So I am in China. I can't tell you how long I have been in Beijing because honestly, I have no clue. I left July 16th at 6 AM from Colorado Springs and arrived in China at approximately 2:30 pm July 17th. I was in an airplane for somewhere around 16 hours and slept through about 10 of them. And yes Ma, the airplane was one of those double deckers you ask about, but it was surprisingly not that cool.
Since being in Beijing, I have been doing back breaking work, literally. Well maybe not literally, otherwise I would be in a dangerous Asian hospital getting treated with eucalyptus leaves for a broken back. But I have been lifting very heavy equipment all day long since I arrived.
Let me pump the brakes and put this vehicle in reverse for a second. I, along with what will be about 50 support staff am living at Beijing Normal University. We, as in the US Olympic Committee, are the support personnel for the high performance training center(HPTC)US athletes will use prior to moving into the Olympic Village. 22 of the nearly 30 US Olympic teams will come into China and train anywhere from 1 day to 3 weeks before they compete.
The HPTC here in Beijing will be much like the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs - we have great facilities, dorms, dining services, sports medicine, athlete lounge, media center, Asian prostitutes ...only kidding. But nearly anything involving sport, you name it, we got it. There is even a Walmart nearby...well not exactly, it is a Wumart, but pretty much the same in that it gentrifies mom and pop stores throughout China, but that's not my point.
Anyway, originally, my job assignment was to come to Beijing as a member of the 3 man load in team to help unload the near 30 containers of equipment for the HPTC which includes everything like food product, office supplies, Wii game system, medical equipment, and everything a 5-story athletic facility for the Olympics would house. My stay was to be 10 days - all to unload truck upon truck in the heat and humidity of not only the HPTC, but also for the USA House, the swanky set up for USOC marketing to rub elbows and pay the bills, as well as office equipment for staff at the Olympic Village.
After months of working with the USOC and having my superstar status as an employee blow up faster than fireworks on the 4th of July, my ten day assignment has now turned to 6 weeks. During this time, I will be working and living at the HPTC not only serving as load in crew, but will also help run the aquatics facility and athlete lounge, AS WELL AS serve a member of transportation support at the airport. It's exhausting just typing that. Oh and I forgot to mention that I may also serve as a training partner for a few athletes too. Yeah, I have enough on my plate to well feed a fat kid on Christmas.
Back to the present...since arriving, all anyone has been doing is unloading. But there have been some interesting things that have happened so far, as well crazy things about Chinese culture. To save time, space and your eyes, I'll mention them in bullet form as if I was doing a PowerPoint presentation.
* RMB is not the kind of music Alicia Keys sings, it is Chinese currency. And it $1 American is worth about 6 RMB, also called Yuan. Somehow, the dollar is strong here. Thankfully.
* Cars have the right-of-way versus cyclists AND pedestrians. Walk at your own risk.
* The weather is a lot like Houston in April. Hot, muggy, polluted and hazy, but not yet unbearable.
* I never thought Port-A-potties could be worse than what the US has until I got here. Imagine one WITHOUT an actual toilet, just a hole. That is what bathrooms in China are like. Just check out the picture.
* You get a good idea of how populated China really is if you look at their service industries. For the Olympic Village alone, they have 18,000 volunteers working. Compare that to the 10,000 athletes competing. Anytime, we need something cleaned, 10 people show up with small brushes to scrub the dirt away. Need food served? 5 people will scoop, plate, pour, and carry your food - all with a smile.
* You never deal with people who make decisions. Anytime you need something done, you ask the 8 worker bees following you around, who then huddle and converse in hushed, aggressive, and rushed sentences who then tell you they will find out if it can be done. They then run away quickly, worrying they may be fired, yelled at, or slashed with bamboo.
* They are always watching. There are cameras everywhere. I will probably lose my Internet allowances just for typing this. Someone call Jack Bauer just in case.
* So far I have eaten McDonald's everyday, KFC twice, pizza once, Italian once, and sushi once. The closest I have come to actually eating Chinese was when I ordered chicken McNuggets and they gave me a garlic-sesame seed dipping sauce. I also ate a sandwich called 3 Little Birds - which was chicken, turkey, and duck. And I ate some dry chicken in the Olympic Village cafeteria. I'll admit, I am not the most cultured eater.
* Lastly, setting up the venues and everything else for the US Team has been a complete group effort and there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to make an Olympic Games run successfully. Everyone pitches in and gets their hands dirty. One day, I was unloading a truck and moving heavy, HEAVY parts to assemble the boxing ring and my lifting partner was none other than the Chief of Sport Performance, who is in the top 5 of head honchos with the USOC. And there we both were, seating our tails off in 90 plus degree weather carrying heavy metal down 3 flights of stairs because there is no freight elevator. And we all got it done because it had to be done. No one pulls rank, everyone works. And that is really motivatingl for a low man on the totem poll like myself.
