we could help each other out. We got a golden quote from the Brazilian guy who won gold. He just kept talking to every person the entire way around the mixed zone. I could have typed up pages of quotes from him. The best one went like this;

"There are two farmers who both plant fields, they knew the rain was coming. One farmer prepared his field for the rain, then the rain came. I think I was the farmer who prepared his farm."

Absolutely golden people, it is the best I have come across. This little dude was lovely and kept going on about how gold and silver and bronze are all the same, everyone is a winner – I bet the gold medallist feels differently.

By the time the night was over we were all a little delirious and laughed the entire taxi ride home (for the record the taxi man on the way come came a different way and it ended up being cheaper – so thanks taxi man). Emma told us about how she saw what looked like a rose petal on the ground, so she touched it and it ended up being a piece of bloody cloth that had fallen out of someone's nose. I nearly wet myself I laughed so hard. It is so good to be able to vent on the things of the day and have a laugh. It seems that things bother us a lot less at night, I think it is because we have less time to think about it.

To finish off we found out today that BOCOG is giving us tickets to the athletics on Saturday night and the men's 100m final is on. So I get to go to the bird's nest people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited, I can't wait to put on all my Aussie gear (even though I am not particularly hopeful that any Australian would make the final), I will channel the spirit!

Day 34

2008-08-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Even though we are only up to day three, I feel like I have been working for about three weeks. We are in the rhythm of things now and have been working with some people long enough to be at the stage where even the smallest things they do can drive me insane. It's a little bit of cabin fever brewing.

I was in the broadcast section which means that if you were looking close enough you may have seen me on tv (that would actually involve you watching the judo which I realise is highly unlikely). The broadcast section means that you are crouched down all day and you have to go and listen in on any television interviews that are going on and take quotes and stay out of their shots. This meant crouching and crouching waddling for about 5 hours. It is a tough job and because there were no English speaking broadcasters with the exception of the Canadians, there was not a lot that I could take down, but you still have to go over just in case.

It ended up just being a very long day, but it was also good because I got to watch the match from inside on the ground which is pretty awesome so I hope you are all jealous. I got to see the Australian (who speaks Hungarian) win her first fights (I wasn't there in the night to see her lose, I only deal with winners).

It is such a full on day though and by the time we are finished we are all exhausted. Rach and I decided to cook and Kate came and joined us for rice, veggies and sweet chilli sauce. During dinner I found out that Rach was given a ticket to the beach volleyball and she got to go and when she arrived it turned out it was Australia playing. I am so jealous. I want to go and see Australia in something. The broadcasts here only watch the Chinese stuff.

After one of the men's swimming relays instead of talking to the USA or Aussies who placed they spoke to the coach of the Chinese team who came last. I know it would be the same in back home, but I just want to see our guys do stuff. If Thorpie was there they would interview him. They love him over here, really who cares about Phelps?

Anyway it is a shift change tomorrow, so if anyone is planning on getting in contact with me you will have to do so before 4 your time, otherwise I will be working. It will be like this until the Judo finishes on Friday.

Day 33

2008-08-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

I was so exhausted when I woke up this morning. I think it may have had more to do with the fact that today I knew what to expect and I knew I was going to be tired. It was pretty exciting though to find that our quotes had been published in the Guardian in the UK, the South Wales Argus, CA News and USA Today to name just a few. What we are doing is actually useful.

Today I wanted to have a go at being out in the mixed zone and interviewing some athletes. I ended up with the job of covering the press section with Alex and being a back-up copy taker in case Brooke needed help with anything. I was so nervous about interviewing people and whilst it is exciting to be talking to these people, it has also reinforced the fact that I am not cut out to be a journalist because I don't like to bother people.

When the athletes come out from their competition they are so exhausted and are either preparing for their next fight or completely devastated that their dreams have been shattered that you feel really uncomfortable asking them to stop and talk to you, especially when you don't have very good questions to ask them. I did manage to get quite a few quotes, but it was very difficult and many of the competitors from today did not speak English, so it was impossible for me to do anything. Hopefully some will get picked up. I did get to talk too both Australian athletes which was awesome but also devastating as they were both crushed after losing.

There were a few sticky situations with people in the mixed zone but we got through most of it. To end the day the people that were on our shift all went to get dinner as we were exhausted and weren't looking forward to collecting stuff when we returned to campus. We went back to old favourite Lush and they didn't disappoint. I got a salad bagel which was incredible, but I am hoping that it doesn't make me sick. So far, so good.

When we got back to campus Kate and I ran down to the supermarket to grab some supplies as I have now gone for two days without having any sort of food in my room. It was a little bit sad. I then spent the rest of the night playing on the internet, looking up my quotes from today and watching the Olympics. Fun, fun, fun.

Day 32

2008-08-10T05:28:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day as workers at the Olympics! That's right we are no longer trainees, now is the real deal. I was feeling pretty good about it but still my body had that nervous feeling as even though we have had so much training you never really know what to expect.

I ended up getting the job of copytakers which means that I type and clean up all the quotes that go through into the info2008 system. The rest of the team were working on flash quotes so when they got something they would come to me and I would type it up. It was quite stressful, especially as some of the quotes had been translated from Chinese and the English didn't quite flow so they needed a fair bit of fixing up.

The only down side of copytaking is that you miss everything that is going on outside and when people are talking about things you have no idea what happened and even though we have a screen in the office showing us the two judo mats you don't really get a chance to see much.

All in all it was a good day and we got lots of things published in the system for journalists to use. From what Chris (our manager) said everyone was really happy with the job that we did and said that we were really professional. It is always nice to hear that people appreciate the work that you do.

At the end of the shift I was surprised by how exhausted I was. I have worked long days before, but I think that this was a different type of pressure and stress and my body wasn't ready for it. We didn't even have a chance to eat or go to the toilet (I was busting by the end). 8 hours is a long time to spend at a computer screen.

When I got home I was so tired and I had planned to do dinner with Rach and Jess even though I wasn't really up to cooking. But the precious Rachel offered to cook for me, she is lovely. So I did go down to the kitchen and sort of help but I pretty much just chatted while my food was made for me. It was so yummy too.

I ate dinner with Rach and Jess in Jess's room and they offered for me to stay and watch Step Up 2 but I had uni work that needed to be done. So I begrudgingly left them and their movie to come back down and finish summarise my readings. Not a fun job and I was so exhausted so I really wasn't feeling it.
I then spoke to Glen whilst I finished off my readings and whinged to him about having to do them. I hate readings just for the record.

I then fell asleep in my bed watching reruns of the day's events – I love the Olympics. I wish I was in Australia so I could actually see Australians competing. Ah well, this is pretty awesome too.

Day 31

2008-08-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Opening Ceremony day! I did nothing all morning other than some uni work. We had training in the afternoon, but pretty much everything revolved around the opening ceremony.

When we arrived in Beijing everyone had agreed to watch it together, however now that we are all doing our own thing everyone had their own plans. It was all over the place and we were really concerned about going anywhere by taxi as we had heard that it could take hours to find one to take you home because all of Beijing has stopped for the night (seriously all the shops that didn't have a television were shut).

Some people were going to Australia House I think because they thought that they might get on television. We were tempted to go but decided against it because we didn't want to be out too late because we have to be at work and functioning early. This turned out to be a good decision as it didn't finish until 12.30.

We went to an auditorium at the university we are staying at which was really good as we got to experience it with the locals and to them this is the most exciting thing that has happened in their lifetimes. It was so interesting to see their reactions to things. They would get really excited about things that we didn't find particularly impressive such as when the army guys walked with the flags or when it showed a shot of their president.

We thought that it was pretty cool although we were a little disappointed at the start because we thought that it was starting at 08.08.08 pm and this was not the case which was a shame because that would have been pretty cool. We really enjoyed the fireworks, although nothing really we haven't seen before (was a pretty awesome back drop though). The lights were pretty, but lights just don't appeal to me. I thought the drumming was awesome.

We were also a little disappointed with the Nikki Webster knock-off, clearly been done before. Wonder if that little girl's parents know the road she is headed down?

The athletes were what we were most excited about, we had heard that Australia was right at the end which was a bit of a bummer, but also kind of good because if they had come out early we wouldn't have had anything to look forward to. It was really interesting to see the countries that got a cheer from the people around us. Cuba, Korea, Russia, anyone with an attractive athlete and of even USA and England got a respectful clap. We were so pumped for Australia and when they came out there was not even the smallest reaction from the crowd. Nothing, that is what Australia means to them. Hello people do you not know that our Prime Minister is the only world leader that speaks your language? The only world leader that has asked people to give you a chance? Apparently not. Even George Bush got a clap. We were so peeved and pretty much complained for the rest of the ceremony.

The torch finale was also a bit strange as no one there knew who the athletes were until the names came up on the screen. Surely they could have picked some people that were a little bit famous? Apparently the gymnast didn't leave a lasting impression, he is certainly no Thorpie!

We got home at about 12.45, just enough time to give us a couple of hours sleep before we start our day as...........................Olympic workers. That is right my peeps I am now working at the Olympics!

Day 30

2008-08-10T05:25:00.001-07:00

I woke up today to a ringing phone and it was my Pa telling me that I had been on Sunrise this morning, I then got on my computer and was amazed by all the people who had seen my 3 seconds on national television. It was pretty awesome, one of the girls even sent me a link to the website so i got to see it.

I then had some more washing to do so I organised with Rach to put another load on and then I went up and dyed her hair. We were feeling a little adventurous and so we picked a colour with dark red in it. I was a little concerned at first because the dye was a pastel purple colour, it turned out great though, it looks brown and then in the sun it glistens dark red. It looks awesome. I ventured out to the post office again and waited in line for about 20 minutes and had a very rude lady push in front of me and take forever. I ended up going to the nice guy who seems to help me everytime I go in there.

When I returned I found another puddle of water under my air conditioner. I went down to the desk and they sent people up right away to fix it and to clean up. They are really good with that sort of thing. It is all fixed and working now. I am also up to date with all of my washing so I am ready for the games to start!

I didn't have to be at training today until 4pm, so I met the others at 3.15 to go. When we walked in it has been the first day in two weeks that I haven't looked for my uniform, and as soon as I opened the door Alex said "Look behind you". There it was, pieces of my uniform. I got a shirt and pants and shoes that have already been worn. Yes that is right people my shoes are already black on the bottom because someone has already worn them. Ah well, nothing I can do about it. I am hoping that the rest of it arrives soon.

We didn't really do much in the afternoon. We were just waiting for the Judo draw. I got to copytake for some of the quotes that Chris had taken at training. After typing them all in I was about to submit when the whole thing decided to clear. I was ready to cop the wrath of Chris but to my surprise she just said don't worry save early next time. That is how you learn. So I just had to type them all out again.

