The Strange World of Chinese Shipping Procedures...
By Grace Callahan
Ladies and Gentlemen, that concludes our programming. The show is officially over. Please make your way to the designated exits, and enjoy your journey home. We thank you for visiting. Make sure and let everyone know what a wonderful place China is -- with so many people eager to help at all transit points! Oh, but please hand carry everything that you've purchased here, because forget about trying to ship anything. Not so easy for me, as I was dead set on shipping my computer (along with some random clothing that I wasn't planning on carrying around with me for the next 6 weeks, and a pair of running shoes -- doesn't seem noteworthy, but stay tuned). I had figured that shipping a computer (anywhere) wouldn't be easy, so I went in expecting to have some hassle. But there were many more surprises to come...

I packed a box with all of my belongings, as well as some souvenirs from the Olympic USA apparel store that I had bought for my boss. I knew from other's past experience that liquids of any kind (think pens), batteries of any kind (think calculators) would not be allowed. No one told me about logos, or about the 18 customs forms that you have to fill out first. So I get in there, unload everything I have (I had checked out of my hotel, so I was loaded, as they say) -- I think I must have scared the poor employees -- plus we all know by now that I'm just plain bigger than all of them. So they start going through every single pocket and every single item in the bag. (I had also been warned about this -- in fact advised not to pack panties!) They pull out my computer, pull out my jeans, look inside my running shoes, sift through the paperwork that I was taking back to file back at the office, my fake Salvatore Ferregamo purse and Louis Vuitton wallet that I simply couldn't resist when carousing about Beijing and touring folks through the now infamous Silk Market. No need to carry those to the Mongolian plains, right? Anyway, they seem relatively fine with everything that they see, except no calculator allowed, no magnets allowed, and no fake Omega time- piece pendant allowed. They told me that I'd have to fill out a lot of paperwork in order to ship that back (customs, import, bla, bla, bla: the guy literally said: bla bla bla -- I found that cute. His name was Sunny Sun-- hee hee!) -- I tried to explain that it was fake, but that only confirmed that it was impossible. "You cannot ship it back because it is fake." I thought I wouldn't remind them that the Louis was also less than authentic. Hopefully that arrives back to the states.

And then come the forms. There were so many and I was spread out so far across the floor of the FedEx Kinko’s (it reminded me of a certain program that I did in New York when I spent an entire work day inside a FedEx shipping artwork to people -- took over the floor then too), that I had to take pictures. Don't have my USB to load them on here and show you, but it was pretty comical. There was the customs form, the declaration that I was a real person with an ID number shipping things (??), the declaration of what's inside the box form (including what material everything was made out of, where it was manufactured: clothing from Bangladesh, Indoensia, Honduras, and who knows where else), the assertion that no nuclear or whatever testing needed to be done on my two year old computer, the form identifying what my shoes were made out of...(???), and finally the waybill -- that was easy! Once all the forms had been filled out, though, they discovered that in fact FedEx isn't allowed to ship anything back that has an Olympic ring logo on it. Luckily I'm well versed in meditative breathing exercises, or I might have completely lost it.

So, we filled them all out again, only this time having removed the ring logoed items. Thank goodness for me that I know a couple of people who still haven't left Beijing and who have agreed to hand carry these things home on the plane and to ship them domestically, otherwise I would have had to become a quick Santa Claus! I went to seal the package up, but turn’s out that's not allowed either! "The courier has to check it." Courier? I thought I was in a FedEx store! Who is the courier? Whatever. Trying to go with the flow here. Sometimes I wonder if I attract these incidents like contraband magnets. Oh! One more thing, they remember -- we need to count how many items are in the box. So let's go back through and count every piece of clothing. (They giggled when the counted the thong underwear. I did too. Don't really know why I'm shipping them back. Guess I just figured since the box is already going...

Anyway, so then the guy goes, "Ok, finish!" And just like that I walked out of the store -- my computer, fake Louis Vuitton wallet, running shoes and thong underwear sitting unsealed in a box that may or may not clear Chinese customs and get back to New Orleans. When I asked how much it would cost to send it, the guy just answered, "uhh...it doesn't matter." Oh, ok -- well if you say so…

