Farewells!

I've decided to give you two days in one update. Two for the price of one! What a deal, eh?

So yesterday, I woke up to a text message from the BBC peeps telling me that the plans had changed: we were going filming in a village that very day, and I had to be on the other side of town in 30 minutes! Could I make it?

I could. JUST in time, too!

The village was an amazing place. Just half an hour outside of Beijing, and it was as if we were in a completely different country.


It was really interesting to see that side of life in China. The camera crews did their thing and I followed them around. We were there till after sunset, and towards the end of the day it seemed like the whole village had turned up to hang out and be a part of the action! I met some great people, including this adorable group of girls who were playing and making up dance routines to various songs. It reminded me so much of what my sisters and their friends used to do on holidays when they were that age. Good times.

Then, today, I took another stab at the Forbidden City! Cause you know what they say: second time's the charm! (I know they don't really say that. Cut me some slack, guys!) Well, I made it in, and it was very much worth it.


The Forbidden City itself was a lot more interesting than Tiananmen Square itself. For one thing, the architecture was more ornate. The open spaces were tiered and decorated, and much more fun to walk through than flat, open courtyard. Also, it was just cool being in a place that for so many years was out of bounds for most of the world, where the imperial families of China lived and worked.


Incidentally, I have a theory about the name. The place isn't forbidden any more, so why still call it the Forbidden City? Because the 'Open To All For A Small Fee' City doesn't have the same ring to it. Also, I guarantee you that most of the people there were drawn, at least in part, by the idea of wandering around someplace that's forbidden. I know I was!

After all this, I wandered around a little and made my way over to the ol' Chinese Box hostel to meet up with the old crowd. As it turns out, people have been leaving in ones and twos and threes, so all that remains of 'the old crowd' is me, Paul and Janko. Alas, sunrise, sunset, auld lang syne, yes, we have no bananas. But we did go out for a fantastic last meal in Beijing, and made friends with a group of elderly, good-natured Finnish people, and the evening was pretty much everything I could have hoped for and more.


So now I'm sitting in the hostel, and I should really be sleeping cause I'm getting up in 7 hours. The plane leaves pretty early! Tomorrow I plan to update with a big chunk of reflection and looking-back and suchlike. But for now, let me just say that it's been a wild three weeks, and looking back on it, I don't regret a minute of it.

Goodbye, Beijing. I'll talk to you guys from England.

Night, all.

PS: Ladies and gentlemen, today's moment of zen:


Yes, those are British athletes. Yes, that is a signed flag. No, I have no idea who they are or what sport they were in. It was a photo of opportunity!

Wanderings!

Nothing much to report today, folks! It was a rather sedate day. No pictures either. I'm sorry.

I got up, did some work, and then I hopped on the subway with the notion that I'd check out this antiques market I've heard about. Well, I got to the right subway stop, then realised I had no idea where to go from there. I spent a good while looking around the area, even asking directions, but I just couldn't find it. After a while I gave up and went to Wangfujing. I love that place!

Today was 'buy random stuffs' day! I managed to pick up some souvenirs for family people, but I won't say what they are cause it's gonna be a surprise. To any family reading this: don't get too excited, they're more like 'trinkets' then actual 'gifts'. But I thought they were nifty!

I also got a copy of American Gods, cause I'm in desperate need of reading material. On a similar note, Caroline is awesome and recommends good stuff.

Sleep now! And with any luck, tomorrow should be a much more interesting day with actual photographs and suchlike!

Animals!

Lions!


Tigers!


Bears!


Oh my!

That's right folks, today I went to the Beijing Zoo! I'm not sure why I haven't been before now, cause it was a very cool place! I slept in to a ridiculously late hour, so I didn't have quite as much time as I would have liked around there, but hey! HEY!


At least I saw the pandas. Those guys are freaking adorable in person.

Other than that, today was a slow day. I've pretty much been lounging around the hostel, doing some work on the show I'm set designing for. The zoo was a great time, though, and because it's a vaguely old institution it's full of fantastic translation errors! I highly recommend the place for the awesome animals and the comedic value!

And now it is time for sleeping.

Olympics!

