Words I know in Chinese: 27, we’ll get to one of the new ones later.
What I was watching when I started this blog: Chinese version of the Price is Right.
I know, I know. I need to post more. It’s been crazy busy, and things won’t be getting any less calm. This week starts “podium training” for the gymnasts. Nope, it’s not showing them what it’s like to win a medal, though that would be kinda cool. Athletes get to train and work out on the equipment in the FOP (field of play), which then journalists and FQRs can watch and ask questions.
I finally got my first true Olympic interview. Granted, it was 2 questions because the athlete was in a hurry, but it still counts! INFO ‘08 published it! I haven’t talked about INFO, have I? Well, we as Flash Quotes Reporters do an interview with an athlete, and then run it back to the office where we take a copytaker takes it down and sends it off to the editors. Then, if it’s approved, it gets published on INFO 2008, which is the internet one-stop-shop for accredited journalists. Complete with everything from daily weather and traffic to full coverage of past tournaments and biographies, it makes research soooo much easier. That’s actually the center of my masters research, but that’s boring stuff.
This interview also was my first use of an interpreter, since she was a Japanese gymnast and spoke no English. You really take language for granted, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time I would be lost in translation without them. It went well though. I got the quotes, and printed them out to prove it, hehehe. Now I just need to learn Japanese to see if any newspapers use them.
So, what else has been happening? Two nights ago we ventured to an amazing dumplings restaurant across town. Think pot-stickers or ravioli from the US, but ten-times better. Another Mizzou student found it first, so we can't take credit. First off, they have dozens of fillings and combinations to choose from. Lamb, pork, leek, fennel, egg, etc. And then, you can pick colors. Eating a bright eggplant-purple dumpling definitely takes some getting used to. But it’s tasty :)As we were finishing, one of our friends wanted to bring some back for her roommate. So, we ordered another 2 helpings (12 dumplings in all), and tried to figure out how to get it to go. “Not a plate. A box”, gesturing with our hands. “Box to go? Box… to go?” It took a second, but she seemed to understand, repeated it to us, wrote something down and left. We should have known that she didn’t speak English and probably didn’t get it. So, we paid and waited. Sure enough, 12 dumplings come out on a plate. “Can we have a box to go?” She nodded, said something like “just a minute” and ran off. We saw them stacked near us, and 5 minutes later when she still didn’t bring out something, we got it ourselves. So, we get up to leave. “No, no, no…!” We are completely confused now, wondering if we need to pay for the box or something (since we pay for plastic bags at stores). By now four other servers and workers come over, everyone’s staring and we’re trying to figure out what they want. What we have here is definitely a failure to communicate. Another diner said some about us ordering more, but we motion that we just wanted a box. Box to go, right?
Long story short (too late), sure enough they bring out a large plate with potatoes and sugar syrup. The waitress brings the menu out and points to an item on the back page (all in Chinese characters, we have no clue). “Boc-su-ta-go.” It’s very good. Tastes just like the ingredients: white potatoes cooked lightly with a sugar syrup coating. I’m sure they were laughing at us the rest of the night. We were. I’d highly recommend getting a box-to-go next time you’re in Beijing. If it’s on the menu of course.
Line 8 subway finally opened. Except, it actually makes commute more troublesome. You can’t just transfer from 10 to 8 like you do the other lines. Because they built it underneath the Olympic Green, we must exit the subway line 10, go around the block, through 2 security tents, back down and around to where we started so THEN we can ride the line. Efficiency anyone? At least going home is easy – only staff can ride it right now, so there’s no one on the trains. We used it to take nighttime pictures the other night. Someone should have told us it closes at 10pm though, since we were stuck on the Green at 10:30 not knowing how to get back. Oh well. Got good pictures (and eventually found our way to line 10).
<-- Official BOCOG photo released the first day Line 8 was working. It was used in a newspaper, I just don't know which one :) Ok, I have three other posts in the works right now, so I should get more than ONE next week. I have Panos too, so be on the lookout for them in a few.
The Green is just as stunning at night. Runway-style lights line the huge plaza as each building is lit to emphasize its unique grandeur. The Bird's Nest and NIS were dark when we got there, but the Cube and tower were both in full splendor. I'm sure as soon as the tourists arrive, the scene will feel like a wonderland. We saw stages and screens set up everywhere. I can't wait for the Games to start.
