It's good to know people!

Hello!!! I'm in Nanjing currently and will be doing a bit of cruising in the next day and a half. Nanjing is about 10 hours away South of Beijing. Leah, Carrie and I decided to hop a plane and come visit Leah's people...





I'll post pics and update this post in a day or so...a few more days left. I have to do as much as I can.





Okay, just wanted to keep you all in the loop.

Random Fun!

Today was my last day of Olympic events. I went to the Birds Nest for my last time...(tear). Leah Wicander (from Michigan) and I hung out most of the day and enjoyed some Olympic events you wouldn't expect to see...Mens 50k Walk! I mean Powerwalk!!! It was probably one of the most entertaining events I have been to yet. The World Record was broke also, so that was neat to see and we also watched the Mens Decathlon.

We hung out at Wangfujing most of the afternoon. I made my first attempt to shop at the Olympic store! That is a mad house, although it has tapered down quiet a bit since the Olympics are almost done. Yup, leave it to me to start shopping so late. But I get it done, so no worries! Then randomly we decided to get shot out of a metal ball thingy. Look at the pictures, you'll know what I'm talking about. I don't know the name of it, but it was a blast. I may have screamed like a girl...haha. Good times! It cost both of us 220 quai, which is the equivalent of approx. 31 dollars! AWESOME!

This evening I went to another Duck dinner...mmm. Hung out the rest of the evening and attempted to watch movies with Carrie. Watched the U.S. vs Argentina semi-final match and the U.S. won!!!! They will be in the finals vs Spain, which will take place on Sunday. Talking with Leah, she has family in one of the South cities in China, Nanjing? We were thinking about taking a trip down there and hanging out. So Leah, Carrie and I may be on our way to visit another part of China! Stay tuned and find out where I will be next...

Love...take care!

COUNTDOWN: Seis Days...

Easy Living...

Today was a rainy, chilly day here in Beijing. Not too eventful. Still catching up on the long nights and feeling real tired throughout the day...



This morning Richard, Tony and I went to Taekwondo. I was very excited to attend this event and looking forward to people beating up on each other! I was disappointed. No offense to those that are in this sport and no offense to this form of martial arts. I had an impression of what this sport would look like in real life, because when watching it on TV you see all the action shots and it looks real interesting.






I liked it, but just had to change my perspective on it. When we got into the heavier weight classes is when we saw a little more action. It was a learning experience and I was glad that I went. The U.S. did well in both Womens and Mens. They are still in preliminary rounds, so no medal rounds yet.



A bunch of us went to lunch afterwards and chatted about the trip and some real good conversation came about, haha. It was a real gloomy day. One of those days that you just want to stay inside, chill out and watch a movie...maybe some cuddling! Haha...love it. Anyways, after we got home we crashed for a few hours and woke up in time for dinner. Seems like our days our tough, right? Yeah, really tough. A bunch of us went to Duck Dinner and got down on some duck!

Tonight we hung out and played cards. The new roomies are in and we spent the evening relaxing even more! I won at hearts!!! Come back of the century...good game Carrie ;)



Who knows what tomorrow holds for us here at CCI? Our volunteering days are coming to an end along with the Olympics. I'm excited at the thought of returning home, but at the same time love it so much out here. I'm loving the people and really bummed that I can't speak the language. But definitely missing my family and friends. I can't wait to see you all when I return. It's been a long and ADVENTUROUS summer...one I'll remember forever.



I want to say what's up the Res Life staff! Hope training is going well and that I wish I was there with you. Especially to those new staff members in McWelsh/Briscoe...I can't wait to meet you! This is going to be an awesome year! Well, that's about it here. Soaking in the last few moments of glory before I have to get back to reality!



I love you all! Please continue to post comments (anything will do!). As long as it takes me to type these...I need to read also. Take care.



Countdown: 7 days...





***Pictures posted on last entry***

GGOOOAAAALLLL!!!!!

Saturday, August 16th:

What a relax day! Nothing major in the first part of the day, so I just lounged around the apartment. Jennifer, one of my apartment-mates wanted to go to the "Antique Market" where they sell all different types of replicas, paintings, pottery, jewelery etc. I'm glad that she did, because I was being a lazy pile of nothing...not like that's a bad thing every once and a while.