Today I did something very special. In my travels around Beijing, I've heard rumours - whispers, one might say - of some kind of event that's been going on in town recently. I finally decided, hell, I'd best go and check out what it is that everyone's getting so worked up about.

So I went to the Olympic Rowing finals!


I got a wee flag and everything, cause I'm hardcore like that. The rowing was a lot of fun to watch, and the crowds were fantastic:


The Chinese fans went nuts whenever a Chinese boat raced, and when they won a gold? I thought I'd go deaf! It was insane. Britain came away with a few golds, and so did the USA, so both sides of me were duly satisfied! All in all it was a great day.


As a side note, we saw this on the way to the event:


Yeah, man, I dunno. Military presence in cities... still doesn't sit right with me.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to collapse into bed. Desperately. Night all!

Gardens!

I woke up this morning and decided to visit Tiananmen Square. And about damn time too! Can y'all believe I haven't been to it yet? It's high time that was remedied, I said to myself. So I did, cause I am a man of action.


There we are! At long last!

Now, here's the thing about Tiananmen Square. It's huge, and it's certainly impressive. But when you get down to it, that's pretty much all you can say. Big featureless buildings and huge featureless courtyards. Don't get me wrong, I dutifully walked through it and was duly awed, but... when you get down to it, 'big' is the most you can say about it.

My plan was to walk through Tiananmen and onwards to take a look at the Forbidden City. But calamity! The Forbidden City closes at a ridiculously early hour, and I was too late. Woe. But lemme say this: if anybody ever finds themselves in the same situation, just turn left. You'll find yourself in a great little place called the Sun Yat Sen Garden: a little park right in the middle of the city that somehow lets you forget about traffic and skyscrapers.


I'll say this for Beijing: it's got some wonderful parks.

After all that, it was back to the hostel. I gotta say, I think I prefer the Chinese Box. It's just more fun there, and it's got a great atmosphere. People hang out and meet each other. Here, everyone's already doing their own thing. Ah well. I reckon I'll head back there tonight to see what everyone's doing.

G'night!

Reflections!

You guys, guess what? It's been 2 weeks! Time for some personal reflection. Strap yourselves in tight, cause it's gon' get real.

So the difference between this week and last week is incredible. I just moved into a new hostel, I don't know anyone here, but I feel fine. I feel happy! And I think it's for the following reasons: I've gotten more experience with the city. The job got a lot easier when we decided that I don't actually need to leave the hostel to check the internet. I made a lot of friends at the Chinese Box, and we're still going to hang out.

Probably most importantly, I leave in a week. Now's a good a time as any to announce that my stay in China now ends on the 22nd, not the 29th. I'll be flying from Beijing to London, for a week's relaxation in England's Green and Pleasant Land, and I honestly can't wait. It's for the best, and the thought of seeing my family in a week's time is really helping my mood.

So yes. This week has been a hell of a lot better than last week. And I've done some kickass stuff in the past few days! Which leads me to my next point.

I told myself that, weather permitting, I'd go to the Summer Palace today. Well, blogketeers, let me just say this: weather permitted.


I know, right? Beijing without the smog hardly seems like Beijing at all! But there it is. And let me say, the Summer Palace was beautiful. Full of serene wooded parks...


... and amazing imperial architecture!


I took a boatride across the lake, and generally just wandered about enjoying the sun and scenery.


The one complaint I have about the Summer Palace is the scourge - that's right, scourge - of identical food and trinket stalls they have, every ten metres. It's pretty ridiculous, and kind of detracts from the natural beauty of the surroundings? Ah well. It could be so much worse.

When I got back to the hostel, I realised - by which I mean, the staff told me - that I had only booked up to today, and that I had to move and make way for more people. Yeah, I had it in my mind that I was moving tomorrow. A little packing and a cab ride later, and here I am at the Lama Temple International Youth Hostel, my newest - and final - digs!

Tomorrow? Who knows? Right now I'm gonna settle down in my new bed and watch Iron Man.

Aw yeah. Y'all heard.

Subways!

Greetings and salutations! Thought I'd forgotten about you? Not so! I've just been either busy or lazy. Sure, I've broken that 'update every day' promise, but I figure I'll at least try to backdate entries so you can see what I've been up to. Still have to upload a few I wrote but didn't get to post.

