Beijing can be beautiful...

Alright, so, yes, there is a load of smog and pollution in Beijing. However, Beijing is an extremely beautiful city. But you'll never know until you've visited after it rains. Yesterday it rained for pretty much half of the day. It rained out one game that has to be finished on my rest day, and finished another early. It pushed back the other games so I didn't get home until well after midnight. But when I looked outside this morning, it was totally worth it. For the first time that I've been here there was a blue sky! It is absolutely gorgeous outside. There is a breeze and it's about 77 degrees outside. It's a blue sky with little cloud coverage and for the first time, I saw the sun shine. Normally the sun is just a lightly glowing orb in the clouds that you can stare directly at and only see a hint of orange and mass of smog. But today, I could barely look up without being blinded.

What's most noticeable is the skylines of all of the hotels and buildings as you drive home. The colors and buildings are amazing. I never thought I would have seen Beijing like this. I was never really impressed with the city. It ranked lowest on my "Big Cities I've Been To" list, but to see it in it's cleanliness made me think otherwise. It's not better than Chicago, though... not even close. Anyhow, it is gorgeous outside and I have had the privilege of sitting outside all day watching baseball! How lucky am I?

Well, the USA dropped a heart-breaker of a game today to Cuba. As some of you know, and others do not, Cuba is absolutely dominant in international baseball. They have won three of the four gold medals (baseball has only been an Olympic Sport since 1992) -- the other going to the USA. Lately, USA has been beating Cuba often and pretty handily. But today, we hit a snag. We've lost one player to injury before today's game and after today's game it looks like we've lost one of our best for the rest of the Olympics as well. He was bunting and a ball hit him in the head. The coach thinks he through it at his head on purpose, Cuba disagrees... pretty typical USA v. Cuba baseball game.

There is a new tie-break rule that assisted in the USA loss. If the game goes into the 11th inning, a runner is placed on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Also, the managers meet and they can start at any point in their order. So, generally, as I saw twice today (yes, both morning games went into the tie-break) you put your best bunter in, advance the runners, and then let your best hitters knock them in. Cuba scored two runs in the top of the eleventh and USA scored one... our last out came on a foul ball that almost made it out of the park... disappointing. I was not working that game, I work only on Field 2. So, I was here for the China v. Chinese Taipei game.

Just to preface -- baseball is a brand new sport in China. They've never participated in international baseball before getting an automatic bid to the Olympic Games. I witnessed what people are saying is one of the most defining moments of Chinese Sports History as China won their first-ever Olympic Games Baseball Tournament game today in the 12th inning, 8-7. You should have heard the cheers and the screams! It was an amazing adventure to be a part of something that big for a country!

The game itself was crazy. It was 3-3 going into the twelfth. Chinese Taipei scored 4 runs and looked to have sucked the wind from the China sails, but China came back and scored 5 runs in the bottom of the twelfth to win the game. It was an amazing site to see! To be a part of a game that means so much to a country is sensational.

Anyhow, work is work! Nah, I'm just kidding. Everything is going fantastic over here! The weather is perfect today and the games have been wildly entertaining (/disappointing... don't worry USA still has a great chance for a Gold medal) and I couldn't love my job any more! Well, that's a lie, I would love it even more if everyone could be here sharing this with me and I got paid more ;-). Anyway, Korea and Canada are going head-to-head right now for what looks to be a brilliant baseball game. So, I'm going to get back to watching it/doing my job. Yes, I watch a baseball game and get paid. I do have to write a recap (this takes me about 10 minutes, tops--sometimes I'm finished before the game is over) and man the mix zone (press zone--10 minutes).

Oh, something I'm excited about! Beth is going to be here tomorrow!!! For those of you who aren't in my family, Beth is one of my amazing sisters and one of my five WONDERFUL siblings (you've probably heard me call her Boo Boo) and she is coming to China to visit me and do some site-seeing. She'll be here to celebrate my birthday!!! Yes, my birthday is coming up! I'm turning 22 -- I'm not old, though. Alright -- the inning just ended so I have a few more minutes.

Oh, I left my laundry for the hotel to do... pretty normal procedure. It cost me $50.00! It was 324.00 RMB. That's INSANE! Had I known it was going to be that much I would have gotten some laundry soap and washed them in my tub instead of sleeping. Sheesh!

Where did all of my readers go? I know I'm not doing as amazing of things as I was before, but I've been taking part in some amazing moments people! I'll try to do more exciting things.

Oh, last night I fahnoogled (that is how I say it, don't know how to spell it) my way into an Olympic transport service! We usually take shuttles to and from the hotel but last night I missed mine while I was helping with the press conference. So, I went up to these Chinese girls and talked to them. I smiled a lot and laughed and talked to them for awhile and they hooked me up with a private car to get home... hmm, China girls think I'm cute... where are all of the American ones?!?!

Alright, back to game time. I swear to goodness, the Korean fans are blowing whistles and it's about to drive me ballistic. My streak of not causing an international incident could come to an end at 8 days while the 9th day is when I break.

Here is a picture of the baseball stadium here after the rain!! Michael Zarrilli took it... he's the photographer that I met at the party that we tried to find a McDonalds... still no luck in that department. I haven't brought my camera to any games yet because it's been gross, hopefully tomorrow will still be clear!

Oh, some other things... The food here is not that bad actually! I had some awesome stuff for dinner tonight as my appetite has finally gotten back to normal. Secondly, the people here love the song "You are my sunshine". They have 4 different versions -- including rock and rap that they've played while I was here in the baseball stadium.

Oh, I had a fun adventure in a cab ride today. I missed my shuttle this morning and had to take a taxi and they took me to the softball field. Then as I tried to explain in the Chinese that I know (none) that I wanted baseball, he started driving and got lost. It was a 40 minute ride altogether. Sheesh.

Wow, that was a lot of extra stuff.

Love to all!