The judo draw was pretty awesome, there were so many people from the media and trainers and coaches of the athletes. We got to sit in on a real press conference which was pretty exciting, everything is so real now. We did see a very pretty male athlete tonight – the first attractive person that we have seen so far at our venue.

We were at training until 10.30pm, we were tired but also so hungry. We have all been going to a Western bar just down the road from our venue. It is open 24 hours so we decided that we were all in need of food. So when we arrived we ordered our very late dinner. I got pancakes and French toast, it was so good, exactly what I needed even if it was breakfast.

It was a very long and exhausting day, it is ok though as I get to sleep in tomorrow so the lateness of the night wasn't a huge issue. Here is hoping that the cleaners aren't too loud in the morning.

Day 29

2008-08-06T06:44:00.001-07:00

Today was always going to be a letdown after such a high the day before. It wasn't a good start because I didn't get to bed until three am. I just wasn't tired and I figured I could sleep in until midday and it wouldn't be an issue. Well I woke up at 8.45am so I was tired from the moment I was up. I didn't have any plans as I didn't have to be at the venue until 1.30.

I went and got some tomatoes and watched some tv and spoke to Glen on Skype. I found out that we weren't on sunrise but that the pandas would be shown tomorrow so there is still hope. I made cheese and tomato on ritz for lunch and it was pretty good.

At training we didn't have any plans really. When we arrived we were told that we would be doing some Taekwondo with Ian and Tatjana. It was in the sun and extremely hot and glary so it was good but we weren't really in the mood. That took about 20 minutes, we were then told that we had a big final venue meeting at 4.30 and that we had 'free time' until then. So we all pretty much just sat around and ate all afternoon. I got to know my venue managers a lot better and we also got some vegemite sandwiches which was heaven. I also ate almonds because that is the nut that mum always tells me to eat and I am a good girl and I listen.

Someone did knock over a carton of warm thick milk on my canvas bag which was quite unpleasant (and in the wash as we speak). We all then went into the stands of the field of play and waited for the meeting to start. We had already been waiting around for about 4 hours so we were quite anxious. The entire pledge was in Chinese so we pretty much just copied what everyone else was doing. Not the most productive use of our time since we have been here, but we have been pretty lucky so we can't really complain for one afternoon.

We were so ready to go and went back to the office to get our things and found that it was locked and no one had the keys. It was just one of those days. Everyone else was going out for dinner but I decided that I needed sleep and a nutritious meal more, so Rach and I cooked pasta and veggies again. Simple but so good.

Only 2 days to go until we start. It is so exciting, we are on the downward slide now.

Day 28

2008-08-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today turned out to be an amazing day for a number of reasons, but it all started with pandas. Jess, Rach and I are pretty much the only people from our group who haven't been and as it was our last day off today was to be the day. We only really planned to go to the pandas and the monkeys, as that is what everyone said was the best. They were right as they were both awesome.

We went into the first panda enclosure and saw two pandas that were sitting in their own pens and eating bamboo. It was so exciting as one of them came out from his corner and sat right in front of us to eat his bamboo. They are actually much smaller in real life than I had imagined. They are called giant pandas but they are really more like the size of a big dog. They are so cute though, they just roll around and eat all day.

We then went into the bigger Olympic enclosure. I am not sure why the others are kept away? Maybe they rotate? But the Olympic enclosure is so much better. It is pretty big and there are about 10 pandas in there just playing and eating and walking around. They are so awesome, there was a girl in there feeding them and she was playing with them like they were dogs and scrunch their ears and I just thought about how much I wanted to scrunch their ears. There were a lot of people in the viewing area and they were all so pushy. I got a little bit cranky and wanted to elbow back. I will call it panda rage.

Anyway, we were working from one side of the cage to the other and saw a camera crew in the middle. We didn't really think much of it as there are camera crews all over the place taping stuff, we just sort of become immune to it. So we walked around and were looking at the pandas when Rach said that the guy looked familiar and Jess and I looked around and it was Kochie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We looked on from a distance in awe and took some photos. We then noticed that he wasn't doing too much so Jess wanted to go over and I pushed her in the right direction and then followed closely behind her. He was so lovely and gracious (and much taller in real life than he looks on tv) and spoke to us much longer than he had to. Then we had some photos with him and his little guy came over and asked if we wanted to film him asking us some questions. So we were like hell-yeah and we did. We looked like idiots and we were so hot and sweaty, but who cares. We got filmed with Kochie!

After our excitement we went on to find the monkeys. It was a little bit of a trek but well worth it. They were all having a great time and we saw a really cute little family of monkeys that were all huddled together and when the little one ran off the dad would go and collect it and make sure it was safe. It was just precious. We also saw one that was very mellow until these little kids came over and then he got very cranky and tried to bite them through the glass. I don't blame them, I wanted to smack them too!

We had heard from the others that there was a place you could go to get a photo with a monkey so we tried to find it. It took a really long time as it was not really anywhere near the monkeys, it was closer to the aquarium. By the time we found it everyone was a little bit flat and it was the perfect thing to lift our moods. We got to sit on a seat and them the chimp would come and pose with you. The three of us got one and each time the little fella posed differently – he was loving it!

For mine he plonked himself on my lap. It was very quick but he was so cute and happy (he was also very warm, I am hoping that had nothing to do with him filling his little nappy). For Y$20 (less than $4) we got a printed out copy of the photo that they took which was so awesome. We were then pretty tired and it was so hot that we left to get some urgent air-con.

Upon arriving back at campus Rach and I decided to fill up our day and make the trip to Carrefour the shopping centre that has an imported food section. I went purely because I wanted cheese, proper cheese. We went through pretty quickly, I also got some baked beans because it is a meal that I can do quickly and without fuss and it still holds some sort of nutritional value.

Just outside the supermarket they have a little florist and I have noticed before that they have a whole stack of fighting fish that they sell in little cups. As we were walking out today I noticed that some of the cups didn't have much water in them and so I went in for a closer look. Turns out instead of fish they contained tiny little turtles. They were so precious that I almost bought one on the spot. Then I remembered that I do not live here and that I cannot have a pet turtle even though it would make me very happy. If we had turtles like that in Australia I would definitely have one.

For the afternoon we had organised to again go to the markets. It is fun now that I can do it, especially when they play the game. They can be so funny, they act like you have just tried to kill their family and then when you have bought something they are all smiles and say things like you very smart, you very good bargainer. I got some dvds, but didn't find anything else. I have decided against getting a dress made as I do not know enough about dress making to be able to make sure I am getting what I have asked for.

After the markets we headed over to Thai for dinner. I was a little sceptical as the last time we tried to order Thai, it turned out not to be Thai. This place was awesome though, we could smell it as soon as we walked in. I got to eat a red curry, pad Thai and spicy vegetables with tofu. This meant that I got rice, a variety of vegetables and spices all in one meal. It was very exciting and I was so happy to be full.

All in all one of the greatest days that I have had here so far. A good one for my last day off until the end of the Olympics. Not long to go now.

For the record:
I am leaving Beijing on the Wednesday 27th August
Arriving home on Thursday 28th August
I am not just eating pizza (thank you for your concern), I start everyday with yoghurt, oats and bananas and we are walking lots so I promise I will not be a porker when I return.
I still do not have my uniform. Maybe by Friday.

Day 27

2008-08-04T08:10:00.001-07:00

We had shift training today that meant that we all have a time scheduled that we go in. I went in with Sophie and Brooke. My uniform still hasn't arrived but I am not all that concerned about it anymore as there isn't really anything I can do about it. When I asked if I would have it by Friday she said that she didn't know, so it is really a bit all over the place. We had another go at mixed zone training and stuff went wrong all over the place (not with us) so I think that there will be lots of reworking and even more practical training.

I spent the afternoon in my room just relaxing and playing on the internet and watching bad daytime television – I have been doing a lot of that lately.

We had a venue dinner organised to celebrate all the people in our team that are having birthdays in July and August as we will not have time to celebrate during the games. We all set off at about 6 in our little taxis. Our taxi man didn't seem to know where to go but he was determined to follow the girls in the taxi in front of us which to his credit he did very well until we got to the area and neither of them seemed to be able to find it. We drove up and down the road a couple of times and then they decided that they found it and we got out. We are completely at their mercy. For the record they did get it right and everyone from our venue was sitting inside.

Kate and I sat together at dinner at the table that was mostly filled with the Chinese volunteers which wasn't a problem as they are all lovely. Just before dinner came out Sunny came over and told me that we should swap because it would be better to communicate. I wasn't keen to leave Kate but I wasn't really given an option. Sunny really likes Kate. So I swapped and ended up sitting with Phoenix and Sharyn which turned out to be really good as they were both lovely and I got a chance to know them much better.

During dinner there were performances on stage from a number of people and they included a three piece band, a singer, a belly dancer and a snake dancer (yes she danced with a snake). Throughout the performances they would get different people out of the audience to get up and dance on stage and a few from our group did, but they didn't need much encouraging. Special mention goes to Sophie who featured more than once and gave much needed moral support to Alex. We then had cake and sang happy birthday a number of times and then went home.

It seems to be the Chinese way to leave very soon after finishing eating, they don't stick around for very long. You eat and leave.

Day 26

2008-08-03T07:05:00.001-07:00

Short post for an uneventful day. I have realised that with the Olympics less than one week away I need to rest and stop running around because I always seem to be exhausted (the heat and humidity doesn't help). So I tried to sleep in as long as I could and this ended up being about 9am (yeah, I know, huge sleep in). People do not seem to be aware of how loud their voices actually are and how far they travel in the morning when everything else is quiet.

So I got up and lazed around for a couple of hours, playing on the internet and talking to Glen and Rachel (yes we prefer to Skype text rather than speak face to face). Rachel and I have decided that we wanted to get dresses made and we have heard that you can get them done at the markets. So after much searching we found some ones that we like and set off to find someone to make them for us.

We went back to silk street markets and Rachel got some pressies for people and a lovely dress for herself. She was very good at bargaining, I was very proud of her. She decided what she wanted to pay and didn't go over and she still ended up with everything that she wanted. We found the place where you go to get stuff made and were fronted with rolls and rolls of fabrics. So we decided that it was too much for us to tackle alone, so we will need to discuss with the girls that have already got it done. It was a bit of a letdown, but we need to do it right. I was very good and didn't buy anything as I have spent far too much money whilst I have been here and I need to save what I have left, it is so hard to resist when everything is cheap.

Today I looked at everything that I have bought for people at home and decided that I am very happy with everything that I have chosen but that I don't need to bring home a suitcase of stuff for each person that I know, I need more self control.