It was fun seeing all different types of Chinese art that people display. It's close to a swap-meet that we have back in Utah. People pack and unpack there stuff there daily and especially on the weekends it is full of sellers.

After we returned a few people wanted to go to Annie's, an Italian restaurant before we headed to the soccer game. It was really good...Italian in China??? Afterwards I attended my FIRST soccer game! I was so excited. We watched Italy vs Belgium. It was so much fun and we had such good seats. Some of the CCI group painted their faces and bodies for Italy. Sadly the Italians couldn't finish strong and lost 3-2. I loved every moment and could only imagine what a game at the World Cup would be like. South Africa 2010??? We'll see...

After the game a bunch of the crew went out on the town. I decided to head home and ventured on a journey. A couple wrong turns here in China can result in a ton of confusion. No worries! I prevailed and found the subway along with a bunch of other cool shops that I want to revisit sometime before I leave. It was a fun evening! I love watching soccer!!!!

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Sunday, August 17th:


My favorite places to visit till today were: #1 - Forbidden City. The city is so majestic and huge. It's awesome to see what Beijing was built around. #2 - Lama Temple. I love to learn about other's beliefs and the ways they view life, death, spirituality etc. Today I think I have a new #1 - the Summer Palace. Wow. This place is soo beautiful and enormous. The amount of land that this place takes up...70,000 (acres? or the equivalent) regardless, a lot of space. There is a huge lake in the middle where Jordan and I took a paddle boat out for a stroll to get some pictures on the lake. The paddle boat was interesting. I was convinced we were jipped on the boat because of how slow it went. I watched as kids peddled right past me. Every six times I peddled was one of there's...it was ridiculous. I had fun though. It was worth it. There is so much to see that you can't make it in one sitting, but we did the best we could and had a blast cruising around.




Afterwards, I took Jordan to get some steamed dumplings from a local restaurant. It was way better than the ones we get around the area we are staying. It was really good, of course! From there we went back home. I have been getting really tired from all the site seeing and walking around we have been doing. I came home and took a very needed nap.

That evening is an evening that will truly go down as a night to remember. I'll have to write an individual post about this story, because it's so ridiculous that you wouldn't believe me...but it did. So after Hot Pot dinner, which is basically a boiling broth, either spicy or regular (chicken broth). They bring the pot to a boil and bring out all your food raw and you put what you want in this pot and cook as you go. It's a lot of fun and really good.

Okay, so after dinner Jennifer and I head back to the apartment and she gets a call from her cousin that asks her to come out clubbing with her and there was a place that she could get her and some people on the VIP list. Well, Jennifer asks me at the apartment if I would like to come and that she would ask her cousin if I could come. I'm not sure? I haven't gone out at all up to this point, just hang out at the apartment mostly is what I do. Last minute I decide to finally go after tossing around the idea. We meet up with her cousin and boyfriend. We go on this long hunt for this place where the club is at. Jennifer has no idea what to expect and neither do I, so we continue on following them. Finally we find the place and it's in the bottom of some mall. Strange...I walk in and this place just seems really too high class for me, so I'm feeling out of place for a long time. We end up sitting with the China CEO of Crocs and he is really nice. We are hanging out having a good time and then some of the people we are hanging out with come and tell us the "Carlton" from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is here! I look at the stairs and there he is, so I make my way over to find out for myself and get a picture with him. SIDENOTE: This is also the night I don't bring my camera with me! Proof will be coming soon! So that was pretty cool, a little later Joe from Crocs comes and tells us we have to move to make room because Evander Holyfield and Chris Tucker are coming up to where we are sitting! WHAT!? I'm so confused that a part of me thinks this is ridiculous. It is...because a few minutes after standing I turn and watch as Evander Holyfield walks right past me and sits down. At this point I'm a little kid screaming inside!!! "THE" Evander is right in front of me. So of course, it takes me forever to make the motion to introduce myself to him. Later that evening he moves to a table by the dance floor (probably because I was staring at him so much) and we go down to dance and Evander is dancing...so here is my moment! I make my way over to him and take some pictures for the girls, then I ask him for a picture...YES! Proof coming soon!!! So I can say I danced by Evander Holyfield at a club in Beijing! So here is a list of others that were supposedly going to make an appearance: Chris Tucker, Rafael Nadal, Jackie Chan (I would have died!) and Cameron Diaz. So pretty ridiculous, but when you meet 2 in one night...you never really know?

