more venue stuff

China is a hard place to be in for a person who sometimes like to just brood quietly in the corner. From the moment I leave my room, there will be no quiet and there will be people everywhere.

I've been at the venue everyday for about the last week. It is okay, but is very, very tiring. There's only so much training we can actually do, so a lot of time is spent sitting around chewing the fat (which isn't actually a saying, given the lunches they've been giving us!). 

Here's a photo of the Newcastle weightlifting crew in our stunning uniforms.

Our Sports Information Specialist (SIS) is an Australian from Melbourne. His name is Robert Kabbas, and he won silver for Australia in the 69kg Men's category at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. He also won two Commonwealth golds and a silver over three games. He's a really nice guy. The other day we had a really good morning where he took us around the venue and told us what the athletes would be doing and thinking. He showed me a bit about lifting weights.
So, I didn't try to get it over my head or anything (though I kind of want to try now!). For those of you playing at home, the yellows are 15kg and the bar is 20kg. So that's 50kg. I've been learning a lot about weightlifting. We've been going through the different weight categories and looking at who could be a medal possibility, and have been looking at the styles, techniques and rules. Robert has been really good at teaching us heaps about the sport.
And here's me flexing my fully polished guns. 
The other day we had a "motivational talk" with all of the volunteers in the weightlifting hall. The motivational effects on the Newcastle crew were limited, as it was all in Mandarin! Apparently it was mostly propaganda though. It even finished with everyone singing this song. The recording was the whole multi-voiced thing, all singing together to further the glorious revolution no doubt.

So I haven't done much blogging lately, mainly because not much has been happening! Just training at the venue. I'm pretty tired, and could really use a day off. Luckily, I think there will be one coming up soon. 

Today I interviewed an Indonesian lifter and his coach who was also his father. We've got access to the training hall, and so we can go watch them, and try to talk to them after (strictly no interruptions during training!). So it was fun to actually do kind of what we're supposed to be doing here. 

By the way, I'm really appreciating the emails people have been sending me. I've been having problems with my studentmail, but I'd love to hear from you on schube_87@hotmail.com

weight lifting venue

The weight lifting crew spent yesterday and Wednesday at the venue. It was really cool to get there finally, as the rest of the Newcastle group had been at their venues for a while. I think our team will be pretty good, our manager seems pretty cool. On both days we've gone out for a massive lunch, more Peking Duck, and just really good food. 

While security is tight to get in (some of those people get a little too probing with those metal detecting wands) the venue is pretty relaxed at the moment. 

And here is a photo of the next lifter from Australia, coming down the actual tunnel that the lifters will.

Said lifter was having a little bit of difficulty on the snatch, on the actual competition stage. The barbell itself weighs 20 kg! And then the things to keep the weights on are another 2.5 kg each. Can he do it?
And here's one for all you lady fans (Mum and Fel), the lifter gets the massively stacked barbell over his head, whilst simultaneously showing his midriff and undies.
Here we see the lifter working the media at the press conference after his excellent performance. What a pro.

The venue is really cool. At first I was a little bummed about getting weight lifting, but now I'm really excited. I think it's a much more relaxed venue than some of the other higher profile sports. And yeh, the team seems really cool. Our Sports Information Specialist (SIS) is an Aussie who won silver at the Los Angeles games in 1984. He also won two gold and one silver Commonwealth medal. Seems like a really nice guy.

Got the day off today, and am living it up doing my washing! As of tomorrow it's at the venue everyday until the start of the games, so it's getting serious now!

the haves and have nots

On one of the first nights I went out to dinner with Justin, our Chinese friend, I asked him what he thought the biggest problem facing China was. His answer was social inequality, and he thought that most people shared this view.

It's been interesting going to BOCOG functions, being taken out for Peking Duck and drinking beer and hiring buses on a whim. These people are the haves.

And whilst that's fun, the have nots are pretty interesting.

Today Josh knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to go to the Fish, Bird and Reptile market, and then to the Underground City. How could I resist? We got a bit lost on the way to the market, and stopped to ask a guy for directions. He didn't speak any English, but we pointed to the Mandarin in my guide book, and he started walking with us. The scary bit came when he ushered us into this little room and we sat down not knowing what was happening, while he was on the phone. When I got up, he motioned for me to sit back down. We had no idea what was happening. But we eventually decided to leave and he showed us the way to the markets, and came around with us.