The rest of the day was a bit of a write off, we got some groceries and cooked dinner and had a chat. I also decided that as today was about as hot as it has been that I should get an ice cream, so I did and it was Milo and delicious, but I did cut my lip on the spoon. I am an idiot.
I am very happy to be on the eighth floor and not the twelfth floor as I was up there today and saw their washing machine in action. It sounds like it is going to explode. The whole thing moves from next to the wall into the middle of the floor and shakes around everywhere, it is crazy. It has no back on it so you can see the centre piece spinning and it was so energetic that the piece was actually coming out of the back, very funny as long as you are not living on that floor.

Day 25

2008-08-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

Half way people! Whilst I am loving being here and think that Beijing is an amazing city I am ready to come home. I have realised that I am not someone who enjoys being alone and while sometimes I don't actually want to talk I just like having people nearby. We had training again this morning and I yet again did not get my uniform. They are saying hopefully by Monday – we don't have much time left people!

We did another run through of the hour after the bout and I got to be copytaker. It is a job that I enjoy so I am hoping that I get to do a lot of it when the games are on. I am now getting the hang of the format and I am therefore getting a lot quicker at the entire process. I then didn't really have any set plans for the rest of the day other than to catch up with Rach.

As she was still yet to actually buy anything for Mark we decided that we would go shopping and try to find stuff. We went back to the giant Olympics shop and she got all the gifts that she needed. We then just had a browse through the surrounding shops and found this tiny little shop front that from the street look so small and dingy but when you walk in it is actually huge and has multiple levels. We found some really awesome stuff but are not sure about what we will be able to get back in the country so we decided that we would check on that and get back to them.

We were starting to get really hungry by this stage and so we sat down to look at our map and my trusty Beijing book to find some food. While we were viewing our map we were approached by some Chinese people who kindly asked if they could be photographed with us. They were really lovely and in the end asked us if we had an email address so they could email us the pictures – just precious. Rach instead suggested that they take a photo with her camera as well. We are such tourists. We really wanted some Thai for food ( mmmm - satay) and I found a Thai place in my book that didn't look that far away and was in an area that we kind of knew a bit more about. So we got the taxi to take us there and it ended up taking about half an hour so it wasn't as close as we thought or the taxi man cheated us of our money (when this happens you can't speak the language so you can't really argue and we don't know the area well enough to confidently challenge the route even if we could express our point). So we paid our money and set out to find the place.

To find the restaurant we asked for directions three times and each time we got pointed in a different direction. We ended up walking for about 20 minutes, we ended up finding it but after looking at the menu (it took a while to describe to the waitress that we wanted to look before we sat) we found that they didn't have any vego options and they didn't have satay so it wasn't really Thai at all.

We then just wanted something close that had a menu with English translations, it can be impossible otherwise. We walked a little bit further and found an Italian place that had waitresses in bow ties which was just precious. The food here was really cheap and surprisingly filling. We had the most enthusiastic waitress, and when we ordered our pizza she told us that we were very, very lucky because today diners got a free salad with their pizza, she was almost bursting out of her skin at getting to tell us this news. Rach and I ordered a pizza to share and some garlic bread. After ordering we saw some of the pizzas that had come out and decided that as we were so hungry that we would need another one. We tried to explain this to our waitress and she didn't understand so they sent over the English speaking waitress who also didn't understand. We were saying 'could we please have another one' and she was hearing 'we ordered another one'. I think that once she got it in her head that we had asked for something that she hadn't written down she wasn't going to be able to understand that we just wanted one more. We ended up saying that what we had was fine and that we wouldn't worry and she said something about noodles and went to the kitchen. The poor poppet was just trying to help and the language barrier was just too much. She then came back with a menu and pointed to penne with bacon and cream sauce and we definitely did not want that and we were trying to be so nice and let her know that it was us and not her and that we didn't actually want the pasta. It was so confusing. At the end she came over and said 'I am so sorry, next time I will try harder'. She was just so precious and really thought that she had done the wrong thing and no matter how hard we tried to explain that it was our fault she just didn't understand.

We then treated ourselves to a Maccas chocolate sundae and it is the first thing that we have had here that actually tasted the same as what it does at home. So after our exhausting afternoon we ate ice cream and walked to find a taxi. To end the night on a high we ended up getting the happiest taxi driver in Beijing. He smiled the whole way home and talked to us even though we had no idea what he was saying, so it was a very good end to the night. We gave him a tip and he was very happy. The walk then back to our accommodation was very enjoyable as it has cooled down a little bit and there was almost a breeze – very exciting!

Day 24

2008-08-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

No matter how often I shop and do laundry it always seems like I still have to do it. So today I attempted to do both in between training and dinner for Sarah's birthday. We accomplished the shopping thing before training. Rach and I went down the road to the four storey supermarket and stocked up on snacks. It is amazing the variety they have in their stores. If only we could read the characters then we would have so many options. But as I am not in the business of buying things when I can't read the ingredients I have not been buying a lot of variety. I did get some bananas though and some more yoghurt and oats, this has become my breakfast staple and I would be very sad without it.

When we arrived at training we saw three uniform bags sitting in the office and we were pretty excited at who they might belong to. There were four of us left and only three bags so we knew someone was going to miss out. Turns out it was me and so now I am officially the only person at my venue that is not in uniform which is a little bit sad, I would be very happy with just a shirt. It just doesn't make sense how they can only have two or three ready each day. It is very frustrating. Because of this I have to do a lot more washing as I am wearing more heavy duty clothes than the official uniforms. Anyway, uniform issues aside today was another run through of press conferences and typing in the quotes. I am getting better at being accurate and learning the format, now I just need to work on my speed. Other than that training was pretty uneventful.

Training ran a little bit later than we expected so by the time we got back we didn't have heaps of time to get ready. Rach and I quickly put on some washing in the hope that it would be done before we had to leave, and we had to put it on because I had no clothes left and I don't think they would like it if I turned up at my venue clothes-less (well to avoid this they could just give me my uniform). Whilst waiting for my washing I had to have a shower and was really hoping that the hot water was on. For the last couple of days there has been progressively more steam erupting from the ground outside our building. They seemed to think that they could fix it by digging lots of holes, but alas, they couldn't so in the elevator today there was a sign saying that the hot water would be off periodically for the next two days. For this reason I was expecting cold water, but to my delight it had sufficient hotness.

As we do not speak Chinese every time we get in a taxi we need to have written directions on where you want to go. So far this has worked fine, until tonight. Our taxi driver couldn't read (we were warned about this but so far have not encountered it) and rather than kick us out he tried to follow the taxi in front. This is no easy task though as the traffic is quite unpredictable and congested at certain times. Bless the little guy when we had to stop at an intersection he jumped out of the taxi and ran to the taxi in front presumably to ask for directions. I felt bad because I didn't want to make him feel bad, but to his credit he got us to the pretty close to the place.

When we were going in we found Paul leaving. Apparently he had had a look at the menu and decided that it was too expensive and wanted cheap food even though he had already taken a taxi all the way out there. Upon entering we found that it was expensive for China, but still comparative to what we would pay in Australia and there were lots of staff on and a guy playing guitar and singing who was pretty good. The actual restaurant was pretty spectacular and is covered in guitars, photographs and costumes worn by rock stars. It was so good to explore and so much had gone into it. The most amazing thing was a stain glass window of rock legends and a round ceiling mural that contained music legends such as Elvis and The Beatles. I bought a t-shirt because that is what I do, I just love them and know that I will wear them to death for years to come.

For Sarah they bought out a cake thing and the music guy sang happy birthday and the waitresses come out with balloons blowing whistles. At the end of the song the pop the balloons, which I don't really understand. Surely it would be nicer to actually give them to the birthday person?

We were quite shocked when the bill came. Our meals were expensive but we worked them out to be the equivalent of about $20 Australian so not too big a deal for us, but a big deal to them. Then on top of your fee you get changed a 15% service charge which was an additional Y$80. So all up my meal (no drink) and service charge came to Y$155 which is ridiculous. I paid less for the coat that I bought here. It was a good thing that at least the decor of the restaurant was pleasing. It was ok food, but you just end up feeling like you got ripped off and that is not how you should feel after paying for food.

Day 23

2008-07-31T07:36:00.001-07:00

Today was the day of our practical judo lesson that we were very excited about. We had the lesson on the training mats as the mats were still being laid in the field of play area. I have never seen Chris (our ons manager) so excited or happy before. Judo is her thing. We got to learn some grips, locks and throws which has actually helped us learn the rules a lot more. I was not very good at landing, I kept slamming my shoulder into the ground instead of my back which is apparently wrong. I did not realise how intimate judo is. You are extremely close with the other person and there are legs and arms flying everywhere, it is very much like wrestling, not so much like judo. After having a go at the different moves we played a game in which two people were 'in' and they had to scramble on the ground and grab people and drag them back onto a blue mat. It was a really fun game, but also quite brutal, I had one girl grab my leg and then three others joined her and dragged me over to the mat. By the time we had done all of this we were exhausted and in desperate need of a break.

We had a big break for lunch and so all of us headed over to our food hall for lunch. We get trays and there are people there to scoop whatever you want into your tray. They were using the same scoop for the meat and veggies and they were all slopping everywhere and so I couldn't eat any of it. I instead ate some plain rice and naan bread which was very boring. When you are done with your tray (it is usually still full of heaps of food), you take it over to these two people who have a little bench with a hole in it and they tip out your left overs, if it doesn't go in the hole they just scoop it in with their bare hands . It is like my worst nightmare, I am not talking sandwiches people, I am talking full on hot Chinese meals. So to make up for my lunch we went and got ice creams after - don't worry I had a yoghurt and baked beans when I got home (not together). We then had more flash quote training in the afternoon which again went pretty well. We are all starting to get the hang of it now.

When we got home I was so tired and just wanted a nap, but I still had two readings and my lectures to summarise, so I spent the afternoon and early evening doing that whilst on Skype to Glen and playing on the internet – I can't help it, the readings are so boring.

A group of us then headed out to dinner at Lush, a place where lots of students go for dinner. They have a western menu where you can get toasted foccacias and they have a 3 for 2 happy hour which keeps us very happy. We tried to corrupt Alex and we did a little bit but he held pretty strong. We ordered some lemon drop shots expecting them to be lemon flavoured and when they came out it turned out to be tequila with lemon. It is what I wanted anyway! I got to say tequila, tequila just for Krystle. We hung around for a bit and had a little wander around, but as it was raining we couldn't do much so we headed home. Hopefully the rain will give us blue sky tomorrow.

Day 22

2008-07-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

When we went to the Forbidden City we were too tired to trek all the way back to Tiananmen Square, so today was the day that we rescheduled for and Jess, Rach, Kate and I headed out nice and early in an attempt to beat the crowds and the heat.

