Well it's all over. I am writing this from my home computer. The Olympics have ended. My last full day in Beijing was spent getting ready to leave. I returned to Yashow better prepared to haggle for luggage. I got a great price 250 yaan for a giant new suitcase. Actually I didn't haggle at all. That's Cierra's job. Unfortunately it served to remind me that I paid twice as much for fake Puma sneakers. I then promptly left Yashow. We went to Waufujing AGAIN to do some last minute Fuwa/t-shirt shopping and so the Neville's could try the Night Market. They were total punks. They ate nothing adventurous. I don't even know why we bothered to go.
Our last Olympic event was Women's Basketball gold medal game. We got the tickets to guarantee we saw at least one U.S. Gold at the Olympics. However by then we had all seen several US Golds and other medals. But it's basketball! Plus it was us v. the evil Aussie's who were out in full force and actually thought they could win. Crazy Aussies. Well surprise surprise it was a blowout. It wasn't even close. Since the result was fairly clear after the first quarter I spent the rest of the time checking out the men's team through my binoculars. (FYI the guys go to the girls games and the girls go to the guys games. It's required by US basketball.) The Chinese who inexplicably love all things Kobe were trying hard to get to him. The poor little volunteers had to work during half time to keep the masses away. However quite a few scandalous looking chicks got through. They got to sit on Kobe's lap. It was probably the highlight of their foolish little lives. To give the guys credit though a lot of them were there with their kids and they really did seem to be focused on the game. They gave Lisa Leslie a standing ovation when she fouled out so I forgave them their whorishness. Team USA including Lisa waved at us while they were getting their medals. We have a giant American flag and we were in a sparcely populated secton so we were very easy to see. Plus all three of us had basketball shades, cowboy hats, face stickers and leis. It doesn't hurt that we are incredibly loud. It gets us a lot of athlete love. The Star-spangled Banner just sounds so much better after you deliver an ass-whopping to another country. I left the Stadium on quite a high talking trash to every Aussie I saw.
They next day we hoped on a plane and flew 13 hrs to DC. We arrived early to the Beijing airport luckily because our flight left an hour and a half early. This may seem strange but apparently China had decided to shut down the airspace for some VIP's and we had to leave before them. I feel sorry for anyone who wasn't early since there is only one United flight a day. This is something the Chinese do regularly. While we were in the Forbidden City they started closing off doors and separated our tour group. The reason they gave was just VIP's coming. VIP's apparently can do anything in China including trapping people in ancient buildings.
All in all I thought China was fantastic. The weather was lovely. The city was beautiful and the people were very friendly. Sometimes a little too friendly with all the photo taking (we stopped counting at 30something a few days ago. A dozen at the basketball game alone) but still very nice. Sure the hotel had strange quirks, no one speaks English and they think if they just yell the Mandarin you will somehow understand it. Finding a non-squatting bathroom was difficult. Shops were unbearably crowded and people robbed me blind. They lack so many freedoms they don't even know what their missing. Overall though I think I may visit China again one day. Maybe Shanghai next time since I've seen Beijing. I had fun and am glad I went. It was worth the year of saving. I am also happy to be home in my dryer having house with a soft bed. China's cool and all but America will always be number 1! Hell let's be honest the rest of the world can't hold a candle to us. GO U.S.A.!!!!!
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