From the land of Cheenaah

[dyuman]

Thread for Josh to post on how things go in China when he has time.

Have a safe trip and try not to get yourself killed by the protestors

[Pikachu]

Not quite gone yet, heh. Should be free tonight (Wed.) To do something btw.

I would be more worried about the protesters rather than us. Laying a finger on our group would be near suicide this summer.

[Pikachu]

Arrived in HK. Flight was easy to bear, because Final Fantasy Tactics A2 kept me occupied for a lot of hours.

[Duragar]

You've been pretty quiet on this subject, Josh. How have things been going in China? Are you so busy that you haven't had much time to talk, or is everything so boring that there's nothing worth talking about?

[Pikachu]

Busy as all hell.

Had a chance to hang out with Al in Hong Kong. Did a lot of shopping and went all around HK. Good food and good times.

We just did a performance at Renmin University (one of the most prestigious universities in China) that was televised on CCTV, and got to watch it the same day. Prepping for this performance meant that I had to play director for the entire camp, and so a lot of my energies have been put towards this for the past week. I don't have 'net access in my own room, so I don't get online much right now.

China's been good. Beijing is still a crazy city, but the Olympics will likely go along fairly well. Gotta go.

[Duragar]

Well, glad to know you're still alive and kicking. With all the publicity your company's getting now, though, it sounds like you're going to have lots to do even after you get back from China. Oh well... such is the life of an international businessman, right?

Well, in any case, I hope the rest of the trip goes as well as it has so far.

[Pikachu]

Saw the opening ceremony on TV. If you all haven't seen it yet, go check it out online. It's hella long, but worth seeing, because.. well.. it was so awesome it was outright ridiculous. Like, Eddie unblockables ridiculous. The USA athletes, when brought out, was an obnoxiously long entourage. Only China had more people.

We got to visit some interesting sites, such as a geothermal farm, an antiques exhibit, and a model community. Lots of show for a country that wants to improve their own image. Some of these efforts are just incredible, and the results are real.

Haven't seen a game yet. Some students went out to see handball earlier today. I hope I can get a quick volleyball game in on the 12th, and am looking forward to seeing track & field on the 16th.

A few bad events I'm sure you all have heard on the news. Our group will be fine, though, because our security is a lot more than the average tourist. We're staying at places other volunteers stay at, so people who so much as scratch their nuts the wrong way around us will have bad shit happen to them.

Talked to this one chick on the subway who was a volunteer from Missouri. It was kind of interesting to see a white person wandering around in a non-tourist place. Her job was boring, though. She had to stand around and be a sort of bodyguard (she wasn't a Tam-style chick, though) for the field hockey area to stop people from wandering into media access places. She's a journalism student, though, so the job was a little unexpected. Hella athletes wandering about, too.

Bought another Pikachu bobble head.

Food rocks here. Beer is less expensive. Hooray beer.

Some political play within the camp because there's a few staff who want some glory. I've put them into their place. Thank you, Astaria.

[dyuman]

Sounds good. I saw taiwan get its ass ripped apart vs china in badminton. couldnt help but laugh.

[Pikachu]

Watched handball today. Why isn't this sport in America? Handball is a ridiculously brutal mindfuck.Think Hockey, Soccer, and Basketball (just the dribbling) combined. Think high scores, but not too high. Just enough for action, but not so much we take it for granted.

The Olympic stadiums here are nice. It's a bit quiet here, actually... less crowded than I thought it'd be.

I watched France beat Kazhakstan and then Hungary tie up a game against Brazil with a goal at the buzzer. It was fucking crazy to watch the stadium cheer their heads off at that. Gonna watch volleyball, archery, and judo in the coming days.

[Pikachu]

Let me add one detail I forgot about yesterday: The Hungarian team entered the stadium to the Metal Gear Solid theme song. That was cool.

Today, I got to watch the men's volleyball game in the morning, which included USA vs. Italy. For those not updated on Beijing news, a relative of the volleyball coach was knifed to death in Beijing by a guy who went nuts, attacked three people, and committed suicide. We all screamed our heads off in support of our team, and seeing them win today was an amazing feeling. Some of them were generous enough to take pictures with our students, and they seemed to be in better spirits today than during their recent tragedy.

[dyuman]

Thats good to hear. Wonder if China is gonna take the most medals.

I saw a few clips of basketball team USA just shredding other teams apart. Kobe was doing 360 dunks and Lebraun James totally packed a guy (no homo) as he went in to dunk.

[Pikachu]

USA is doing well in Basketball, but let's see how they handle Greece, who beat them in some other world championship event.

China is second in the total medal count, but ahead of the US by 7 gold medals. It does help that the events started first were stuff like weightlifting, sharpshooting, diving, and the latest sweep in gymnastics. US is really relying on swimming and later on, track and field, to get the gold count nice and high.

[Pikachu]

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/22/glimpse-behind-the-games/

An interview I had with a journalist from the Washington Times during a basketball game between Russia and Bellarus. Misspelled my last name, but I guess being "Chen" is okay when I'm in China.