I wasn't that motivated on my last day of work. To label books anyway. I did enough books to stack and make a pile in front of me so no one could see me, in the selfish effort to read my book, Oracle Bones. It was one of the books Maxime desired us to read so to be ready for our Chinese history workshop during debriefing. That, and just to read in general so to understand China. They've been really helpful and I suggest them to anyone desiring to understand China sans visiting. I had lunch with Yuchan and Lynsday and went shopping with them in the afternoon. Near Xizhemen, we shopped for clothes. They reminded me I needed a nice dress shirt for our farewell party, and I asked them to help me. They were helpful, but it still felt like a mistake. They insisted on this shirt, or that shirt, none of which felt like "me" I hate wearing clothes that I don't feel comfortable in. I stopped being someone else after high school, and to have someone insist on wearing a shirt that wasn't my style felt a bit like an insult. I know they didn't mean it and they were being helpful. I could have been a little more cooperative though. I sucked it up and bought a shirt. Now, I can look like every other Chinese poser in the clubs! I didn't stay in the mall long, and decided to spend the rest of the sunny afternoon visiting Beihai Park, another stop on my to-do list. I made a sarcastic remark to a girl about having to pay like 4 tickets to see everything at an attraction, which she knew about. We began talking and next thing you knew, 2 hours went by. We walked around the park, talking a lot about China. I gave Anne-Marie my number. Still got it. And I didn't have to wear a silly shirt!
I wore that shirt the next day to our final EAD, the Olympic EAD. Jamie and Jonathon did a good job and put on a good EAD. There was lots of information, from the history to the olympics to the political and environmental agendas attached. In the afternoon, we went to the Birds Nest stadium. Or tried to. It's still under construction for crying out loud! The park area anyway. We couldn't get close, so we took pictures from afar. We even saw the neighboring Water Cube in the distance! Alas, they would not remain in the distance out of reach. That night, we went partying, staying in a hotel. It was an alright night. Dinner at the same Russian restaurant, we stayed for a bit of a house party at Michelles, and then went out. From meeting cute 30 year old lawyers to almost getting run over by trucks in a random construction yard, it was a good night. It was quite the coincedence meeting up with our other half of the group who had stayed at Michelles at the same club late at night! But we all partied together until late. Yuchan had informed us earlier that she met a guy who designed the logo for the Water Cube, and he could give us a tour! Felix was going to the Summer Palace, which I also wanted to do, but I would never get another chance to go to the Water Cube. This was too perfect, especially considering we couldn't see it or the Birds Nest at the EAD that day. We went out the next morning, with only a minor case of a certain person getting lost in another subway station. We made it to the meeting point where her friend picked us up. The Water Cube is one of the large swimming gymnasiums for the Olympics. In fact, it's not even open to the public until AFTER the Olympics! We were very fortunate. We were toured around, seeing the pool and other areas of the stadium. It's unique because it's a new conceptual architural design, and is actually environmentally friendly! It's made of large special plastic bubbles that are inflated with air constantly. It was really cool, especially knowing we got a sneak peak of what many will not get to see it for a long time!
No comments:
Post a Comment