But of course this experience came on the heels of an amazingly smoothly executed 2008 Summer Games held in Beijing. I think that all of us foreigners were pleasantly surprised at how well it went, and even the most open-minded of folks (I throw myself into that camp, even though I do steadfastedly refuse to eat dog penis) had their minds further expanded as they experienced China during this month. I originally thought that all the magazine articles leading up to the games celebrating the magnificent architecture were just a way to showcase China without having to deal with the less-attractive realities (I think I've talked enough about those in my previous posts), but it turns out that they were writing those articles because the architecture is truly stunning!! I had the exciting opportunity not only to get inside the water cube -- very cool -- but also to witness Usain Bolt demolish his competitors in the 200m men's final. AND, I sat in the fourth row for Closing Ceremonies. I could practically touch those guys in light up suits, and it's a good thing I couldn't, because I definitely want one to bring home! I can safely say that the stadium is the most impressive I've ever been in my life. Haven't been in a lot of international stadiums, but I have been in a few across the country, and that one is just simply breathtaking. Gorgeous. Electric, and many other superlatives. And though the Closing Ceremonies weren’t as impressive as the Opening, it was still a sight to see -- if only to see the 90.000 other people waving orange flags and snapping their cameras, flashing like twinkling stars in the night.

But now the games have passed, the athletes and sponsors have gone home, the signage, although it remains, already feels outdated. I have successfully checked out of my month-long stay at the Crowne Plaza across the street from the Bird's Nest and have nestled quite comfortably into a small guesthouse located down a windy alleyway in central Beijing. My backpack is the perfect size, for anyone who doubted me -- and after I give away all of my Olympic paraphernalia, I will be light as a feather and headed north. I leave for Mongolia on the 30th of August, in two days, and have already mentally moved away from logistics and details and shipments home and dietary needs of our guests. I have started thinking about guesthouses in Ulanbaatar, and renting Land Rovers and do I need to buy a tent in the next few days? I still have a couple of friends on the ground here in Beijing who I will go out with in the next few days, but I'll be in my jeans and travel shoes.

It's been a great month with some ups and downs -- work and personal -- and I am thrilled to have been on the ground for this specific Olympic games. I hope that I don't sound condescending when I say that I feel pride for the Chinese people in being able to pull an event of this size off, especially under the watchful eye of the prejudiced western world. I still take issue with their __________ and of course the ____________, but I do think that there are certain attitudes that we have of them that could use a refresher course as well. But that's why we travel, right? To get the real deal, up close and personal.

I wanted to write before leaving to the north, just to conclude the experience and to mark the transition. There is email in UB, which is where we will land, but I'm hoping to get out into the wilderness, and when we do that, I might have find a connection. At least I sure hope I don't.

So as usual, I hope that all is well back home and in all of the other places that I know people. Your personal Beijing 08 Correspondent is fading away and Grace the nomadic soul is reemerging.

--

Known to some as Big Healthy, Grace Callahan is an event planner and world traveler based out of New Orleans, LA who writes on the side. To holler at Grace, e-mail her at: gracelovesneworleans@gmail.com.

By Grace Callahan
So I know that most of you (if you're anything like the other 4 billion people in the world) are probably interested to hear about what it was like to be in Beijing during that most spectacular opening ceremonies event of all times-- and it was spectacular, let me assure you. You're thinking: wow -- Grace must have been so blown away just to be anywhere near it; the buzz in the city; the fireworks and yeah, it was cool to see it in real time, but I wasn't in the stadium, nor was I even anywhere near it really. The only difference between being there and watching it on TV (that I heard of) was that if you watched it at home, you didn't lose 10 pounds or risk dying from heat exhaustion, and you were able to eat and drink like a normal person -- instead of waiting in line to buy a concession from one of 3 people selling them throughout the stadium.

But I'm here to tell you about something that I am willing to guess isn't on your radar, and that is the glorious sport of men's Water Polo. I am embarrassed to admit that this under-appreciated sport is quite possibly the most interesting and appealing sport to watch ever in the history of competitiveness. Well, at least the men's version. I imagine that the women's version is interesting too, but surely not nearly as stimulating, if you know what I mean.

I'm going to do my best to keep this email rated PG-13, for the benefit of the younger (or older, as the case may be) parties that will read it, but it's going to be tough. Sooo…here's how I discovered this little known gem of an event.

Men's water polo tickets landed out of the blue in my lap this morning as I had a brief meeting with the two people I'm working with here in the hotel on hospitality issues. This isn't a rare occurrence, even at the Olympics for tickets to go unused. It's rare for certain events (All of the Michael Phelps events, Women's Gymnastics, USA Basketball, etc...), but like I said, Water Polo is not necessarily on everyone's radar, so I said, "why not? I'll check it out."