It was such a fun night and afterwards came home and got some McDonalds...in China, weird. Tastes the same, but China puts cucumbers like tomatoes and some real spicy sauce. It wasn't too bad. Perfect for a 4:30-5:00am meal...wild!

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Monday, August 18th:

Three hours later from the end of last evening...I'm up and ready to go for part two of the Forbidden City. It was just as awesome as the first time! It's such a cool place. I'm glad that I came out and didn't sleep through it.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went to Annie's for lunch. I'm starting to get addicted to this place. I had hand made pizza...fresh! Amazing and it's so cheap too. There is a place called Ya Shows that is a pretty popular spot here, so we went on a search to find it and after some walking was very successful. Went home and once again...nap. I have been extremely exhausted lately.



Tonight the CY CAN students held a going away party for the 14 day volunteers at a local club, V.V.'s. A bunch of us headed out for the evening and met the rest of the CCI group members there later. I wasn't planning on staying out too long this night, but we ended up having so much fun dancing and all that we ended up once again staying out pretty late...4am. It was a blast hanging out with everyone one last time...one last hoorah! Came back home and hung out with Jordan and Raquel before they had to leave at 5am. It was sad knowing that everyone was going to be gone in the next two days and we would have a significant drop in people. For a few moments throughout the day...I really wanted to come back home.

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Tuesday, August 19th:

PHEW! I don't know if I'm going to make it? Soo tired lately...mostly the reason I have been slacking on my blog. So after seeing Jennifer, Jordan and Raquel leave, sad. I go back and get a few hours of sleep before I wake up again...I can't sleep anymore, it sucked. I hang out with the Stevens Point girls before they all have to leave too! Everyone that I have been around mainly is now taking off. These girls have been a real treat to be around. Some of the most chill girls I know and I had a great time getting to know them. So here is a shout out to my Wisconsin chicas! Alex, Allison, Alicia x2 and Carrie...you girls are awesome! Jing and I hung out for a bit this afternoon. We went to lunch, Korean Barbecue. It was cool, you get your own personal BBQ at your table and you cook all your food there, very interesting.

Came back and headed to Athletics aka Track and Field at the Birds Nest with Nathalie and Allie! My first trip to the Olympic Village! Wow, the Water Cube and the Birds Nest are amazing structures and at night when they are lit up...beautiful. We had some really good tickets for the events this evening. We sat in the First Tier and had a really good view. We got to watch the awards ceremony for the Mens 400m Hurdles where U.S. swept all medals! It was sweet, we sang the national anthem...definitely made our country proud! We placed in a lot of the events throughout the evening also. Took tons of pictures afterwards! Had a blast and then came back and hung out with Robbie before he took off in the morning and that is the end of my long, long, packed, fun filled days! I need to sleep...

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Wednesday, August 20th:

Now that most of the people that I know are gone...it's time to make more friends! Today was a very productive day. I SLEPT and did NOTHING...and LOVED it!!! Seriously, I woke up and sat around for a while. Washed the dishes in the apartment. Straightened up the place since we will have new people moving in tomorrow. I made some lunch, took a shower and relaxed! It was very productive. I feel so much better now, recharged and ready to go again!

I'm caught up once again on my blog! I hope that you enjoyed my last few days of entries. I have a place where you can check out my videos and look at the rest of my pictures! Here is the link...photobucket.com/djmounga...make sure that you click on the albums to see everything. It still needs work done, but there are some videos up right now that you can enjoy. I don't know how people do this daily. This is tough work to post your blog, upload your pictures/videos etc., etc., etc. I think I'm doing a pretty good job! But I hope that you enjoy this. Please feel free to make comments. I love reading them...they make me feel good =) Also, if you will note the title of this blog...I've been working on this one for a while.

The countdown has officially began...8 days left! Talk to you all soon!

"THE GREAT WALL" and then some...

How about updating at least every other day? Haha...

Thank you once again for checking in and seeing what kind of mischief we are up to in this great country! Loving every moment and getting to do some awesome things with our time here.

PEOPLE! Listen...I can finally say that I have been! I have seen! I have walked, touched, ran, smiled and played in the rain! On the "Great Wall of China." It was an experience that I will never, never, NEVER forget! (Capitalization is my way of emphasizing!) It was such a cool day! It started out rough, but of course as with everything so far here. It keeps getting better!

