It's a long way in any language

I've arrived in Beijing after a long, long flight that took us up over the North Pole.

When the moving map they show has the nearest town as being 1,500 miles away, you know you are in the middle of nowhere!

The trip went very smoothly. The car picked me up at home right on time Tuesday morning (I'm writing this on Wednesday in Beijing after my arrival). And the trip to Newark Airport was smooth sailing, too. I was hoping to use miles to upgrade to Business Class but it was full so I flew over in coach. Wasn't so bad. I'm a SkyTeam elite flyer so they try to hold the seat next to you empty and that worked out this time, too.

As usual, upon arrival in Beijing there were a million super-helpful volunteers. That's one thing that never changes about the Olympics, there always seems to be a ton of folks who want to be helpful.

I got to my housing in real good time, with few hassles, and got settled into my room. It is very nice. I'm sharing the apartment with two other folks. Not sure who yet, I was the first to arrive. We have a common area and each of us has a private bedroom. We share two bathrooms.

After getting unpacked, I decided to head over to our office in the Main Press Center to check in, get my work gear unpacked and computer set up, pick up my per diem debit card and my Chinese cellphone.

I had just missed a bus but I could see the MPC from my housing so I thought I'd walk. Boy was I wrong with that call!

It seemed like I walked forever, getting turned down at several gates by smiling volunteers as I tried to find somewhere I could go through security. Finally, after going so far that I couldn't see the MPC any longer, I kind of got huffy with some volunteers (the smiling folks shown above) and told them I was tired of being passed on down the line and I wanted to talk to someone in charge.

Much smiling and chattering among themselves, in Chinese, and finally a guy came out and after some discusssion and pointing and watching me sweat, he dispatched these two to find a bus for me. They ended up taking me to the right bus stop and then riding with me for about a half-hour or more as we circled the Olympic Green. Finally, with great excitement, they started pointing and dragged me off the bus at a stop. Sure enough, it was the MPC and I eventually got to our office.

Last time I saw them, they were disappearing over the horizon, still waving and smiling.

Hope they don't lose that enthusiasm. It's going to be a long month!

brian