Just 8 days until departure! The packing has gone nowhere over the past week, but the excitement levels sure have skyrocketed! I got my final packet from NBC in the mail a couple days ago with my NBC credentials and my Visa to get into China. My Visa is actually another credential in and of itself that allows me access to all of the competition and training venues while I'm there, as well as giving me prime event access, which I'm not exactly sure of the meaning, but it sounds pretty exciting and at least somewhat exclusive for the media. I also found out that I'm staying in the Media Village area in Beijing, which is basically across the street from the pool and the site where the Today Show is going to be filming.
The building that the pool itself is in looks amazing. I've googled it hundreds of times because I just can't get enough of looking at it. The outside is built to look like bubble wrap, and it's nicknamed "The Watercube" because it lights up all in blue light at night. The inside features a state-of-the-art, top-notch $150 million International Competition pool. It's being called the "cool" building of the Games that is said to be changing the face of architecture when it comes to athletic complexes. And I get to work at it every day for the next month!In the meantime, I've been studying up on some Chinese words and phrases. I think I've mastered at least 3 important phrases: "My name is", "Where is the bathroom", and "Please help, I'm lost." My final packet came with a little pocket pack that has maps of the Beijing subway, a map of the entire Olympic area of Beijing, and some common and important Chinese phrases. I also just bought a travel size "Mandarin Chinese At A Glance" book, so I think I should be set. The next step is actually working up the confidence to use the language while I'm over there instead of being fearful of looking and sounding like a dumb American tourist! I've read, though, that Chinese people are very appreciative of any attempt by an American to learn their language, so hopefully people will recognize this early effort I'm putting into it.
I had a long conversation with my internship coordinator from my school to tie up any loose ends or resolve any questions I had left lingering in my mind before I leave. She walked me through the basics, but also gave me a couple bits of very bad news. The first: lack of communication by phone. I don't know what I'm going to do if I have no way of calling home while I'm over there! And the second, and worse of the two: laptop use is strongly discouraged for NBC workers. I guess the Chinese government is so strict that they monitor every word you type on any computer or send over any network, as well as give themselves access to every file on your computer, and they will likely open everything and question anything. I was told that there will be computers in my housing complex in the Media Village, but even there I have to be careful with every word I say, so e-mailing people and posting frequent blogs would be extremely difficult, unfortunately. I do, however, have a back-up plan (I'm a journalist; we know no other way than to have a Plan B...or C or D or E, for that matter). For right now, the goal is to write a letter home every night after work and have it in snail mail by the next day. Although it's overseas mailing, I've been assured that letters will arrive home quickly. When my mom at home receives my letters, she will transcribe them for me and post them here on my blog. Entries will be posted about a week later than things will actually be happening, I'm assuming, but it's better than nothing, and it's certainly a way to keep you homefolks updated.
So be prepared for a little bit of a time lapse. Every word on here will still be coming directly from me while I am in Beijing, but they will come up late. I plan to update the entire blog with photos and additional comments when I return home to the States, so keep an eye out for that even after I return (my return date is August 27th).
Zai djiehn! (That's Mandarin for goodbye...see, I'm a pro!)
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