Back in China

As some of you know I didn't get the chance to go home between when I left in early January and the end of July. What most of you don't know is that I ended up returning to the states rather last minute for another visit in late August!

Well I'm back in China now. Here is a bullet point recap of my first day back and what I noticed:

• While it was hot in Chicago it's nothing compared to the heat and humidity I felt from the second I left the plane in Shanghai, only to get worse when I landed in Shenzhen later that evening!
• I returned home to find a nice cockroach on my kitchen floor. I'd say he was the size of a small rat! Dead thankfully! (probably from the heat)
• Then I turned on the water in my sink and a nice brown liquid came out!
• Oh yeah and my toilet wouldn't flush.
• And to top it off I grabbed a cab to find some food and the cabbie had the windows rolled up and was smoking a cigarette!

Welcome Home! Or as we say here "TIC" (This Is China)

Olympic Photos

Well the Olympics were phenomenal to say the least! There is not enough room for me to showcase my photos here but if you go to the link below you will see a pretty good representation of what I took. Awesome!

http://picasaweb.google.com/nolanmitchell14/Beijjing2008Olympics


Nolan

Olympic Tickets!!!

Well I had said I was not going to be heading to the Olympics for a variety of reasons. However once I started to watch and saw all the empty seat I got to thinking...maybe a chance?

Well it turns out an old high school buddy was there on his trip of a lifetime. Basically he was handling some ticket sales. So I got in touch with him and two days later I was headed to Beijing to pick up some tickets! Now I've taken way more photos than I can post here and am way behind in work so you will have to hold a bit for the full story including what events I saw.

What I will tell you is that it was an amazing experience! Everything from the venues to the volunteers (rumored to be over 1 million!!!) to all the people around the world that I meet it was super cool.

Here is a photo from the afternoon of my first day in front of the Bird's Nest. It's so large no matter where you go it's tough to get the perfect photo!


Below is a photo of the Water Cube. This has been given such wonderful reports by the athletes and everyone else who has seen it and been in it. I wasn't able to get in but it's super cool from the outside!

Olympic Spirit - Overdone???

Who all thinks this guy went a bit too far????

The rings/logo on his forehead is one but he also has the Fuwa characters all around his neck! I think he needed a bit of attention!

Olympic Spirit Everywhere!

I must say we are a few days into the Olympics now and the fevered pitch here in China has not slowed down one bit! Even down in Shenzhen here (3 1/2 hours by plane from Beijing) the excitement is literally everywhere! If the games are going on it's shown on no less than 10 stations (only one of which maybe is in English) and the focus is on the Chinese teams for sure. Plus TV's are set up outside of many restaurants and people just stop by to watch for a few on their way.

It's very exciting to say the least. Thankfully the US men's basketball team beat China or honestly I would never have heard the end of it!

Cheers to Michael Phelps as well!

8/8/08

For those of you back in the US, chances are right now many of you are watching the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics. China is thrilled about this opportunity to show the world how far they have come! The number 8 in Chinese is considered lucky. So it's no coincidence that the Olympics start on 8/8/08 at 8:00PM!!! Enjoy

Chinese TV...the Onion

Since I know many of you enjoy reading The Onion I thought I would include this article that recently appeared. You will probably have to click on the image to enlarge it. Enjoy!

Sweet Home...China

For those of you wondering I have made it home to China. Got in late last night (Tuesday the 5th). The visit to the US was all in all too quick with too much to do in a short time. Oh well, I will have to plan better next time.

For all those I got to see it was great seeing you! For those I didn't, maybe next time.

Hope everyone is ready for a spectacular Olympic celebration in a few days! To answer questions, no I am not attending any events due to not being able to get tickets and it's a good 3 1/2 hour flight from where I am.

take care

The countdown continues...

Just two days until I board the flight to come home for a visit! I'm happy to report that I received my upgrade to business class for the 14 1/2 hour Shanghai to Chicago flight! That is welcome news to me and my back (which feels much better!).

Everyone asks what I'm looking forward to when I get home? In no particular order: my condo/bed, catching up with family/friends, consistent food, some of my favorite restaurants, a lack of humidity for sure and a Miller Lite! There is no food that I HAVE to have. I feel blessed with what I have had here. That being said good Mexican food is tough to find here so that is on the agenda and won't be tough because there are plenty of them near me.

Looking forward to seeing some of you this week! For those that I don't/can't see feel free to give me a call (312.523.8359) so we can catch up. I arrive Tuesday night in the US!

Food and language

Ok so you have all heard me complain at one time or another about the food here right? It's not terrible but it's not the consistent food we are used to in the US. That is what is tough is you maybe expect something to be good and then it's just different.

Before I go further let me give you a language lesson. In Chinese the letters ZH together make a sound like a "J" in the US.

Those of you in Chicago and other big cities are familiar with a high end grocery store called Trader Joe's right? They make some great stuff. Well low and behold we have one too...

It's right down the street from me. My very own Trader Zhou's! Big difference though is that this store only sells wine! Oh well they tried.