But enough of that! Let's talk about the present. Today was a rainy day, and therefore a rather dull day.


Well, not dull, actually kinda fun, but I did nothing in particular other than meander around stores downtown. So I was thinking, and feeling rather guilty about the lack of recent updates, and I thought to myself, 'I know! I'll do a little expose on the Beijing subway system! It'll be factual and vaguely informative, if not actually interesting." So behold, the Beijing Subway!



So Beijing has a lovely, newly-renovated subway system. A 2-yuan ticket will get you anywhere around it so long as you don't leave a station, so it's cheap AND convenient! A lot of the stations could use air conditioning, but it has a major advantage over the Tube, at least, in that all the subway cars themselves are air conditioned!

Olympic security means that you have to stick any bags you have through a little x-ray scanner, like so:


Aaaaand... that's as far as I got. As I took that last picture, a security lady glared at me and crossed her fingers: no photos allowed. I meekly put away my camera and went about my business. But see, this is exactly what I was talking about a week ago: excessive, ridiculous security measures. What exactly is so sensetive about the great and glorious people's subway that means I can't take a photo of the station? I mean, come on. It's not like it's privileged information. Thousands of people are in there every day. Jumping the gun a bit there, guys.

Blah. In summary, the Tube is better.

Placeholders!

Sorry for the lack of updates, guys. I'm pretty miffed about it myself. Right now I'm sitting in a smoke-filled, non-air-conditioned internet cafe, because the network at the hostel is busted. It should be repaired by tomorrow, though. Stick around, cause I've already written out the entries for the past 2 days, and I've got some kickass pictures to share with you guys.

Until then, though, peace.

ETA: Hooray, internets! I'm filling in my missed updates, and I'm backdating them. So, you know, they're in order. Read them as if I'd posted them on that day. This whole 'missed updates' thing? Never happened, you guys.

Excursions!

Hey guys! So, remember how I said that we had big plans for yesterday? Those... ended up not happening. Instead, yesterday was a day of rest, during which I curled up in bed with a book and a movie. And to be honest, that's quite a good thing, cause you know what we did today?

We climbed the Great Wall of China.


Which, let me tell you, is some HARD. WORK. I think it's mostly the fact that we went to a less touristy area, but at some points you had to clamber hand-over-hand up ridiculously steep steps that were a few degrees away from being a wall. And that's only when there were steps left to climb... it was hard work, but man, was it worth it.

We headed out by bus, then from a town hired a guy to take us the last leg of the journey in a van with no suspension and seats that were not bolted to the floor. On top of this, the guy drove like a madman, flipping lanes and going into incoming traffic to pass bikes, cars, trucks, anything. We were laughing hysterically, and half-convinced that we were never going to survive the hour-long trip.

But survive we did, and one cable-car later, we were on the wall itself.


The views were incredible. The weather was perfect. And we had the whole damn thing to ourselves (except for a few local guides who helped us along and showed us a shortcut or two).

And the best part? At the end of it, after hiking for a good few hours, we stepped off the wall and took a zipline to the other end of the valley, where we took a nice leisurely boat ride to the car park.

Then it was back to Beijing, via another hair-raising local ride and a more comfortable bus trip.

You guys, I'm too tired to say much else. It was incredible, and I'm so damn glad I was finally able to do this. There are more pictures, so if you wants a look, lemme know. I'll get them up on Facebook eventually.

For now, though? Sleeeeeep.

ETA: Ladies and gentlemen, your moment of Zen:

Galleries!

I'll say it right now to allay any worries: I'm feeling pretty great right now. I had a great day. It started out with a text message saying that I don't have to work today! So that was a good start. But what to do with my spare time? Well - says my roomate Adam - why don't you go check out this incredible modern art place?

So I did.

HEY YOU GUYS I HAVE A RIDDLE. WHY WAS EIGHT AFRAID OF NINE?


...okay, so the syntax doesn't quite work? What did I say about rolling your eyes? Jeeze, guys, just imagine it's Yoda saying it. Anyhow, yes, the Beijing 798 Art Zone used to be an electronics factory and surrounding complex, but it's been refurbished and in the past few decades has been turned into artists' studios and galleries and cafes. The whole place is ridiculously awesome, like a mix between the Tate Modern, a Parisian street and a college campus. And the art there is incredible, just a huge melting-pot of ideas and modern art. The installations ranged from the beautiful...


