why is it that whenever you say a word louder and a bit drawn it, it sounds so much cooler? like, "coooolllleeege." i dont know how many times that stupid word convinced me to do just about anything. so, when it was time to move my belongings back west, i employed this sneaky tactic. "who wants to go on a rooooad triiiiip? it will be sooo cooool!" most people were on to me, but i must of said it extra long and cool when i talked to sean...because he fell for it. little did he know the trip would end up being 2751 miles long. yep, we maybe got a little lost (over 400 miles), but i think my car dancing moves made up for it.
our first stop was chicaaaaago. and i loved it. how have i not known about how wonderful this place is? it was like a mini nyc. we stayed at the W right on the water and ate the most delicious, yummy, incredible pizza my mouth has ever experienced.
i also got to see an old friend from when i lived in russia - danny the pimp. nothing had changed...he was still deathly afraid of spiders. after breakfast we took in a few of chicago's hotspots. we asked a homeless man to take a picture of us in front of the sears tower.
im just glad he captured the building. who cares if we're in the picture.
after chicago we traveled through the land of cheese. naturally, we stopped for some cheesecurd at the world famous mousehouse.
no one told us you had to collect your own milk.
i had to drag sean back into the car.
in true roadtrip style we decided to take a small (4 hour) detour to see a little carving in the mountains.
i'm not going to lie, i wanted to break out my american flag sweatshirt and matching earrings when i saw the four faces jutting out of the hill. it was breathtaking. the man power and talent it took to create this masterpiece is simply incredible. i have always desperately wanted to be a talented artists. i have boxes of paints and brushes and easels, but my first and only painting is stuffed behind a tv in my parents house. they say they just haven't had a chance to frame it. that was 3 years ago. BUT one of my talents did come in handy...
not to brag, but i've always been good at this.
shortly after this brief detour we drove over 400 miles in the wrong direction. it was fun. and i reminded sean by simply saying, "getting lost is sooo aaaaawesssome." it put a smile right on that face. it really does work every time.
i have always denied the allegations that my love for the lakers is superficial. yes, the players are strong and tall - two adjectives i prefer in the description of my men, but i always swore it was for the love of the game...until this little guy joined the squad -
ok, so maybe my die-hard commitment to the purple and gold team is slightly shallow.
you know when you get really excited about something and you want to tell everyone about it, but you have too much to say so it comes out sounding like a big mess of nothingness. well, im worried that may happen when i tell you about my trip to BEIJING - because honestly dudes, china kicked bum. not just because i was at the XXIX olympic games. and not just because i was in china. and not just because i met incredible people and amazingly fit athletes. but because every one of my olympic dreams came true. in order to avoid sounding like this, asjkgsag kd gadgjnakdgnsdkgnasf kmv, i've separated the trip into the three reasons why it rocked steady - 1. games 2. school 3. a communist country -
i have always loved the olympic games. for the fourteen days of athletic competition i am usually glued to the television screen - jumping up and down on the couch, screaming like these little cuties when my favorite team/athlete clentches the gold -
but when i see someone eat it or hear an olympians battle to get to the games, despite injuries and hardships, i look more like this -
for the XXIX olympiad, i left the confines of my own home and brought the tears and cheers to CHINA. and had one of the best times of my life. i wish everyone could of experienced it for themselves. to make up for not packing you in my suitcase and taking you along, here are a few highlights from the events i was fortunate enough to attend -
HOOPS. basketball was off the hook. i saw china v. germany and usa v. spain. guys, the chinese fans are incredible. really. they are the most loyal enthusiastic fans i have ever seen. unfortunately they were just as enthusistic about spain during the usa game. however, i did get this little guy to convert.
now i love watching sports. on tv, live, internet. you name it, im down. part of the appeal is the ambience a sporting event creates. i grew up watching games with my dad. i looked at him with pride as he ripped on the refs when they made a dumb call or threw nachos at the tv when someone dropped a pass. he was the coolest...until i went to china. the guy sitting behind me during the china v. germany game was my kind of guy. he yelled, he cursed, he booed. he was into it. there was only one problem - he had no idea what he was talking about. every time they called a foul, he would yell, "and one, and one." at least he tried.