Now I feel that it's critical at this juncture to mention the fact that my radar had been put on alert about a week and a half ago when one of the people on the working team arrived and announced that she had been surrounded by the US men's water polo team on the 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Beijing -- her report was that they were all between the ages of 25 and 35, all blond (ok that wasn't so great), all sculpted, and all between the heights of 6'1" and 6'4"...when I heard that, I was itching to get over to Beijing Normal University (where the training facility is for the US team) and see if I could catch them during a work out -- or maybe even work them out myself?? Ok, ok...you're right -- I don't know anything about training athletes, but I bet I could figure out stretching -- how hard could that be? -- or what about cross training?? There are many ways to stay in shape, right?

Anyway, so I knew that there was a team of men in town who sounded like gods, but then I kind of forgot about it until today when I was offered the ticket. So here I go: traipsing off to the venue -- it was walking distance from the hotel -- across a pedestrian bridge over a major road, dodging traffic which doesn't stop for pedestrians, through the throngs of volunteers, clad in blue and white shirts, gray fast-drying pants with zip off shorts, orange highlighted sneakers (Nike), visors to ward off the sun and yellow fanny packs -- each of them practicing at least a "hello; welcome to Beijing" on you -- if not more. Through the intense security check: "Escu me, you have camra?" "Yes." "Can you take one pikcha...make sure its camra?" Uh, I guess. You mean to make sure that my "camera" isn't really a bomb? Because I know that's a common occurrence these days. Meanwhile, my colleague walked right through with his camera and didn't have to demonstrate that it was a camera. Whatever. I comply. Turns out that might be my best photo yet!!

Ok, so through the security check, or at least the first security check. Second security check comes later, and then there's another one when you go in the building. (Why have only one security check when you could have three??) As we all pile into the building, the smell of chlorine engulfs my face, causing my eyes to sting a bit. We pass up the concessions stands: they only sell sausages and biscuits (I haven't seen what either of those looks like) and sweet popcorn, which I can't stand (sorry all you kettle corn lovers out there) and Coke products of course. I'm pretty sure that without Coca Cola, the world might just collapse.

(Has this been enough lead up to the climax? Or should I draw it out a bit more??)

My colleague and I sit down in our tiny, made-for-smaller-people-than-me seats, and the pool is glistening in front of me. "One world; One dream" and Beijing 2008 is everywhere, and we are surrounded by a United Nations of fans, people from all over speaking all kinds of different languages…loud Chinese pop music plays over the loud speaker...

And then here they come: first the Australians. They walk out single file in their long green terrycloth robes, as if a mix between a heavyweight boxer and a guest in a high-end hotel that provides a robe with your room. They line up facing the pool with their backs to us, and then the Greeks come marching in behind. This is kind of when I almost lost it -- they file out, "Hellas" written on the back of their blue and white wind-breaker looking jackets...and no pants on! Never in my life have I been so thrilled that the Speedo was invented as that moment, and it was then that I leaned back and knew that I was going to enjoy the next 2 hours of my life.

The announcer introduces all of the players by name on each team and then it's time to disrobe -- the Aussies emerge from their robes and the Greeks lose the jackets, and the flesh festival begins -- smooth, tanned bodies: perfectly sculpted (not to muscular), long and lean (but not too skinny), well you get the idea. Their parents should be congratulated and/or rewarded for creating such beautiful specimens of humans. They put on those little caps, and that makes them look a bit silly, but at this point I'll take all of the help that I can get to remind me that we are supposed to be watching a sport and not drooling over it's players, then they all jump in the pool. Disappointing, I know.

But get this: even the sport itself is cool! These guys not only tread water and throw a ball around, they swim up and down the "court," they fight each other one on one in the water as defensive moves, they yell at each other, they pass and catch the ball flawlessly -- And when I say tread water, I don't mean using both legs and hands. I mean tread water to where the water line is at your belly button. Yum. Of course the best part was when they traded out for each other -- cause some exited the pool and others entered, for optimum viewing pleasure.

Ok, ok -- I know: enough about Water Polo….aahhhh, water polo....there must be other things going on in Beijing, right? I guess. I'll cut to the chase. The Greeks had a strong start, but the Aussies prevailed in the end (they must have carbo-loaded on beer the night before -- hee hee), with a score of 12 to 8. After the first match, the Croatians battled the Italians but we had to leave before that match ended, unfortunately. I can only hope to have another opportunity to catch another glimpse of those glorious bodies -- I mean to have a chance to learn more about the game of Water polo.