Our first two attempts to get a taxi were refused, they tried to make out that they didn't know where it was which is ridiculous. It is like asking a taxi driver in Sydney to take you to the Opera house and them claiming that they don't know where it is. Anyway, the third guy was lovely and agreed to take us. He did take us to the wrong side and we caught these little car things around to the right spot. Again Tiananmen was not what I expected it to be. It really is just a large open area and there are heaps of people around, mostly Chinese locals. The square was decorated with lots of big Olympic floral arrangements, they can certainly do a spectacular floral arrangement, and they are all over the city. So we were tourists and took lots of photographs before going in to see Mao.

Mao is kept in a huge building at one end of the square. You are not allowed to take anything into the building so we split into two groups so that one could go in while the other minded the bags. They do have a bag check but it is just a little tent and it did not look particularly secure. So Kate and I went in first, the line to get in was a continuous stream of people. You have to go through a security check point and then there is a place where you can buy flowers to take in for Mao, which lots of people did (we did not). The difference in the actions of the people is amazing as usually they are very pushy and unorganised but to go in to see Mao you could have heard a pin drop.

As you walk in the building there is a Mao statue and in front of that is where everyone puts the flowers they had purchased outside. You are then ushered (I am not kidding, there are people employed along the sides that push you along) into a room and in the middle of it is Mao. He is in a glass coffin which is then in a glass room. It is quite weird and we weren't quite sure what to make of it, he is just lying there with his eyes closed. I am not sure how they preserve him, but my Beijing book (courtesy of Mikaela and Krystle) said that he had been pickled? You only see his body for about 30 seconds and it is far too quick to really have a good look. You then walk out into another room and it is filled with Mao merchandise (a little tacky) and then outside. I was expecting some sort of history stuff to be on the walls or something but no, it was all really quick. The longest part was walking back to the front to tag team Rach and Jess.

After the viewing we went to go to a t-shirt shop that was in my little Beijing book. The shop was down this little alley way that was filled with all these cool little shops, restaurants, and bars. The shop that we went into was so crap it was the first place in the book that hasn't been good, but it didn't really matter because the whole little strip was awesome and so precious. It was like a Beijing version of The Rocks.

We have been so exhausted since we have been here and a few of the others found a place that does massages so Rach and I decided to treat ourselves. It is about a two minute walk down the road from where we are staying and it is done by blind men. They are really sweet and pretty good, it was awesome. Ours went for 30 minutes and it was just what we needed and it only cost $5. We then went and got some fresh veggies for dinner as we are going to make veggies with rice and sweet chilli sauce – That's Yum!

I then spent the afternoon catching up with some of my readings and watching trashy American day time soapies, the actors are worse than those on Australian television. Very, very bad. Rach, Jess and I then cooked dinner in an attempt to get a big whack of veggies into our bodies. We made rice with broccoli, beans, pumpkin, carrot and sweet chilli sauce. It was very yum and to reward ourselves for being healthy we then went down and got an ice cream and retired for the night. It was a jam packed day.

Day 21

2008-07-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

Training again today and I was not really looking forward to it as yesterday was such a shambles. It actually turned out to be ok though. I got to have a go at being copytaker which is when some of us go out and get the quotes and you wait in the office for them to return and you type them up and submit them to the editors. It was really good to have a go at the format and have our work marked so that we can learn what we are doing wrong. Things ran much more smoothly today which is why it has been so good to get so much practical training, we are getting so much better already, I am really looking forward to the work now rather than being scared of it.

We still don't have our uniforms and today three of the people in our group were told that theirs were ready (there is no reason to why they can have 3 ready and not 10 when the rest of the hundreds of volunteers all have theirs). So we were pretty jealous that they got theirs and we didn't and Alex was so excited about getting his uniform that he felt the need to parade it in front of us and wear it to lunch. Turns out that where we have lunch, which is on the fourth floor of a building if you are a volunteer you have to take the stairs and not the lift. So Sophie and Alex had to go around and use the stairs in their uniforms and we took the very comfortable lift in our ordinary clothes and got there heaps before they did, and not quite as sweaty. Alex didn't care he was still so excited, he is like a little puppy. He is excited by everything and says 'pumped' a lot, he is very American and provides great entertainment for the rest of us, he is always 'pumped' to do things. He also speaks Mandarin and so is very useful when it comes to communicating and has often been the translator during speeches and meetings.

After lunch I wasn't feeling very well and so I went back to my room and had a sleep for an hour or two. I then woke up, had a shower and got ready for dinner. The news service team from our venue went out to dinner at a pizza restaurant in Beijing. It wasn't very far from our accommodation so we ended up being very early. We had a reservation but we weren't really sure what name it was under and luckily the place had an American manager who was lovely. Apparently we caused some confusion as the booking was made by a Chinese person (Leah) and the three of us that were early were obviously not Chinese. It was easily sorted thought because the manager was American. It was really good to meet everyone in a casual setting and we got the chance to mingle with the Chinese volunteers a bit more. They are all so lovely and sweet but also so shy, which is understandable because as a whole we are pretty loud.

There were about 20 of us at dinner and we ordered about 5 pizzas between us. The pizzas were huge. I thought that everyone was exaggerating when they said that they were big, but they actually turned out to be about as wide as the table. I took a photo but it made my pizza on a dinner plate look like and ordinary pizza on a bread and butter plate. I ate two pieces and was so full.

Through talking to the Chinese volunteers Sunny, one of the girls mentioned that our English was a little hard to understand and it made me realise how much we butcher the language and how other people really have trouble with the way that we speak. Even Alex the American doesn't always follow what we are saying, so now I am really self conscious of my bogan-ness.

When we were leaving I was talking to the manager and saying how stupid we feel over here because everyone speaks (or tries to) two languages and we only know one and that if I was to come again that I would like to learn more of the language and he said that I should work on my English for next time – we Aussie really do speak our own language.

After dinner we all went and stood around outside and some people were keen to kick on so we just followed them and chatted. It was a good chance to get to know the managers. We found out heaps more about Chris and also got a good chance to talk to Joe who is from Japan but has been living in Canberra for 5 years, he understood where we were coming from as when he arrived in Australia 5 years ago he spoke very little English, just hello, my name is and yes which is very similar to us here. We can all say hello and thank you and are trying to pick up other bits and pieces but no one really understands what we are trying to say.

After walking around for ages we couldn't find anywhere that was open so we just came home as we were very tired and are getting up in the morning to go to Tiananmen Square and to see Mao. Yay!

Day 20

2008-07-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

As I had to bail on dinner last night due to my work overload and Hairspray I owed Rach a meal, so she chose breakfast at Maccas. So at 8.30am we met in the lobby and started the trek to Maccas which isn't too long, but because of the smog by the time you get there you are so exhausted that you need to sit down. I got hotcakes and a hash brown. The hotcakes were a little overdone and the hash brown was saltless, but other than that it was pretty good.

We then went to do some laundry and put our clothes in the machine added the liquid detergent and then realised that it didn't work, so we pulled our clothes back out and went to the shop in the hope that when we returned that it would be working again. When we returned it was working again but someone else had already added their clothes, so as I had to be at training lovely Rach said that she would put it in for me while I was gone. She is such a precious.

At training we did a full run through of what an event will be like, we had pretend athletes who spoke other languages and interpreters on hand to translate. It did not go as smoothly as we would have liked but we still have 2 weeks until we start so we should be able to work out the kinks. The biggest issue we had was that the language services people only spoke Mandarin and another language which was good but it meant that it still didn't help us understand what was going on. We had to get another to translate from Mandarin to English. So by the time it is in English it has been translated twice and who knows what was lost.

As it was Jackson's 21st birthday we all went out for dinner at Hooters in Beijing just because it is kind of a contradiction in itself and fun and silly. When you walk in the girls that are the closest yell 'welcome to Hooters', they are very friendly and have such tiny little bodies. The food wasn't that great but we weren't really expecting that much. We all got merchandise, I got a singlet as it is very amusing and iconic. The girls all dance at various stages of the night and are really good sports about taking photos. Paying for our meals was again a major issue. Nothing involving money here is simple. To pay involved a waitress running back and forth from the kitchen to the counter with various dockets and receipts. They needed to get paper then have it checked and then get more paper and have it checked. It seriously would have taken about 20 minutes for someone to actually take our money. People don't rush here, they all take their sweet time which is fine unless you have other things to do and it leads to a lot of standing around on your end.

Day 19

2008-07-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

A bit of a slow start today, but after a very long shower I felt much better. I spent a significant part of the morning catching up on uni work that was due today – I leave everything until the last minute, it's just me, no matter how hard mum tries to break me from it! I then did a quick shop with Kate and organised to go into Carrefour later. In between I ate some yoghurt, skyped and did some more uni work.

Carrefour was packed, I am talking you couldn't even move. After collecting our items (we had planned on getting so much more but were a little overwhelmed by the whole thing) we went to line up. We spent the best part of 30 minutes in line. It was crazy, they had all checkouts going and there were still 20 people per line. You really notice the huge population in areas like this. I finally got to the checkout and the lady put through all my stuff. It came to Y$125.90 and I gave her Y$126. She looked baffled by this and went and got a pen and scribbled all over my docket. In this process she shut the register and after working out that she owed me Y$0.10 she couldn't get the register open again. I tried to tell her the entire time that it was ok and I didn't need it, but she wouldn't let me go and I didn't want her to get into trouble so she finally signalled to another check-out girl who came and helped, which was a very lengthy process. Everything here takes so long.

I then had 1 ½ hours to finish my uni work before Hairspray!!!!!!!!!! Yes that is right, we found Hairspray the Broadway musical in Beijing. There was a group of 10 of us – 9 girls and Lester, we loaded into taxis and I could barely contain my excitement. The smog was really bad today so by the time we got out of the taxi and walked to the doors we were in desperate need of an air conditioner. Inside we bought programs and bounced around, I was so excited and could barely contain it. Jess was a little concerned that we were sitting at the back but I didn't care where we were sitting. Inside the theatre we were in the second last row, but it was fine as it was a relatively small theatre so the view was good wherever you were. As the show started the ushers said that we could move closer and take up the unoccupied seats, so we did get closer.

From the minute the show started my legs were tapping and I couldn't help but sing (I am sure that everyone around me loved it). I was so happy that I had tears in my eyes, it made me a little homesick as everyone at home would appreciate how happy it made me. It just made me think of you all and how I annoy you with the songs. The production was amazing, it was the real Broadway deal. The actors were amazing and the sets so colourful. It was a little bit different to the movie but the essence was the same. It just makes you feel good.

