Six-thousand hits!

Six-thousand hits?
Who would’ve thought that when we started this blog just three weeks ago that we’d get over 6,000 hits?
By all accounts, it’s been a popular thing on both ends. We enjoyed sharing our experiences. We watched the counter number grow and hoped that folks enjoyed reading our posts and personal blogs.
I’ve been trying to [...]

Pin trading, revisited

It didn’t take long till Larry and Shawna had the act down.
Shawna Xu, a Chinese student at Renmin University who’s been acting as our guide/translator during our stay in Beijing would act like she was trying to get Larry Powell to trade some of his pins – Olympic pins and Missouri Centennial pins.
They’d flail [...]

Is our stay coming to an end?

Our China trip must be coming to an end.
The Olympics end with Sunday night’s closing ceremonies. We have a farewell dinner with our Remnin hosts on Monday. And then, most of us head back to Missouri on Thursday.
Seven students will stay on to volunteer for the Paralympic Games, which begin in Beijing immediately after the [...]

Askren’s day at the Olympics

I was attending a Chinese acrobat show Tuesday night when I got a text message from Doug Meigs.
“I have two tickets for tomorrow’s wrestling at face value, 100 RMB. You interested?”
I was very interested.

The story Larry Powell doesn’t want you to read

Larry explained his situation to the Chinese volunteer.
The volunteer smiled. Was it one of those, “Yeah, whatever pal” smiles or was it an “Everything’s going to be
all right” smile?
Turns out, it was just a smile.
“Please, wait one moment,” the volunteer said, then spoke Chinese into his headset.
So, we waited.
But that’s getting ahead of the story.
Monday [...]

The scene on the Olympic Green

Larry Powell checks out the scene on a street outside the Olympic Green.

The last softball gold medal

Is there a more sure-thing during this Olympics than Michael Phelps and the United States Softball team?
This morning, Missouri student Trinty Nelson and I went to a softball doubleheader. The first game was a
raucous affair between China and Canada.
The game was decided when the Chinese right fielder leaped at the wall, appeared to make a [...]

A good idea from Beijing

In Missouri, and most of America I suppose, shoppers can bring their own canvas bags to the grocery story and get five cents off the cost of their groceries.
In China, that system works backwards. And it works better.
In Beijing, you’re charged for every bag that you decide you need at the store. Bring your own [...]

Lost in Translation (a play)

Time: This morning
Setting: At the door of our guest hotel, the security guard and I exchange high-fives, something we do every time I leave or return to the campus at Renmin University of China.
Then, he stops me…(and the play begins)
Him: (In halting English) “I think…you…look…very…beautiful…today.”
Me: (also, as it turns out, in halting English) “Uh, uh, [...]

Noodle dancing in Beijing

Dinner at a Beijing hot pot restaurant turned into a show, when this guy began twirling and dancing while making noodles beside our table. Eventually, he dropped it in the hot pot – built into the table. One side of the pot was spicy. One side, not so much. A great [...]