Through the storm

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:06:00 GMT

Thank you everyone for your prayers.  My daughter made it through the storm safely.  She stayed with her roommate's parents in the northern part of Houston.  She said it was a very scary night.  It sounded like trains going by.  The house was rattling. Things were knocking up against the windows, the wind was howling.  And, of course, all of this was in the dark because there was no power.  But the house remained intact and she and everyone else inside came through it okay.  By morning she said there were about 20 huge trees uprooted in and near the yard.  There was so much debris you couldn't distinquish the yard from the street.  She's now back at her place closer to town and she has electricity, but many people still don't.  Life has not fully returned to normal in Houston, yet.  Many many people are still picking up the pieces, and will be for a long time.   

A Worried Mom

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:39:00 GMT

Hurricane Ike is now personal.

My daughter, Kristen, lives in Houston as a grad student.  This morning my mother, her grandmother, woke me up insisting we get Kristen out of harm's way - fly her out of Houston asap!   Her call was followed by my call to Kristen where I spent about an hour grilling her on her plans for the storm... AND looking online for flights to Atlanta from Houston.  Really expensive!  And with the airports closing in the afternoon and already full planes it wasn't a very good option.  I had to come to terms with the fact that my child was, at this late hour, staying in the Ike strike zone - Houston. Fortunately her roommate's parents live north of the city and that's where Kristen will ride out the storm.  That was a relief!  But then, in a phone conversation on the air with me tonight at 6 she says she's at the friend's "Hurricane Party." WHAT?! His Houston house is right in the path of the storm and he's not leaving.  Not smart.   I made her promise right there on the air to get out of there as soon as we got off the phone.  Hmmmm. I can only pray she really does that, though I know my child's no dummy and she gets the seriousness of this storm. Still,  a worried mom does what a worried mom has to do.  I'll be praying for the next many hours AND I'll be talking to her by phone throughout the night.

Smooth Jazz and Water!

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:29:00 GMT

Before we left Atlanta I’d arranged to meet up with two former Atlanta jazz musicians.  They were playing a gig at a hotel here in Beijing. I wanted to do a story.  Last night we finally met.  Phil Morrison and Keith Williams are playing at the newly opened Hilton Hotel Wangfujing. 

The hotel is palatial, albeit a bit hard to find. It’s off a main street, around the corner down a darkly lit small street and around the corner again on a smaller darkly lit street that the hotel share’s with a construction site. When our cab pulled up the public relations staffer was standing outside waiting for us. A little context here – this is the lady who, once she learned we were coming to do an interview, sent me an “itinerary” of our evening which reads as follows:

                        Ms Brenda Wood Itinerary for Hilton Beijing Wangfujing Visit

 20:00 (8:00pm) – Pre- dinner drinks in the Flames Lounge – Mixologists will arrange a selection of drinks and light taste impressions pairings.  Ms. Wood to interview resident band.

21:00 – Dinner in Vasco’s – Chef de Cuisine Ricardo Bizarro along with Beijing’s first water sommelier Forest Zhao, will create a tantalizing degustation menu pairing fine waters, wines and Macanese cuisine

 Wow! It’s just a little shoot with a couple of interviews and some video.  I had to do some Google searching before I could even go!  What is “degustation?” And, “water sommelier?”  Macanese cuisine?  “Taste impressions pairings?   My sophistication  score is a big fat zero here.  But from this itinerary I knew we were in for an interesting evening.

She escorts us in.  The lobby is gorgeous.  Modern crystal chandeliers everywhere, lots of marble, trendy furniture, a fragrant aroma. (I’m ready to check-in).  We’re taken up to the 5^th floor to the Flames Lounge where Phil and Keith are playing.  They give us a warm Atlanta-like welcome with hugs and big smiles.  We quickly felt right at home with them.  The lady then directed us to a private area of the lounge where we could sit and do the interview.  It wasn’t long before a silver tray of champagne was brought to us.  I don’t know much about champagne but I’m guessing this was the expensive stuff because the tiny bubbles were rising from the bottom of the glass for a half hour, it seems.  Peanuts were on the table.  Not sure this was the “light taste impressions pairings,” but I am not complaining.  Already this counts as the most elegant treatment we’ve had since we got here.  Little did we know it would get better.