During the interval two of the actors came out and taught us a dance which was awesome. You will all be happy to know that I can now do the flying bird! For the finale we all got to get up and do the dance that we learnt with the actors. It was so much fun. The only downer was that some of the jokes were lost on the audience as the cultural differences were a little too much. We laughed the entire time up the back though. Of the 10 of us there were 2 Hairspray virgins and I can happily say that they were converted and will be going home to watch the movie. It was so good and possibly the best time I have had since being here (is that sad?). I am still smiling.

We celebrated afterwards with McDonalds and I got a Strawberry sundae that comes with real strawberries in the topping. We also got chilli and garlic dipping sauce for our chips and it was amazing. All in all, a great day, I want to do it over again tomorrow.

Day 18

2008-07-27T09:02:00.002-07:00

Instead of starting training at 9 we didn't have to start until 1.30, so I got in contact with Jess and decided we'd try and get tickets to ............................ (wait for it) HAIRSPRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep we found the Broadway version here which just about made be burst out of my skin. Anyway it started off well as we had no idea where it was or how long it would take to get there. It ended up being less than 5km away so about 12 Yuan. The taxi man dropped us off at this huge complex and we thought, wow this is amazing and we took some photographs, we then went to go inside to find the box office only to find that the entire building was being renovated and obviously wasn't where we were supposed to be. We then tried to get instructions from a guard but as Jess had left the pamphlet at home we were trying to sign (not easy) and therefore got nowhere. So we wandered around aimlessly for about 40 minutes in the hot, hot, hot sun and found nothing much. We did find a poster and Jess called the number quite a few times and used her Mandarin skills to try and find out where we were supposed to be. In the mean time we witnessed a Chinese couple having a domestic in the parking lot which involved numerous rounds of her belting him, him hugging her, her yelling at him and sitting in the car and then her getting out and starting all over again. She even took off her shoe to belt him. We figured that he did something wrong.

In the end Jess managed to find out that the box office didn't open until 2pm (of course that would be the time that it opened on a Saturday) so I would have to leave and Jess would have to come back as I had training.

I then did my first solo taxi trip, which also turned out to be my first taxi trip with a female driver. I ended up being driven into the campus on the other side of the road, but as I cannot argue I simply paid my money and trekked it across the road and back to my building. I then had about 30 minutes to get ready for training.

At training today we got to meet our sports information specialists (sis) people. Ian is from Australia and very helpful and level headed. We also have Jo and Tatyana who also seem quite nice. We did a run through mock up of a mixed zone where we actually had to type up the quotes that we got. It is good to be doing this sort of training as I already feel more confident about what we will be doing. The Chinese volunteers seemed to be unsure of what was happening and I don't know if it was because they were shy or what but they weren't very helpful. One of them just made up the quotes that she was supposed to get. I can't really criticise though as if I had to take quotes in mandarin I would have no chance. We also got our schedules for the rest of our time here, so now I can plan what I can do and when.

Training ran 2 hours late so we missed the first trip into a sports bar to watch the Wallabies and party for Jackson's birthday. We ended up getting there just before half time. The place was pretty awesome, it is run by a Southern American guy who had a stick out moustache. During happy hour it was 2 for 1 drinks which I didn't realise until after I ordered my second beer. So I ended up with 4 beers. I also got a veggie burger that came with hand cut chunky chips – so awesome, I pretty much inhaled it. It was at about this time that my camera started working again which was very exciting.

After dinner some Chinese cheerleaders came out and showed us their very American cheerleader moves, it was very entertaining. They made two trips out during the night which amused us to no end. There was also a band playing that had a guy from Newcastle in it which was also very exciting. The played mostly Aussie songs for us including the Land Down Under, ACDC, Jet and Grinspoon, so we had a great time. We also found a seedy old man who danced by thrusting his hips at us and a very drunk guy about our age who was very Tom Cruise/Risky business but with pants on. All up it was a great night. On the way home Brooke decided to try out her mandarin on the people with the windows down. Most took it well and our taxi driver thought we were hilarious – well we were. I also learnt how to say I love you in Mandarin, I can't type in though. I will be using it frequently though.

Day 17

2008-07-27T09:02:00.001-07:00

Today most people had training so I didn't really have anything planned, just some uni work and to catch up on emails. This didn't really go as planned as I did no uni work (how unlike me) and then went to the markets again with Matt and Erin. I also got some domestic stuff done like cleaning out my fridge and getting rid of the smell.

I enjoy the markets more each time I go. It takes a while to get used to how much things should cost and how much you should be starting at. Everywhere you go they shout out 'beautiful lady', 'pretty girls', so today Erin decided to throw it back at them with 'no you are a beautiful girl', 'more beautiful than me'. She is awesome at the bargaining thing. She ended up doing the dirty work of both Matt and myself, and when she wasn't with us our purchases weren't nearly as good. Still we are getting much better. When buying shirts they will try to tell you that they are good quality and 'real' and we are at the stage now where we can go no, you are lying, it is fake, just a shirt. Anyway I bought more stuff and I have bought more presents than I intended too (this doesn't mean that you are going to be getting lots, just that I wasn't going to get you anything). I need to remember that while it is cheap it is not free and it all adds up in the end.

After shopping we pretty much went straight to dinner at Lush. There was a big group of us and we needed about 5 taxis. Our taxi man dropped us off on the right street but the wrong spot, but after some help from a fellow volunteer we headed about 10 minutes back down the road to our destination.

When we arrived it wasn't packed, but there weren't many tables left so we had to split up. I ended up with Matt, Steve and Pippa and we ordered far more food than we could possibly eat, I got a peach cosmo (not as good as the original) and then the boys got a bucket of beers and they gave me one. We then spent the rest of the night mingling and boogying down to Mrs Robinson. It was a really relaxed atmosphere and lots of white people there. By the time we were leaving the place was pretty packed. There was a mix up with Erin's drinks in which they delivered them to the wrong table and then wanted her to negotiate with them to buy her more, we won though. Bad girls for accepting drinks that weren't theirs. Stupid waiter for taking them to the wrong table.

In the taxi on the way home with Pippa, Steve and Rach we got a taxi that had a tv screen and games that you could play. This amused us no end, especially as it wasn't in English. We seemed to keep winning more but we weren't sure why, but still in a taxi you don't want to have passengers who get cranky from losing. Good idea taxi man. It was also awesome because the road to our building is now fixed and the taxi can now drop us right at the door, very exciting as we can now be super lazy.

Day 16

2008-07-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Since we arrived I have been contemplating hiring a fridge. It is one dollar per week so more than anything else I was just avoiding the trek over the road to the other campus. Anyway, Rach and I had decided to stop being lazy and to go and get them today. We dedicated today to being a domestic day, which started with much needed washing (I had no clothes left). We then started the trek over to the other campus which is not super far, but in this smog and humidity it is really tiring. Getting fridges was easy enough, although I again must note how inefficient their system are for purchasing things – we had to sign 3 bits of paper and then return back to our building to pick up the actual thing. That's right, we have to go to another campus to pay and get a receipt so that we can come back to our building where they are actually stored. Ridiculous! Anyway after a clean I now have a very cute functioning fridge.

We then met up with Lilen and Kate to go to the big shopping centre. It was only 10 Yuan in a taxi, which means about 3km from the uni. The shopping centre was awesome and every section is sorted by products, for example there is a section for all children's shops and another section for jewellery shops. The actual grocery store is huge. It has everything that you would ever need to set up a house appliance wise, food wise, clothing wise, we are talking everything. After having a short starbucks break we hit the shops. It took us about 3 hours to navigate our way through the store and we stocked up on all the essentials like spoons, cups, cleaning products, drinks, snacks and dinner for tonight. We found some cool things and some weird things (like Barbie that comes with a dog that eats and poops so that she can clean up after it). It is good but still weird, they do everything so differently. In terms of staff they definitely live by the thinking of more is best. We went into a clothes shop that was about the size of valley girl at Tuggerah and we counted 19 staff members. They stand there waiting for someone to come in and then the follow you around. At the shopping centre there were people employed to stand every five metres down the aisles. They get in the way rather than help you and because they are so bored most of them just stand around talking to each other.

After buying what we needed (they also do not provide plastic bags here, you have to remember to bring them), we went outside into the 40 C heat with all our groceries and tried to get a taxi. There just weren't any that would stop for us, or we would get one to stop and then someone without a trolley would run ahead of us and jump in. Kate swore at these people but I don't think they cared as they had a taxi and we didn't. I finally flagged one down and managed to gesture to him to follow me down the road to pick up the rest of the girls and the groceries. He was so lovely as two groups of people tried to steal him as he was following me and he didn't stop for them. He even got out of the taxi to help us pack all our stuff in. By the time we got back we were all so tired and came to the realisation that we would now need to carry all our groceries up to our rooms without the aid of a trolley. We almost died – good idea Lilen to get a case of water. Everything was so heavy and the air was so thick. We were dead.
We got together after unpacking to cook again tonight. Our cooking group grows each time, we are now up to eight which requires a little more effort and preparation. The dinner was awesome and it was so good to eat veggies that are of a colour other than green. Two healthy meals in a row.

After dinner is tv and skype time. It seems that the later it gets the better skype works, it must have something to do with people not using the net as much as they are going to bed. We are also trying to come up with ways to be able to buy tickets to an event while we are here, but at the moment it doesn't look promising. We'll see how we go.

Day 15

2008-07-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

I got the best sleep in this morning, I didn't wake up until 9.45am which was heaven. My body needed it after a few huge days in a row. So I spent the morning relaxing, watching tv and taking my time getting ready. Kate and I were the only ones from our group that had training today, but it was only for two hours so we didn't mind. It was really good to have a play around on the info system and see how it all works. I am still amazed that we have access to the entire venue. It is so surreal to go out and stand in the field of play and be allowed to walk around. We feel like we don't belong, but everyone else looks at us as if we are a part of this. It is so incredible.

After training Kate and I headed to the shopping centre down the road to buy a bag that she had been talking about for about a week. She was worried about spending so much money on a bag, but when we worked it out it was only going to be about $80, so really not a huge purchase. However when we arrived at the store Kate found another bag that she also liked that was a bit cheaper. When we asked about the price we were told that all the bags were half price today, so after much consideration she ended up buying both lovely bags and another for her sister. She ended up getting all three for just a little bit more than the original price of the first one. Love a good bargain, it was like scanning something on sale at Target and discovering that it is even further discounted. Very exciting.

Downstairs of the centre we found an awesome bakery that had things such as garlic and cheese French sticks. After much thought I decided to ignore my cravings as I really don't have anything to do with a huge French stick. Without butter or pasta sauce it just isn't the same.

