Dear J ournal, August 10, 2008I am arriving in Beij ing,

China right now. The opening ceremony f or the Olympics starts in a f ew days. Until then I am going site seeing. I have never been to China bef ore and I am eager to learn about the lif estyle and culture here. I grab my bags and stagger down the aisle so I can depart f orm the Asiana(plane). When I step out I am amazed. I t is so crowed here and loud too. I looked up and saw a sign written in mandarin (their native language), The writing looked so complicated and intricate. I t would be diffi cult to write like that all the time. Below the mandarin handwriting, the words were written in English. I t said, NO SMOKI NG, PLEASE.

I have a f riend who lives here in Beij ing, who I am going to stay with f or a f ew days. She and her family will be my tour guides. I go over to sit on a vacant bench. My f riend will be picking me up here. I waited f or a while amazed at how everybody seemed to be in a big hurry.

When Vicky came, she warmly greeted me and motioned toward the door. I got up and walked over to the door, glad to be leaving f or a much quieter place.

When we reached the outside, I realized how warm it is here. I looked f or a taxi but there wasn’t one. I f act, there weren’t very many cars around at all. I nstead there were bikes. All around bikes lined up against the walls. Vicky waved her hand toward a set of bikes. I swung my leg over the bike, f eeling a little strange. Once we got on the road, I thought about how tiring it would be to ride a bike everywhere and how convenient cars are.

I n the middle of and intersection was a police offi cer, waving his arms and trying to direct traffi c, which only added to the commotion. I t would be so much easier with cares and traffi c lights. But then again, some people don’t want to spend their money on cars.

When we arrived at her hutong- Idiscovered that is what their houses arecalled- I noticed how small they were.There were four cabin-like hutongs in arectangle. I n the middle was a small yard,we went inside one of them. The hutongwas so simple. She took her shoes off andmotioned for me to do the same. I took myshoes off and we walked into another roomto meet her family.

There was an elderly womansitt ing on her knees next to a table thatwas close to the floor. Vicky introduced us;this woman was her grandmother. Manygenerations of ten lived in the same tinyhutong. Af ter I had met everyone in thefamily, Vicky and I went to the market, itis a daily chore. At the market it was alsocrowded.

We approached a fi sh stand; Vicky picked up a large fi sh, then handed it to the merchant. “1,000 yaun,” he said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a f ew bills and gave it to the man. The merchant put succulent looking fi sh in to a paper bag and gave it to Vicky. We bought all of the other groceries we needed to buy, then hopped on our bikes and headed back home.

On the way home, Vicky and I passed a schoolyard. I t was recess time and the playground was fi lled with children playing hopscotch,jumprope, and marbles. Vicky explained the school schedule to me. The school day starts at 8:00 am and ends at 5 or 6 at night. I n the middle of the day was a two-hour break where the children would play.

When we arrived home again, I unpacked my things. She showed me to my room, it was small and very simple. There was a small bed that was close to the floor. Against one of the walls was a tiny, wooden dresser. I n the middle of the room was a table, also very close to the floor. I had to stuff my things in the drawers to make them fi t. Af ter I was all situated, it was time f or dinner.

We approached a fi sh stand; Vicky picked up a large fi sh, then handed it to the merchant. “1,000yaun,” he said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a f ew bills and gave it to the man. The merchant put succulent looking fi sh in to a paper bag and gave it to Vicky. We bought all of the other groceries we needed to buy, then hopped on our bikes and headed back home.

On the way home, Vicky and I passed a schoolyard. I t was recess time and the playground was fi lled with children playing hopscotch, jump rope, and marbles. Vicky explained the school schedule to me. The school day starts at 8:00 am and ends at 5 or 6 at night. I n the middle of the day was a two-hour break where the children would play.

When we arrived home again, I unpacked my things. She showed me to my room, it was small and very simple. There was a small bed that was close to the fl oor. Against one of the walls was a tiny, wooden dresser. I n the middle of the room was a table, also very close to the fl oor. I had to stuff my things in the drawers to make them fi t. Af ter I was all situated, it was time f or dinner.

The table was covered with food. Many generations lived in this hutong,but it looked like they were expecting the whole neighborhood. When a plate wasempty it means that the person is not yet full, so a host will serve huge portions offood. Af ter a meal, there are of ten plenty of lef tovers.

Everybody sat on a small pillow on the fl oor. Not all the food looked tooappetizing, but tried a litt le of everything. I t was delicious! There was rice, st ir f ry,fish, and beef . For a beverage there was plain tea. They have plain tea at every,meal.

I complimented Vicky’s mother on the food, but she shrugged it off .Chinese are of ten very modest. Af ter dinner it was t ime for bed, it was an excitingand fun fi rst day in Beij ing.

Dear Journal, August 11,2008

This morning I was woken up at 7 am. I groaned and groggily asked why Vicky was up this early on a Saturday. Sometimes I wish that I were more of a morning person. I was informed that in China weekends don’t exist and Saturday is no special day. Children go to school 6 days a week, people work on Saturdays, too. So I got up, a little grouchy, and took a shower. The water was freezing! Homes are often so simple; they don’t have some luxuries such as warm water.

