Back from Beijing

I know that I have neglected everyone for almost a week, but the adjustment coming home was difficult. A 13 hour time change really messes up your sleep! Needless to say, I am a little under the weather. Although I have been back in the country for 6 days now.. I still wanted to share a few images from our last day in Beijing. 

We had to make a last shopping trip at the U.S.A. house. The only problem was, we weren't quite sure where it was.... pretty much like everywhere else we went. We took the subway to what we thought was close... pretty much NOT! It ended up being quite the walk, especially for the last day. BUT, I had to remind myself of my previous post as I complained about the heat and my exhausted feet.... so I kept my eyes open and grabbed some interesting shots.

I am starting to think this "stairs to nowhere" is something I need to pay attention to... does it mean something? Or maybe it's stairs to somewhere.. and if I work hard I will get there... ? Hmm.

Another interesting old bike.
I found it quite intriguing that there are so many old men that just have chairs they sit along the sidewalks.

Thank you for traveling with me through Beijing. I will have a gallery up on my website that will be some of my fav's from Mexico and Beijing. Feel free to let me know if something grabs your eye that you feel you must have :)

I have much more to blog..stay tuned!

Learning Experiences

There have been several new learning experiences for me in the past couple of days. If you really tune in, everyday something will come to light that could be in divine destiny. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and as we go down this path, God brings us places to learn something. For the past two days, everyone's patience has been seriously tested as we tried to make our way through Beijing. The process of getting a taxi, getting them to know where we need to go, the major communication barrier, and the actual ride take what seems like forever. Not to mention, by the time we get a cab, we are so hot from the walk, the people and the frustration that everyone is irritated. Well... on the surface, that is what you will see. I believe God tests us to see if we can push ourselves to make the most out of every situation. As we rode in the taxi for an HOUR to the Nike hospitality to eat for our first meal of the day at 5pm, everyone was hot, irritated, tired and hungry. I nodded off for a while, only to realize that we were STILL DRIVING!!! AHHH! Would this cab ride ever end?? But then I realized that as I was frustrated, I was missing this amazing local part of Beijing that the driver was going through. This was not the tourist area, but amazing for photos. I felt like God was saying,"Wake up, Jamie... you're missing it!" So for the rest of the ride I hung out the window grabbing every moment I could. 

Lesson learned: While your focusing on your disappointments and frustrations, something great is passing you by. Wake Up!

Last night, as well as tonight, we headed out to watch track and field. There have been some major upsets for the U.S. It was heart breaking to watch as the favorites missed a medal or even finals. 
A shot going through the local area. Just incase you don't know... many people ride bikes here... like with traffic and everything!
Love this shot.
As we went through a security line to get into the Stadium, this little girl peeked over at me. Maybe it had something to do with my paparazzi lens I had on at the time ;)
For those of you who do not follow track.. keep an eye out for this story as I am positive it will be in the papers or on the news regarding the Olympics. Tonight was one of the hardest things I have seen and would test me if I were competing. Wallace Spearman placed 3rd for a bronze medal in the Men's 200M. He was not favored to place as far as I know. As the top 3 places did a victory lap around the field, his was the most memorable. He ran up to Usain Bolt, (who broke Michael Johnson's world record!) picked him up as they cheered and laughed together. As he carried the american flag on his back... his excitement lit him up. As the victory lap came to an end, there was a message on the screen saying he was disqualified. Shani explained that it would have been for stepping on the lines as he ran. No matter what, this is going to be such a test for him. How disappointing!!! I pray that he finds a way to look out the window and push past this.

I climbed the Great Wall of China!

Let me start off by saying... thank you to everyone that has been following my travel experience to China. I LOVE comments as it makes me feel like someone out there somewhere is listening. I appreciate you taking time out to find out what I am up to, our check out my work.

Today was our second day with our private tour. By the way, private tours are the way to go. I couldn't imagine sitting on a huge bus with 50 hot and sweaty strangers, and trying to budge your way to the front to hear about the history of each site. Our experience has been great thus far. We began our tour at the copper factory where they HAND MAKE copper vases, statues and more. The coolest part of the tour was that we got to see, step by step, how they were made. As we walked through the halls, I peered in each doorway to take in my entire surroundings. I felt like I was in an old, old building that would be some kind of museum in the U.S. With my camera attached to my hip, I photographed almost every step I took as each one got more interesting. Everywhere I turned I found something new to capture.

There are many steps in the process of making each piece. What an experience to be able to walk through and watch them paint these copper pieces.


As we made our way into our next stop at the Ming Tombs we t0 make sure to follow certain instructions according to the Chinese superstitions. In order to let the past emperors that are buried here know that we were just paying a visit, we had to pass through a certain gate stepping with our right foot first and saying, "Hello, we are just here for a visit". This ensured that we would not be staying there. (Men had to step in with their left foot) Before we left, we had to walk through the same gate, the same way and say goodbye. We also had to make sure that we did not take any bad spirits with us on our way out. To get rid of them before we passed the gate, we could stomp our feet or do a little dance. We danced as a group :)
Stairs to heaven?

Next stop was the great wall. Nothing needs to be said except for breath taking.
I climbed to the top! Ok... so I took a cable ride up most of the way.. but I did climb a ton of stairs and flat slopes that were at a unreal angle. 
We finished the night with a chinese acrobat show. This was a quick shot I took before they told me not to take any pictures. I love these types of shows. Not quite Cirque de Soliel.. but it was a very entertaining show.
Tomorrow will be another shopping day and track at night. Thanks for tuning into "Jamie in Beijing!" :)

The Forbidden City

Yesterday we had a private tour of the Forbidden City, the Summer Garden, the Pearl Factory and Silk Factory. It was quite the experience and I learned a great deal of Chinese history. The stories behind every building, bridge, walkway, and entrance pulled you in more and more as the tour went by. I listened very attentively for just about 9 hours!!! (Quite exhausting actually.. hence why I am blogging the next day and not last night... I was knocked out as soon as I got back).

