First Impressions

Well, it is now 5am in the morning and I have successfully made the trek to Beijing! The flight over was surprisingly good and not too painful. To summarize and make for easy reading, I have compiled a list of necessities (helpful hints if you will) if you want to survive the long flight to China with comfort, ease and arrive at you destination in style. Here is what you need:

1. A great friend that works for the airline you are flying with.... I was able to be upgraded to "economy plus" which gave me 6 extra inches of legroom - and I was in an exit row to boot! Thanks Liz!
2. Noise canceling earphones. I love my iPod, but would be nothing without my earphones... what screaming baby 3 rows ahead of me???? I can't hear a thing.
3. Have the 300 pound man who is wedged in between you miraculously moved to an aisle seat. This one was amazing! (Especially because said 300 pound man had a creep-tacular handlebar mustache and probably lurked in bushes for a living)
4. Ignore everyone else on the plane...especially the man in your row that insists on wearing a mask to keep germs out, but then proceeds to sneeze numerous times, without taking the mask off... it is better to remain as oblivious as possible.
5. Have your friend that works at a bookstore give you a great light read for the plane... when you realize that it is a kids book about the holocaust just go with it! (Thanks Starr! - very uplifting!).
6. SLEEPING PILLS!!! Stay up the night before and keep yourself awake until they serve the first meal (I know you are shocked, but yes, the airlines will actually feed you if you are flying to China! I think it has something to do with international laws on torture - they are not allowed to go more than 12 hours without feeding you.... but don't get cocky about it... they still won't give you that extra bag of pretzels) Once you finish the meal pop a couple of sleeping pills- my pills of choice are Tylenol Simply Sleeps (over the counter and non-habit forming..... or so they tell me). Once you pop those little blue bundles of sleepy goodness you will be off to never-never-land. If you do happen to wake up during the flight... take MORE! (recommended dosages are just a guide line people!). On a side note: I discovered that if a sleeping pill dissolves accidentally on your tongue, your entire mouth will go numb... a fun party trick that will keep you entertained for at least 15 minutes of the flight.
7. A toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant - it is worth investing the 1.99 on a travel size tube of toothpaste (and if you go for a solid deodorant it won't be confiscated at airline security). Trust me... you will want to brush the sweaters off your teeth, and get rid of that 'not so fresh feeling' under your arms. Once you do, you will be refreshed and smell better to boot (I am not going to lie and say you will smell like roses - you have been on a plane for 13+ hours people - get real).

Ok - so I survived the plane ride and it actually wasn't that bad. I had a couple of colleagues (Eloisa and Madeline) on my flight, so it was nice to have someone to figure things out with once we made it. When I got to Beijing, I have to say that I was impressed. The new airport is HUGE and pristine. State of the art. And man were there people! I can't even imagine what it will be like once the games actually begin. We also met up with other people that will be working with us... here is how you meet other colleagues in China that you don't know - You stare at anyone that is not Chinese for long enough and then ask them if they are with Jet Set Sports... surprisingly enough, 9 times out of 10 you will be right! It was so bizarre, but I guess when you figure that a staff of 300+ is all arriving on the same day, you are bound to run into someone.

(Another side note - oh, if you haven't figured it out, I tell stories in tangents - I was also approached by 4 different people asking if I was with Jet Set when I got to my hotel... It sounds bad, but it is so true, you basically know that anyone that is not Chinese and is speaking English is here for the games and is probably working with you).

So back to the airport. The Passport line was crazy (see picture), and the part that I found the funniest/scariest was that there are actually little buttons at the customs agent's booth that ask you to rate his or her service... OK, I may not be the swiftest, but as if I am going to give the customs guy that is letting me into a communist country a bad report... can anyone say rubber gloves?

At this point, I was feeling good and not too jet-lagged (sleeping pills are the way to go!) which was a good thing, because my trek was far from over. Eloisa and I were staying at the same hotel so we hopped in a cab and were off. My first impressions coming into Beijing... TRAFFIC!! It was crazy (not to mention the stellar driving). I have no idea how it will work during Games Time - everyone will have to leave for their event 2 days early... but it will be interesting to see if they pull it off.

Eloisa and I tried to talk to our cabbie on our way to the Beijing International Hotel and other than when we made sprinkler noises and imitated the watering of the grass which he thoroughly enjoyed... it was pretty much a one way conversation. Once we arrived at the hotel it turned out that they did not have my reservation on file... always what you want to hear after cancelled flights, getting up ridiculously early and travelling for a day and a half... After a half an hour where the hotel was on the line with my employers I was put into a beautiful room... only to have them come and knock on the door 5 minutes later telling me I had to move.

These things happen. Travel days are not that fun and never glamorous. I just figured that with the cancelled and delayed flights that I dealt with before leaving Toronto that some good Karma was bound to come my way.... I was wrong. Off I went across town to my new hotel. Another cab ride and another scintillating conversation.

The move wasn't too bad, I mean I am now at the Ritz Carlton... not too shabby. But I will have to move again in 10 days to some undisclosed location... I am trying to be mysterious, but with my luck it will probably be the econolodge Beijing.

The first thing I did upon entering my room was have a shower!!!! Ahhh that was the best part of the trip so far - the bathroom is spectacular and I could have a bath standing up the tub is so deep. The toilet and shower are in their own little cubicles respectively, but there is one weird thing.... they have full length mirrors right across from the toilet, so if you are sitting on it you are staring at yourself, and they have a full length mirror in the shower.... these are not sights that I need to be confronted with first thing in the morning.

After showering and getting settled, it was already after 8pm. I was supposed to be meeting an old friend of mine that I worked with at the winter olympics for dinner, but he had to work late and couldn't meet up until 9pm, so I figured I would do what was best and just crash for the night. I said hello to my little friend the sleeping pill and it was night night for me. Of course I woke up at 4:30am... but I feel great.

Today is the first real day and I have a staff meeting and uniform pick-up at 8am. It will be interesting meeting everyone and a little hectic too no doubt but should be fun. I am sure I will return with more stories. The hotel is so good that they took it upon themselves to arrange a bus for all of us staying here to take us to our meeting today because they thought they would not have enough taxis to get us all there in time. How cool - not just because they are nice, but because now I don't have to think!...always a good thing.