olympics diary.... ATHLETICS~

the main stadium.... the "birds nest".... i went to 2 sessions of the athletics in the birds nest... it was quite an experience.... the events i saw werent that great.... alot of qualifying... for javelin, long jump, 200m, decathlon.....

i went to the birds nest twice... and i'd have to say... the experience i had at the two sessions were quite "different".... the first days i went there, the weather was FANTASTIC~!!! it was really hot.... but at least inside the stadium, i was sitting in the shade....

again, i was draped in my flags... although it was hard to find any decent korean or australian competitors in the stadium....

the women's 200m heats was the only track events i saw on the first day.... and the women's javelin qualifying... well..... i'd have to say... some of the competitors... i was surprised they were even in the olympics!


the second day i went to the birds nest.... well it was more like a "bird bath". it poured... and poured.... and my shoes and socks were all soggy.... it took almost an hour waiting in line just to get past the security to get into the olympic green....

also the 2nd day at the "bird bath" was cut short, coz i needed to get a 2pm flight back to yantai to get back to work by 4pm... (of course, i was late to work)....

all in all, the birds nest was just another stadium.... some people say it looks really cool.... but actually... its just "different".... its quite ugly when u actually see it.... but i guess i HAD to go... since its the olympics.... it was good to have a couple of sessions in the main stadium.....

still.... the field hockey was the best event, best atmosphere for the olympics~!!! ^^

olympics diary.... BASEBALL~

on the 2nd morning in beijing, we went to the wukesong baseball field to watch KOREA take on Taiwan...

there was extreeeeeeeeme security, and they had to open everyone's flags too, because they didnt want anyone waving the taiwanese flag.... and they had great fears that people would protest at the taiwanese games.....

during the 7th inning stretch, the FUWA's came out to dance.... the mascots! anyways.... the black one fell over... then as i was taking a photo of it, he got up, and the picture i ended up taking was an absolute kodak moment.... haha


the koreans until this game were undefeated.... and actually (real time) tonight.... they won the gold medal!!! they beat cuba with a double play on loaded bases in the bottom 9th inning.... and they won 3-2.... soooooooooooooo awesome!!!!!!!

the korean pitcher in 99, RYU Hyun Jin.... he pitched a blinder of a game... and the koreans are now the olympic gold medalists!!! and they will be the reigning olympic champions for a while now... since baseball is out of the london olympics...

Korea.... baseball champions!!! gold medalists~~ brilliant!

olympics diary.... FIELD HOCKEY~

back from beijing... and back to my final week of work....

more shit stories from work... but lets not dwell on the shit parts of this wonderful week~ haha

i had a few random people wanting to take photos with me in beijing.... purely because of what i was wearing.... 2 flags.... a korean and an aussie flag.... one as a cape.... one as a skirt.... (depending on which events i was watching).... and i was wearing a LA hat.... so some guys from perth said i was 'confused'.... i'd say its just 'identity crisis'.... sounds more sophisticated~ haha

i watched the australia vs netherlands hockey match... was AWESOME~~ got totally drunk before the game.... and by the end of the game, i was so pumped and confused that i had an awesome time.... haha

most of the events were half empty (or half full).... and that was coz so many people were trying to scalp tickets.... the tickets were originally sold for around 30~50rmb.... but the scalpers were trying to sell them for 2000~6000rmb.... which meant that most chinese couldnt afford it... and also there were so many cops stopping scalpers that in the end, we had empty stadiums....

luckily for the hockey, the people who were monitoring the entrance were piss weak and had no idea... so most of the people sat together in their groups of fans.... actually, i found out that i didnt even have tickets to the aussie game.... i had tickets to the germany vs spain game... but i just walked into the aussie game....

after watching the korea vs spain game, i also just walked over to the other stadium.... while i was walking over, i changed my red shirt to a yellow shirt.... changed my korean and aussie flags... then told the ticket people i left my ticket inside and i came out to get beers.....

i got in~~~ watched the aussies vs the poms too~!!! haha

so i had tickets for 2 different days at the field hockey, but both days, i ended up going to both hockey stadiums watching korea and australia, and i also got a big, orange, inflatable hockey stick (that looks like a candy cane) from one of the dutch chicks at the stadium.....

