I only realised that the end of this blog is actually now located at http://www.ashinbeijing.blogspot.com/. It just so happened that when the Chinese government decided to ‘open up the internet’ for the Olympics, they actually prohibited me from accessing my blog. Damn, they were on to me! So here’s the rest of it.

Wednesday 23 July, 2008

Today was our first day of training for Flash Quote Reporting (Weightlifting) at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium, finally. Most people have already been to their venues several times, but we finally got to see ours today. It is already in the lockdown phase which means we need to undertake a security check every time we go inside, and we aren’t allowed to take in any liquids, gels or food – which is a bummer because we only get ‘lunchbox’ meals when we are working. Not sure how keen I am on that.

When we first arrived we were greeted by clapping Chinese students, so it was really nice to see that our team was going to get along well. Everyone was exceptionally lovely and they were all really keen to get to know us and what Australians are like.

We didn’t really do much today, other than have a tour of the venue, have a fake press conference, and then go out for lunch at the top restaurant in the BUAA. I had peking duck again, and it was so delicious, coming from someone who doesn’t really like meat. It tastes amazing!

After a feast for lunch we went back to the venue for a bit more stuffing around. We got our schedule for the next few weeks and it looks like I won’t be having too many days off up until the time that our event finishes. Seems like I have a shift every day… woo. Not sure how I’m going to get all this uni work done but hopefully it will all work out ok. I will definitely miss hanging around with my girlies though, we have become very close and it is difficult when you’re all working to find the time to just relax with them.

We cooked up another feast of vegetables for dinner tonight, I think I will be living off them when I’m working, they make me feel so much more energised! Tomorrow I get off, I work Friday, Saturday off, then I’m working right up until the Olympics finish – no weekends. It’s not for long though!

Monday 21 July, 2008 and Tuesday 22 July, 2008

These were my last two days of freedom before I had to start work for ONS as a Flash Quote Reporter and I spent them bumming around pretending to do Uni work and instead lunching with Lauren and going to Yashow Markets with the Girls. I know it’s terrible, but I really didn’t do anything, and it was kind of nice just to have an ‘Ash Day’ where I didn’t HAVE to do anything. I can’t remember the last time I had one of those! Well it won’t happen again any time soon so I don’t think I should feel too bad.

I didn’t really like Yashow, mainly because they didn’t want to play ball when it came down to bargaining. If you named a low price to start with, they got the shits and took the item out of your hands and made a gesture for you to go away. Nast-ee. I think I’ll find myself a better market, one where the clothes are cheaper and the people are nicer. Or maybe I’ll just go to a shop next time.

Sunday 20 July, 2008

Today we ventured into the Forbidden City – what an amazing place. I honestly don’t think that any words can do it justice. Thousands of people were there that day, which kind of took away from the atmosphere, but we managed to make our way through relatively unhindered. We walked from the north entrance down and missed a lot of the side rooms, but then we turned around and went through the sides and discovered some really amazing treasures. There were also some pretty unamazing rocks that had been preserved, but you know, whatever gets you going.

I had the digestion blues for the fourth day in a row today, to put it nicely. But a dose of home cooked vegetables for dinner has set me straight I think. That’s probably the thing I miss the most, fresh, tasty produce. We’re pretty lucky in Australia with our lovely fresh fruit and veggies (that don’t taste like pollution or dirt).

Saturday 19 July, 2008

Yes ok, I may have a shopping problem, but I swear I only went to Silk Road again because Amanda hadn’t been yet and I wanted to join in on the handbag fun. We spent all day there haggling with the shopkeepers and all of them remembered me by my necklace. Good memory those Chinese. We got home too late to go and watch the Rugby with the others, so we treated ourselves to a dinner at Stairway to Love and had a little sing with Lester and Matt at KTV – good night, good Blue Lagoon cocktails.

Friday 18 July, 2008

Today we went to Beijing Zoo, which is only a 5 minute cab ride away from Beijing Foreign Studies Uni. As I walked outside I realised it wasn’t just smog that I had seen out of my window that morning, but it was rain as well. Luckily I packed my umbrella because we definitely needed it. It was only sprinkling at the uni but by the time I got to the Zoo it was pouring down – so much so that my shoes were soaked, my legs were dripping and I was beginning to think we should just pack up and go home.

We persevered though, and it ended up being worthwhile. The zoo was definitely a different experience to home, and the main attraction were the Pandas. They are the cutest, cuddliest looking creatures, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want to spoon with one – it would eat you alive, or at least try to. The rest of the zoo was a bit disappointing though, because it was raining all the animals were kept in cages and they didn’t look as if they were going to get out any time soon. There were 3 elephants in one 15m x 5m room. It almost made me sick.