With all that said, I can't help but start out my blog with all of these cute Chinese children I saw throughout the day. 

I love this shot of these best friends..

One of the beautiful parts of the forbidden city. Check out the blue sky :)

A quick stop for an entertaining family photo. Christmas card??
Red and Gold are the chosen colors of China. At one time, the emperor was the only one allowed to wear gold. If you wore it during this time, it showed that you were trying to test his power... he didn't like it.. so he took care of it... you do the math. 

Summer Palace Tranquility

Today, we made a trip to the Pearl Market. This is basically 8 floors of chaos. You wheel-n-deal your way to a new purse, shirt, necklace, camera... just about anything your heart desires. They actually will physically pull you into their little sector of their stands... it was hilarious! We got some great deals and laughed for 3 hours straight as we ran down the aisles. 

The bottom image is Mena, the younger sister, being completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff to look at. 
After a FULL day of shopping.. we headed off to the track meet in the Bird's Nest. It is such an amazing experience seeing so many amazing athletes break records, win medals, and stand up for their country as their flag is raised and national anthem is played. I come close to tears almost every time... and it won't even be our country! Lol. Don't be too jealous though... cuz our seats tonight were on the edge of the top of the bird's nest.. yes waaayy up there!

Luckily, we have good seats for the other two days we are going to see.

Here is Shani checking out the women as they get ready for the 100 meter semi-finals.
The city just glows at night. It was a beautiful walk on an unusual cool night in Beijing.
Tomorrow we are off for another tour... Great Wall of China...and many other things. Good night!

An Adventurous Day

Early this morning, we had the opportunity to see women's individual all-around gymnastics.

It was quite the cab ride/walk/heat etc to get to it.. but it was well worth it. 

This is Nastia Luikin (the gold medalist) on bars. She is amazing and so fun to watch.

Before the awards ceremony, all of the Olympic mascots came out and gave us a show. This pic is for my sister Megan who loves these guys. 
This is our Olympian Shani, and my bestest best friend, before she got back on the bus to get ready for her competition.
The rest of the day was very time consuming with trying to get taxis, riding in taxis and a LOT of walking!!! People pretty much just stand in the streets trying to get a taxi. You also have to be very assertive to grab one otherwise there is someone right behind you who wants it more than you do.
We had a chance to go to the Hometown Hospitality which is for family and friends of Olympic athletes. Everything was FREE FREE FREE! Good food, free computers and internet, and free MASSAGES! Yes that's right... I got a much needed back massage today! 

The place is beautiful. Here are some of my favorite touches...

I found this wall that I love love loved and made them take a family shot before we headed off to see Shani.
I know everyone has had a chance to see the outside of the "Birds Nest" which is that amazing stadium where the opening ceremonies took place... BUT I am positive that no one has seen the stairs you must climb in order to get to your seats. That's right folks... no escalators. So to say the least.. I burned mucho calories today :)

This is my favorite image of the day. The Chinese people are so loud and so proud of every single athlete that partakes in the Olympics. 
As we made it back from our long day, I received an email that Shani was the top story in our paper back home. The image filled my eyes with tears as I could see the hurt, frustration, and disappointment in her eyes. Pictures do tell a thousand words, but only she knows the extent of them all. No matter what the paper says, the news stations, the coaches, other athletes, or even she says, she is still the most motivated and inspiring person I know. God has a plan for each and every one of us... and he has given her a gift that has changed her life forever. In the process of making this Olympic dream come true, she has brought me along for the ride. I am so proud of you, Shani. I love you.

Check out her story on the startribune.

Welcome to Beijing!!

Hello All! I know everyone is wondering if I possibly was lost out in the middle of Mexico somewhere since I haven't posted since then.  I actually got home a little over a week ago and have been the busiest person ever. Everyday my planner was filled was to-do lists ( I am slightly obsessed with making them and crossing things out when they are finished ;) ). I had a couple of sessions, many emails, and a birthday party to plan. Happy belated birthday Tony! I swear I was going to blog that day, but I was too busy on your scavenger hunt! 

Anyways, for those of you who know ... my best friend, Shani Marks, made it to the Olympics in triple jump. SO... being the BFF that I am... I just got into Beijing with her family.

I stayed up the ENTIRE night before we left trying to get ready for the drastic time change. 

(13 hours different from home) Although I did sleep through most of the 13 hour flight, I did get a chance to see that we flew over the North Pole.. at one point the water was completely covered in ice. It was beautiful.
When we finally arrived, we took a loooonnngg cab ride to pick up tickets and to the hotel. I think we finished out at about 2 and a half hours. Here is Mena checking out the sites.
Shani's husband, Ron, has a "Chinese for Dummies" book and was set on speaking to the cab driver. It was quite amusing as the cab driver was happy to teach us the correct pronunciation for things. Quite entertaining! 

I think the most entertaining moment of the day was when Gloria, Shani's mom, was looking through Shani's camera at all of her cool pictures from the opening ceremony and fell asleep in like 2 seconds.. camera still in hand. She was a narcoleptic and couldn't control it. I guess thats what jet lag does to you.

We did finally make it to the hotel. Had some dinner... $36 for 7 people. I don't have any idea how.. but yes $36. Now I am going to finally go to bed. Side note..if these beds had a sleep number it would be 500. Ha. They are very hard. I think I will be so tired that I wont notice tonight.

Women'sgymnastics individual all around in the morning and Shani's triple jump in the eve. I believe it will be televised so check on nbc.com. I will update you tomorrow night!