...to the thought-provoking...


...to the just plain bizzare:


The place was enormous, and even though I spent four hours there I could easily have stayed for much longer. But I was footsore and sweating buckets (it's my Diary, and I'll TMI if I want to!), so I headed back to the hostel. I swung by the Sanlitun bar district on my way back, and it's a very cool place that I will have to explore in more depth later on.

The Chinese Box is awesome, because it is filled with friendly student types who hang out and chat and invite me to dinner. I ended up going with a bunch of them to a place nearby, and it turned out that I was the only guy who spoke Chinese. I knew enough to order, but not enough to know what we were ordering. We literally pointed at random stuff, and ended up having a chicken dish, spicy calamari, beef hotpot and - we couldn't stop laughing when they brought them out - oysters. But it was all delicious, and good times were had by all:


Tonight we're heading to Hohai, which is actually quite close to here. It'll be nice, I was hoping to go back there! And tomorrow? Well, let's just say that I've got plans for tomorrow. You guys will have to wait and see what happens. If all goes well, it'll be worth the wait.

I've figured out something about myself: I kind of need people. Like... part of what was getting me so down before was the fact that I was all alone out here. I'm not sure exactly when this happened, because I always used to be perfectly happy with my own company. But now that I've met a bunch of friendly people, I feel a lot better about being here.

Relocations!

Hello, peoples! I've now been in Beijing for a week and... well, I'm not gonna lie, it's not quite what I expected. I'm feeling pretty damn homesick, actually.

Thing is, the government here is relying on these games as a way of showing the entire world how organised and efficient and great China is. As a result, the security here is insane. And as a result of THAT, they've sucked the life out of the city. Half the roads are closed, the traffic is terrible, and the influx of tourists is making everything crowded. There are police on every corner, there are soldiers patrolling the streets... all that's missing are the tanks, really. Everything is Olympic-geared, which is fun at first, but after a week I'm starting to find it kinda grating.

I'd like to come back sometime when the Olympics aren't on, I guess. But right now? There's a pretty opressive atmosphere, not a party one. And it makes me want out.

Anyhow. Yeah, I'm feeling kinda down. But let's talk about my day!

Today, I changed hostels. Goodbye, Far East Hostel! I'll miss you. But guys, say hello to the Chinese Box Hostel!


It's a nice place, though not very convenient for, well... anything. Nearest subway station is a 15 minute walk away, and there aren't any tourist attractions or cool markets or bars anywhere around here. Ah well. the hostel itself is cool, and I'm only here for a week.

Then today I headed to work, via Wangfujin. There seemed to be a lot of Olympic patriotism going around the place:


Dude, I'm all for patriotism, but seriously? Shirt, plzthnks.

Anyway, then I went to work. But here's what I found once I got there:


This is exactly what I was talking about. They'd blocked off the road to my workplace, so I couldn't get in. The security guys glared at me as I approached, so I backed off and made a few calls. Because I'm only an intern, I don't have a pass, so there was no getting in. I was told to head home and take the day off.

I'll call someone later about this work thing; if that road's blocked off for good, then that limits my options as an Olympic Errandboy. For now, I'll be happy to be an Olympic Tourist, I suppose.

So I did. I've been hanging around in bed for a while, just chilling out. The opening ceremony starts... well, now, actually. I don't think I'm gonna watch it. I'll catch the highlights later. I'm just sorry I couldn't get any cool pictures. I've been feeling down all day, and honestly? All I want to do is lie in bed.

Though I'd be even happier to go home.

ETA: I ended up watching the Opening Ceremony. It was me and the staff of the hostel: when they saw I was still around, they practically dragged me into the lounge, offered me a beer and got me a coke. When they found out I could speak some Chinese, we chatted for a while. The ceremony was gorgeous and hanging out was a lot of fun.

I'm feeling a lot better for it.

Apologies!

Sorry I missed yesterday's post, all, but to be honest, there was nothing to report. I went to work, worked, then got back around 10pm and went straight to bed. So no news, no pictures. It looks like today will be more of the same, but we'll see how it goes. You might get 2 updates today, you lucky ducks!