I now think that he was lost, ushered us into the room because it was air conditioned for us to wait in while he worked out how to get there. But I'm still not sure.

Here's a photo of the alley way, or hutong, that the markets are in. Once again, animal liberation was not a strong point, but it was really interesting. These guys are definitely the have nots. But the food is amazing and most people are really hospitable. It feels a bit more like what I was expecting China to be. The haves, in my opinion, are a bit more Westernised. Still friendly, but the hutongs feel a bit more authentic somehow.

I bought this really cool Chinese pipe in the alley. It extends and everything. The guy gave me some tobacco and was showing me how to smoke it. Very, very, strong. I'm not a big smoker, so it really went to my head! But it was a funny experience to cough and splutter and have everyone around laugh at me!

view from the tower of buddhist incense

the great wall strikes back

Yesterday a group of us went back to the Great Wall. A girl in our group sprained her elbow the day before we went last time, and so we went back so she could see it. We went to a different spot, Mutianyu, which was great. There were a lot less people than Badaling.

We hired two taxis for the day, which was a good way to do it. We got Lester, a Singaporean guy in our group who speaks Mandarin to bargain the price on the phone, but when they arrived they tried to jack up the price! But we got them down a fair bit to 550 (A$83) yuan per cab, which was still pretty good. It's kind of annoying not being able to converse with cab drivers, but some of them are a lot of fun. 

They had this ski lift thing that you could take up the mountain to the base of the great wall. It was pretty cool. Though someone in the group said that when they got on their seat, a bit of metal fell off! Hopefully nothing too important though...
We met this Aussie girl half way up to the top. She's from Liverpool in Sydney, and when she brought out this sign we thought it was hilarious! Trust an Aussie, I guess. I'm having a fair few opportunities to practice my French too, which has been lots of fun, even if it is just a few quick words.
I got Pippa to take this photo specifically with Dad in mind. Not even a rusty railing to lean on! 

The view from the window was amazing though. It was a blue day but with some haze and clouds, and it really looked like those Chinese paintings where there are layers of mountains that get lighter and lighter. Here's a photo of the view that I put together from five shots. It doesn't really capture it, but it's a pretty good attempt.

After our encounter with the Australian girl, we were all filled with a sense of bogan patriotism. It was decided that the best way to express this was to have a beer on the great wall. This part of the wall is much less touristy, but because there isn't a tourist centre at the base of it, there are hawkers on the wall selling ice creams, snacks, cold drinks, and yes, beer. We got a bunch of poms to take these photos of us. By the way, to toast in Mandarin you say Gumbei (rhymes with Bombay). 

Then to get back down there was a Magic Mountain style toboggan. It went for just under 2kms, and was lots of fun. Unfortunately I got stuck behind a slow family, but hey, if I slowed right down I could get enough room to go fast around the corners and get up on the side a bit. 
After we got back, a big group of us went to find a sports bar to watch the Wallabies trounce the Springboks. The funny thing was that on the wall we ran into some South Africans wearing Springbok jumpers! So we had a bit of a laugh with them and talked up our teams. 

It was a good night, but I was very tired from walking on the wall and the German beer I was drinking went straight to my head! But yeh, a good night.

lions and tigers and bears, oh my

Well, no bears, because they were closed off (in that we couldn't get to them, not emotionally) but we did see some pandas! Yep, today we went to the zoo, and then the aquarium. It was really good, exciting to see the pandas and the aquarium was amazing.

In fact it was pretty much a media scrum with everyone trying to get a good shot. I guess it will be good practice for the mixed zone at weight lifting. They look very cute, though apparently a drunk guy jumped into their enclosure a few years ago and go pretty seriously mauled...
Getting the 300mm lens for my new camera paid for itself today. I got a lot of very good shots of animals, I was actually going for the portrait look. I love the face this chap is pulling! There was a stall at the zoo where you could get a photo of yourself taken with a monkey on your lap for 20 yuan (A$3.20). I did it, and the photo's great. If I can find a scanner or something I'll put it up. The monkey was very well trained and posed for the camera!
I really like this shot, but gees, I was glad there were two fences between me and this guy. I love that you can see the green of his eyes, and that it looks like he's staring right at you. 

