Final Thoughts ...

As I sit back and reflect on my trip, there are so many thoughts that run through my head. Since returning home, I have had several people ask me if my little “medical detour” ruined my trip and the answer is absolutely not! I would not change a single thing about this trip – good or bad.

I originally thought that this trip was about going to the Olympics and being a part of sporting history. For me, it turned out to be so much more. While I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the Olympic events and closing ceremonies, the things that will stick in my mind and heart much longer are the people of Beijing. I feel so blessed to have gotten a glimpse of a part of the world that many people will never see. The Chinese people were so gracious and excited to show off their city ... from the Olympics volunteers, hotel staff, taxi drivers, store clerks, hospital staff and more! I will never forget the hysterical conversation with the doctor in the first hospital who spoke very little English. I was trying to explain to her the word “thyroid”. We worked so hard with hand gestures and limited words. When we finally had that “eureka” moment – it was so exciting! Our own victory! I will remember the volunteers who would gather around you to see what pins you had and wanted to trade. They all had a story to tell and it was so worth the time to stop and listen. Amazing young people! I will never forget the taxi driver who wanted so badly to talk to me that he persisted with Chinese and hand signals - trying to tell me something. I still have no idea what he was trying to tell me but we laughed and made hand gestures and when we parted it felt like we had made a connection. The stories just go on and on! You know – we really aren’t that different after all – just people – working hard, taking caring of our families and wanting to make that human connection.

This trip also really made me appreciate what a wonderful company Johnson & Johnson is and how fortunate I am to be a part of it. Very few companies offer the opportunity to compete for the trip of a lifetime. But more importantly, I was able to see first hand, how J&J takes care of its people. The level of medical care that was provided for me was first class! I was treated like a VIP and never felt like I was left on my own to deal with it. Not only did J&J make arrangements for us to have access to free medical care through International SOS, they also set up a temporary clinic right in our hotel staffed by three SOS doctors. (Thanks Dr. Joe, Dr. Peter and Dr. Erik!)

Well, I could just go on and on – but lucky for you, my blogging time is over! Although the Closing Ceremonies marked the end of the Olympics, the adventure was not over! We had extended our trip by several more days to make sure that we got to catch all the sights. Even with some additional trips to the clinic for monitoring, I found plenty of time to see some sights, eat some Peking duck and buy some pearls. What more could a girl ask for? I even had the opportunity to fly back from Beijing with the men’s beach volleyball gold medal winners (Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser) and chat with them in the business lounge in Chicago. What a perfect ending to a perfect trip!



Gold Medal Winners!

I will close with a few parting photos. Thanks for reading along! My advice to you would be, the next time you see a contest, take a chance and enter it. You just never know where it might lead!



Temple of Heaven



Getting ready for the Paralympics



Beautiful Detail Work!



It was beastly hot!!!!



Our New German Friends - Franzi and Maria!



VERY Friendly Taxi Driver at the Pearl Market!



Shopping for Pearls!



Dining on Peking Duck - Yum!



Street Scenes of Beijing













The real streets of Beijing

And the Beat Goes On ....

As many of you know, I am now back from China but for those who are still reading along I will continue the blog through to the end of my trip. We found that it was quite difficult to blog in "real time" while in Bejing. Our schedule was way too tight and there were some connectivity problems. Of course my little medical detour didn't help! LOL!! Anyway ... here we go!

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After the excitement of yesterday, today was a day to relax and catch up on some sleep. Our crazy schedule of being up for over 24 hours and then getting an average of 3 hours sleep each night had probably contributed to my dehydration. After visiting with the International SOS doctors at our hotel, it was determined that if I relaxed during the day I should be able to go to the closing ceremonies that evening. (On a side note: Here is yet another example of what a terrific company J&J is. Not only did they contract with International SOS to provide us complete medical care in China - free of charge; they also set up a clinic in each of the hotels they were using. Ours had 3 doctors on staff - 24/7. Pretty amazing!) I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous returning to the “scene of the crime” but I really didn’t want to miss it! Dr. Joe assured me that he was also attending the ceremonies and would be right there with me, which was comforting.





Even though the ceremonies weren’t scheduled to start until 8pm we had to leave the hotel no later than 3:30 pm in order to allow time for getting through security and be in our seats by 7 pm as mandated by our tickets. The security process went very smoothly, though I did have to convince the guards to let me bring in bottled water since concessions were few and far between. Even with a doctor’s note written in Chinese they wouldn’t let me bring it in unless I drank from each bottle. I guess since I didn’t keel over, they determined that it was safe to let me bring them in.

We noticed an increased security presence with a few tanks and lots of small units of troops marching around. I think they were there more to make a statement. Since they were unarmed and appeared to be about 16 years old I don't know how effective they would have been in a real crisis. I'm glad we didn't have to find out. We did think it was a bit funny that their tanks had rubber tires instead of tracks. Payton started to demonstrate how you would just have to let the air our of their tires to stop them but thought better of it when he realized he was being watched very carefully. I'm sure that they had other traditional tanks but it was funny nonetheless. Other than that, it was business as usual. We were told that security was even tighter for the opening ceremonies as there were over 80 heads of state in attendance.





The gang decided to hike several miles to the sole food concession (a MacDonald's). Because it was still very warm, we decided that it would be best if I found a spot on the lawn near the Bird’s Nest and waited for them. So I settled in for some people watching. It was great fun seeing the fans dressed up in costumes and newscasters setting up for their broadcasts. Everyone was getting into the festivities!





Fortunately it was overcast/hazy (love that Beijing pollution!) with a nice breeze that made the warm air tolerable. However, once we entered the Bird’s Nest we were hit with a wall of stifling warm air. I can't imagine how someone with a breathing disorder could have tolerated it. While the stadium is truly an architectural wonder, it was not designed very well to deal with the heat. There wasn’t a single fan or air vent to be seen anywhere. (Except for the blowers on the flag poles to make the flags "blow in the breeze" during the medal ceremonies.) We spent the entire evening drinking and splashing water and fanning ourselves like old ladies!

We soon discovered that the reason we had to be in our seats by 7 pm was that we were going to be a part of the show and needed a tutorial. At each seat we received a tote bag with electronic torch, noisemaker, flame fan, flags and assorted souvenirs. The Olympic volunteers instructed us when to use each and before we knew it the show began.



I can’t even begin to describe what we saw. The entire playing field and track was transformed into a stage that extended to the top of the stadium with people doing acrobatics on wires while people were dancing, singing, tumbling etc. below. Soon the athletes marched onto the field where they stayed for the remainder of the show. With one musical guest after another it was like watching a three-ring circus!





The transfer of the games to London in 2012 was symbolized by a large double decker bus that unfolded to reveal Leona Lewis, Jimmy Page and David Beckham. With a surprise performance of Placideo Domingo later in the evening – it was an incredible evening complete with a super fireworks display.



While the show was fantastic, it was wonderful to get out of the stadium and back out into the cooler air. You could hear everyone breathe a sigh of relief as they felt the breeze! On the way back to our bus we were already talking about going to the games in London! Then we would be old pros at this!

What a once-in-a-lifetime experience!