We finished our interview. Phil and Keith agreed to play the song they’d written for the Beijing Games.  It won an award in a competition that the Beijing Olympic Committee had sponsored.  Keith on piano. Phil on the bass.  Just the two of them, but it was just enough to create a lilting Asian influenced jazz vibe.  The lady kept coming back to check on us for when to serve dinner.  But as Keith and Phil played more songs all we wanted to do, (for David, after he finished shooting), was sit still, relax and soak up the smooth jazz sounds.  They sang their beautiful original song, "When Dogwoods Bloom in Atlanta." We were getting home sick.  But this moment was as close as we were going to get to Georgia, and it was good.

When the lady showed up the third time we asked if we could have our dinner there in the lounge.  I know she probably wasn’t happy since that messed up her itinerary but she politely agreed.

The next 45 minutes or so, David and I concur, was the icing on the cake on what was already the coolest night we’d had in Beijing.  I’d told them ahead of time that I was vegetarian. I made it clear David was not.  My first course was a fancy dish of mini tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette and herbs.  David’s was an olive sampling. 

Then the water sommelier came out. He explained the distinct difference between sparkling and still water and what foods each should be paired with.  He then opened a blue bottle of sparkling Perrier for us to sample, then offered a glass of VOSS sparkling water. Hmmm.  Not sure I got the big difference between the two. He poured more waters.  And we drank and drank, glass after glass, looking serious- the “water tasters” that we were. 

The main course arrived.  David had a big fat steak!  I had yellow squash and chives in cream cheese fried into a “vegetable flower blossom.”  On the side, chopped bok choy with fried egg on small pieces of bread.  The description doesn’t do it justice. It actually was very good.  I didn’t hear much from David once his steak came.  When he finished he said it was “d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!”

All this while we listened to the smooth sounds of live jazz performed by two Atlantans, (a female vocalist later joined them), relaxing in a chic lounge in a luxurious new hotel in the grand Olympic city of Beijing.  Now THIS is living the life!

A dessert sampler topped it off, but we were already savoring the sweetness of this special night in Beijing. 

We didn’t see the lady anymore but we will always remember the royal treatment she afforded us all for an interview with a couple of Georgia musicians.

 

Angelo's Gold - Atlanta in the House!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:14:00 GMT

The days are like a whirlwind and yet last week seems like a month ago.  Long hours at work and little sleep are beginning to take their toll.  At times I feel like I’m sleep walking.  But there’s still work to be done, five more Olympic days to go.

For a moment last night, though, my exhaustion was put to rest.

I packed up my work bag, shut off my computer and headed for the Bird’s Nest.  Atlanta’s Angelo Taylor was in the finals of the 400m hurdles tonight and I thought it would be cool to see it in person.  Besides, I was determined to get into the media mix zone so I could get an interview, just in case he medaled.  I left poor David behind, editing.

You have to walk through a portion of the Olympic green to get to the stadium and that means you have to go through a “mag-and-bag” security check.  EVERYBODY who gets on the green is checked. Believe me; these folks are not playing when it comes to security.  You want to get on “the green,” you need to have an event ticket or authorized credentials otherwise forget it. My media badge got me right in.

The relatively quick walk to the media entrance was accompanied by the frequent roar of the crowd inside the stadium.  I was getting exciting, walking faster straight into the under-belly of the stadium.  Around the bend was a throng of media huddled around a stadium exit.  Athletes were being interviewed in what looked like chaos. Is this the mix zone I’d heard reporters talk about?  They describe it as hoards of reporters, photographers and cameramen pressed against each other jockeying for interviews. Yep. That looks like it. But from there you couldn’t see inside the stadium and I had to see Angelo’s race.

I kept moving, winding my way around till I got to another media area overlooking the track. I really don’t think I was supposed to be there. It was an area for radio broadcasters doing live commentary. But I was looking right over the finish line and not about to move. I parked myself right there and made a deal with the young Olympic volunteer for her to rush me over to a more civilized mix zone across from where we were when the race was over. 

Boy was I rewarded!  The race gun fired and the final in the 400m hurdles was underway.  Angelo took an early lead.  I hurriedly reached for my camera.  And by the time I got it focused and took a quick shot it was over.  Angelo had won gold!  Americans Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson got silver and bronze respectively.  A U-S sweep!  And I was there!  The last time there was an American sweep in this event was 1960!  It was also a great comeback for Angelo who’s had a tough past several years with injury and legal troubles. Tonight he cleared those hurdles, too. It was redemption for him.

It’s funny how pride can just rise up. You would’ve thought I was Angelo’s mother!  I was clapping and smiling all over the place, laying claim to this now-superstar Atlantan.  I REALLY wanted to start yelling, “A-T-L in the house!,”  but I resisted. 