When we got home a few of us decided that we would cook dinner tonight, so Rach and I headed to the shops and got some pasta and veggies. They didn't have any pasta sauce but the shop at the bottom of our building does so we went to buy it there. As everyone in our group makes pasta when we cook we found that the variety had somewhat diminished and there was only one non meat variety available in a jar and some cans that were much bigger. We weren't sure if we had a can opener so we went up to check and found none. So I ran back downstairs to grab the last jar only to find that it was gone – no doubt it was someone in our group who took it. Only meat sauces left, so I ran upstairs again to try and find a can opener hoping that I had missed one, I hadn't. So I then ran across to the other store on campus, but they didn't have any either so I had to go and by the meat sauce. I then was left no other option than to try and turn the tomatoes into some sort of sauce. I cooked them and it turned out better than I thought, luckily someone had left salt in the kitchen so I used some of that. Dinner was actually pretty good, I didn't even really need the pasta, just the tomatoes and veggies.

On one of my pasta sauce runs I did run into Paul who mentioned that I was quoted in a number of newspapers in China, so people apparently you can google me. A bit exciting. Check me out http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/12/content_8535730.htm, a bit wanky, but remember that I had had a very long day the day before.
After dinner Rach came down to use my internet as hers still isn't working, but my Skype was its usual self and kept cutting out which seemed to upset her more than not having it at all. She then left to talk to Mark on the phone and I got to talk to Glen, but then she had a boyfriend crisis and needed to use the internet again so I said goodbye to Glen. Rach was here for a while which was good in that it made me actually clean up my room, but I did miss Glen. He went to bed about 15 minutes before I came on. So close. I did get to talk to Granma, Pa and Kobie though and I miss everyone so much, even though Kobie doesn't care enough to look at my blog or my photos – thanks Kobes, it cuts me deep.

Day 14

2008-07-22T06:55:00.001-07:00

Back to the venue for group training today. We had to get up at 6.30am which wasn't fun, but we got through it knowing that training was only until 12 and then we could go and sleep. After venue lockdown yesterday there are now fences constructed the entire way around the building, which means that we now have to go around the entire thing to get anywhere on campus and to get into the venue we have to have security screening which involves scanning the photo on the accreditation and then scanning your face. It is very full on.

Our team bonding pretty much consisted of splitting up the white folks amongst all the Chinese volunteers which in theory would force us to mingle but in reality just segregated us more as we do not speak the language. We had to do all sorts of games which involved us working as a team which worked ok until I was blind folded and had directions shouted at me in Mandarin – I wasn't good at that one! Our team was so enthusiastic and it is quite sad to look at how quickly we lost concentration and were whinging about the sun when they were still enthralled by everything that was going on. Luckily we had Alex (Chinese-American dude who can speak to all of us), but is was comforting to know that he was as irritated and whingy as the rest of us by the end. Sometimes he would forget who he was talking to and translate something for me and it would still be Chinese. He is such a good sport though. By this time we were also told that we would no longer be finishing at 12, but that we would have to stick around for an afternoon welcome session – Yay!

By lunch we were all dead and wallowing in our sunburn, we are all sad little red Aussies now. We then headed back to the venue for security checks and air conditioning. We also got our timetables for the next 2 weeks, we will be starting to work a lot more after this week. We were also given these awesome sports packs that contained books on Judo, Taekwondo and the venue but they are all in Chinese so while they are beautiful they are not really useful to us. We also got to go back out into the sun to take another photo. My poor burnt face.

Rach's internet has not been working so fix-it Lester came in and spent about 40 minutes fixing it. He is so lovely, he even missed his soccer with the boys. So precious. We had bakery treats and yoghurt with oats and banana for dinner. Simple, but yum. We have decided to get fridges so that we can cook in bulk and have meals for a few nights, going out every night is exhausting and can be expensive.

It is also my turn for the course reader which means I will actually have to do some work. I don't want to.

Day 13

2008-07-22T01:51:00.000-07:00

Market day. I had pumped myself up for a day full of shopping in the hope that I would be able to get all the gifts that I would need to take home and not have to venture out again. If you have been here before you will understand that this sort of shopping is stressful. If you like something, you have to make sure you really like it because it is going to take you at least 10 minutes to work out a price. They start out ridiculously high and you have to work them down. They will yell at you and grab at you and try and guilt you into buying their cheap knockoff crap, but you have to stay strong (I wasn't my first trip and I got majorly ripped off). These markets were far less pushy than Silk Street, but also a little more expensive. I got some gifts for people and a coat and some shoes for myself. Trying to buy shoes I was assaulted by the shop owner who grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go, I couldn't get out of her kung-fu grip and I left with a very red arm.

I was with Jess (Norgard and Capper) and Rach and for lunch we went up to the food court. When we got up there we found that it was huge hot Chinese meals at every shop front. I just wasn't feeling it after so much shopping so I sat while the others ate theirs (it was huge and fresh and hot so they were all happy with their choices). After lunch I met up with Kate and Lilen to go and get something else for lunch and then we tackled the rest of the shops and came up with some more bargains. We then decided that we may as well write off the entire day and that we would from there, head back to the silk street markets to finish present buying. I was much better prepared for it this time and was good and stayed away from the coats (I have found my girlie weakness). I got some nice things and was good at saying no and walking away from things that I do not really need or are too expensive for what they are – you have to remember that even though it has Chanel stamped all over it that it is still as crappy and will fall apart just as quickly as all the other crappy wallets and bags.

We found a really nice girl though and have promised to send our friends to her because she wasn't pushy and she gave us a great deal and free earrings. After all our shopping was done Lilen and I decided that we were very hungry and wanted dinner. We had a quick look around we decided that we couldn't find anything so we got into a taxi to come home. Within 200metres we drove past Thai and Mexican and decided that we really didn't look hard enough and deserved to not have a great dinner for being too lazy to walk to the end of the street. When we got back to the campus Katie decided that she was too sick for dinner (poor Katie) so she went straight back to her room and Lilen and I kicked on and went to stairway to love for yet another pizza. It is really good but I don't think I will be eating pizza for a long time when I am back in Australia. Must be up at 6.30am to get ready for training – fun times!

Day 12

2008-07-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

The day of The Forbidden City. We decided to leave at 8am as we have heard that Sundays are a a particularly busy day. We had organised for a big group of us to go, but as some of the others had had a big night they decided not to leave until 10am. So rather than wait Rach, Jess, Jess and I decided to go without them. In the taxi on the way there we drove past it and had to get the driver to stop down the road. Not a big deal but it meant that we had to find out how to cross the street, luckily after some wandering we found an underground tunnel to help us navigate. We then walked down the street to what we thought was the entrance to The Forbidden City. We started taking photos and two little men ran over and made us stand in front of a line in front of the building, we thought this was weird, but went with it anyway. After we were done we went to walk in and were again shooed away. Jess tried to talk to them and find out what we were doing wrong but it did not seem to help. So we decided that we must be in the wrong spot and that we would walk down the street. After walking back to where we first started we saw the huge crowds. We were such idiots, to not realise that we had the wrong spot.

The front of the building was pretty huge and has a huge portrait on the front of Mao. It is so huge I have no idea how someone painted it. Taking photos we found a group of Chinese girls who spoke English and wanted us to take a photo of them, we then swapped the favour and then had a photo with all of us. It is so good to meet people from here and be able to talk to them, I enjoy being able to speak to people from here. We then lined up to go in and it was quite squashy, but once we passed the first gates it was fine. We were a little confused when we walked through the gates as there was a little stand selling tickets. Nothing was in English so we were hesitant to buy tickets. We then had a Chinese lady come up to us and point us in the right direction, she also told us that it would be 1km to the next gate. At this point it didn't seem like that far, but once we were inside and it was so hot it felt like forever.

The city is pretty amazing, all the buildings have such intricate detailing on them, and all the stone and marble work was carved. I was kind of expecting something different. After hearing all about all the rooms I was expecting to be walking through buildings, not around them. We did get to see an exhibition on the weddings that took place in the palace and that was pretty awesome and we also got to see some of the traditional musical instruments that were used. It was a lot of the same thing though which would have been fine except that none of the explanations were in English, so it was very difficult to understand the significance. By the end we were all so tired, that we couldn't even move on to the next part so we caught a taxi back and went to stair way to love for lunch. I got a pasta with tomato sauce. Not particularly exciting but it was good all the same.

After lunch we all went back to our rooms and watched an episode of Sex and The City and I had a sleep which was so good and needed. Jess then came down and we watched another episode of Sex and the City and she showed me all the things that she has brought while she was here. I have bought nothing compared to her – seriously, I have nothing. We then organised to meet for dinner.

I met Jess for dinner and we planned to go across the street to eat some chinese food as we have been eating a lot of pizza. We weren't exactly sure where we were going and luckily we ran into our Beijing buddy Justin (also known as JT). JT found us a place to eat and helped us order. He even made sure that my food did not contain meat and during our meal he tried to teach us some more words. We ended up with so much food at dinner and we had the uber beers and all together it came to Y40, this worked out to be about A$3 each. So cheap! We were so happy with our meals and didn't even come close to finishing it. Came home to use skype and it didn't work again. Skype sucks.

Day 11

2008-07-22T01:47:00.000-07:00

First chance in the 11 days that I have been here to sleep in past 7.30. I was really looking forward to it and what happens? I wake up at 6.45, stupid body clock. As I had planned nothing other than sleeping in I dozed until 10.30am I then went up to Rach's and did some washing as I officially ran out of clothes yesterday. Rach had then arranged for us to go shopping with her Chinese venue buddy. We look a bus for the first time and I again forgot my Olympic accreditation so Rach's friend had to use her card for me. The bus was a fairly good experience. The one that we got was much nicer than some of the packed ones that we have seen. We then went one stop too far to get the subway so instead we caught a taxi which is a far more direct option.

The shopping trip wasn't as exciting as expected as we went to designer stores and we are not designer store kind of girls. We did however stumble across the biggest Olympic merchandise store. It was so packed, these people can't get enough of it. The store contained every sort of product that could have an Olympic logo printed on it. We spent up big and were extremely pleased with our purchases. Paying for them though is no simple matter. There are desks right throughout the store where you tell an assistant what you want. That person then rights you out a three paged receipt. When you have finished going around to all the desks you take your collected receipts (I had 5) to a central counter where you pay and they give you even more receipts. You then have to go back to all the counters that you visited to pick up your stuff. It is such a time consuming task, especially when there are only two people that you can actually go to pay and there are hundreds of people in the store. Very time consuming.

We then had a wander down the street and found a building that had a huge statue of Yao Ming on the roof, very tacky and yet kind of awesome. We then taxied it home and I went out again alone to the supermarket as I again ran out of food. Although it is a lonely trip I did find Doritos in Nacho Cheesier Flavour which is uber awesome. On the way back I picked up a lost lady looking for someone that spoke English to help her. I tried my best but as I speak hardly any of the language and know where nothing is I couldn't really do much. I took her into the ladies at the front desk of my building and palmed her off there. They seemed to understand what she needed?

