China - Aug. 6

I'M HOME! I didn't get the time to blog our last couple days in Beijing, and it cost Kaitlyn money for internet in Shanghai, so I didn't want to ask. Blogging my journal from a day can take quite a while...

Anyway, I pick it up on August 6th:

I woke up early, because I went to sleep so early. Had a tiny breakfast, partly because it was so late, and partly because it was the same food. Oh, well. Found out that we didn't have to wear our red t-shirts to practice today - they're slightly pitted out by now. Rehearsal was quick: we only played through the Olympic Medley and set and moved the block.

After rehearsal, I wanted to blog, but Kaitlyn was using her laptop, so I used the time to try and get one of my traveler checks cashed at the front desk, but they wanted to see my passport to verify my identity and signature and stuff. At the time, I felt it was unimportant. I had to go back upstairs to get it, but a couple of mellos were watching Happy Feet on HBO. I hadn't seen it before, so I sat down with them. It was weird to hear Frodo talking a dancing penguin.

Lunch was early today, because we needed to leave at 12:30 for Tianjin for an outdoor performance and then an Olympic women's football (soccer) match.

On the way there, when we got near the city, the police had blocked off all the traffic to the highway we were traveling on. I felt kinda awkward, and sorry for the people we were delaying, but it was pretty cool, as if we were VIP's or the president or something. The same thing happened on the way back - except the policemen were standing in the middle of the highway every hundred yards or so, to keep all the traffic away from us, to the right. The rails on the tops of the barriers on highways in Tianjin are illuminated at night! I think that's a pretty good idea, and it looks cool too.

I listened to all of Jon Foreman's ep's on the way there, and only missed the last two songs, due to an impromptu nap. I mostly just watched the countryside; it was not that long of a trip.

All 37 buses full of people pulled up on the sides of the street next to the park we were performing at. Again, there were policemen everywhere, and even volunteer people who seemed to be guarding the entrances. And with a couple thousand band members, it was a little crowded. We stayed in groups according to the bus we came in on, and walked to the park. Fortunately, our bus was one of the first to walk in, so I did not have to wait long to go to the bathroom (eastern). We set our blocks, and then needed to wait for the audience and Chinese TV cameras to get set, so the husky mellos took a section picture and then we had to wait some more.

We did end up starting a little earlier than planned, which was nice. The performance itself did not sound our best, because numerous people were rushing the beat. I felt as if my performance was one of MY best, though. The crowd was very enthusiastic, and appeared to be very pleased. The performance was mostly for TV again, but that carries a huge audience, albeit, one we can't see. Surprisingly, this was our last performance.

When we got back to the buses, everyone was given a Big Mac and a Coke for dinner, so I settled for just a Big Mac and my bottle of water from the hotel. Although there was no ketchup, it was pretty nice to have a little reminder of America. Some people complained, but everyone ate the burgers. It was also our first variation in food since we've arrived.

I brought Sherlock Holmes with me to the soccer game, partly to keep my only Olympic ticket in nice condition, and partly for insurance, in case I got bored. I took quite a bit of crap from people on my bus because of it. When asked by one surprised guy, I told him that I didn't care for soccer so much, and he retorted, "Well maybe you've never been to one before", as if not caring about soccer was a crime. I suppose people can be as rude as they want (and this was from an adult that was tagging along - why is it, that it's the adults on this trip that are the ones that are insanely rude to me?) It seemed as if he was genuinely angry.

Once we had found our seats in the stadium, Natalie and I went to go get water (it was a hot day - and very hot inside) and buy Olympic stuff. This was a whole new experience in Chinese culture. Instead of forming an orderly line, like any normal American would assume, everyone crowded up to the counter vying for the attention of the vendor. It took fifteen minutes to buy water. Part of this was because they had to pour all of the bottles into cups for you, because no one was allowed to have bottles of any kind at the game. After that fiasco, we went to a counter that sold Olympic merchandise, and I found a pin for Bob and myself and a small Chinese flag to wave at the game. Natalie got a t-shirt with the Olympic mascots on it. This was the same kind of procedure, and took another 15 minutes. What a wild place.

I am not a soccer fan by any means, but it was the Olympics, and China was playing, so it was a lot of fun. We got back to our seats right before it started. The game started at 8 pm, so we didn't get home until 1 am. China scored one right away, so the crowd, hyped with anticipation for the Olympics (this was a preliminary game) went crazy! Although the stadium was open, it seated around 100,000. It was a little loud in there. The opposing team was Sweden, and they soon scored a point as well, and then it was a real game. The final point was scored soon after halftime, and China won, so pretty much everyone was very happy. I was able to read Holmes during halftime, so I was glad I brought it. As Brad, our director, commented about Rachel, I was surprised to find myself waving a communist flag.

All around, I unexpectedly, had a really fun time. I would have preferred to see track or swimming or fencing or archery, but I had a good time anyway, mostly because the crowd was ecstatic.

I listened to instrumental music on the way home, which lulled me to sleep. I woke up as we pulled in to the hotel complex. Thankfully, Natalie had a pin that let me reset my frozen mp3 player. To sleep, to sleep!

Jp