How Could I Forget Team USA!

I realized after I posted the previous update that I forgot to include the conclusion of Day 2 - OOPS!

After the Great Wall, we stopped for lunch and then had a few hours break back at the hotel. Then we were back on the bus, heading for the Wukesong Indoor Stadium for both of the men’s basketball semifinals. While the games were very exciting and it was thrilling to see some of basketball “royalty” up close, the real stars of the evening were Brandon and Payton who came ready to support their home team. For some reason, they attracted a lot of attention – go figure!



After dancing with the Fuwa named Huanhuan who represents the Olympic flame, we went inside where they were hounded by people wanting to have their photos taken with them.


It was a great game and Betsy and I got caught up in Olympic tradition of pin trading with some of the Olympic volunteers and other spectators. Pin trading is a bit addictive and is a great way to meet people from all over the world. We were so glad that we had grabbed some extra pins from the bowl in the J&J hospitality lounge at the hotel, as they were quite popular.

The Best Laid Plans ...

You may have been wondering where I have been. Well, sometimes life takes a detour and Saturday was one of those days. We were scheduled to spend the entire day at the Olympic Green. After a photo op with our Aussie friends, we headed over to the Johnson & Johnson Olympic Pavilion.


Our Aussie friends

At the Johnson & Johnson Pavilion

WOW! It was fantastic! It was quite hot outside already but once we stepped inside it was a cool oasis. As guests of J&J, we had access to the private lounge area that had a beverage bar complete with fruit smoothies and ice gelatos. As we relaxed, surrounded by bamboo, hostesses served us using bamboo plates and utensils. After cooling down we headed upstairs to see the impressive gallery that showcased the many faces of J&J. We then entered the remarkable Terracotta Warrior exhibit. What majestic ancient figures!











Before we knew it, it was time to head back into the heat for the 45-minute hike back to the Bird’s Nest where we were to see the men’s soccer final. At this point it was almost noon and the temperature had really soared. I later found out that the temperature hit over 107 degrees on the playing field! As a result, the emergency rooms were full of people knocked down by the heat and I was about to become one of them. As we walked along we realized that there was very little shade available and no water concessions. By the time we got to the fence of the Bird’s Nest I realized I was in trouble. With the help of some wonderful Olympic volunteers I was taken into an air-conditioned temporary building. Although it was cooler, it became apparent that I was going to need medical assistance. Instead of attend the scheduled Olympic events I was taken to two different Chinese hospitals. After getting re-hydrated by IV, I was released to go back to the hotel. I wish I could personally thank all the wonderful doctors and nurses and Beijing Hospital # 306, Beijing United Family Hospital, and International SOS for their care and compassion.

Although, I would have preferred to have not gotten sick, I must say that the experience has given me the opportunity to see the real side of life in Beijing. I met some amazing people from the doctors at the first hospital who did not speak English but worked so hard to communicate with me, to the International SOS doctors (Dr. Joe, Dr. Peter and Dr. Erik) who were in the J&J clinic at our hotel to Dr. Michaela Heinke, the fascinating German doctor at the International SOS Clinic who continued to treat me for the rest of my trip. She is also an artist who has started an international artists group here in Beijing. Throughout it all, Betsy was my guardian angel! She stayed by my side in the hospitals and ambulances and shared some of the funniest moments of the trip with me. Needless to say … I never did make it to the soccer game!

We Climbed the Great Wall ...

Getting ready to head to the top!

Almost there!

Hector and his new friend!


We made it!



Well, we climbed the Great Wall today and lived to tell about it! It was absolutely incredible - almost like you were stepping into a history book standing on such a famous wall. We took a cable car part way up the mountain and then started climbing. YIKES!! Betsy (from Global Communications) and I were feeling pretty proud of ourselves until we got passed up by a little old lady with a cane! How depressing! Anyway, the weather was absolutely gorgeous - we couldn't have asked for a nicer day. I am going to post a couple of photos now but will have to blog more later. After hiking the Wall we headed back to Beijing for the men's basketball semifinals (USA won!) and got back to the hotel about 1 am Beijing time. We started out at 8 am so that makes for a VERY long day. Tomorrow we are back on the bus at 8:30 am to head over to the Olympic Green where we will spend the day touring the J&J Olympic Pavilion, attending the men's soccer final and then a night of Track and Field events. We probably won't be back at the hotel until midnight so I probably won't be blogging tomorrow. If I am lucky I will find a patch of grass under a tree and take a nap! Time to crash and get a few hours of sleep! I'll have to explain the photo of Hector and his new friend later!

And so it begins ...

Well – here I am in Beijing! I have no idea what day it is or how much sleep I have been deprived. It just hurts my head to even try to figure it out! According to Beijing time it is Friday, August 22nd at 6 in the morning. As you can see, I managed to get packed and out of town on Tuesday. With only 2 hours sleep I got everything done and was on my way. Although it appears that Fay had a delayed arrival we were glad that we didn't take the chance on leaving Wednesday. Fortunately, we were able to get to Chicago on Tuesday, met up with Brandon on Wednesday to continue on to Beijing. The flight was LONG but uneventful – except for 40 minute delay that made our tight schedule in Beijing even tighter!

We arrived at our hotel with about 15 minutes to spare before heading over to the Olympic Green for our first event! We quickly met our 4th traveling companion, Hector, who is from Columbia as we raced to catch the bus, and before we knew it we were getting our first glimpse of the Birds Nest! Even thought it was overcast and a bit hazy, the Olympic flame burned brightly and just took my breath away! It was hard to believe that just a day earlier I was sitting at home, on the other side of the world, watching it on TV! It was quite a hike and required going through a security check but soon we were in the stadium. While it was getting dark outside, as we walked into the stadium there was a bright glow of light and a wall of energy that just pulsated from inside! Once we got to our seats, which were only about 13 rows from the track, we were just pinching ourselves! We couldn’t believe that after all these months of working and planning we were actually here!! We were at the track and field events and there were things going on everywhere! We were watching the triple jump, relay races, hurdles, women’s javelin and so much more. It was pretty wild to see the little remote control model cars that they used to retrieve the javelins. That would be a kid's dream job! It was so cool to look around and see people from all over the world, laughing, cheering and celebrating these AMAZING athletes! It was so incredible to see the look on the athletes’ faces (on the jumbo screens) as they received their Olympic medals, and listened to their national anthem as their flags were raised. It was just awesome to watch USA take all three medals in the 400 meter!

Well, it is now early Friday morning, Beijing time, I have just a few hours sleep and we are off to the Great Wall for the day and then to the men’s basketball semi-finals tonight. Hope I can sleep on the bus!

These photos are from our first night at the Bird's Nest.

Who is coming to town?

Today started off as an ordinary day. Well, ordinary might be a slight exaggeration! I was actually quite stressed thinking about everything that I had to do before I left for China on Wednesday. All that changed around 3 pm this afternoon when a friend stopped by my cube to say hi and chat about my trip. She "casually" asked when I was flying and if I had checked the weather recently. Turns out someone by the name of "Fay" was about to turn my day upside down! As happens so often with tropical storms and hurricanes the predicted path and time frame for the storm had changed and it now looked like Fay would be coming to town around the same time we were supposed to be taking off. After checking a few websites and making a number of frantic phone calls, Payton (the other Jax winner) and I decided to get the heck out of town a day early. We both agreed that it was going to take more than a little ol' storm to keep us from Beijing! So now I am scrambling to get everything done in time ... and I thought I was stressed this morning! It is going to be a LONG night! Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully the next time I post I will be in Beijing!