Day 2: Meeting Aussies in China

Friday 11 July, 2008

Jet lag is still a problem today, every time I get off the lift I feel as if I’m floating for a minute. I spent a long time in bed just trying to feel rejuvenated, but eventually I decided to get up and try and explore some of Beijing. I opened my curtains to find that Beijing was overcast (with cloud and pollution) and raining - a crappy day. I also noticed on the way down today that each day the cleaners change the mat in the lift to say the day of the week =). Lester, Brooke, Em, Liz, Manda and I all decided it might be a good idea to check out some markets before we were due back at the Uni for BOCOG duties, but by the time we walked to the front of the Uni and tried to get a taxi we realised it was just all too hard and we wouldn’t have nearly enough time.
While we were there we took some pictures of the guys sweeping the water off the street - a very stupid and pointless task.

Manda and I cleaning up the 'jing.

Instead we wandered out the back of the Uni to take a look down Public Toilet Avenue (otherwise known as Poo Street) - nicknamed for a very good reason. While walking down the lane we witnessed a young boy (about three) squatting to do a #2 right there on the street. I must say it is nothing I have ever witnessed before, and it seemed to be quite acceptable here. On top of that, it smells as if the whole neighbourhood has been doing the exact same thing as the little boy. After walking around for a while trying to forget what we had seen, we decided Yum Cha at the bakery was the way to go for a quick breakfast.

Poo Street

We went back to the Uni where we were marshaled in the foyer to go to the Australian Embassy. It was definitely the most dressed up everyone has been so far, and probably is the most dressed up every one will be for a while. We were greeted by an Aussie guy, and it was a bit of a relief to hear someone else from our country speak. I hadn’t realised until that moment that I had not seen any ‘Western’ people in our area at all (except those from Newcastle).

This is a photo of Liz, Brooke, Em and I at the Australian Embassy in Beijing.

For dinner, BOCOG put on a feast at a Peking Duck Restaurant in downtown Beijing. I didn’t really want to eat a lot of meat so I said I was vegetarian. Little did I know that that meant I was to be uprooted from my table with all my friends and taken to the other side of the room (a long way away) to the vegetarian table. Err! Many jokes were made, but time went fast and we had a pretty good night despite being segregated. The food was amazing and the only bad thing about the night was that we had to wait for it for so long because all the Americans, English and Queenslanders were still on their bus tour of the sewage works (where we should have been, but we went to the Embassy instead).

Manda and I out the front of the Peking Duck Restaurant.

That night a shadow was cast though, because I was informed by friends that one of my close school mates had been killed in a motorcycle accident the previous night. I must say though, that while I cried that night, I just can’t feel what I need to feel here, as in Beijing nothing from home seems real. The funeral is on Wednesday so I guess I will have to wait until I get back before I can say goodbye.