Some General Observations

So now that I've been here for about a week I have some general observations:

-Nobody speaks any English. Even the translators, they speak only about 15 words of English. That makes things really tough.
-There is only one channel on the tv that has English, and it is only in english about 50% of the time. Lots of movies and music.
-The Chinese are very nice and would do anything for us. They grab my bag the minute I walk out of the elevator. You drop a fork or chopsticks in the dining room and they are there to pick it up before you can even blink.
-Women are not equal in Chinese culture.
-Americans and western looking people in general are like a circus act. Everywhere we go they grab us to take pictures. Regular camera, cell phone camera, doesn't matter. Some even try to be sneaky about it and pretend take pictures of themselves while we are standing in the background.
-It is obvious the Chinese don't follow the surgeon generals warning because everybody smokes. The rink, taxis, vans all reek of smoke. My clothes are starting to smell too, it is so gross.
-The pollution is pretty bad. Everyone who wears contacts has had to change them and my snot is a blackish color. I am on the 10th floor at our hotel and you can just see a haze over the city when you look out the window.
-It is essential to always carry toilet paper and purell in your pocket everywhere you go. Squatty pottys...enough said.
-They don't drink a lot of soda here. I haven't had a soda since Monday and I am dying for one. I can't tell you the last time I went more than a day without drinking a diet coke, let alone 5 days.
-The coffee is apparently like jet fuel.
-The crystal light packets I brought have also been a lifesaver. I've been drinking so much water as well since there isn't soda. We are all finding that we are retaining more water than usual and our ankles and feet our swollen. My feet have been cramping in my skates and Stacey said this morning her skates felt like they felt when she was pregnant.
-Everything is dirt cheap. A 15 minute cab ride is less than $2. The merchandise at the games is all under $10. In America a pen at a sports event is $10.
-It is COLD. Freezing cold. Tara has said it feels like home to her (Fairbanks, Alaska) with the exception of the wind.
-Drivers and pedestrians are crazy. They have no patience, I'm surprised more people aren't hit and killed on a regular basis. They use their horns here constantly.
-There is no such thing as personal space here. They get in your face, push to get on and off the elevator and are always in a rush.
-This is a test event for Harbin. They are planning to put in a bid for the winter olympics in either 2018 or 2022. There is no way they could host, they would need to pretty much domalish the city and start over. I feel like they are stuck in the 1960's.

Despite all of this, it has been an amazing experience so far. I'm having a great time and this will be something I never forget.