I only just got back in time to meet a group of us to go back into the CBD and watch the Wallabies game at a sports bar. We took with us Leah my Chinese venue friend who knew nothing about union, yet was an avid participator none the less. It took ages to get there and two calls to the bar for instructions and when we finally arrived I got a call from Rach telling us that everyone else failed to find "Frank's sports bar" and that they were all set up down the road at another place playing the game. So we hot footed it there and got there not long after the game started and the Wallabies were already down 3-0. The food at this place was pretty good but also really expensive, although I am not going to complain as I got to eat pasta and veggies again. I even ate the mushrooms as I figure I need all the protein I can get.

After the game we taxied it home thanks to Leah's awesome convo skills with the driver. Also a good night as I got to wear my Aussie thongs and sweat band (thanks Mikaela and Krystle).

Day 10

2008-07-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

Another day of venue training. Today was really good as we got a chance to do some role play and actually practice our reporting. While we have time to improve I feel better knowing that I can actually do it. We also got to learn more specifics about our sports which was pretty awesome. I love sports.

After our training finished we footed it to starbucks as most of our venue group was caffeine deprived. I didn't get anything as I am not a coffee girl and the cakes all looked like they had been sitting there for days – and from all reports I made the right choice.

On returning to our rooms it was decided that we were going to go out for dinner and then crash the swimming drinks. I got as dressed up as I could with the clothes that I brought and we headed to KTV where I again had the option of veggie pizza or tomato pasta – I chose the pizza. We all shared travel horror stories and broken car stories which led to much group bonding and during which the taxi man called to tell Lucas that his phone was found and could be picked up (he left it in a taxi the silly boy).

After dinner we headed out to the foreigners bar area and I was amazed by how many westerners there were. It was table service which meant that we could drink without having to move. The wait staff all wore shirts that said "Shut up, and drink" which is possibly the best thing I have ever seen as a bar slogan. Tom and I did Sambucca shots which were a mere 10 Yuan (about $1.50) and vodka and orange which was also 10 Yuan. We got to mingle and drink with all the foreigners but in the end decided to leave when the inside table talk reached M15+ and the outside crew we smoke surrounded.

All up an awesome night and I am looking forward to being able to go back and explore further.

Day 9

2008-07-17T07:37:00.002-07:00

Venue day! We met downstairs at about 8am to unite for the taxis. Catching a taxi can be hard work, as lots of them won't stop for us. Today when we got them to stop we had Asian people jump in. We lost three taxis, we need to learn how to be pushier. Kate and I were the last ones to get a taxi but we had plenty of time to do it so it didn't matter. On the way to our venue the taxi man had the radio on and it was playing Madonna which was pretty awesome, and then when I looked out the window there was a horse pulling a cart of bricks – poor horsey. Then as we were getting out of the taxi hairspray came on. I was so excited I nearly burst out of my skin, Kate didn't really get why I was so excited but ah well.

We were pretty excited to arrive at our venue. It is much bigger than I thought. We met up with all the usuals that we have been introduced to along the way. We had a quick tour around the venue which is sooooo awesome. It is huge and seats about 8000 people. It is really cool to be able to get onto the field of play and to all the backstage areas, it is so exciting we couldn't help but jump around. We then had a scavenger hunt which was a brilliant idea as it made us find all the important places around the venue and how to access all the computers etc. Our team was very enthusiastic but I don't think that we quite nailed the accuracy of it all. We tried really hard though.

We got a taxi home with Kate and Sophie and we chatted the entire way. The taxi man took us to the wrong uni because he didn't read the card properly – his fault not ours. Then when we arrived at our uni he turned the metre off and charged us and extra 4 yuan. Not a big deal but beside the point. We couldn't really argue because he didn't speak English so we just left it. We need to become more assertive.

In the arvo I met up with Rach as we are having withdrawals because we didn't see each other all day. We adventured to the post office to send some postcards, a man in uniform just came up to us and took our cards and our money. Hopefully he sent them and didn't just take our money and throw them away. Rach then needed a webcam as her boyfriend Mark is missing her so we went to the 'office works' that we have found to get one. No one there can help us because they also don't speak English so we bought the one that said it was Mac compatible (turns out the box lied). Bu this time we were pretty hungry so we decided on pizza hut for dinner. It was quite the walk to get there but so worth it as they have English translations on their menus. I am very willing to eat Chinese food for the record, it is just impossible to tell what has meat in it so I tend to go towards the western food as they have English menus or at least pictures to point to. Pizza Hut was just like it is in Australia, except that the vego pizza has corn on it. After pizza we hiked it home, which was close to impossible as our legs are dying on us. They seem to have less tolerance for long walking trips every day. They are begging for a rest, but just getting from our building to the street is a 10 minute walk, so it is inevitable.

We then called it a night as we again have training tomorrow. Skype and Facebook worked tonight which was awesome so I got to talk to my favourite crazy little siblings and Glen which is always awesome. I crave a small piece of home every day as it is so lonely in my room after I leave everyone.

Day 8

2008-07-17T07:37:00.001-07:00

Another early start today. I stay up really late on skype and forget that I have to get up. We got a taxi in less than a minute today which was nice considering how long we waited yesterday. So because we were so paranoid that we would have troubles again everyone ended up arriving really early.

The lecture was pretty good. The people running the program are Australian and seem to share our sense of humour which is nice because sarcasm seems to be lost on the Chinese. The other day on our tour we went down the street behind the uni and it has a blue sign that says 'public toilet' and we all joked that it was called public toilet street (we have now officially called it public toilet street) and our guide was horrified and proceeded to try and explain that it just meant that there was a public toilet down that street. Everything that we were told today in our lectures doesn't seem to have any relevance to my sports so it was a bit of a waste of time, but we got a four hour early mark, so who would complain.

On the taxi ride home we almost died. Taxis here don't often have functioning seatbelts so you cannot buckle up. We had a few close calls and then when we were about a street away from the uni we were speeding along and the car in front of us just stopped and our guy slammed on the breaks and the wheels locked and screeched and we missed by millimetres almost sending all of us flying through the windscreen. He thought it was hilarious!

We then went back to our rooms to have a chill out. My internet is again malfunctioning and skype is just not working which is so frustrating. I then ventured out for the first time on my own and went to the supermarket to buy some veggies for dinner. We found a kitchen in our building which is very exciting. So then Rach, Amanda, Pippa and I all met up to cook pasta with tomato and ricotta sauce and veggies. It was so good and easy to make. I think that it will become a staple of ours. If I get a fridge I can cook in bulk and use it for when I will be working.

After dinner we all got together to celebrate Matt's birthday. We had a huge cake and sang. Everyone else went out to have drinks and karaoke, but I have stayed in to go to bed early because I need to function for my venue training in the morning. Skype and msn aren't working. I want to throw my computer at the wall it is so frustrating.

Day 7

2008-07-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

This has been the hardest morning to get up. I was so tired, but it was worth it because I got to talk on Skype for hours last night and I always have to watch some tv before I go to bed. We had our first day of training so all forty of us went outside to catch our taxis, clutching our little Chinese character addresses. Not a good idea in hindsight as that required us to have 10 taxis and they just don't stop for us. it took about 40 minutes to get one. We were all stressing but it turned out that we beat nearly everyone there. the training was actually pretty good and the people running our organisation are Australian so it is nice, it is like we have a little bond. It was all pretty easy and I now feel much better about what we are going to be doing. the lady in charge of our event is lovely and doesn't care that we know nothing about her sport.

Rach, Jess and I caught a taxi home and it took less than a minute to get one. We then went and got groceries - including peanut butter oreos and a bag. It is awesome. I then had further internet issues, but finally got through to Glen through msn video calls. Still don't have a working phone which may be an issue if I get lost, but so far I have always had people around.

Went to dinner with Rach and she got some rice. I couldn't find anything, which is so depressing. So after dinner we went and got more shopping and I got a yoghurt and an awesome drink that tastes like frosty fruits. Pretty awesome.

The rest of the day pretty much consisted of skyping to Glen and the family - including the muffin, for hours and chatting to my best buddy krystle on msn.

Started to make some brief plans for dinner tomorrow night. We have found a kitchen and pasta with pasta sauce. I never thought I would be so excited to eat tomato pasta. So good to know that I can be responsible for my own meals. having to go out to get food for every meal is exhausting.

Day 6

2008-07-14T07:19:00.001-07:00

Slept in after a very teary night. Feeling better now that I have a functioning phone. Abby couldn't come to the wall, after being at the hospital til 3 am she now has her arm in a cast which is very sad. Bit of a fight on the bus between Paul and Beth over what information we are receiving which leaves Paul in a pretty foul mood and us in a difficult position. Slept most of the way on the bus, not the same without my buddy Krystle. We arrived at the wall about 9ish and were up on it by about 930. It is pretty cool although it is raining, so we can't see too far ahead and it is deathly slippery. The most exciting thing about being there was seeing the big "one world one dream sign". It ended up the feature of most of the photographs. We got to the highest peak in our section and then turned around. It is really cool but once you have been that high anything further along is going to be much the same and it was starting to pelt down with rain and the crowds were getting thicker. Saw a lady tackle the wall in heels and a cocktail dress which entertained our group. We got to talk to lots of people, they love to know where we are from and to take pictures of us. Whenever we run into a group of kids they say hello and take our photo. It's like being a celebrity. We have down time for the rest of the day to do some washing and relax. It is the first time this week that we haven't had activities planned. Worked out that the internet connection problem is with my room not my cord or computer, although not much I can do about tis until Lester returns. We love that boy and do not know how we would have survived without him.

Rach and I decided to get a quick meal, came across Maccas and thought that that would be the easiest thing to do. Not the case. Rach tried to order her coke without ice and ended up getting an iced tea instead – doesn't really go with a Mc chicken meal. I tried to order a cheeseburger without the meat and that didn't work either. So I had Pringles and a magnum as a second dinner. We had a look for some bags and thongs as both of my shoes are falling apart. Didn't find anything, but got Glen some crappy gifts which is pretty exciting. They are so good that I do not want to leave them in my room as the cleaners might steal them. Hopefully they will remain. I have now finally caught up with my blogs. Facebook isn't working again though which is such a pain. I did get to put some photos up though.