I woke up 10 minutes before I had to meet with my group to leave...ahh, rush! We had to take the subway to where the buses are that take us to the wall. When we get there, I die a little inside. This line is about as long as the wall it seems...it never ends! So after a depressing walk to the back of the line, you can't help but wonder if you will ever see it. But...long morning story, we got there and we got on the bus...TO THE WALL!

We get there and the weather is beautiful. It is not that hot and a little overcast. Seems to be perfect weather for wall viewing. Well, we get our tickets and grab some lunch. As we are heading towards the entrance...it pours down! I mean thunder and rain, rain, rain. People are running into buildings, water is flowing down the street, I have no umbrella and a cheap poncho that doesn't fit me. What a mess! Once again I died a little, because I'm thinking that I will not be able to get on the wall today (sad face).

It clears! After about 15 minutes, it stops and we are good to go once again! We finally made it. And you would think...seriously. How big is the wall? It averages 25 feet tall and a total length of 50,000 kilometers, meaning lots of room! The wall was packed with people from the moment we got in there and was full of people till we left. It was crazy. I thought there would be plenty of room for everyone, but still...people all around.

The beauty and pure "Awesomeness!" (As KungFu Panda says) of the wall is simply breathe taking. The structure is truly a piece of art constructed by an extremely intelligent society. Looking at structures like the wall and then thinking about other wonders of the world really make you appreciate the people that lived before us and how they made things work without the technologies that we get to have today. WOW!

It was fun. We met a lot of neat people also passing through and enjoying China. I think that seeing the wall in the rain is the best because you get some great scenery. The fog that rolls in before the rain comes. The thunder that booms through the sky before the down pour...soo cool and through all that, very peaceful. We had a ton of fun.

The rest of the day was spent drenched and cold. A small price to pay for such a memorable trip! That night we went to a Dumpling dinner and had a huge appetite from being on the wall and traveling. Dumplings has to be one of my favorite dishes here in China. Other than that, we hung out in the apartment and stayed dry for the rest of the evening! What a day...

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Today was trip #2 to the Lama Temple. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go since I already went once with Jing and Lin. I am glad that I did because when we got there the monks were in the main temple having their studying sessions. I'm not sure what the proper word for it is, but is was a real treat to be able to watch them meditate and chant. The chimes and drums were really cool to hear and I'm really glad that I got that experience this time around.

Volunteering? Nope, not today...because I went to Olympic Boxing again! An opportunity was presented and I ran with it! Today was a lot busier than the first time. We are still in the preliminary rounds, but we did get to watch China fight. Always a treat whenever China is competing because venues erupt! Afterwards I came home and took a long nap...

This evening we reunited with a bunch of former Wolves now graduated and moving on to the next phases of there lives. I'm so glad that I have been a Resident Assistant because if not, I would have never met any of these awesome ladies! I don't want to mess up names and get them wrong...so here is pic. See if you can remember any of them!

We hung out at a KTV which is where they do karaoke here in China. The U.S. needs to take some notes and get some of these. It's like you walk into a 5 star hotel, really nice inside. You rent a room for however long you want and then you have a buffet and all the karaoke your heart desires. It was so much fun and a blast hearing everyone sing. Even though it was for a short moment, it was nice to see all of them and hear their stories about what the next chapter will bring in their lives and I wish them all the best! Love you ladies and thank you for a great time here in Beijing!

Time is running short for our 14 day volunteers (cough...Jordan and Raquel) and will soon lose about a third of our participants. There is still so much to do and many more memories still need to be made. I hope that you are all enjoying my blog and please feel free to leave your comments and questions...goodnight.

Back At It Again!

After 3 days of slacking...I'm here once again!

Don't lose hope people! I'm trying. I told you all...this would be the death of me. But now with a new sense of commitment, I'm going to give it all I got. (Haha...no promises)

Let's recap the highlights of the last few days...(ESPN highlight reel time!)

Sunday, August 10th:

So it was suppose to be my first volunteer opportunity. I arrived at our meeting spot and Steve was there with our assignments. He also asked those who arrived early (the early bird gets the worm) if they wanted to attend the boxing event. Of course! I thought, so instead of volunteering...I took the opportunity to attend an extra Olympic event. It was well worth it! China was in this event and when their boxer came out, the ENTIRE place erupted! It was like I was at a Gold medal match...FUN, FUN, FUN!

