奥运会公园 和北京教育学院The Olympic Park and the Beijing Institute of Education

After the "adventure" on the Great Wall, we chose a safer plan for Wednesday, the Olympic Park.  This time only my friend Nick could make it, no Chunsen today.  We took the subway to reach the park, which was as smooth and uneventful as I have come to expect Beijing subway travel to be.  We arrived at the park in pretty much the same weather we had come to expect over the past 5 days, overcast and rainy.  Even in this less than flattering circumstance, the Olympic Park was a just as impressive as I had imagined it would be.  You're first faced with the prospect of crossing a massive open area that leads to and separates the Water Cube and Bird's Nest.

This one if from my series of picture I call, "Karen doesn't know I took this."

The series continues

This one is one of my favorites. Also, behold the Bird's Nest!

The two red things are the Olympic mascots from 2008.  

 The Bird's Nest did not disappoint.  This was especially true for me.  As a runner, this place is holy ground.  I took my sweet time walking around and identifying the start lines for the 800m, the 1600m, the 5000m, and even Usain Bolt's famous world record 100m.

This picture is going to get treasured for a long time.

 A little background is needed for the picture above.  I have noticed a rather strange phenomenon during my time in China; Chinese people love to take pictures of themselves with pictures of the very place they are already visiting.  Did you get a picture in front of the Water Cube already?  Great!  Now go inside and take another picture with a big picture of the real thing you just took a picture with!  I love China.

Clearly, this is an Olympic Torch

All my pictures of the Water Cube (or the Michael Phelps Memorial Swimming Pool, as we called it) are on my parents camera, but I have these interior shots.  Honestly, it looks a lot smaller than you'd expect, but it does have a water park!  But I don't have pictures of it...

There was an international water polo tournament going on.  I'm pretty sure the Chinese won.

The picture above the diving board are an advertisement for a Chinese singing competition.  See, China isn't so different from us after all.

After touring the sites and scenes of the Olympic Park, I chose to take my parents a little closer to home for the afternoon.  As such, we boarded the subway and headed to Beijing Institute of Education, where I spent the last four 120 days studying Chinese Monday through Sunday.

But first, on my mother's insistence, I took us to the pet street, as we called it.  On this 100 ft section of alley, you could buy everything from a snapping turtle, to a squirrel, and I do mean a real squirrel.  There were also cats, dogs, birds, fish, snakes, crabs, shrimp, and even giant crickets.  As I knew would happen, my mother found the whole thing very upsetting.  I can't say I disagree, as the conditions for most animals were hardly more than wire cages.

With that over, we walked the remaining kilometer to my campus.  Well, you could call it a campus, if you really wanted to, but it all fit into about 3/4 of a football field, and is fenced all around.  I failed to take any pictures of the campus with my iPhone, so those will have to wait.  I do, however, have pictures of the famous places around my campus.

This would be the small store where I bought water, snacks, and the occasion 50 cent bottle of beer.  It is owned by a couple who live inside with their 7 year old daughter.  She was the cutest girl ever, and she spoke way better Chinese than me. 

This where I got my breakfast on most mornings.  I never got tired of watching this guy make those pastries you see him cooking.  It was an art.

Here at the world famous eggplant restaurant, I would eat probably 4 times week.  The waitress reminded me of my mom, and the food was amazing.

If you go out the gate of BIE, and swing a left, you will eventually run into this side street.  Here, you can find the Muslim restaurant I ate at probably 50 times, and a guy who sells duck necks, which I never ate.

 The tour was a nice chance to show my parents what I had been talking about for the last four months.  I even showed them my old room and the classrooms where I spent endless hours learning to speak Chinese at a three year-old's level.  It was a very cathartic experience.  I said goodbye to the breakfast pastry guy, the owner of the store, and even the guy at the desk in my dorm.  It was a nice way to wrap up the day, and my time at CET Beijing.  That night, we headed back to the hotel, and hit the hay.  The next day, we would be eating hot pot!