Many of the other animals were free to roam and looked like they were kept in good condition though, so it wasn’t all bad. I also got my photo taken with a monkey, which is probably the most hilarious thing I have seen yet. I didn’t go to the aquarium because I was feeling pretty crappy by then, but I’m thinking maybe I should go back as everyone is now raving about it.

Instead I went out to dinner with the Girls at Annie’s – a beautiful Italian restaurant in Beijing. The food is genuinely Italian, almost as good as the real thing. Even the pizza is better than we can get in many Australian places. Top notch! I will definitely be having that again whenever I feel homesick!

Thursday 17 July, 2008

Despite a bit of a sore head from the night before, I managed to drag myself out of bed to go to the markets with Lauren and Jess N. Everyone else had to go to training so I thank my lucky stars it was not me, or else I think I would have been struggling. We spent the entire day at Silk Road bargaining with the shopkeepers and insulting their honour by insisting that it was not real leather that they were selling, but a cheap ripoff. “No no no, it’s real, it’s real” they would insist as they whipped out their lighter and started running the flame over the ‘leather’ to prove their point – which is a fallacy anyway. But even though it was tiring at times, it was lots of fun and I got plenty of bargains and presents for myself and my friends. I’m nearly finished my present shopping, so that shows how much I’ve spent haha! Before we knew it it was 6pm and we were still haggling with the shopkeepers, so we hightailed it out of there and caught a cab home. Dinner was at a dingy little Xishuan restaurant in the backstreets, which was pretty delicious. The only complaint I had was when a chicken foot turned up in our fried chicken and Paul made rude gestures with it before Josh chased me out of the restaurant with it. Good day all in all – I’m really beginning to love Beijing.

Wednesday 16 July, 2008.

Once again we had training at the Mingxi Hotel, and once again it was fairly pointless. Today we learned the benefits of statistics and how they can help us to form good questions. However, none of it was specific, rendering most of it useless until we actually know what statistics are at our hands. After some team building exercises the session also finished early, so in true Aussie fashion we pissed off to the markets to do some much anticipated bargaining and shopping! We caught the cab to the Silk Road markets and as the elevator doors opened on the bag and shoe level, I swear every girl nearly wet their pants. There are more bags and shoes there than I have ever seen in my life. After we spent hours shopping and buying more bags than any one girl could possibly need, we caught a taxi back to BFSU just in time to get ready for Matt’s 23rd Birthday party at KTV across the road. For anyone who doesn’t know, KTV is a karaoke lounge where you get your own private room so you can sing and dance as wildly as you want and only your friends can make fun of you. We took along some of our Chinese buddies and squeezed around 45 of us into a big room for some karaoke fun. There were only two mics so we ended up jumping up and sharing, so that about half (or sometimes all) of the people were singing while anyone else who didn’t want to sing sat on the lounge. The Chinese buddies said they had never seen anything like it! Normally they take turns one at a time, but us Aussies all got up and sung together and they said it was hilarious. We did the usual Land Down Under and even broke into boys and girls parts for Summer Lovin’. It was definitely a blast. Maybe too good a blast.

Tuesday 15 July, 2008

Today we began training at the Minxi Hotel with all the other volunteer Flash Quote Reporters from Australia, America and England. It was pretty much a rehash of all the online training we had been doing for the last few weeks which made me think that it wasn’t really all that worthwhile. We went over how to write a Flash Quote Report and how to conduct interviews as well as what we could expect. They provided us with a lunch buffet which I honestly think is what made me sick, even though I hardly ate anything there. It was pretty funny, because all the Americans saw the food at the buffet and decided to go across the road to McDonalds. Maccas wouldn’t have known what had hit them! So typical. That afternoon we were all too tired to do anything so we just went out for dinner instead.

Today we bussed it up to the Great Wall of China. Too bad it was overcast and raining and you couldn’t see the mountains for the pollution.

The journey only took around an hour, so it was pretty incredible that the great wall is so close to the city of Beijing. The part we went to is probably the closest part to the city so it is very popular which is why we got up early and left by 7:30am.

When we got to the wall we could either go left or right. Left was deserted, and right was busy as you could go further that way, but Liz, Amanda, Brooke, Em and I decided that left would be a more pleasant experience. So we headed left and began our ascent. The way was very steep and there were many uneven stairs and slippery bits due to the bad weather. But from the top the view was amazing and well worth the effort. I even got a plaque off a little conman who was selling cheap medallions to unwary tourists at inflated prices.

We took our time getting to the end, just because we wanted to enjoy the view and atmosphere from the top. It’s not every day you get to climb the Great Wall of China. One thing that made me laugh though, was the amount of people taking pictures of us instead of the wall. We had lots of people come up and ask for photos, so I guess we were somewhat of a spectacle. So now I’ve seen two wonders of the world – the wall and the Colosseum!

That afternoon was raining, but I still managed to get out and do a bit of exercise with the boys. We finished off the night with dinner at a restaurant on the back street and drinks at a bar with the boys.