the total price paid for all of this.... 2 x 30 rmb = 60 rmb.... not even 10 aussie bucks!!! sweeeeeeeeeeet~~

going home....

and after waiting and waiting at the visa office with great frustration, i returned to work only to hear from the boss that i'll need to do it again next month....

u see.... while other people got 3 month visas in july, he left mine till late.... left it till the last minute, and now i can only get a 1 month visa.... so i told him... im not going to f**king wait 8 hours in a visa office for another 1 month visa....

he asked me, what would i do without a visa.... i said... "easy... go home!"

well, once i heard i was getting a one month visa, i was going to a "sonny bill willams" move and just disappear one weekend.... then i would be getting back at my boss, coz he leaves everything till the last minute, he gives us last minute information (eg. today, i was told at 10am that i had a new class at 2pm).... so if i just suddenly left here without notice, then he'd be screwed over by having no teachers to cover my classes....

before i leave, i did also plan to lock the academy from the INSIDE, with my bike lock.... haha (that is still in the plans)....

anyways, im going home~ back to sydney... probably for a year and a bit MAX.... then unless things really blossom and life in sydney can match the excitement and comfort of asia.... well, i think i'll be back in china or korea in 2010... but until then, i wanna play some freakin' golf and baseball.... before i told my boss im quitting, i'd already looked into when the baseball season starts... and i dont want to miss the sept. 13 start.... so i'll be back before then~~

^^

hmmm... if im not in china.... then what do i call my blog??

Beijing Huan Ying Ni.... Opening Ceremony!

the day has come.... 08-08-08 8pm....

opening ceremony time....!!!

altho i had already seen little bits and pieces of it because a korean cameraman had secretly filmed it last week.... it was still nice to watch the real thing.... as real as china gets.....

i went to hywel (canadian guy)'s house to watch the ceremony.... it was nice... the apartment was decorated with our flags.... furniture re-arranged.... u see.... we ALL have waaaaaaaaaaay too much time.... and he cooked for us again.... and we just kept drinking from 8pm until.... now.....

this is when KOREA entered the opening ceremony..... by now, i was pretty drunk..... haha.....

and by the time australia entered.... i was calling kevin rudd, "kev".....

he has screwed up AGAIN~!!

and the plot thickens....

with my visa coming to an end on August 13th... and my olympic tickets dated for events on the 17th~21st... clearly, i need a new visa before heading to beijing...

it was suggested, and suggested, and suggested to my boss that i should renew my visa in July... because the chinese govt has become so tight over visas, it was obvious they were going to get even tighter in August.... my boss's response, "its ok... dont worry"

he wanted to re-apply for my visa at the end of this week... then i can get my passport back at the end of next week, 2 days before i have to go to beijing.... i wasnt going to f**king leave it to the last minute like that... so i told him to do it NOW....

and so today, after spending 6 hours at the visa office.... i didnt get my visa.... came back to work, told my boss that he'd f**ked up all over again, because... no more visa renewals for our school in August... coz so many teachers renewed in July, they thought that is all of it....

now he is saying that i will have to goto korea on sunday.... and apply for a chinese visa in korea.... but clearly at the moment, u can only get chinese visas in ur "home country"... and i have an australian passport.... but my boss says, "its ok.... i know some people there... and i rang them, and they said its ok...."

seriously.... it looks difficult, but i still have a slim hope of going to the olympics... but im still this f**king pissed off.... so..... later this week, if im CERTAIN that i CANT goto the olympics... well.... someone is going to seriously cop it..... and i think that someone knows who he is....

i have a chinese friend here who has tickets to the KOREA vs CAMEROON soccer game on thursday... (2 days later).... and she cant go.... so she offered me her tickets.... but i have to work....

so here's the plan... i personally ring the chinese embassy in korea tomorrow.... i ask them if i can get a chinese visa with an australian passport in korea.... and if they say no, well, on thursday, im going to the soccer game.... and then tearing this school down.... if they say i can get a visa, i goto the olympics as planned, then quit straight after....

i've had enough of this stupid incapable retarted admin at our school.... its like im boarded on the sinking titanic..... and while people are stressed at the lack of management skills, the captain is saying, "everything is ok... its ok.... its under control..." BULLSH!T