Monday, August 11th:

Here in Beijing, they would like us to be at our events 2 hours before...so that you can get checked in and get through security. Well, we learned almost immediately that is not necessary. It is about as serious as certain airports wanting you hours there to check in, not necessary in most situations. So I was suppose to be up and ready to go by 5:30 AM. Not happening, so I got up at about 7 and made my own venture to find the venue on my own. I was very successful! I attended Women's Indoor Volleyball. It was a lot of fun to watch, I saw 2 matches: Serbia vs Algeria and Kazakhstan vs Italy.

Jing took me out to a dumpling dinner by some Hu Tongs (they are older streets here in China, really cool looking). Then we went down a famous vending street that sold Chinese art, clothes and a whole bunch of random gift thingys you could by for family and friends. I can't remember the name for the life of me...but if you were here I could get you there!

Tuesday, August 12th:

WOW! This was an eventful day! I got the morning off, which meant me and a few other apartment peeps...Richard and Tony lounged around and watched the Olympics on TV. It was wonderful! I love our apartment...it's perfect for hanging out. You are on the go so much that it is nice once in a while to relax on the couch in front of the AC.

Later that day I went to the Temple of Heaven for the second time! It was just as good as the first, but now with a bunch of other people. Of all the 17 some million people in this city, you wouldn't expect to run into people randomly. I'm standing in the "Echo" wall courtyard (which is awesome because the way they built this area, the acoustics are set up that I can stand on one end of the wall and talk and the person on the other end can hear me and respond) and I hear my name. I turn around and it is Wen Chen from Northern! How crazy is that? I gave her a big hug and we hung out for a bit while we were walking around. Talk about a small world! I hope to hang out with her sometime before I come back. It was pretty awesome!

The evening that I will never forget! We decided to head to Wangfujing Street, which is where the Olympic store is at and a whole bunch of other shops: Nike, Adidas, etc. Along the side streets are street vendors and they sell just about ANYTHING! This night...different foods. We decided that we would walk down the street and try the most random things we could find. If we haven't had it...we tried it. It was so much fun and so adventurous! At one point everywhere we stopped we had a crowd gathered around us to see what we were going to do next! We met some new friends from Portland, OR. They have a website that teaches english...www.englishbaby.com. Check them out. I might be in one of there videos sometime. They bought us the food and we made them try it with us! What a great way to meet new people! So here is the list of what I had this evening:

Cicada bug

Ostrich meat

Silk worm



Lamb testicles

Baby and Large scorpions

Starfish

Centipede

Snake

Videos on all this...coming soon!

Wednesday, August 13th:

My first day of volunteering! I lucked out today. I got to go to the foster home in Tianjin. The name of the organization is the Philip Hayden Foundation and they are a foster home network in Mainland China. They take special-needs orphans and provide them with the services that they need. It was a fulfilling experience, even though we were there for a short moment.

Today we helped paint some walls in one of the houses and the rest of the time we played with the kids. Most of them were 2 years of age or younger. We also spent some time hanging out with the 12 and 13 year old. They liked to tease me because I couldn't understand them when they talked to me. FINALLY, I felt like I was doing something meaningful here besides having a blast at the Olympics. I have met some great people here and that is one thing I am enjoying more and more each day. Every activity is someone different and a new person that you get the chance to get to know. I have already met people here that I look forward to keeping in touch with after we get back to the states.

Tonight, I buckled down and decided to get caught up. I went out to a Peking Duck dinner and it was delicious! Other than that, I have been hanging out with the girls here at the apartment chatting about our day while the rest of our roommates were at a Cultural Night provided by our great friends at CYCAN.





So there you have it people! An update on what has been going on here in the great country of China. I'm loving every minute and the longer I'm here, the longer I think about staying and wanting to learn more. There is so much that we can learn from others and their customs. The people here are so friendly and want us more than anything to have a great experience here, especially during the Olympics.

I figured out my video deal and will have the link posted for you to check out live action of the crazy times I am having here. I love you all who take the time to check out my blog and especially post comments...please keep them comin'. Fam! I miss you all! I miss my nieces and nephews and want to especially tell them that Uncle DJ misses you and is going to bring back stuff for you!!! See you in a few weeks. Until then...keep coming back!