Elvina is in China!

A big apology for all the promises of "one more" lunch, dinner, coffee or phone conversation. My last week in New York just flew by and I was so busy with packing up the apartment, unpacking those things at my parents' house and then packing my luggage. I miss you all but will keep in close touch!

After a 13-hour direct flight, I arrived in Beijing this afternoon. (!!!) Tomorrow morning we are going to see men's diving at the Water Cube. On Wednesday, I'll have a short one hour flight to Shanghai, where someone from my school will pick me up and drive me to my apartment in Suzhou.

Back to Beijing. This is my fifth time here in the past nine years. It has evolved and changed in enormous ways. The population is teeming with diversity, and one can hear just as many languages spoken as in Manhattan. Even more so with the Olympics going on. Normally, when I come to China, I just feel fat. Walking around today, I felt fat and short. There were so many gigantic men who were clearly athletes. Clearly... as they also smelled like it. Also, I feel like the only one who is not involved in the Olympics. Everyone walking around is either: an athlete, a relative of an athlete, a coach, a sponsor, a volunteer, a tour guide, etc. I should get myself one of those official Olympic polo shirts just to fit in.

Beijing certainly falls among the other cities that cleaned up immensely in order to be a good host of the Olympic games. It looks "spiffy" here, for lack of a better word. It's kind of cool to see the countdown towers that I saw last year are now dark. It reminds me of my own countdown.

On first impression, the city is really not that bad. What happened to the heavy traffic and overcrowding? Well, maybe I will see something different tomorrow. So far, so good.