Maiya - Beijing 2008

Now is the time to go back and fill in all the rather large holes left in the original entries.

That first day we met at my high school (Inglemoor) at 5:00 in the morning. We finally got our act together enough to leave around 5:45. People aren’t very efficient that early. It was a 3 hour bus ride up to Vancouver. The bus was mostly filled with the snores of people sleeping, interspersed by the occasional “OH MY GOSH, WE’RE GOING TO CHINA!!!” Luckily, Canadian customs waved us straight through and we got to the airport several hours early. We got lunch, played cards and wandered around to pass the time. We managed to wander straight into the Canadian Olympic track team and what we think was the Brazilian’s women soccer team. That was cool. I think that’s when it hit me that, “ACK! I’m actually involved in the Olympics!!!”

The plane arrived and left on time, and we were off. The plane was…boring. What do you expect? It was an 11 hour flight. We played more cards, watched bad movies, and told even worse jokes. I will note though, that flying over Alaska was one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen and definitely the best view I’ve ever gotten from an airplane. The food was…questionable. I think my favorite part was the bread.

That’s all unimportant though. Arriving in Beijing made 11 hours of sheer boredom completely worth it. Security at the airport was understandably tight. We got through the initial checkpoint pretty quickly because we were given Olympic status. This meant we got to use the official and notably shorter Olympic lines. Sometimes VIP designation is nice. I doubt it made much of a difference once you included all the other checkpoints and security screenings we had to go through. We got on the bus at around 3:30pm Beijing time and made it to the hotel around 6:00. Since we were playing at the stadium in Tianjin as well as Beijing, Orchestra Village was approximately half-way between the two.

We had our first Chinese meal accompanied by a giant rainstorm that covered the courtyard and walkways in 2 inches of water. After this, all anybody wanted was sleep. Especially because we had rehearsals starting at 8:00 the next morning.

Note: My Flickr page is currently “under construction” so things might look a little strange for the next couple of days.

Hi, I’m back on good old American soil. My group left Shanghai at 3:45pm on Wednesday, August 15^th and arrived in Vancouver, Canada at 11:45am the same day! — And they say time travel isn’t available yet! The time change and International Date Line throw me completely off. I could never keep the date straight in China. We arrived back at our school about 5:30pm. I was VERY tired since I couldn’t sleep on the plane and unable to get to bed until midnight because of a mini family “crisis”. Today was busy with unpacking, piano lesson, and band rehearsals. I will continue posting information daily regarding my trip as I go through my journal. Come back to read and look at more pictures as I go back to the beginning of my arrival in Beijing and flesh out my comments & fill in the missing days when I was unable to get online. Good night for now.

So…I no longer have internet access on my own computer or for free. This means a couple of things. One, I have no way to post to Flickr because I don’t have a USB drive available on the computer I am using. And two, this will be my last post until I get home. I WILL keep writing on my own computer. Once home I will post everything I write as well as many, many, many pictures. I am SOOO sorry about this. Luckily it’s only for the last couple of days. Thank you for reading and looking! I will make this up to everyone as soon as I get back!

Now, one last quick update from China…

We got to Shanghai at around 7:00 yesterday morning. We stopped by the hotel to drop stuff off and then were back on the buses for a tour around noon. First we went to a section of “Old Town.” It’s mostly a series of shops. There was some neat stuff. There’s also a garden which is the main attraction. While we were in the garden it started pouring again, about the same as that first night. I loved it. I only wish my camera had a water proof case. I still have some really cool pictures though. I would have loved to have spent more time there, which with luck, will happen tomorrow.

After that we went near the river to look around. There was a tea house and an amazing view. That night we took a river cruise. Shanghai has the most amazing skyline. The architecture here is fascinating. I actually filled up my memory card during the cruise.

Today was spent wandering the city. We went to an acrobatic show tonight.

Ok, I’m sorry to cut this short, especially since I won’t be able to post again but its 11:00 and the lady supervising the business center is glaring at me.

Good night everyone, and thank you! Once more, I’m sorry I won’t be able to post for a few days but once I get home it’ll be worth coming back. Please do come back and check again!

So, day 6 consisted of a LOT of rehearsing. We spent the morning working on the music and the afternoon trying to figure out formations. The problem was that the charts had been made with 2008 people in mind but the Europeans backed out so we are short 300 people. It didn’t go so well and it took hours. Anyways, that night we got together in a big hall to watch a couple of performances and the directors were presented with plaques. We also got Olympic Orchestra pins. After that there was a dance/party. It was a hard day, but worth it.

Day 7 we rehearsed in the morning and then bussed to Tianjin to play at the Olympic Stadium there. Right after that we stayed to watch a women’s soccer game. China vs. Sweden, China won. Personally I was rooting for Sweden, but it didn’t really matter much. The Chinese of course, went crazy. Heh, we did the wave in an Olympic Stadium!