But you are all right: there is other news in Beijing. The government successfully averted rain on the Opening Ceremonies by firing over 1,100 rockets with whatever kind of chemical up into the sky. It did rain today (2 days later) -- so maybe those chemicals have completed their precipitation cycle and are now headed out via rivers and streams into the ocean. I for one have tried to avoid rain if possible for fear of what's in it! Then again they say that rain helps to clear the skies, and that would be a rare pleasure, since I am fairly certain that I haven't seen the sun but for two days since I've been here (18 days now.)

I also made it to the Great Wall since we last spoke -- the first stop on my grand tour of the Seven Wonders of the World (Bet you can't name the seven wonders of the world, can you?) That was a fun, if tainted, outing, although again: would have been much more photogenic had there been some blue around. I took a group of the personal trainers there to the Wall -- those are the folks who I am managing on this program, in case anyone didn't already know that and wouldn't you know that despite the fact that there was a cable car available to take you up the wall (kind of like a ski lift), not one of the trainers wanted to take it -- "Cable cars are for wussies," was I think the exact wording. Well it was hot, hot, hot and humid, humid, humid, and so we started trudging up the side of the mountain. It was, in their words, the biggest stair-stepper ever. One female trainer, who I was walking with at one point, estimated that we were stepping at the equivalent of a level 10 -- it felt more like 28. I was trying to play it cool like I work out that hard all the time, but about half way up I couldn't pretend anymore. I was panting and sweat was dripping out of every single pore in my whole body, including gushing off of my face, it was actually kind of embarrassing. My only consolation was that of course every single person around me was just as sweaty. Even though they were all trainers, fitness geeks and even a former NBA player! So we get to the top and despite the fact that I was dying to get my picture taken on top of the great wall, I was kind of totally embarrassed that it had to be like this: soggy, exhausted, deflated, and too concerned with catching my breath to be able to completely enjoy the sight of being on top of the world! Also, I didn't want anyone to have proof that I actually wore a USA branded t-shirt out there -- that was very humiliating, something that I would NEVER be caught dead in were it not for this job.

I was envisioning climbing the Wall and being in awe, having the opportunity to sit alone with my thoughts and reflect on the age, the construction, the grandeur, the majesty -- but I was busy corralling personal trainers, so that didn't quite happen. I did get some deep lunges in up there and took a few snapshots. Luckily there weren't too many people up there, so it wasn't like we were fighting crowds -- just fighting the vendors atop the wall as well as on the way up. I'm sure that the wall is just as impressive as they say it is -- problem is that I just couldn't really see it…that and I had trainers chanting USA stuff all around me -- the world is right in accusing us of being very poor travelers. We are indeed loud and often times ugly, and almost uniformly inflexible, but my job was not to teach them how to travel in a more rewarding way; my job was to make sure that all were accounted for when we made our way back down that wall. In fact, my favorite part of the whole journey was the automatic flush squat toilet that I relieved myself in before the climb. I've peed in many a squat toilet (the kind that are just porcelain holes in the ground with treads on either side instructing you (in case it's not obvious) where to put your feet while peeing) in my life (especially the past two years), but never have I come across a toilet (hole) that you pee in and when you stand up to fasten your pants, water starts gushing in, effectively flushing it. At first, the worst crossed my mind: it's backing up! But then I realized what was happening and I marveled at the modernity’s of the toilets at the Wall. Since then, I've come across a few more, and I must say that they are a wonderful invention -- worthy of export, for sure.

If you are still reading this and haven't lost interest, fallen asleep or run out of your lunch hour, I guess now would be an appropriate time to apologize for not really mentioning the wonderfully extravagant and awe-inspiring Opening Ceremonies .I hope that it will suffice to say that they were the most spectacularly produced event I've ever seen in my life, and I hope that everyone has had the opportunity to see them (Did you see how great the Iraqi team looked? They are headed for a medal for sure. I wonder if they have a water polo team? I guess not much water in Iraq...) I had a lot of thoughts as I watched them, some of which I'm anxious to share -- if only to see what you all think, but I guess they will have to wait for another time. All of the hype that you've heard and the magical photos that you've seen: they are all right on point -- it was simply incredible. Definitely something that only China could have produced.

But my goal was not to regale you with the story that you've heard already numerous times: about the beauty, the choreography, the extravagance, the surprise, the awe, the excitement, the wonder, the heat, the aftermath -- instead I chose to use this platform to express my excitement that i was able to discover the wonderful world of water polo, and to hopefully inspire you to also seek out that same enjoyment -- in this, I hope I've been successful.