Aileen left for home today, and I'm kind of jealous. I've been feeling a little homesick these past few days, probably because I'm run-down, and whenever I look at my itinerary I find myself thinking 'Ok, I only X more days to go'. Then again, I dimly remember being this way a week into my last trip to China. I'm sure I'll be fine in a day or so.

Anyhow, big events are coming up! For one thing, the Olympic Opening Ceremony is tomorrow. I won't be in the stadium, but I'll try and get some kickass pictures. After that, things are gon' be CRAZY! Also, tonight's my last night in the Far East Youth Hostel: I leave tomorrow for the Chinese Box International Hostel. It looks like a nice place, so we'll see how that goes. I'll get to meet new people, hooray!

I'll be there for a week, and then I'll be at the Lama Hostel for 2 weeks, and then I'll be home.

Oh, and I'm told that today is Valentine's Day in China. I love all you guys indiscriminately and equally :)

Mojitos!

Another surreal experience today, folks. I got to the media center near the Olympic stadium a little early, so I took a seat outside in the street and pulled out my laptop to pass the time. Doing drafting for 12 Angry Men in the angry Beijing sun in front of the Bird's Nest is surreal enough. On top of that, though, as I was sitting there I became a kind of tourist attraction in my own right. People would sit next to me and try to strike up a conversation. One couple even got their picture taken with me. In retrospect, I should have asked for a picture myself. Ah well!

Nothing much to report on the day's reportings. I was shut up in the Box of Doom and Air Conditioning all day. I really should get some posters or something for that place, brighten it up a little. Got to chatting with Quentin Sommerville, an illustrious reporter person and a thoroughly Irish man.

Then this evening, I met up with Aileen and some of her friends and headed out to - finally - check out the Beijing nightlife! We went to a place called Hohai, and what a place it was. It reminded me of Amsterdam (yes, yes, I know, I've never been to Amsterdam. But I've seen pictures!), what with the lake and the bars and the neon signs flashing 'Heineken' everywhere!


Aileen's friends were cool people, and because I am a bad person, I have already forgotten their names. But we all hung out on a rooftop bar, chatting and - yes - drinking a little. Don't worry, I was the very essence of restraint. I had a Whiskey & Green Tea, which wasn't bad at all!


Hohai is a very cool place with a lot of very cool shops. If I had to pick one word to describe it - and I've decided that I do - I'd say 'trendy'. Also, the places around there have a down-to-earth mentality that's frankly refreshing:


No, no, don't you think. Just down that sucker. Mmmm, you like that, don't you? That's right. Respect the 'to, bitches.

Journalists!

I spent most of today in an air-conditioned box glued to my computer on the roof of a Beijing media building. 20 feet away, The BBC did round-the-clock broadcasts, with the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium looming in the near distance. PRETTY SWEET, MY FRIENDS. PRETTY SWEET INDEED.

I was in there all day, so I don't have many photos for you. When I left it was dark, and the Dreaded Smog had lifted a little, and this was the view we were left with:


Pretty spectacular, no? I felt in pretty high spirits when I got into a taxi to head back to the hostel, and these high spirits continued when I found myself able to carry out a brief conversation with the driver (who actually knew exactly where he was going)! It would seem that my Chinese was improving! So then I got out near my hostel and passed a crowd of people taking photos of a beautiful building I'd seen from afar but never checked out. I decided to make enquiries.

"Qingwen," I asked someone. "Zhege difang jiao shenme mingzi?" What is this place called?

He just stared at me blankly for a minute before nodding and smiling and turning away.

...maybe my Chinese needs a liiiittle more work.

PS: I'm told that I need to give credit where credit is due, so mad props to the pimpin' Jess Pfeffer for helping me come up with the name of this Diary!

Taxis!

Yeah, I know, I kind of cheated with that last post. Alas. But this is my Diary, and I get to make the rules! Mwaha!

Anyhow, met up with the BBC people today, and it was an interesting experience. Fun, too. Went with a few of them in the morning to Beihai Park to film some clips for a segment, and while they did that I got to wander around. (ETA: Photos are up!)


Beihai Park is yet another one of Beijing's beautifully scenic areas: a pagoda surrounded by old buildings in the middle of a lotus-strewn lake. On the surrounding lakeside are people who write calligraphy on the pavement in water...