Now, it was my race to the mix zone.  The young volunteer took off like a bolt of lightning to show me the way.  I was running, but she had to keep doubling back to get me.   I finally made it to where I could team up with an NBC cameraman and reporter.  They were nice enough to relinquish their microphone for me to do the interview with Angelo.  We had to wait for all the European press to interview him first.  Then finally (I think I was the very last) I got the interview with Angelo. Of course, the professional that I am I started by yelling “Hey, Atlanta! and giving him a great big hug!  (Guess I was still in “proud mom” mode).  He played along.  Excitement ruled the moment as he answered my questions and gave a shout out to Atlanta all while wrapped in the American flag. The NBC reporter took a picture. It was a moment I’ll never forget.   

I headed back to the workspace to plan our coverage of the night’s big gold medal win. There was still work to be done. But at least now, I’m not sleepy.

p.s. The next day Angelo and his fellow Olympic teammate Terrence Trammell, who suffered a hamstring injury in qualifying, joined me for our live broadcast in Atlanta.  Thanks guys for being so gracious!

There's NO Multi tasking here!

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:01:00 GMT

The jobs here are very interesting.  I don’t mean there are interesting jobs. I mean it’s interesting what is assigned as a job, at least around our hotel – like the lady who stands all day in the women’s bathroom at the building where we work.  I don’t ever see her cleaning anything or getting any supplies. She’s just there at the door, smiling, pleasantly and nodding as she greets each lady who walks into the bathroom; 

...or like the two guys who are sitting outside the elevator on the top floor of the building where we work.  I see them several times a day as I go up to the roof for my live tv segments.  They just sit across from each other, sometimes listening to the radio, sometimes picking their nails, chatting.   They are dressed in some sort of uniform, maybe like a security guard, but they don’t look the least bit interested in getting up and securing anything.  They, too, smile pleasantly;

There are three people at the hotel’s driveway assigned to roll the accordion-like barricade back when a car comes through.  Three people at the entrance of the hotel restaurant to greet you when you come in.  And there’s an ever-present waitress hovering over you as you finish up an item on your plate anxiously waiting to clear the table of the empty dish or glass. 

For all the multi-tasking we’re asked to do at our jobs in America, there seems to be no multi-tasking here.  Each person seems to be assigned just one specific job – someone to say “Good morning,” someone else to say “Have a nice day.”  Well, actually I haven’t experienced that just yet, but it’s almost to that extreme.   Not passing judgment, it’s just so different from our frenetic juggling of multiple jobs performed by fewer and fewer personnel in the work place.

Maybe it’s the  Chinese government’s way of keeping tabs on us visitors. Maybe it’s the hotel’s way of extending special hospitality during the games.  Or maybe it’s that China has such a huge resource in manpower and their economy is strong enough to pay them, albeit low wages,  that one job per person makes perfect sense.

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Mr. Li Breaks the Great Wall Jinx!

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:33:00 GMT

The people here are so friendly.  I’m honestly a bit surprised.  I thought they would, to some degree, resent all of us Westerners descending on their world with our western values and sometimes disregard for another’s culture.  But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Everyone we’ve interacted with has gone the extra mile to make us feel at home or to help us with our needs – walking us rather than pointing out directions, or in today’s case, negotiating in our behalf. 

Case in point.  In between live broadcasts back to Atlanta this morning David and I took the hour's drive to The Great Wall in Badaling.  When we arrived it was closed!  We couldn’t believe it, seeing how this was our third attempt to get there! (But that’s another story).  

Our driver, Mr. Li, who does not speak English,  then got into the “driver’s seat” and took on the challenge.  He knew we wanted to shoot video at The Wall today, so rather than to turn back he drove from one entry gate to another talking with and negotiating with one guard after another.  I was busy trying to come up with a Plan B, but Mr. Li waved me off that idea. We tried to figure out what he was doing, even using a little interpreter device to ask him questions.  He just kept driving and talking. 

Eventually after about 30 minutes Mr. Li drove us up to an entry gate, gestured for us to get out with our equipment, and walked us up to the first set of stairs towards the Wall, only to be stopped by a woman who asked to see our government permission! Boy, we were almost there!  Remember I said everyone we’d met was friendly and helpful?  Well, now, not everyone. This lady didn’t crack a smile.  David handed her the papers as we put on our best friendly faces, smiling pleasantly, looking harmless.  We wanted to say our two little Chinese words we know – ni hao and xie-xie. (hello & thank you), just so we could impress her, but we didn’t. We just stood quietly.  I guess we were too scared. 

