I'm back in Shanghai from a 3 day trip to Beijing. There were a lot of great experiences this trip, with the highlights being an Olympic men's volleyball match, a trip to Tianamen Square, and eating some tasty Peking Duck. First--the game. Before anything, I really really wanted to see the Olympic Village, but unfortunately the tickets that we had for the volleyball match were held at a University in another part of Beijing and because of the tight security we weren't able to get in. Therefore we were only able to circle around it and get a glimpse of the huge stadium and aquatics center known respectively as the "bird's nest" and "water cube". Afterwards, we went to Tianamen Square and climbed to the top of the gates to the Forbidden City, glimpsing the massssssssssssses of people below:

The next day was the volleyball match, and it was between the powerhouses of Germany and Russia! I really didn't know who to cheer for but I finally decided on Russia (partly because of the abnoxious German croud chanting Deutchland over and over) and it turned out to be the first and probably most exciting match of volleyball I have and will have ever seen. For those who don't know the rules, sets are played best of 5 to 25 points each, with the last set (if played) to 15 points. Well, these two teams flip flopped back in forth for the most amazing display of volleyball skill ever, eventually tying it up in the last set at 14-14. Fortunately Russia clutched it to win 16-14 WAHWAHWEEWAH!

I'm back in Shanghai and will be leaving in 2 days--I can't wait to get back to the States. For those of you I promised to meet up with...I'm sorry :(. There's just not enough time in a family vacation to meet up with people. Till next time!