Week 1 of 3 has already passed, and it's been a whirlwind. I flew out of Ohio to Beijing (via Tokyo) a week ago, and spent the week working with Dave and a team of BHP employees and contractors out of the offices in Beijing. We stayed at the Sofitel Wanda there, which while the overdone decor is very Versace meets Liberace - it was by far the best room i've had to date - which is always a plus when you're far from home and jetlagged. It was the best room I had been in, until we started doing hotel tours of all the hotels for the Games where BHP will house their guests - all I can say is wow. We got to tour the new Park Hyatt which is unfinished - we rode up the freight elevator to the 60th floor to see some spaces, and all had to wear hardhats. It was really cool. On top of that, we were constantly trying to get information on the violence in Tibet - as obviously, that has a lot of effect on the Olympics. But everytime the station began to report on it, the government would blackout all tvs. And I thought we got sketchy details on our news in the states! It's pretty certain that not only were we unable to get info, but that others were able to get info on us - most people involved in anything important are bugged (and the Olympics are the BIGGEST thing in china right now, it's all you hear). And we thought the Russians were bad. (No offense mr russian stalky man reading this!) ;)
Work was blurred by our guided tours of the Great Wall, tea ceremony at the Commune by the Great Wall (< google), seeing the venues & the Birdnest going up (< google!!!), the Beijing Planning Hall museum, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the silk market (shopping!!!!), and dinner/lunches at 5 star delicious restaurants that give Chinese food a whole new meaning. (Check out LAN Club - Beijing, designed by Phillipe Stark - prob the coolest decor I've ever seen anywhere.) I was full the entire time I was in Beijing - we went to the p laces they would take clients during the Games, so we had to test drive. I think I gained 10 lbs. Surprisingly enough, we ate no rice the entire time we were there. Just lots of meat and veggies. Oh! They actually have 'cup-o-noodles' brand ramen there!
I did not eat dog (or see it, but I know where to look - but for obvious reasons, would NEVER), yes you probably got a present, I got a 1 hour massage for 20$ - and NO it was not shady, I still only know three words in China (ni hao (hi!), shia-shia (thank you!), and Guan-pao-di-chin, a delish chili chicken!)
Dave and I, and two other girls from the team, had quite an experience with a cab driver. We got in. Heather told him where to go (< she speaks Chinese) - and he clearly had no idea where it was, unusual, its a widely known hotel on the main drag. Heather tells him how to get there, he argues about which 'way' would be fastest, she insists - we begin the trip. The entire car was full of the suffocating smell of his body odor. When he realizes we're from America (some of us were), he begins to tell us about all his foreign friends, he wants to show us pictures - so he stops the car in the midlane of the highway to find his journal with pictures. Stops. Honking everywhere. But wait, he can't find it - why? Because he can't see. He reaches up onto the dash and grabs a magnifying class that was an inch thick and 6 inches in diameter - inspector gadget. He shows us the pictures finally, and asks for us to write a message to him in his taxi-driver-journal. This is all communicated through heather, as he obviously speaks only mandarin. We accelerated finally after a 2 minute stop in the middle of the highway. We pass Tiananmen Square and the parliment buildings - he wants to show us something - but.... he can't see. Off the dash, he pulls the most gigantic binoculars I've ever seen. Extra zoom. He looks in all the Parliment buildings. He passes the glasses around (still stopped) so we can all have a look at whatever. We accelerate. But wait? What is this? A dvd player??? We must be entertained - he pops up a dvd player and whips out a dvd. We are still driving, swerving in 3 or 4 lanes while this is happening - the swerving was probably the most normal aspect of the voyage - as that is quite ordinary for a driver and the non existant traffic laws of China. He plays some strange Tai Chi nature video with the volume turned on max for the remainder of the dangerous commute. Nearly takes out a handful of bikers and almost gets us run over by two tour buses. (this trip took about 30 minutes and we were cracking up the whole time, and scared for our lives.) We arrive. But wait! The blind/deaf driver must get our picture to put in his journal with the note we wrote! He pulls out a massive camera, makes us pose near the cab - stops it in mid traffic to get out and shoot the photoshoot - and then, when he's satisfied, says good bye. The whole thing cost less than 2$. Priceless.
I'm in Melbourne now. Got in this morning. I had gotten bumped up to first class - but swapped with a coworker for her business spot (she's my superior, and I wanted to sit by a friend in her seat, hehe) - which was still totally fine! (I'm totally spoiled now) We chugged 3 french champagnes in the lounge in hong kong, and I ended up with a pair of Shanghai Tang (
It's Good Friday here, which is literally just as important as Christmas Day to Aussies. Nothing is open, I had to walk 20 minutes to find a coffee. My dinner came out of the minibar. Probably the most depressing day to arrive alone in a country. There's no work until Tuesday and everyone I know (except Beth!) is out of town on holiday. I got invited with a couple, but I just kinda want time to relax and settle in. My offer was to join a group of 10 families and their kids on a trip to the 'bush'. Probably would have been a great time, but not immediately off a 24 hour day of travel. Anyway, I'm looking forward to not being the sole non-easter-caring person for the day tomorrow, and then I'm looking forward to Easter because I actually do have plans with Beth! I almost went to church today I was so bored - it was the ONLY thing open. I settled for a 90 minute jog, a wander, and a lot of reading and crap tv (only the news and sports here...), and all the mixed nuts and granola bars in the minibar.
Anyway, this is a long and rambling post and I'll be surprised if you've made it through. I just had so much to report! More soon.
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