... and other street performers like musicians and ribbon-dancers. One old woman pressed a streamer into my hand, so I had a go:


It's... harder than it looks.

I ran some errands during the day (yeah, I was totally right with the title of this thing), and at one point we tried to find a hotel near the Olympic stadium. Well, it took us 2 hours and 4 laps around the Olympic Park. It was an utterly surreal experience: the cab driver was convinced it was one place, and we knew it was somewhere else, and watching a well-known BBC reporter argue with a cabbie in Chinese is a spectacle I'll not soon forget ("Why bother running a hotel if you can't tell your guests how to get there?!").

The thing is, though, it wasn't the cabbie's fault. It was a new hotel, with a new name, and even the staff there couldn't give directions. That's the thing... Beijing is literally re-making itself for the Olympics, and while they're doing a lot of stuff right, they're also causing problems. Half of the roads downtown are blocked off for visiting dignitaries or for Olympic Business, so your cab will go halfway to your destination before realising that he can't go any further. That is, of course, if you manage to get him to understand where you want to go in the first place; most of the cabbies don't speak a word of English, and if you haven't got a Chinese translation of your destination, you're sunk. And on top of that, you have the problem of a lot of cab drivers having no idea where stuff is. After living in London, where you've got The Knowledge, it seems strange as hell.

In about a week's time, there are going to be a flood of foreign tourists who are all going to be trying to take taxis for convenience's sake. How they'll manage if they don't speak Chinese, I don't know.

Mountains!

ETA: This post is a wee bit late. I wrote it last night, but didn't have internets to post it up. I still think I've techically kept my 'one-a-day' promise...

So, I might have sounded a little out of it in my last entry. Fear not, gentle readers! I woke up this morning at 6am after a solid 12 hours of sleep, feeling ready to face the day. My inestimable roommate, Aileen, let me take a good long look at something I really should have invested in before: a tourist map. Armed with this new knowledge, a good night’s sleep and a new understanding of Beijing’s (actually quite lovely) subway system, the whole city was my oyster! Mine for the exploring, mine for the taking!

But not today. Today, I climbed a mountain.

It’s thanks again to Aileen, really. She said she was going to this temple an hour and a half outside of the city, and would I be interested in coming? With nothing really better to do, I said yes. It was the best decision I could have made, guys. This place was gorgeous; serene, beautiful, woody and mountainous.

We made friends with some of the locals…

…and headed to a place called the 12 Animals Garden; a long winding pathway interspersed with the animals of the Zodiac. I chilled with the tiger…

…and hung out with the bear!

Then the interesting part: we decided to take a look at the part of the temple a little way up the mountain. Or so we thought. Turns out that ‘a little way’ turned into a good few hours’ steep climbing. It was a tough trek…

…but the views were spectacular.

All told, it was totally worth it. We took the quick route (!) back down the mountain and swore we’d never climb another step. Then we headed back into Beijing, and spent the evening in a very cool place called the Wangfujin district. More on that later. For now, I’ll just say that… well… if anybody ever tries to make you eat a cricket, laugh in their face and RUN. Blech.

Today, I got to chill out for a good few hours in a remote, peaceful place, away from the craziness of the city. Tomorrow I meet the BBC peoples. I’m excited: I think that if today taught me anything, it’s that I need something to do that’ll last the whole day or I’ll be paralyzed with indecision. Hopefully, they can provide some kind of structure for me!

It’s been a brilliant first day in Beijing.

Arrivals!

The hostel I'm staying at has working internet, and I've already discovered one thing to tell you guys: the keyboards in China have half-inch-wide 'backspace' buttons. So, you know, be understanding of typos, is all I'm sayin'.

I'm here! Beijing is hot and muggy and full of the roars of traffic and cicadas. I haven't seen the city because I only just booked into my home for the next week: the Far East Youth Hostel. So far, so good! I'm honestly not sure whether I'm going to wander around the neighborhood or just collapse into bed and sleep. I'm hoping to hold out till at least 9pm.

The nice thing is that Beijing is exactly 12 hours ahead of DC, so there's no need for me to re-set my watch.

