Beijing

Friday afternoon we took a night train to Beijing. We arrived at 7 am for our whirlwind weekend, found our hostel (The Happy House) and headed off to the Olympic Green to check out the sites for the Olympics. We had ordered tickets online to see some of the preliminary games but showed up 3 hours late and a day early. :) Alas we were not thwarted! Rather, Beth and Brad weren't thwarted. They headed back to the Olympic area to get tickets for the night show while Katie and I headed off to a big band dance, part of China's first lindy hop exchange! So here is the only part of the Olympics I really got to see: the bird's nest (main stadium). We danced the night away and roasted in a non-airconditioned venue. There were people from all over: Hawaii, France, South Korea, Vietnam. We even met up with some old friends of Katie's for their first swing experience.















Sunday we picked up a Starbucks for breakfast, packed a lunch from Subway (Starbucks AND Subway!!!!) and headed to the Great Wall for another day of dancing. It was fun to dance on the Great Wall, get a dose of lindy in, and be with some of my best pengyous. It was so fun to have friends there to support my love of dance.
















Brad and Beth try to deny their dancing skills, but I know the real story...
















Katie has become addicted to swing. I was so proud; as a newbie she got out there and asked strangers to dance...no small feat! It was definitely a swingin' good time!


For more pictures and video, check out my Facebook.

Beijing Find

While in Beijing we did a little shopping at the Pearl Market, and I found this awesome bag! Starting June 1st, China is trying to heavily reduce the use of plastic bags by charging for them to encourage people to use canvas or reusable bags...so I was super excited when I found this cute and convenient way to be eco-friendly.


This awesome bag zips up to be only the size of my hand!

Silence

Yesterday I was in class at 2:28 PM, the time the government asked the nation to have three minutes of silence to begin three days of mourning for the victims of Sichuan. I talked about the earthquake in my class and reminded them about the moment of silence, thinking that at 2:28 we would all just be quiet. But at 2:28 every school bell rang, every car horn sounded. At first I was struck by the humor that a moment of silence in China seemed to be all but silent (making it a little hard to concentrate), but then I was filled with the sadness of it. The mourning sound of those horns and bells made everything seem eerie and urgent. It screamed "Emergency."

Beth was downtown in a taxi at 2:28 and all the cars pulled over. Everyone stopped. Policemen took off their hats. The train whistle blew.

Sadness.

China has even taken color out of their websites for the next three days to show mourning. Check it out. www.google.com.cn

Devastation

The devastation from last Monday's earthquake is so great. We continue to hear terrible stories here of the damage the earthquakes have caused in Sichuan. Today the government has declared three days of national mourning beginning with a moment of silence starting at 2:28 today, the time the quakes hit exactly one week ago. They have even suspended the torch relay during this time to show respect for all suffering in this terrible tragedy.

We have a Friend whose family is from Sichuan. Thankfully they are ok because they lived in the countryside where there weren't so many buildings to collapse, so he is going to Sichuan to help them rebuild and recover. Most people who have survived are living in tents, if that. Groups, including our university, have held countless benefits and programs to raise money to send supplies, aid, and food to the victims, but road conditions are poor because of the damage and it's difficult to get through. One friend's boyfriend is participating in the rescue efforts. So keep these people in your Thoughts. And be on your knees for the people of Sichuan. Weather is making rescue more difficult and too much rain could cause mud slides on top of everything else. Also some of the local dams have suffered some damage which could obviously cause more problems.

Here's an article I found this morning:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356523,00.html

My First Quake

Well, I experienced an earthquake apparently. I was talking with some girls in my house when I heard my mirror (very large, leaning against my wall) knocking against the wall. I went in the other room to see why it was doing that and realized the whole building was shaking! We all just kind of stared at each other saying how weird it was. Then I got several messages and calls from students and friends. It seems that Chinese students do not receive the same emergency situation training that we do in school. Kids just started running out of the library and classrooms. So I took that opportunity to share with those girls proper earthquake safety and they were super impressed. :)

It seems the earthquake happened near Chengdu and was felt all the way to Beijing and Shanghai!
Here's an article I found about the earthquake.

After two years...

After nearly two years of no Lindy Hop for me in China, here it is at last! The Great Wall Swingout...a lindy hop swing dancing exchange in Beijing! So I'll take a quick trip up to Beijing in a few weeks to swing it. They even have a dance actually on the Great Wall. I'm a bit skeptical but hoping for the best. If only my Nashville dancers were here now...

Something missing...

Today I miss my car and the deli area of Kroger.

Oh, and I want an Ocean Water from Sonic the size of my head.