So, my friends, I sign off -- it's late here and I have an early morning (as usual...) Kobe, Lebron and CP3 are headed to bed, after defeating Yao Ming and his team by 30+ points...so I guess I should too.

Take care all of you across the universe and until next time,

Water Polo Maniac Grace
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Known to some as Big Healthy, Grace Callahan is an event planner and world traveler based out of New Orleans, LA who writes on the side. To holler at Grace, e-mail her at: gracelovesneworleans@gmail.com.

By Grace Callahan
Greetings from my new home for the month: the sprawling metropolis of Beijing...at least I think it's sprawling: I can't really see it sprawling through the thick "haze" that no one here seems to be concerned with or find problematic (elephant in the room or elephant sitting on top of us?). The smog is worse than smog. It's as if we are walking around in a foggy cloud, only this cloud tastes really bad and I can feel a ball of nastiness curling up in the back of my throat every time I walk outside. The air seems to be a bit less dense and stinky once inside the hotel -- maybe there is some sort of air filtration system? Not so over on the campus of Beijing Normal University, the home of the High Performance Training Center; the sacred ground upon which the US athletes complete their final days of training before competing...and also home to the group of people that we are hosting here. The air seems to be heavier over there -- and more invasive. Imagine working out while breathing pure exhaust fumes...ick.

As for Olympic preparations, Beijing is in full speed ahead mode finalizing all of their beautification and last minute touches before the games officially open three days from today. But despite all of the potted plants lining the interstates and boulevards, English language street signs signaling Olympic venues, innovative public lighting, pervasive graphics advertising "One World, One Dream" flanking every lamppost and even wrapping some buildings, and the throngs of volunteers on every street corner, in every major department store eager to assist in every need that any of us round-eyed folk might need, the not-so-favorable news stories that I'm sure you're hearing about lie persistently, if subtly, under the surface of the national excitement and it's difficult to ignore them even with all of the state-driven fervor that dominates headlines.

Here's a sample of a headline that was buried in the corner of the China Daily newspaper: "All Measures Taken to Ensure Clear Skies." The first sentence of the articles reads as follows: "Beijing will use all its science and engineering capabilities -- including satellite monitoring and cloud seeding -- to prevent rain from disrupting the Olympic Games' opening ceremony on Aug. 8" (What the fuck??????)  Also, there was a report that "Haze" doesn't mean poor air quality, and that Games should be about athleticism, so all of this nonsense about countries taking issue with China's human rights record or their support of the Sudanese government is completely non-nonsensical, and has nothing to do with the games. We have all been warned not to email anything about contested regions, or anything else that could be construed as upsetting to the Chinese government -- that there is software in place to identify key words, and that sometimes email addresses have been blocked from each other on the basis of that...(yikes!) They don't even try to refute the fact that the International Media Center is blocking access to certain websites like Amnesty International or other "inappropriate" outlets...despite their promises to keep all internet access open...although they do contest the claim that they are monitoring or spying on all hotel guests' internet activity. I guess if I am unable to email any of you again, we'll know what happened, right? Ha!

Being here feels a lot like living in some sort of weird Orwellian world, where everything is controlled down to the smallest detail. Standing in the aisles at a grocery, examining various products, attendants will swarm, trying to help...I think...security guards line the streets: they are posted at every doorway, every intersection, even in random places, like along the shoulders of the interstates...and I'm sometimes confused as to what they are looking for...But whatever they do or don't see, the cameras that speckle the entire city will surely catch. You don't notice them at first, but once you start to see them, you notice them EVERYWHERE. Small ones (in the top right hand corner of every elevator), bigger ones shaped like black glass globes hang from tall posts and line the streets, they line the hallways of every department or grocery store you enter, they are in every lobby of every building, and they even are posted along the large boulevards and interstates as well. It's a bit confusing: are there people really monitoring every camera angle? If so, where is the headquarters and how many people does it take to watch every camera that lines every street in Beijing? Or every camera that lines every street in all of China?? Depending on the count, people say that there are anywhere from 12-17 million inhabitants here -- how on earth is it possible to monitor all of their movements at all times?? I can understand cameras in hotels, places of business, etc...but on the street??? So if they aren't really watching all of their cameras....then are they just used as intimidation tactics? Like if you think we're watching you, then you will behave?? Its just really weird....