Day 5

2008-07-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the longest day of my life. Still couldn't get the internet to work, really just wanted to talk to home. We had to be ready by 915. This isn't a good bunch for collectively being on time and it is so often the case that someone on the fifteenth floor gets to the floor and then has to go back up. We headed with Debbie our very enthusiastic tour guide, to the old and new summer palace. It was stinking hot again I thought that it would be a good time to whip out the Australian hat. After walking in and seeing the first set of rocks and then the second we found that a small group of us were too hot and tired to go on, so Sian, Erin, Rach and I sat under a tree and had a chat. I was down from the start of the day. We than waited ages for the rest of the group to arrive back. It was so incredibly hot so I couldn't wait to get back on the bus. After the first Summer palace I was not looking forward to the second. It was incredible crowded and while it was far more beautiful and interesting than the first I just wasn't in the mood as there were so many people there and it was such a long walk.

We had lunch with all the BOCOG people (another free meal) but this time we didn't get to mingle which was sad. The whole day was really rushed. At lunch I used a squat toilet for the first time. It is not what I expected. It is a normal toilet just built into the ground so that you can't sit. They flush and everything. I don't really see the point, why not just have a proper one? It is gross though that you do not flush your paper you put in a little bin to the side. No wonder they smell. Shot gun not emptying that bin. Lunch was gross, all I got was bok choy and cabbage with some sauce and rice, at least you get rice everywhere.

Our awesome group (Rach, Sian and Erin) opted not to go to the palace thingo and instead sat in the shade and swapped life stories. I find people far more interesting than buildings. There was a small slope on the side of the stairs next to where we sat and so for about two hours we watched people fall over it, which amused us to no end. Although by the end I think people thought we were being mean because we were laughing so hard. It's not our fault they were retards. I got a talking to from Paul in the middle of this because the boys had complained that I was wearing my Mariners shirt. I assured him that I would be wearing it every day!

We are kind of like celebrities and while we were waiting for the others to get back we had people coming over to us taking our photos. There are just no white people around, especially in big groups.

We then went to BOCOG dinner which was again paid for. This time I got Bok choy and cabbage without sauce and with rice, I didn't think that the lunch meal could get worse but it did. We also got warm beer. They drink it warm. It is weird and not good warm. I am becoming a good beer drinker though. Although the police will come and deport you if you are drunk in a public place, so must behave myself.

We all were so tired, hot and smelled so bad that no one was really keen on going into the opera. It was way too long and I couldn't really follow it and I didn't really care. I slept for a large chunk in the middle. In the one that we saw they didn't really sing. I think that it was more of a play than an opera. At the end there were a group of ninjas that came out and did flips and stuff so that was a little exciting. I was so ready to come back and was hoping that the internet would work – it didn't. I pretty much cried for an hour and used an entire roll of my precious toilet paper from blowing my nose. Mum finally called and I got to talk to her which I think was the highlight of the trip so far. It is really hard to be away from everyone and have nothing familiar around you. I am fine in the day, but at night when everyone goes to their rooms it can be very lonely. Felt much better after having contact with home.

Day 4

2008-07-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

Got up early and went with Jess and Ngio to get some bags and shoes. We had cheese and tomato pizza for breakfast which took so long to arrive that we had to get it takeaway. Went and got ready for lunch when we returned and ate pizza in my room.

We had a lunch planned with the Newcastle alumni, none of us really knew what that was but were excited to be getting another meal. We haven't had to pay for much so far and you can't put a price on free. We went by bus and it seemed to take ages. We got to see a little bit of the city though which was pretty cool. We finally hopped of the bus and followed the group blindly through the back streets of Beijing. We walked through what I expected everything to look like. It was pretty filthy and worn, and you can smell the poo in the air. We walked through what looked to be someone's house and found where we were eating. It was beautiful. It had a court yard surrounded by four little rooms. We divided and sat at about tables of 10. We quickly got some beers as it was about 50 C, we didn't care too much though as we had blue sky. Lunch was awesome. Couldn't believe that I was getting two free awesome meals in a row. Everyone was so happy o see the sun and be full. The food in China is so different to Chinese food in Australia. Everything was so light and flavoursome. I was able to eat almost every dish. They had this lotus root thing that tasted like frosty fruits. Apparently the prawns were awesome, sorry Glen and Phil I didn't try any.

We then headed to the drum tower and walked up the steepest staircase I have ever seen, you would die if you fell down. At the top of the tower there were lots more photos or the view. Sorry guys but when I return you will be looking through lots of photos of me and background. I have tried to make it more interesting, but there are only so many poses you can do. We also got to see some drumming which was cool and not what I expected. It was just precious.

We then headed by taxi to the Silk street markets. This is an experience that I didn't really enjoy. Everyone pushes and grabs you and you feel so much pressure to buy. Jess, Rach and I all got ripped off and although feeling better for the experience not really keen to do it again. I paid 325 for my jacket and 180 for my skirt, could have got so much lower.

So tired but so hungry we went back to stairway to love to have pizza for the second time that day. We got our own private room where about 10 of us ate and drank the night away. Lester then came with us to get us phones, which took ages. By the time I got home no one was online and I felt extremely homesick. Finally got the chance to put photos on facebook.

Day 3

2008-07-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

I have left this blog until two days later and I don't remember too much detail – lucky for anyone reading this!

We had some spare time in the morning which gave us a chance to go and get some groceries. I went with Rach and got some bread. We also had a look for some dresses which was frustrating as I found some that I like and they don't have them in my size, my ribs are too big. We had breakfast at the bakery and it was Yum! I can only get sweet things but as this was my first real food it was sooo good. Went back and had showers and got dressed up to go to the embassy. The embassy was quite boring, but good as we got to find out about all the things we will need to do. We have to have our passports with us at all times or we can be immediately deported. This was a little scary for those of us that didn't actually have ours. They scared us but more than anything we found out that misbehaving in China is not a good idea.

We then got a bus to the Pecking Duck restaurant which is apparently the best best place in the world for pecking duck. We went upstairs into this huge empty room and sat down at three tables in the back corner. Paul then asked the vegetarians of the group to go and see him. We were then ripped from our tables and placed at a table by ourselves at the other end of the restaurant which did not have cushion seat covers or drinks on the table. We waited there for the other unis to arrive. It was a good two hours before they showed and we were starving. Our little reject table turned out to be the best as we got to meet people from other unis. I sat next to Stef from North Carolina Uni (that would be Michael Jordans College), we bonded, she got basketball and I am so jealous, she was so lovely though. We also were seated with the vegos from Queensland uni and some girls from another American uni. The Aussies were awesome but the other American girl was a bitch. It was her birthday and she wanted to go to the Mexican restaurant and eat chips and dip. She did not want to be sitting with us at all. She ended up having a tantrum and leaving. We swapped details and now have international friends.

The food at this place was awesome and it felt so good to have a full stomach. Weird thing though, the Chinese seem to like warm beer, us – not so much. It was amazing how easily our spirits lifted with some good food. On the way home there was a bus sing-a-long to Bohemian Rhapsody. Lots of fun.

Day 2

2008-07-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

To wake up on the first day without the internet was so frustrating, I kept trying but it would not work. I hate being alone and not knowing what to do or how to get help. I unpacked my stuff and found some fellow floor 8-ers who were also having internet issues. We found out that we needed internet cards and passwords so we went downstairs and found Paul who gave them to us. It took about an hour to get it working, it was definitely a group effort. It is hard when you have instructions that don't work and everything is written in Chinese characters. Thanks to Matt who helped us all, he worked it out himself through trial and error the clever boy. Finally got to speak with Glen and the family which was good but not long enough. I miss everyone so much and hate having to leave to go and do things.

Went and got fitted for uniforms. These people are so tiny, I have to get an extra large pair of pants and boy shoes. Ah well, there were a few of us but I officially have the biggest girls feet here. Found out that I am placed at the judo and Tae Kwando which should be interesting, apparently the world champion is Australian. There are about 10 of us who will be working there and about 30 BOCOG volunteers in total. We got a tour around the campus and the streets from Catherine who was so precious, she showed us all the things we would need to know. We tried bubble tea and found some places to get food. Kate and I also got shown where the buses would leave from – turns out waste of time as it is way too hard to figure out. They don't come at a specific time, they just show up hopefully when you need. Taxis are a much better option.

Most of us went to dinner at The American Island as it looked to be the cleanest place so far and was all you can drink beer. Sounded awesome. Not so much. I could not eat anything. I had a bread roll and beer. Lester the little precious that he is even came with me to help me find something and found that everything had meat in it. Very disappointing. Although even the meat eaters weren't impressed. Although they did all eat bugs and there was a pet crocodile.

Came home and spoke to Glen and Jesse. The skype kept cutting out which was so frustrating, my computer then flipped out and opened up about 400 tabs so I closed it down and turned to the tv. We have 4 English channels which is very exciting. We have BBC, CNN, HBO and Star Tv, which seems to be just a channel for entertainment shows like Bones, Desperate housewives, Ellen and FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 1

2008-07-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so the day did not go ahead quite as planned. On the verge of tears for the entire day, I was very fragile. I worked myself up to be leaving my family ay about 8am to go through customs. Not the case. After waiting in line with Glen for about an hour to check my luggage and crying about every three metres and making his jumper very soggy we find out that the plane has been delayed 2 hours. Which is good because it gave me more time to say goodbye but also bad as it just meant that I cried for longer. We had various meals and as fellow Newcastle people walked past we found that the flight kept being delayed. We were delayed 2 hours in total.

I was so anxious to be on the plane, it took forever. It was about 3pm before we took off, and we were supposed to be leaving at 10.20am. The flight was ok. I watched 21, which was ok, Vantage Point which was really good and Smart People which was horrible. I also watched Christina and Delta in concert, Australian Story - Sass and Bide, Bondi Rescue and Enough Rope. By the 8 hour mark I was ready to be there. My knees were so sore that I could not get comfortable no matter how I sat.

There were also lots of Chinese people on the flight who just seemed to do their own thing - like stand up when we were taking off and landing and fetching their own food. There was a nice lady who answered our questions such as 'how do you say "help me I'm being stabbed" and "help me, my appendix has burst?"

The airport was insane, I wish I had a working camera at that point. It is huge, we had to catch an internal train to get our luggage. It was good that we arrived so late because I can imagine that it is packed during the day. Apparently there are over 600 chartered flights coming in the day before the opening ceremony. We got picked up by bus and taken to our accommodation. There did not seem to be any air con though and it was sooo hot.It took about an hour, and we got to experience our first roads. They are crazy. People just drive around in the middle and for some reason bikes feel like they have right of way. My money would be on the bus, but hey they seem to know what they are doing.

When we arrived we got our room cards and went straight up. Had a shower straight away and then sat in the air con for an hour. The beds are like wood and the pillow is so high I have to use my jumper instead. Tried to connect the internet but it did not work. Turned out to be a major issue. So good to go to sleep though - after blue tacking photos everywhere.