But Mr. Li wasn’t.  She kept jabbering on in Chinese and Mr. Li answered her word for word, it seemed. Finally, she looked us over, took our “permission slip” to make a copy, then returned and reluctantly relented  and let us through.  Mr. Li just stood there and gave us a slight smile. 

We were the only ones on the Great Wall of Chinain Badaling today!

Mr. Li rocks!

Mr. Li, Our Hero

Don't Get Lost in Tianamen Square!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:55:00 GMT

We would pick THE hottest day of the week to decide to go to Tianamen Square.  But I was determined to go. You can’t come to China and not see this iconic tribute to Communism.  As our driver approached we could see the big red wall from a distance but it’s not like we can drive up to it and the driver let us out.  The boulevard is the widest street I’ve ever seen!  I’m guessing it’s the width of all the lanes of I-285.  Typical.  In China, they don’t do anything small.  Everything’s big here.

We have to walk through the underground tunnel beneath the boulevard to get to Tianamen Square.  And when we emerged, almost immediately we were deluged with people who wanted to take our pictures!  It was crazy! They had no idea who we were! Just two people, one with a hefty video camera, the other with big curly hair, but for some reason one person after another was asking us to take a picture with them. It’s probably the closest David and I will ever feel to being rock stars.

The crowd was overwhelming as people pushed their way through the entrance gates. Even with David’s tripod and big camera people were pressed up against us pushing, sometimes rudely, to get in.  The wide open brick courtyard void of trees might as well have been a gigantic brick oven.  I can’t describe the blazing heat and humidity.  And all that was in front of us was more shadeless brick courtyard interrupted periodically with a beautifully ornate ancient temple. We were heading toward the famed Forbidden City. But we never really got all the way there.

 David stopped to shoot something and I kept walking.  Before we knew it, we were lost from each other. Let me tell you, this is NOT where you want to get lost, especially since no one speaks English.  David calls my cell phone and describes the “big dragons” he’s standing next to.  I see no “big dragons.”  Then my phone dies.  I swear it’s a hundred degrees!  I’m soaking wet with sweat, my feet hurt and I don’t know where “in the stew” (as my mother says) I am or he is.  After walking in and out of one courtyard after another for 45 painfully hot miserable minutes with no working cell phone, I finally take the very long walk back to the van, where, of course, David and the driver were waiting.  I was wet rag! But David never looked so good.

  . 

Opening Ceremony

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:26:00 GMT

On the Opening Ceremony

It's severa days after the awesome opening ceremonies and I’m still thinking about it.  Never mind that my media credentials wouldn’t let me in the door at the Bird’s Nest (I’m not bitter), I still felt like I had a front row seat.  David and I went to the Coke Olympic Pavilion to watch it on the big screen like hundreds of others, and I’m glad we did because we became part of something very special.

As the show unfolded on screen Chinese nations frequently broke out in applause, waved Chinese flags, sang the national anthem and cheered at the performances.  Some even cried. One man told me he wanted to wave his flag forever!  I, frankly, wasn’t prepared for that.

I guess I came there with a very western point of view – just to watch a great show.  But it was SO much more for the people who call China home.  They’ve been hearing about the Beijing Olympics for 7 years, since it was announced in 2001.  And they’ve been anxious all that time to come out from behind the curtain onto the world stage.  It was an unveiling, an unleashing, an unprecedented moment for them and their country.  If the word “proud” had a face it would look like the people who were watching that big screen.  The Chinese have been waiting to exhale, and last night they finally did.  I felt honored to be there, to share in this moment in history.

Getting the Lay of the Land

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:03:00 GMT

Thursday, August 7

Today is the smoggiest, cloudiest day yet. Everything is gray and white. You literally can only see just a few hundred yards ahead .  We are traveling to The Great Wall, the portion that’s closest to Beijing.  It’s so smoggy, though, I wonder how much we’ll be able to see.  It’s about a 30 minute drive and - Oh..wait! Right now, as I’m typing it’s starting to rain. The clouds are thick and dark. We can't see much at all. We’re deciding to turn back; and, wouldn’t you know, we’ve just arrived!

 We can see some of the Great Wall high above us, but it’s so cloudy it wouldn’t be worth the trip up.  The video and photographs would not show the grandeur of this mountainous wonder. It's likely it wouldn't show much of anything.  Such a disappointment!  This trip must be jinxed! We’d planned to travel with our Gannett group yesterday to climb an even larger portion of The Great Wall a little further out, but at the last minute we had to back out ito go to an important news conference with some of our Georgia athletes.