I know that you probably don't want to read another long article online after having read this long post, but if for some odd reason you have insomnia or you have no life and you are more interested in this surveillance obsessed culture and how it's been aided by and now is being used as inspiration for our own "homeland security," there is a great article that outlines the plan and puts it into a very interesting context: global and local; individual and institutional; communist and capitalist; old and new...very fascinating (at least to me.) Here's the link: www.naomiklein.org

It's as if someone read Orwell's 1984 and thought: "That's a great idea! Let's implement that..." WEIRD.

BUT -- it's not all gray dusty skyscrapers and security cameras and Olympic propaganda. If you kind of look behind corners and off into the distance (if you can see it) and underneath whatever you can find to look underneath of, there are some moments of beauty. The past two days the haze has cleared up a bit (can you tell I'm writing this post over a series of days?) and as I was riding yesterday along the 5th ring road (the furthest out from the center of the city) lo and behold, I caught sight of mountains!! The sun was setting, and for the first time, a sunset was partially visible, due to presence of clouds -- it was amazing and so gorgeous. I literally exploded to the driver; "Look! Mountains!" He looked at me like who is this crazy large girl in my backseat showing me something that has been there forever....The silhouetted mountains with outlines of temples on top was shocking to my system after having been smothered by skyscrapers and construction sites for the past ten days. I had forgotten that outside the sprawl there exists land without buildings...it was refreshing and reassuring to be reminded that I am not getting sucked into a rabbit hole of concrete and dust!

When you are able to escape the world of construction and uber-modernity, the reminder of just how old this place is, is mind blowing. To think that people have existed here for over 2000 years is difficult to grasp. I think that as Americans, we tend to identify Europe as the "old world" and marvel at the history that is still visible in their big cities -- most notably their architecture and art museums...but this completely dwarfs that! The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 (after only 14 years of construction -- a fact which is so totally inconceivable when you walk around in that place), which was only 600 years ago -- but that was late in the game. There was 1,000 years worth of history before that -- or more, maybe -- I am by no means an expert on ancient Chinese history. But the most interesting thing to me, and the reason that I bring up the issue of Beijing being so old is that when you are standing inside of this huge city, you don't get that feeling of old age that you get when you stand in Rome or Paris or even New York City. It doesn't feel old because there is no architecture that has existed that long (save for the protected monuments: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Great Wall, etc.) I keep asking people to take me to an old part of the city, and I repeatedly get directed to go to the Forbidden City...not quite was I was looking for, but when I try to explain that, I run smack up against the brick wall that is the language barrier....The mantra of the Chinese people seems to be tear down and re-build. This goes for not just now (post Cultural Revolution), but I think it was the case even during the time of Mao. During that time, the idea of the Cultural Revolution was to start anew: one way to do this was to destroy all remnants of the past (including buildings) and begin with a fresh blank slate. Although the ideology of the Cultural Revolution is no longer officially espoused, it feels as though some of those sentiments remain, although are being applied a bit differently. The idea that it is more important to focus on the present rather than the past is strikingly apparent here in Beijing amidst Olympic furor. The government has been systematically tearing down old neighborhoods to make way for the influx of new architecture, but is doing so at the cost of losing a vital part of the character of the city....not to mention displacing hundreds of thousands of people -- but that is a completely separate discussion.

I think also that there is a bit of the "New Money" syndrome as well -- Countries (like people) when they come into money tend to buy flashy things and flaunt them with little regard for people or environmental concerns or....anything -- they are primarily focused on showing off their newly acquired funds. It feels as if there is a bit of this going on here as well -- which only fuels the destroy and re-create pattern.

Interestingly, poverty (which I know from everything that I read) abounds here -- of course, we all know that it abounds everywhere in the world. But unlike the rest of the countries and cities that I've been to (including every city I've ever visited in the US), it is difficult to spot poor neighborhoods inside of the major neighborhoods of Beijing. Maybe I don't get out of the hotel enough -- this is quite possible -- but it seems as though the government keeps these neighborhoods under wraps, to ensure the best possible outward impressions. it's hard to tell how much of this has been orchestrated for the benefit of the international travelers to the Games, or if this is just the way life in Beijing is...I'm sure my impressions of China will change drastically after I get out of Beijing and after the Games have come and gone: the international spotlight removed....

But for now, here I sit: in a hotel ballroom, surviving on room service and experiencing the hoopla of the Games from the sidelines, albeit much closer geographically...

(And don't tell anyone, but I'm secretly rooting for the Iraqi team!)

Until next time,
Your own personal Olympic correspondent...

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Known to some as Big Healthy, Grace Callahan is an event planner and world traveler based out of New Orleans, LA who writes on the side. To holler at Grace, e-mail her at: gracelovesneworleans@gmail.com.