In any case...that's enough words for now. I am tired, my knees ache and I need a shower, BADLY. Now that I finally have Internet, I will be more frequent with my updates with less verbiage. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or requests for items from China (no guarantees on getting anything though!)
Since being in Beijing, I have been doing back breaking work, literally. Well maybe not literally, otherwise I would be in a dangerous Asian hospital getting treated with eucalyptus leaves for a broken back. But I have been lifting very heavy equipment all day long since I arrived.
Let me pump the brakes and put this vehicle in reverse for a second. I, along with what will be about 50 support staff am living at Beijing Normal University. We, as in the US Olympic Committee, are the support personnel for the high performance training center(HPTC)US athletes will use prior to moving into the Olympic Village. 22 of the nearly 30 US Olympic teams will come into China and train anywhere from 1 day to 3 weeks before they compete.
The HPTC here in Beijing will be much like the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs - we have great facilities, dorms, dining services, sports medicine, athlete lounge, media center, Asian prostitutes ...only kidding. But nearly anything involving sport, you name it, we got it. There is even a Walmart nearby...well not exactly, it is a Wumart, but pretty much the same in that it gentrifies mom and pop stores throughout China, but that's not my point.
Anyway, originally, my job assignment was to come to Beijing as a member of the 3 man load in team to help unload the near 30 containers of equipment for the HPTC which includes everything like food product, office supplies, Wii game system, medical equipment, and everything a 5-story athletic facility for the Olympics would house. My stay was to be 10 days - all to unload truck upon truck in the heat and humidity of not only the HPTC, but also for the USA House, the swanky set up for USOC marketing to rub elbows and pay the bills, as well as office equipment for staff at the Olympic Village.
After months of working with the USOC and having my superstar status as an employee blow up faster than fireworks on the 4th of July, my ten day assignment has now turned to 6 weeks. During this time, I will be working and living at the HPTC not only serving as load in crew, but will also help run the aquatics facility and athlete lounge, AS WELL AS serve a member of transportation support at the airport. It's exhausting just typing that. Oh and I forgot to mention that I may also serve as a training partner for a few athletes too. Yeah, I have enough on my plate to well feed a fat kid on Christmas.
Back to the present...since arriving, all anyone has been doing is unloading. But there have been some interesting things that have happened so far, as well crazy things about Chinese culture. To save time, space and your eyes, I'll mention them in bullet form as if I was doing a PowerPoint presentation.
* RMB is not the kind of music Alicia Keys sings, it is Chinese currency. And it $1 American is worth about 6 RMB, also called Yuan. Somehow, the dollar is strong here. Thankfully.
* Cars have the right-of-way versus cyclists AND pedestrians. Walk at your own risk.
* The weather is a lot like Houston in April. Hot, muggy, polluted and hazy, but not yet unbearable.
* I never thought Port-A-potties could be worse than what the US has until I got here. Imagine one WITHOUT an actual toilet, just a hole. That is what bathrooms in China are like. Just check out the picture.
* You get a good idea of how populated China really is if you look at their service industries. For the Olympic Village alone, they have 18,000 volunteers working. Compare that to the 10,000 athletes competing. Anytime, we need something cleaned, 10 people show up with small brushes to scrub the dirt away. Need food served? 5 people will scoop, plate, pour, and carry your food - all with a smile.
* You never deal with people who make decisions. Anytime you need something done, you ask the 8 worker bees following you around, who then huddle and converse in hushed, aggressive, and rushed sentences who then tell you they will find out if it can be done. They then run away quickly, worrying they may be fired, yelled at, or slashed with bamboo.
* They are always watching. There are cameras everywhere. I will probably lose my Internet allowances just for typing this. Someone call Jack Bauer just in case.
* So far I have eaten McDonald's everyday, KFC twice, pizza once, Italian once, and sushi once. The closest I have come to actually eating Chinese was when I ordered chicken McNuggets and they gave me a garlic-sesame seed dipping sauce. I also ate a sandwich called 3 Little Birds - which was chicken, turkey, and duck. And I ate some dry chicken in the Olympic Village cafeteria. I'll admit, I am not the most cultured eater.
* Lastly, setting up the venues and everything else for the US Team has been a complete group effort and there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to make an Olympic Games run successfully. Everyone pitches in and gets their hands dirty. One day, I was unloading a truck and moving heavy, HEAVY parts to assemble the boxing ring and my lifting partner was none other than the Chief of Sport Performance, who is in the top 5 of head honchos with the USOC. And there we both were, seating our tails off in 90 plus degree weather carrying heavy metal down 3 flights of stairs because there is no freight elevator. And we all got it done because it had to be done. No one pulls rank, everyone works. And that is really motivatingl for a low man on the totem poll like myself.
In any case...that's enough words for now. I am tired, my knees ache and I need a shower, BADLY. Now that I finally have Internet, I will be more frequent with my updates with less verbiage. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or requests for items from China (no guarantees on getting anything though!)
1 comment:
You have GOT to eat something local. Anything. Something besides American fast food chains. At least once.
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