The enclosures for some of the animals were pretty cruel though. The tiger might have been in a three by five metre cage, but that's pretty generous estimates. The worst thing was two adult elephants and a calf in an area, perhaps fifteen by five metres. It was so small. There were doors out to outdoor enclosures, still small but better than nothing. I hope that they just had them indoors for a particular reason. Still, this is the sort of stuff PETA should be targeting, not the bloody Australian sheep farmers.
Just as I was turning my camera to this eagle, he decided to do the whole US coat of arms thing. It was pretty cool, and I'm glad I got it. Also got a lot of pics of giraffes, lions, zebras and a whole heap of other stuff.
There was a lot of cool stuff at the aquarium too. I really like the colours in the photo, and the turtle seemed pretty happy. It was also really cool to see the underside of a sting ray, and see that it has a face! Got some pretty cool photos of Nemo fish and sharks.

They had a Sea World-esque dolphin and seal show, and it was fantastic. Yes, this guy is riding two dolphins. How you can train dolphins to do this sort of stuff is beyond me. They can do some pretty massive jumps too. But they were coming on command, and hoolahooping with their noses, and balancing balls, and jumping out of the pool... all sorts of crazy stuff. It was really, really good.

training and birthdays

The last two days have been training days with the other universities. It's been pretty dull, because it's been mainly going over what we did online while back in Australia.

But I guess it makes sense to go over things to make sure we definitely know it. Some people have training in their venue from tomorrow, but I don't start until the 23rd. I'm going to try to get to Shanghai to visit my friend Dave (or Fel's friend, to be accurate!). 

Today was a guy in our group's birthday. We went to karaoke at the same place I went to a few nights ago. It was a lot of fun, thought I may have had one too many Tsing Taos (a rather watery local beer). But it was lots of fun.

I asked my old mate Freddie if he wanted to come, and he was a hit. More than a few people in our group were asking why I invited him, they were worried he would steal stuff. But Freddie is a good bloke. He sang a song for us in Mandarin and was quite the star.

And then of course, there's our "responsible" lecturer. Scottie and I played a bit of tennis yesterday. It was a whitewash. We played one set and it was 6-1. But hey, I won one game! I can only improve...
Anyway, looking forward to having a few days off. Hopefully will get to Shanghai and back. Still going really well, though today and yesterday was the start of beginning to miss stuff from home.

the great wall

Yes, today was the Great Wall. We hired our bus from yesterday, minus Miss Beijing, for which we were extremely thankful, and went to it. Unfortunately, we went to the part closest to Beijing, which meant there were people everywhere. The cane hat again proved it's worth, this time as an umbrella! Though, my head was really dry, the rest of me was soaked!

Also unfortunately, it was a rainy day. So the photos are a little cloudy, but the mist added to the mystique somewhat, I thought. It looked like something straight out of Lord of the Rings. Welcome to Middle Earth. I walked until the watch tower you can see in the pic below, the only one I saw with a roof on it. Probably for some wussy general. We had three hours to walk and so I turned back after an hour and a half. But boy was I tired on the return. 

Here's why I was so tired. This was insanely steep! And no stairs! Well, there were some, but only on the extra steep bits. But it felt like you could slip at any moment. There were kids sprinting down this as fast as they could, but gees, I thought they were going to stack it. 

After about three hours, my legs were very, very tired. I figured if I tried to walk fast I'd get past all the tourists and there would be fewer people. I was right, but it also meant I had to walk back! Very, very steep!
Tonight had dinner with 11 people, including Justin, who I have titled Captain Buddy. He's a guy who has been showing us around Beijing and came to dinner tonight. He's really nice, but when I started talking politics (again) he asked me why I always want to talk politics and government. Paul Scott (lecturer) who was at dinner reckons he's here to keep an eye on us and that I've been black listed! I don't know if that's true, but he said I don't understand Chinese way of thinking (re: Tibet, Taiwan). That's probably true, so I guess it's good to be respectful of that. But he's a really nice guy. Scottie, Justin and I were just doing vodka shots in Scottie's room, so it was really good to have a  more intimate setting to talk politics and government.

