Saturday, August 23, 2008

All in a Day!

We are running non-stop here, and to give you a little of an idea of what can be fit into one day, I'll give a brief rundown of what we did all on August 22nd.



First, we packed up and left our hotel about 8:45. The day before had been rainy, but today was bright and clear.





Our first stop was the National Stadium where the men's 50 km walk and discus throw was taking place. It was very hot, and the men's race was taking a while to complete (as you can imagine it takes a while to walk 32 miles - even if you are walking 7-minute miles), so we did lots of pin-trading and photo taking. There seemed to be lots more locals at these events today - I assume it wasn't quite as hard to get tickets to - and we enjoyed visiting with some of them - especially this little girl that was sitting behind us.

After enjoying track and field, we went shopping at the silk market and then to a Greek restaurant for lunch.



Next we went on a tour of a hutong (old-style Chinese neighborhood) by rickshaw. We got out at a home and got to visit with a Chinese family and see the inside of their house. It was quite interesting.



Next up was a trip to a tea house for a lesson in Chinese tea. We got to smell and taste several different kinds. My favorite was the jasmine tea. Nathan wasn't too sure about it, but he tasted it all.



Next we had another elaborate meal. We are seriously served about 20 dishes at each meal - only about 3 of which are recognized by any of us. I'm glad to know that some of the adults are just as picky as my kids.



This is what Nathan did through most of supper. Bless his heart - he was so tired - and we still had our major event, men's basketball, to attend.

I figure most of you have seen highlights from this game already. Our Chinese guides are actually basketball fans and were rooting for the US, but most of the non-USA crowd was rooting against us.

There was interesting entertainment at every time out. Here's a Fuwa doing a slam dunk.



After the game (which ended after midnight), we moved to our new hotel which is closer to the Great Wall. We arrived at almost 3 am. Whew!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Susan, we're so glad to hear from you this morning. I know that you and your family is worn out. I get tired of just 3 or 4 hours of shopping.We watched the women's basketball this morning. We are going to a Gideon lunchen in a few minutes. It if raining here. Love , Mother

The Huneycutt Family said...

Wow! It makes me tired just thinking about it all! I am so glad that you're getting to have all these different experiences - way better than just going to some sporting events here in the states.

Ann said...

It sounds like you are having a great time, even if it is a tiring schedule!