Friday, August 15, 2008

My Very Own Closing Ceremonies

Well, that's it. After seven weeks I'm leaving Beijing and heading back to the homeland. Its been an ultra-rewarding experience and had tons of great memories. Natalia and I went to the Great Wall; I had a great professional experience that went off without a hitch; and of course the Olympics. I'll write more about the other games I went to soon and post more pics etc, but wanted to send a quick parting shout to Zhong gou (Chinese for China).

First off, I realized that this is the longest time I've been oveseas for a single stint in my life. Crazy. But its good to know that I can pull this off, so hopefully there will be a time for me to break my own record soon.

Secondly, there's been a lot of buzz about the Chinese government launching missiles to clear the air and controlling the weather during the Olympics. After the first week, clearly the weather control was overstated. It was overcast, smoggy, rainy, hot, humid, and downright nasty on a couple days. Then yesterday, Friday August 15, the first day of events and activities at the Bird's Nest stadium, the weather was nothing short of perfect. I mentioned to a number of people that yesterday was a perfect Southern California day. Blue skies, probably 83 degrees, and periodic breezes. Rarely in all of my visits here have I experienced a day like this. I couldn't help but think that the govt somehow made this happen. The only evidence would be if the weather could sustain. It is now 8am in Beijing on Saturday morning and looking out the window the blue skies are still here. Very interesting.

No comments: