Chinatown!

I suppose I should change the title of my blog to something like Details about the Chopstick Chicas or the Beijing Babes...

After some of the hardest goodbyes of all time, Sam and I were dropped off at the Sydney airport about 2 hours and 20 minutes before our flight- plenty of time. But the line at check-in was outrageous. By the time we got to the counter we'd been waiting 1 1/2 hours! Then I found out that I was over the number of bags I was allowed and Sam didn't have her return flight itinerary. So I had to pay and she had to convince the ticket people to let her use my itinerary that had her name on it. By this time it was 30 minutes until take-off. We sprinted to security, physically perspiring by this point, where we had to cut in line several times. As our bags were going through they took one of Sam's aside and proceeded to check through it. I decided since we only had 15 minutes to board that I would go to the gate and tell them we were coming. As I'm finishing through the security line, all the sudden a security guard informs me that I will be the random search. As I'm being frisked, I see Sam sprinting past. After catching her attention and getting my privacy back, we ran to the gate- only to find out we didn't have to rush at all. There was a wind advisory and the plane was delayed for an hour! We were both panting for breath at this point after our 400m dash to the gate. Anyway, after 2 movies and 4 episodes of Two and a half Men on the plane, we landed in Beijing. But the drama continues... I get to customs and they don't believe it's me on the passport! hahaha! As if anything else could go wrong! They called over someone else and were finally convinced it was me. We found two people from Renmin University who picked us up and took us to our hotel.

Yes, I said hotel. The place we are staying for the next 7 weeks or so is actually a nice hotel! Quite a change from the Australia living conditions!

Today we were up early and were busy all day. We took a group photo and one for our ID cards right away, then tried our uniforms. We get to keep the polos, pants, and shoes. It's all Adidas and even the shoes have 'Beijing 2008' embroidered on them! OH YEAH! I will be covering Field Hockey during the Olympics, but am trying to get tickets to other events. So far it's been hopeless. Sam and I have been trying for months, but the marathon and triathlon are free so hopefully we can make it to those. Then we went to lunch at the cafeteria where we'll be eating for the duration- which only offers chopsticks. So I guess it's learn or starve.

This afternoon we had our first Chinese Culture lecture on the Chinese Media. Apparently, Renmin University and Mizzou have had a relationship for 94 years! It was interesting to hear their opinion on CNN and American media in general- they actually seem to be pushing for more media freedom in China.

Tonight we had a banquet to get to know other Chinese students and other Mizzou students. We were all presented with marble stamps with our Chinese names on them, which I found pretty touching. Everyone has been so nice and helpful, and are trying to do everything possible to make us feel at home. The Chinese seem to be such happy (and hilarious) characters!

Tomorrow we'll visit a couple of the major media venues in Beijing...