Ugh!  So now, we need to turn around.  One problem - our driver doesn’t speak English.  The dispatcher told him where to take us and that’s all he knows.   We end up calling our coordinating producer back at the work station and he gets a Chinese speaking dispatcher on the phone with the driver. 

We’ll fill the time.  We have plenty to do back at the workstation, writing and editing stories and arranging our next set of interviews.

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Photographer David Brooks and I have had very busy days, without a moment to spare, it seems.  Tuesday we met up with an interpreter and traveled through the city getting a sense of how huge Beijing is.  For instance, there are five highways circling the city, like concentric circles – one within the other.  (Think I-285 times five)They call them rings.  The inner most ring is the Second Ring. For some reason they don’t start the numbering at one.  It circles what you’d consider downtown where state government buildings are located.  There’re high rise apartments and condos there, too, and we’re told those buildings have height restrictions.  Some speculate it’s so people living in those high rises can’t see inside the government offices.   Then there are rings 3, 4, 5, & 6.  Each of them circling a portion of the city, each ring larger than the other. 

All those ringsdon’t ease the traffic much.  At rush hour the roads are jammed pack with cars AND bicycles maneuvering to find their piece of concrete.  Sometimes it looks like its every man for himself.  You HAVE to be aggressive to drive here, and you’d better know how to use the horn! 

Our driver on this day is Mr. Li. He is very accommodating though he doesn’t speak English.  Our interpreter is Angela, a very nice young lady from Beijing.  I arranged for her assistance through a mutual friend.   Angela is newly married – just two weeks.   Her English is very good.  When she gave me her business card I got to practice my Chinese etiquette.  I was SO proud of myself!   The way she gave it to me was exactly how my tutor said.  And I knew exactly what to do. Take the card. Look at it. Study it. Make a pleasant comment about it before putting it away.  I didn’t have the business card holder, like I was supposed to, but I tried to show I was carefully putting it in my bag with great respect.  By the way, no writing phone numbers and such on their business card, like we do. That's a no-no.

While we drive around Angela gave us a few lessons on how to speak Mandarin.   “Nee-how” (not the correct spelling) is “Hello.”   “Shay-shay” (also not the correct spelling) is “thank you.”   We’ve been saying “shay-shay” exactly like I’m spelling it, but apparently that’s not quite right. It’s “she-ah  sheh.”  (Something like that).  To say, “My name is Brenda” is “Wa jeouw Brenda” (again, not correct spelling).  But you need to say it with the right intonation.  Mandarin is a very tonal language.  The meaning of a word is often determined by whether your voice goes up or down in tone.  That’s how foreigners can really mess up.  You think you're saying something nice and what you're actually saying is something very offensive. She told us a few more phrases, but, I swear I couldn’t remember them 60 seconds later.  David and I are sticking to just two words – “thank you” and “hello.”  This way we cut our losses.

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With Angela’s help we meet an elderly couple who live in a “Hutong.”  It’s a where several small houses surround a courtyard.  Mr. and Ms. Yan have a very small house that serves as the kitchen and another small house that is the living room /bedroom.  Don’t know where the bathroom was but it wasn’t in either of those two houses.  There were several other small houses around the courtyard where the Yan’s children and grandchildren live – all 14 of them.  All together it’s not much space for all those people. This is a traditional Chinese living arrangement. 

Mr. Yan is 76 years old.  He says when he moved to this location 50 years ago there was only dirt and woods.  The city has literally grown up around him.  His hutong sits in the shadows of high rise condos and apartments.  They threaten to displace the Yan’s.  More than a million people in Beijing already have been forcibly displaced from their homes because of high rise developments.   Many are protesting this trend.  But Mr. Yan is not one of them.  He tells me he’d love to move into one of those high rise apartments, he just doesn’t have enough money.

Speaking of which, just a 5 minute drive away from Mr. Yan’s home is lots of money.  There’s a big boulevard lined with expensive condos and a shopping plaza with all the famous names: Gucci, Prada, Boss, Armani, Max Mara.  I really wanted to go in.  REALLY wanted to go in, just to look, of course, but work trumps shopping (I guess) and it was on to more driving around.  Ironically, the next shopping plaza we can up on was WalMart!  A SuperWalMart! Now, we ALL really wanted to go in.  WalMart in Beijing just seems funny to me.  We did go in to try to shoot video.  We were denied.  But we got to see the layout of the store.  It’s very different from our version.  The products are also “made in China.”  We did happen to spot one unusual item – Tide laundry detergent as a bar of soap.

