local celebrity

Yes, Nicole is a local celebrity. We are staying in a town called Yanjiao City, just east of Beijing, a residential place where you don't see the international tourists attending the Olympics. So apparently its quite a hoot for the locals to see a whitey like Nicole! She gets double and triple takes, stares and whispers all the time! But thats okay, she waves back when she sees them looking.

The opening ceremony was last night, and was pretty spectacular! I'm sure many of you have seen pictures or highlights. We weren't able to get into the Olympic Green (the park on the olympic grounds) cuz they required tickets to get in. Some people watched the fireworks from the city. We decided to come back home and watch it on tv. It had much of the fanfare that New Year's Eve had.

We spent yesterday wandering the city a little, getting to know the buses and subways. It sure is confusing when you can't understand the language! The city seems less crowded than I would have anticipated. It is a city of 10 million people, but spread out over a large area, so its not like New York City. There is a pretty extensive subway and bus system, which always seem busy. We haven't yet seen all the famous sites yet - that will be coming up the next few days.

along a main road...

some cool buildings...

We had to wait to cross a bridge over this street; I think it was being blocked for some VIP like president Bush to drive through...

Shoe heaven for Nicole....

Jenny and Amy arrive to Beijing this afternoon! And our first events are tomorrow morning - women's gymnastics. We'll be sure to take plenty of pictures of the Olympics then.

Some other funny things - when its hot, the guys around here walk around with their shirts pulled up. Babies around here don't wear diapers - or for that matter, they don't wear any bottoms!

Maybe I'll work here in the future....

In the lobby of a 5 star hotel....

These little guys just hang out on the sidewalks of our condo.

- Alan and Nicole