Tomorrow is the first day of training for our actual work over here, so I'd better go to bed!

propaganda tour

Today was the day that we did our tourism that was organised by BOCOG. It was supposed to be a three day tour, but our group didn't go on the first two days, as we had other stuff to do. It's okay though, because according to other unis, on the first day they went to Beijing's sewage treatment plant. Probably okay to give that a miss.

But it was pretty much a propaganda tour! Our guide was a lady who first off told us that she was almost Miss Beijing (needless to say, the name stuck). She asked us whether we thought Taiwan was a part of China. When we said no, she was most shocked and upset! "Taiwan and Tibet are part of China and always will be," says Miss Beijing!

First stop was the Old Summer Palace, which is now in ruins after being trashed by the Anglo-Franco forces in the Second Opium War. It was a retreat for emperors who found the Forbidden City too hot. And I can see why it was so attractive. It's summer here now, and it was nice and cool under the trees here with a breeze blowing. And there were heaps and heaps of fountains too. Here's me in front of the ruins of what was a massive fountain.

There was this stone maze there, leading to what they call a western style pavilion. The pavilion is round to symbolize the sky, and the maze is square to symoblize the earth. It took an embarrassingly long time to work out how to get to the pavilion!

Then we went to the Summer Palace, which was built around 1750, and also torched in the 1900 war, but not so badly. It was really massive, built around a huge lake. I can't believe how many people there were there! It was so, so busy. One of the biggest tourist destinations in Beijing. We climbed this tower, the Tower of Buddhist Incense. The tower was where the emperors used to live, thought I bet they didn't have to walk up all those stairs!

The view was amazing! I'm still trying to work out how to patch together three shots into a panorama, but here's a pic of me. I bought the hat out the front of the Summer Palace for 20 yuan (AU$3.20). It was so good. Got up to 36 degrees today, and when I took it off in the sun I could feel a big difference. Though apparently the Chinese were saying "dickhead" as I walked past! But man, it's good for sun. It has a thousand uses too, for instance I put my groceries in it tonight!
After a pretty ordinary dinner (no where near as good as lunch yesterday where we had lotus and goats cheese, amongst others), we headed to what is still called Peking Opera. It's weird. No two ways about it. The costumes were great and some of the music was interesting, but some of the singing was ear piercing! But I'm glad we went, I wanted to go anyway. There were TVs on the sides of the stage with english translations. It was a tale of lovers escaping soldiers chasing them. A bit of death, some humour, almost Shakespearian. 
Tomorrow we have big plans (involving an early start), so watch this space!

genuine peking duck

I feel like a lot has been happening in that last two days. So let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). 

Two nights ago - didn't end up going to a real Chinese place for tea. The whole group (forty of us) went to an American/Chinese buffet. All you can eat and drink! Beer in restaurants seems to just come in long necks, and we were drinking Beijing Beer, which was really good. Kind of German-esque, but boy it packs a punch at 8.8% alcohol! Food was good - I ate cricket! Crunchy... 

Yesterday - went to organise to rent a fridge with Pippa, who I've been hanging out with a lot. We managed to do it in Mandarin which was exciting. Got back and got on a bus to have a briefing at the Australian Embassy, about Beijing, what to look out for and so on. Very helpful. Then we went to a restaurant for a dinner with all the Universities who have sent students to do what I'll be doing. The restaurant is part of a chain of restaurants, but they are known for serving genuine peking duck! In fact, you can get a ticket to show which number duck you ate, they count each one. It was delicious! The chefs

have to get 90 pieces out of one duck, and they all have to have skin on them. I imagine it's quite the challenge. You put it all on a 'bing,' which is a really thin tortilla kind of thing with some cucumber and a sauce thing and then fold it up. I recommend serving with cold Yingtang, another local beer. A bit weaker than Beijing Beer but still a good drop.

When we got back, a few people decided they wanted to go do karaoke. We went to a bar on campus, but it's not karaoke like in Oz. You get your own room and sing only to the people in your room. We ended up joining in with a bunch of students studying at BFSU from Sweden, USA and UK. After a few Tsingtao (the most famous of Chinese beer, but a bit watery for my taste), I sang My Girl and Dancing Queen. The latter was with a rather drunk guy from NYU, who some say was trying to pick me up. I was just trying to sing ABBA!