I'm so damn relieved I'm here, and I think that once I get a solid amount of sleep, I'll be ridiculously excited. But for now, I'm going to find out where the nearest subway station is. Catch you guys later!

Misgivings!

COUNTDOWN: 10 Hours

Wow, it's been a while. Kudos to anybody still reading this Diary! I've been keeping myself busy with last-minute preparations and hangouts and the like.

So! With 10 hours to go, I am as prepared as I'm ever going to be. I've got a full suitcase, a well-stocked backpack (newly-repaired by the inestimable Cousin Grace!) and a pocket full of dreams. In the past few days I've crossed 3 state lines, spent 2 nights in Philadelphia, and bought 1 digital camera. I've done other stuff too, but I do so like a countdown. It's been somewhat hectic, but I'm ready to get on that plane.

But am I ready to get off it? Here's an interesting scenario: I arrive at the Beijing airport and end up spending the entire month there because I can't get a cab driver to take me to my hostel. Or I do find a cab driver, but he ends up fleecing me for everything I have and dumps me in some alleyway, penniless and confused. Or I arrive at my hostel, and they claim I haven't paid in full yet and turn me away. What I'm getting at is, I have no idea how well - if at all - I'm going to be able to function in this city. Am I going to find myself utterly out of my depth?

Well, only one way to find out! Stay tuned, because the daily updates begin tomorrow. GET EXCITED, GUYS!

Questions!

COUNTDOWN: 6 Days

Before we begin, I just want to say that Hellboy 2 is utterly ridiculous and utterly entertaining. Guiellmo Del Toro apparently wanted to show people that he had variety, that he could do other stuff than, you know... sublime cinematic poetry. Wait for the part where Hellboy and Abe start singing 'Can't Smile Without You'. No, I'm not kidding.

Ok, so it's time to knuckle down and start preparing! I'm going to be sitting down with the parentals and discussing various logistical things tomorrow. Things like:

What is the Dollar-RMB exchange rate? (I heard that 10 kuai = $1.40, but I'll have to double-check that).
How do I go about getting a local cell phone?
How am I getting from the airport to my hostel?
What do I need to pack, and how much of it?

Those, and a million others that I can't think of right now. Well, that's the point of discussing these things! I'm sure there's something extremely important and extremely fundamental that I'm simply not paying attention to. Cannot. Wait. To find out. What it is. You guys.

Oh, and I got an email from my BBC contact, checking in on me. Apparently I'll want to get over jetlag within two (2) days so that I'll be ready to join the team on the 3rd. That'll be an interesting feat to accomplish. From the sounds of things, I'm going to be a caffeine-zombie for the first week.

But I'll be an OLYMPIC caffeine-zombie.

Introductions!

Welcome, people! Welcome to my new abode!

We begin our tale with a little backstory: I have far more luck than I deserve, and as a result I'm going to be spending a month in Beijing covering the Olympic Games with the BBC in an unofficial capacity.

A fantastic opportunity, but also a month spent away from my dearest and nearest. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. So in lieu of actual physical interaction, I've decided to keep you updated on the mundane details of my everyday life in the traditional way of the modern recluse: a blog. But I hate that word, so we're calling it a Diary. With a capital D (and that rhymes with P, and that stands for... Peking! Oh stop rolling your eyes, you know you'll miss me).

Into this Diary will go photos, eyewitness accounts, random musings and details of every single meal I eat. The plan is to update this daily, but that's a lofty goal so we'll see how it goes. Please, I encourage anyone reading this to check back every now and then. Maybe even bookmark me? Comments are always welcome! In all seriousness, if I've invited you to read this, it means that you're either a loved one, a dear friend, or someone whose face I want to rub this in, and I'd love to have some kinda support group while I'm out there.

I leave for Beijing in exactly one week's time. The updates will begin in earnest when I arrive, though I'll probably scribble in some stuff to keep people's attention until then. The countdown has begun, ladies and gents!

再见!

1st Post Lawlz

Disregard that title. This is basically a test to see how things run around these parts. I'll be playing around with these settings and layouts, maybe getting a nice new picture up at the top if Mary wants to help me out with that.

Oh, um, welcome to anybody reading this! More to follow.

ETA: Mad props to cousin Mary for the kickass new header, and because she is a classy lady!