towards the end of the game i decided it was time to say hi to my old pal, kolbs. i turned to some of the chinese fans around me and said "you like kobe? (in a very slow chinese american accent - totally works when trying to communticate with a foreigner). if you didn't know, the chinese love him. we're talking, they would throw their very own national icon, yao ming, under the bus for some kobe time. i started chanting, "kobe, kobe, kobe", and in no time the chant started sounding more like, "kobae, kobae, kobae," as my whole section joined in. we kept it up for a good 30 seconds or so, (i don't think kobe recognized his name), but he wouldn't turn around and look at us. finally, after a soft nudge from lebron, he turned and gave us the double-hand point (because he's just that cool). it was sweet. so sweet, the washington post wrote about it. (see last paragraph)
HANDBALL. this was one event i was skeptical about. and to be honest, i thought it was going to be the old school, hit the red ball against a board handball, but it looked more like this -
at first i as bummed not to see the familiar childhood game, but after watching for a few minutes i was hooked. it's like a combination of soccer, basketball, and rugby all in one. who could ask for more?
PADDLE & BOAT. this was an incredible venue. it was about an hour outside of the city, but totally worth the drive. we were able to take a tour of the place before the race started to see how they created the man-made lake. the chinese spared no expense.
RUNNING & THROWING. yes it was fun to see track and field...but the best part was watching it in this baby -
i can't even describe how incredibly freaking awesome this building is. i saw it almost every day and each time it took my breath away. and each time i took about 50 photos.
JUMPING INTO WATER.
yes, the bird's nest blew my mind, but the water cube was amazing in it's own right. at night it was an incredible blue and purple.
VOLLEYBALL IN THE SAND.
in front of the beach volleyball venue.
we watched the usa men's team.
and then watched them workout. holla.
yes, it was somewhat embarrassing showing the world my happy dance and scrunchy cry face, but i'd do it again. and again.
the real reason i went to beijing was to finish my last masters course (holla) - behind the scenes at the olympic games. 28 students from all over the world traveled to china to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity. part of the deal included lecture for 8 to 5 every day. i know. lame, and the reason i almost declined acceptance into the class. good thing i didn't. the "classes" turned out to be more than i ever imagined. we truly were 'behind the scenes'
nike house. sponsors set-up hospitality areas for their athletes and guests to come relax and hang out. nike was particularly hospitable to us.
if you have any athletic talent whatsoever, quit your job and start training. olympians are treated like royalty. here are a few basketball players hanging out in the nike house. after a their full-body massages.
owner of speedo. if i could pick an old man as my sugar daddy - he would be it. hands down.
international broadcast center - IBC - how the games get to you back home.
din din with the prince of jordan. AND dick fosbury (inventor of the fosbury flop). no biggie.
at the fancy dinner, they were filming a popular chinese tv show - equivalent to access hollywood or extra. they asked a few of us to be on and follow the dance movements of this little guy - for some reason they picked me as the winner. probably thought i was one of them.
normal university - the usoc took over this university for US athletes to train during their stay in beijing. they were the only country to do this in china. sometimes i'm really proud to be an american.
yes. this is where the usa swim team practiced. (michael)
lisa leslie leaving after shooting some hoops.
reebok headquarters. meeting with sponsors was particularly interesting for these olympic games. the chinese government controlled EVERYTHING and always had the last word.
usa house.
ge imagination center - sponsors set up incredible activation zones on the olympic green. we took a private tour of GE's - they spent $30 million to have four of qin shi huang's terracotta warriors brought in for display.
nba china - the chinese love their basketball. i talked to one guy who spoke fairly decent english. he said he learned it from watching nba basketball. so basically all he knew how to say was, "that's bs" and "what now, mother effer."
dick pound - vp ioc and former president of wada
olympic village - athlete's casa for two weeks
i think he thought i was an athlete.
vip club bud - budweiser took over a warehouse and created the coolest club in beijing. it was meant as a place for athletes and vips to come relax after competition. and shake it on the dance floor.
the club included a full-size indoor pool -
the ladies in da club.
prepping our youngest before he entered.
in true vip fashion, they had a red carpet for all the athletes...and gw students.
i teamed up with the sports writer for the washington post to interview some of the guests - move over barbara walters