Today - A blue sky day! It's amazing, after it rained yesterday, the smog has gone and it was a gorgeous day. Leo, who works for Newcastle Uni in Beijing reckons part of it is that it's the weekend and people aren't driving to work. Got up and went on a mission to get a mobile phone. BOCOG have given us all SIM cards so we could be contactable, but my Australian phone is locked. Managed to ask, haggle and buy a phone all in Mandarin by myself! My number is 13910072697. I think you might need to put the Chinese code in front of that too. Text messages work really well.

Got on a bus for a Newcastle Uni alumni lunch. Went to a restaurant and had absolutely amazing food and Jingjang, another good local beer. The food just kept coming. People who went to UoN who are now in Beijing were there, and it was really good to get a bit more local knowledge.

After lunch we strolled down to the Bell and Drum towers, which were build around 1220, basically as a clock.

 The drums were used to wake up the workers, and the bell to mark the time. Climbed up some very steep stairs to both towers to enjoy the view and the blue skys. This is the view of the Bell Tower

and surrounds from the Drum Tower. While in the Drum Tower, I met 

this Chinese guy who was there alone. He wanted to get a photo with me because he didn't want one by himself. We

 started talking as we climbed up the Bell Tower and he ended up coming with our group. He didn't have an English name, so I just started calling him Freddie. It stuck. Freddie's from a rural province and is visiting Beijing.

After the towers, some of the group wanted to go to Tianamen Square. We all got in cabs, but got dropped off at the wrong place. Had to work 

out where we were and how to get to Tianamen. Freddie was there, but his was not so great. We found some people who spoke French who I tried to talk to, but I French is worse than Freddie's english! But with the help of Freddie, we eventually worked out how to get on a bus that would take us there. My first Beijing bus! Very exciting. Tianamen is huge! The pic is of me and Pip standing in front of the famous red building with Chairman Mao's 

portrait. The police and CCTV presence is phenomenal. Perhaps they knew a bunch of students were coming and we getting ready... This pic is looking back 180 degrees from the first one, at a massive pillar in the middle of the square. Then had to work out how to get home! Took the subway, which was great. Unfortunately there is not subway right near where we're staying, because it's such a great network. So quick. And quite easy to work out too. Too trains and a short cab ride to get home. Really looking forward to working out public transport a bit more, so I can feel like I can go where I want to. Oh yeh, took a pic on the subway and this guy got up me. That was a bit scary!

And here's a photo of me and Freddie at the top of the Drum Tower. They had a demonstration of the drum playing, which was really, really cool.

I'm here!!

After a four hour delay at Sydney, we finally got here about 2am local time. Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), where we're staying, arranged some buses so we could just get here really easily. Drove past the birds nest and the water cube, very cool buildings. No photos yet, but watch this space. 

Took a photo of the sunset, which we chased for about three hours, around about the equator. I had a window seat so I got to look out. Flying over the Northern Territory and the islands was very pretty. 

Geordie - we were flying on an A330-300. Dunno how that compares to a B737, but I think it's about the same size. 34,000 feet, ground speed of about 950kms. 

Didn't get to sleep on the plane, so I was pretty much up for 22 hours straight. Needless to say, a shower and bed when I got here were greatly received. 

Kris - took a photo of the arrival hall, and amazing building. Absolutely huge. Also took a selfie of myself in front of the new terminal. It's beautiful, looks like a huge turtle shell. 

Today we didn't have anything on until 2pm, so slept in for a bit, and went for a walk. Found a supermarket and made my first Chinese transaction! You can't take backpacks into the supermarket, you have to check it in like at a theatre. I was a little nervous as I had my camera, iPod and other stuff in there. But I took some stuff out and everything seemed fine.

I can't believe how humid it is! And the pollution is worse than I imagined. I took a photo walking back from the supermarket. It looks like a cold, winter's misty day, but it's hot and humid and smelly! How they expect people to run a marathon in this is beyond me. I think they brought in their special pollution regulations yesterday, so it will be interesting to see if that makes a difference over the next month.

Today we found out what sports we'll be covering. And the winner is...

... Weight Lifting! Yes, not on my preference list but I'm sure it will be great. I think it only goes for three days, so I'm not sure what will be happening all that time, though a lot of it is training. 

Going out for dinner tonight, going to try to find an authentic place to eat.

All is well, and I'm really glad to be here.

By the way, my skype username is stevendschubert