Today we went to the Museum of Chinese History, it was very interesting. China has the earliest history in the world. There is evidence of civilization that dates back to pre-21st century BC. It has had it’s ups and down along the way. There were many dynasties throughout China’s history, some good and some not so good. The Han dynasty was one of the most important. Chinese people still consider themselves “The Men of Han.” Trade flourished and China opened to other cultures. One dynasty that wasn’t so good was he Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty was well run for the first 150 years, this changed because of power struggles and corrupt court officials. While walking through, Vicky and I observed many of China’s great masterpieces. One painting that especially caught my eye, was a beautiful picture of a woman. She wore a red dress, with golden, intricate designs. Her hair was in a bun on the top of her head. I could tell that whoever painted this masterpiece spent many hours of delicate work to make this elegant portrait. I learned a lot and had a great time at the Museum of Chinese History.

They played around and enjoyed all theattention. They played around on therocks and ate bamboo, which is alsonative to China. We wandered throughthe rest of the zoo looking at the restof the animals.

Af ter leaving themuseum we headed back toVicky’s house for lunch.Again, there was rice andtea in the meal. Af terhaving lunch we rode ourbikes over t o the zoo.

The fi rst things wesaw at the zoo were thepanda bears. They arenative to China, but arealmost extinct. Because ofChina’s quickly growingpopulation, the panda bears’habitat is getting wiped out.There was a family of bearsin this zoo.

The fi rst things we saw at the zoo were the panda bears. They are native to China, but are almost extinct. Because of China’s quickly growing population, the panda bears’ habitat is getting wiped out. There was a f amily of bears in this zoo. They played around and enjoyed all the attention. They played around on the rocks and ate bamboo, which is also native to China. We wandered through the rest of the zoo looking at the rest of the animals.

By the time we were done, it was almost 5:00 p.m. so we rode to the market to get what we needed f or tonight’s meal, then back home. On the way home, I noticed many people ballroom dancing on the sidewalks. Vicky said that it was popular to ballroom dance whenever there was music playing. I t looked pretty strange; people dressed in everyday street clothes, ballroom dancing on a street corner. We would have stopped to dance, but we knew we had to get the groceries home.

Dear J ournal, August 12, 2008Today the same daily routine f ollowed, except today is Sunday so we

went to a Buddhist temple. The most common religions in China are Buddhism and Taoism. People meditate and pray to Buddha. Some people meditate f or many hours f or many hours a day. Buddha is a statue made of gold. He sits in his chair and f olds his hands on his potbelly. Af ter going to the temple, we had a very large lunch, which resulted with a stuff ed stomach.

Vicky and I went to see the Great Wall of China. It is in the only man made structure that you can see with the naked eye from outer space. To get there we had to take a bus through the country. We drove past fields and farms. There were people bent over at the waist farming under the boiling hot sun. There were no tractors; instead they used their bare hands. People were so pour they could afford machinery.

Vicky and I went to see the Great Wall of China. It is in the only man made structure that you can see with the naked eye from outer space. To get there we had to take a bus through the country. We drove past fields and farms. There were people bent over at the waist farming under the boiling hot sun. There were no tractors; instead they used their bare hands. People were so pour they could afford machinery.

When we got there we observed a sign. Next to the wall, itsaid that the wall was 20 feet high and 4,160 miles long. I n some areasit is falling apart because of old age. I t ’s construction started duringthe period of 770-476 BC I t was built because China was constantly inwar with other countries at the t ime. Af ter looking at the wall f or awhile we headed back through the country.

Dear J ournal, August 14, 2008 4:00pmToday is my last day staying with Vicky’s family. This has been

such a fun and excit ing trip, and I ’m kind of sad to be leaving, but alsoanxious to go back home where I can have warm showers in the morning.

Earlier today Vicky and I took a tour of the capital building. Vickytold me don’t usually to talk about the government.

China is a communist state. They only get a tiny say in whathappens to their government. The government controls means ofproduction, so you don’t even get to have the career that you want. So ifyou are a farmer and you grow wheat, the wheat belongs to thegovernment. The government spreads the food out evenly. This is supposedto keep everyone f rom starving but because of the big population boom, itisn’t really working to well. I t is advised in China to only have one child.This is a pretty hard time for China, and I am so glad to be American.China has a president and a vice president but the people don’t get to voteon whom they want, the congress does. The congress has the most power.I t amends the constitution and makes laws. The people who work for thestate council are like police. They enforce the laws that the congressmakes. I learned a lot about China’s government.

I n about an hour I am going to an opera with Vicky and her family.I have never really been a fan of opera, but hey! This is China, I ’msupposed to have new experiences.

Dear J ournal,August 13, 2008 9:00pm

The Opera was great!The actors wore beautifuloutfi ts and silver crowns. Theywore red and white face paint.Red was a very important colorin China. During one section ofthe opera, acrobats came outto do amazing tricks. I t wasamazing. I f ound myselfworrying that the acrobatsmight fall, f or their trickslooked so risky and lif ethreatening. But of course theynever did. The opera is sofascinating, now I understandwhy it is so popular here inChina.

Dear J ournal, August 24, 2008 3:00pm

I am writing this bef ore my last race in this Olympic games. I have already won 5 gold medals here in Beij ing. I have to admit,I am really, really nervous. This is my best event and I hope I do well. I am so close to getting a world record in the 400 meter f reestyle. I am anxious to just get it over with; it has been a long couple of weeks. My f amily came right bef ore the opening ceremonies and they just as excited to be here as I am.

Dear J ournal, August 24, 2008 5:00pm

I won the gold! I am so excited! I started out at a pretty good pace, and I just kept going. I beat the old world record by 10 seconds! And everyone else was 15 seconds behind. I am glad that it’s over though, the anxiety was killing me. Wow, 6 gold medals! This was defi nitely the best experience of my lif e.

Barbie makes a perfect princess from China. Her elegant gown and royal crown celebrate the

magic of China.

It’s a great time to be a girl!