Anyways, the next day we toured the Forbidden City and spent some time in downtown Beijing. The Forbidden City is so impressive it’s intimidating. I have no idea how someone could live there, but it’s spectacular. Downtown we went to a mostly western mall. Everyone was excited for the chance to get “American” food. It wasn’t very Chinese but it was interesting to see the small differences. The only downside — You can’t bargain in a mall. I’m going to hate that difference when I get back.

Today we visited the summer palace and a pearl factory. I love the Summer Palace. Everything from the lake, to the buildings, to the gardens are absolutely beautiful. It’s almost 7 times the size of the Forbidden City, so about 700 acres. There were a lot of pedal boats out on the lake. We took a bigger boat, but I would of loved to have had a few hours to go pedal boating around there. The pearl factory was cool, but kind of expensive. And they were freshwater, not sea water pearls. They still had some very nice jewelry but I came back empty handed. They did break open an oyster for us, which was fun.

That’s it for now. I’ll be on a train to Shanghai tomorrow night so I won’t be able to update until the next day. Sorry it took so long to write this.  I’m keeping separate notes on my computer as well. I’ll post those once they’re in publishable format.

Oh yeah, one more thing. At some point during all of this, my friend and I went to play pool/billiards and found something everyone had been looking for. The chalk block was MADE IN AMERICA. It’s been a running joke throughout the trip that we’re going to bring back stuff that was made in the United States.

Ok, done for real this time.

Thank you everyone! Good night!

So, free time has been virtually non-existent! In fact, I have to go again in a couple minutes so I can’t post now. I WILL post tonight and catch up on everything, promise!

Sorry!

We performed on the Great Wall of China!!!

Afterward, we climbed the wall and then came back down to shop in the little village right below it. It’s an awesome sight.

I don’t think we’re going anywhere tomorrow, we just have rehearsals. I’ll write more then. For now I’m going to bed. We’ve had two very, very long days.

Bye!

As of now, we’ve been up for 19 hours straight. It’s been worth it though. The Tiananmen Square performance was really fun. There’s already a video posted on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biwZyGnu1RU ) and we saw a brief clip of ourselves on a Chinese news station earlier this evening. Supposedly, we’ll be on CNN, King 5, and NBC soon. Unfortunately I don’t know the exact times. If you have Tivo, you could try just recording the newscasts.

Tomorrow we’re performing at the Great Wall. I’m excited about that! Afterward, we’ll get the chance to walk it.

A group of us spent our break today hanging out with some Australians. The different cultures are the best part of this whole trip.

We have an early morning again, so I’m going to go post some pictures and then go to bed.

Night everyone! Thanks for reading.

Make sure to keep an eye out here…

http://beijing2008olympicorchestra.com

World Projects is uploading pictures daily as well as posting info on all media events. They’ll probably have lots of pictures that I don’t have the ability to take (i.e. shots of rehearsals) and will probably get information on newscasts and stories before I will.

China is insanely hot! We got off easy the first couple of days because it was cloudy. Today was perfectly clear. It was already over a hundred degrees at 9 in the morning. We were rehearsing in this. It was crazy, fun though, because the Chinese people finally came. Oh, guess who else is here…? Japan! Yay! They’re with the Australians. We practiced this morning until lunch and then came back later to do the dress rehearsal for Tiananmen Square. We had a mini-audience and it was/will be televised but no one seems to know the details about that. Who knows…it might just be in China.

Anyways, tomorrow is the Tiananmen Square performance. We’re leaving the hotel at 3:30 in the morning to perform at 8:00. Ack!

One more thing before I try to get some sleep.

The night we got here, we got caught in a huge thunderstorm. The courtyards were in 2 inches of water…at least. It was ridiculous! Unfortunately it’s sunny again. Oh, I think they actually have improved the smog situation for the Olympics. It doesn’t seem quite as bad as when I visited 2 years ago.

Good night everyone. Try and catch the Tiananmen Square show! I don’t know the details of when or on what channel its playing on. I figure the best bet is NBC since they’re the official Olympic people. As for time? I’ll try and find out, but I don’t think it’s live. We’re playing at 8:00am, Beijing time. Hopefully, we can find it online.

Bye!

Lots and lots of playing! We’re rehearsing as a group with the Californians and also as a larger group with the Australians and Japanese. The Chinese contingent hasn’t come yet.

The Tiananmen Square performance is the day after tomorrow. It will be widely televised, but I don’t know what networks it’ll be on. NBC maybe? I’ll post here if/when I find out.

That’s all for now. I’ll try and post something more detailed during break or earlier in the evening. I have now learned that waiting until bedtime is a bad idea…I’m shot.

Goodnight everyone! And check Flickr, I just posted some stuff there. =D