Brad and Beth Take On Beijing!!! (thanks for the title, Taylor)

WOW! Yesterday was CRAZY! As it was my birthday and all, we had a ton of stuff planned for the day. The major point being going to see the Great Wall of China! So, we had to be at the Westin Hotel at 8 am to meet our driver. Yeah, we had a driver. He drove an Audi A6, a sleek black one. We were so baller driving around in our Audi. We had him for 8 hours. Every time we passed someone, we know they were looking in there and saying, "Wow, those people are bad asses!" And they were right... we are bad asses.

Anyhow, getting back to the story. We got outside the hotel at about 7:40 am and it was raining and absolutely impossible to find a cab. We had to meet our driver at 8 and we finally, FINALLY got one at 8:05 am. Then we were in grid-lock traffic. The cab ride that is usually 7 minutes, ended up being about 28 minutes. We were for sure that the "Young Luck" was sure to strike again and we would miss our car, especially since the Great Wall was something that both Beth and I were adamant about doing -- pretty much, the ONLY thing I had to do while I was here.

So, we made our car--obviously since we looked like bad asses and got to the Wall and guess what... it was STILL raining. In fact, pouring as some points. So, along with the rain there was dense fog and it was chilly. Overall, I went to the Great Wall of China but did not see much of it! It was disappointing, extremely disappointing, but I truly made the best of it. We took some funny pictures and were extremely light-hearted about it all. We went with my boss, his wife and the USA baseball SID for the summer. So, it was wet and we saw nothing more than 500 feet in front of us. But it was still an experience to BE on the Great Wall. Summing it up, Page (Jake's wife) said it best, "Now we know how the Chinese working on the wall felt on a shitty day". Haha, it was a great time. I wish I could have seen a clear and beautiful view, but I didn't. But it was still an experience.

Now, on the way up the mountain, you take a cable car up the mountain. Well, we took it down and survived CABLE CAR CRASH 2008! That's what I'm calling it. As we got down at the bottom, the car in front of us was still unloading and our car came crashing into it! It was insane! All I could say though was how awesome it was that Beth and I were the first members of the Young family to be involved in a cable car crash, survive it, all in China! HAHA! It was great -- Cable Car Crash 2008 suffered no casualties!

So, as we were all soaking wet, we went to Pizza Hut for lunch with the Great Wall Crew for some amazing pizza and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe -- Beijing. It was disappointing for me, as it was my first Hard Rock experience (just the store, we didn't eat) and extremely disappointing to Beth. She has been to a lot of them and said that place sucked. So, after that we went back to the hotel in grid lock traffic and hung out. Boo Boo passed out and took a nap and I watched some TV.

We then went to the actual Silk Market. It was INSANE. I got nothing from the silk-market. I apologize to you all who may have been hoping to get something from there, but it was terrible. There was nothing there that I thought anyone would have liked -- honestly -- and the people there was terrible. I got extremely frustrated because people were grabbing me and I was about to punch the little girls in the face. But, we cooled down. We were in there, literally for two or three hours and I bought a t-shirt. That was it. It was an experience, absolutely! However, I bought nothing and don't care to go back, hahaha.

So, we went to Baskin Robbins to celebrate my BIRTHDAY! Thanks for all of the BDay wishes from emails, cards and Facebook! We got some ice cream and went down the list of people we still needed to buy for... which was a lot. So, we went back to the silk market (ugh!) and got the last bit of stuff.

I kicked some little girl's bargaining ass! Beth dealt with her the day before and was taken for a ride. So, in the middle of the bargaining she looked at me and told me to take over. So, I did. I kicked her ass. She tried raising her price on me and I took no mercy. It was hilarious because she was trying so hard to screw us, although she was hilarious and funny, but I was good. She was saying, "Ok, I give you these things... not this one for this price." And I was quick and told her no because they are now more per item than originally asking (I was so good) and she looked at me with squinting eyes, almost giggling and was like, "Ohhh, you clever!" Anyway, it ended up really well and I freaking won the bargaining war of 2008! Yes, after surviving Cable Car Crash 2008, I won the Bargaining War as well! Who's a baller? I'm a baller!

So, we then went back to the USA House to get a few more things and walked around the huge stadium for about 20 minutes to find out that we couldn't get in because they had teams in there and only special event people were able to attend. So, it was a wasted trip, but it was awesome to just hang out and walk around Beijing with Boo Boo!

So, we went back to the hotel and started to pack things up. Boo Boo is leaving today :-( and I was just trying to get some stuff put together. Let me tell you, I have so much new crap to take back it is INSANE! Beth had way more stuff than me, too. It was terrible! So, we watched The Prestige and hung out while she was packing and went to sleep!

My Birthday was one I'll never forget, that's for sure! It was crazy on all levels. Sure there were some disappointing points but overall it was a hilarious experience and I will have memories and stories to tell for ever. It was fantastic! However, I will be celebrating my birthday when I get back home as well.

So, today marks the semi-finals for baseball! Amazing games are happening today and tomorrow. Right now Korea is taking on Japan and Japan is up 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning. Team USA takes on Cuba at 6 pm. That game is going to be INTENSE beyond measure. I'm stoked and cannot wait! It starts at 6 am your time, it's on TV! Watch it!

Other news, USA Softball lost. How insane and disappointing is that. There are no words.

USA Women's soccer won the gold last night in what was apparently an amazing game. I have always been a fan of Hope Solo, even after her tirade after the World Cup last year so I was happy to see that she was vindicated in this effort. Apparently, she was the reason that USA won the gold medal!

USA Track and Field is struggling like mad crazy this year, and it was extremely disappointing to hear that both the women's and men's 4x100 relay teams dropped their batons during their race. That is just terrible. It's the Olympics and that happens... It is surprising after all of that that USA is still ahead in the medal counts. I don't think many USA people have gotten medals in T&F this year, but again, there are a lot of events.

So, I'm going to go and watch the rest of this game. It's getting pretty good!

I can't wait for these games because they'll be amazing, but I cannot wait to get home! MONDAY!!! Only a few more days!

LOVES TO ALL! I'll have more pictures up soon!