Since we weren’t allowed to shoot inside we went outside the front of the store to shoot a video segment for the Ozone Show that airs at 7:30pm on 11Alive.  As David started setting up his tripod a uniformed police officer approached waving his hands and speaking sternly in Chinese.  We’re not allowed to shoot video.  "But we’re on a city street," we say – careful not to sound angry.  Our interpreter and our driver step in to try to negotiate but the officer wasn’t persuaded.  He called for his supervisor. That supervisor then called for his supervisor.  Then that man escorted our driver to “the police office” around the corner for further negotiations – to no avail.  Seeing how neither David nor I wanted to risk being detained in a Chinese jail we simple packed up the tripod and moved on.  I’m not about to be a martyr for a WalMart in Beijing.  Turns out we found another location not too far away where we could shoot the sign and do the video segment.  Ha! Take that Mr. Policeman!

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Finally in Beijing

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:20:00 GMT

Finally here! We arrived around 8:30pm Beijing time.  It was 24 hours of travel, but the flights and service were great.  I had all these plans to get lots of work done while in the air – finish writing an Olympic related story, read National Geographic the China edition cover to cover, organize all my notes – but none of that happened.   I slept!  And it was good sleep 

Thankfully all of our bags arrived with us.  Mine was marked “heavy,” of course, in bold orange. That’s alright.  The downside of bringing a lot of stuff – a pain to move around the airport; the upside - when you get where you’re going you have everything.

 It’s 8 of us now, three other crews from Minneapolis, Denver, and Phoenix.  One of the reporters didn’t get his bag. I’m so sorry for him.  Hopefully, he’ll get it soon.  The airport is the largest building in the world, but we apparently arrived at the old terminal. It was easy. We got through customs, got our bags, got our Olympic credentials and got to the waiting van without long waits, long walks or a long train ride.  In fact, no train at all.  Maybe we'll go back to see the new part.

Arriving in Beijing at night is amazing.  The highway lights, the beautifully lit buildings, and the traffic! It’s 9:30 on a Sunday night and the highway is jammed packed!  Where are these people going?!  We go through a toll booth.  It looks nothing like our toll booths back home.  It was ornately designed in red and gold.  I guess is makes giving your money a little more pleasant.

It wasn’t long before we were approaching the center of the city.  And before we knew,  there she was, the much talked about “Birds Nest,” the Olympic stadium.  Wow! It’s one thing to see something on television, quite another to see it in person.  The Birds Nest is an architectural wonder! Just in front of it, the Olympic Green, where all the people will gather during the games.  Our hotel is right across the street!  How nice is that!  And from my room I can see it.

We drop our bags in the room and immediately get a tour of our workspace, at the conference center right next door.  That’s hugely helpful to have it so close.  Our workspace is in the large Exhibit Hall where, I would guess, over a hundred producers, reporters and photographers are working. Across the hall is the NBC group and Today Show folks. Our Gannett group of reporters and photographers have a space of our own.

 By the time I make it back to my room it’s going on midnight Beijing time.  I have little time to unpack and sleep!  I’m up at 7am for our scheduled  visit to the Beijing Zoo.

It is 8:30am and it is already like a sauna.  There’s now a whole host of us reporters and photographers arriving at the zoo to shoot video and do interviews.  The panda exhibit is the big draw.  The zoo built a new exhibit building just for the Olympics to show off the pandas.  There are 8 pandas on display.  So cute! They’re pandas from the earthquake zone.   The crush of people trying to look through the window reminded me of Atlanta’s excitement when Mei Lan was born.  But these pandas look full grown.  Nice and fat and eating bamboo. We took lots of video and pictures.  As we pack up to leave was see another panda lounging in a tree outside.  Cute.  More video, more pictures.  I hope we can get back there to see the rest of the zoo.  It’s lovely.

On the ride back to our workstation we pass dozens of Coca Cola ads.  We pass Pizza Hut and Subway. .  The east has met west.  American culture is here, with limitations, of course.  David and I talk about how much there is to see and write about here.  You could write a story on every street corner.  You could take incredible pictures everywhere.   We want the van to stop, let us out and do stories, but then again, not now.  We’re hungry, sweaty and there’s writing and editing to be done.