Day Before the Marathon

5/16/08, Yu Yang Hotel, room 2022

I woke up at 5:30am this morning, having slept about 6 hours. The sun was already high in the sky, and I was wide awake almost immediately. I took a few minutes to stretch and orient myself to the new day before throwing on some running gear and setting out for a 5K around the nearby city blocks. It was very different from Amsterdam 2 days ago, to say the least. Beijing is not the only Chinese locale loaded with infrastructure. Multi-lane roads in each direction sprawl all over, with sidewalks at least as wide and lined with young tree. The main thorough ways were surprisingly clean, although there were many droppings from the countless small dogs wandering the streets. The alley ways were as dirty as you might expect, but not as bad as India. Many people were preparing breakfast on the sidewalk, with small open indoor areas behind them where customers could eat.

Breakfast was better than dinner the night before, as far as what I was able to eat. Mostly boiled, rice, cream puff roll things that were stuffed with sausage or some kind of vegetable mixture. We were all pretty sure the orange juice was actually Tang. That wasn't a problem for us. We watched from our table a number of waiters lined up outside on the terrace like soldiers. It was apparent they were being trained. One guy lost control of his tray and spilled a couple of beers. Everyone was laughing at him. We saw him walk away, also laughing himself, but he never returned. During a break, several of the waiters started doing stretches, as if they were about to… um… run a marathon. Ha.

There is a small team of students from UCLA that came with one of the runners who are producing a documentary of the marathon tomorrow. It looks like they'll be doing some interviews of other runners, and asked me if I would speak with them, so… of course.

After breakfast, I waited in the lobby for a small group that was going to the grocery store. I approached the desk clerk about getting a map of the city to see if there was anything within walking distance that might be worth checking out. No one at the desk knew English, so the girl with whom I was speaking so ineffectually dialed a number, spoke a moment, and then handed me the phone. "What would you like?"

"Oh, I'm looking for a map of the city and…"

"Please repeat, and slow down."

"I need a map... of the… city."
"Oh, give the phone to the girl."

After shuffling around behind the desk, searching through drawers, and asking other clerks where a map might be, she found one that looked okay. I was beckoned to speak on the phone again:

"She will give you a map. Please give it back to the hotel when you return."

Thereafter, she opened the map she'd already planned to give me. Deciding it wasn't one she could give me after all, there were another exchange on the phone and I left the hotel without a map.

We didn't travel far, and the city is built in a pretty perfect grid. It doesn't have the same pitfalls as getting lost in Atlanta when you take road after road that winds around in circles and robs you of all mental bearings of location. Down the road and a block or two over, there was a huge grocery store with lots of sundries and appliances in the vein of Wal-mart. Each area had its own personnel who would stand next to you and watch everything you did. Its exactly what an American would do if they expected you to steal something from their store, but after sometime we figured out that they just wanted to be helpful. One couple that I was with found a pack of batteries and managed to tell one of the people stationed in the area that they wanted a two pack. There were none available, so the clerk simply took two of the batteries out of the package and sold them individually.

My room mate Lee was also with us. He later told me that he was in one area by himself when store personnel were following him around everywhere, and once he walked a certain distance from that area they stopped and turned around. "It was like I had left their area, so they weren't responsible for me anymore."

I wandered away to the produce area. On display in the meat section were squid, octopi, eel, skate, fish, pork ribs, duck, and a number of cooked meats that I did not recognize. I raided the candy, filling up a few bags, with the same overly-helpful clerk looking nervous when I resisted her help. She wanted to stand next to me and hold the bag open while I perused the candy, reading labels, assembling the kind of variety I wanted. I avoid eye contact so I could do my own thing.

Below the store was a condensed mall concept where clothing and jewelry stores each about the size of a two car garage were partitioned by walls, but which still allowed free movement among them without exiting to the main walkways. I recognized a lot of the brand names. This was the most Americanesque retail I'd seen since I arrived. Something I noticed throughout this whole retail complex was that it was operated almost entirely by women. In fact, out on the streets and the outdoor shops, it was mostly women doing work and men sitting around smoking cigarettes. There were even women doing sewage work.

I feel like I'm depriving the most dedicated of my millions of unique readers of the full breadth of my experience here hitherto, but so much has happened that I simply can't spend the necessary hours sitting here writing it all out. When I started writing about today, I didn't expect to have much to say because, believe it or not, I slept most of the day. In fact, I slept through the pasta dinner tonight, and I'm persisting on the candy I bought. THAT IS MY MARATHON PREPARATION. So we'll see how that works out. But I suppose I did do quite a lot today.

Internet is scarce at the moment, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the area, even hotel staff, that can speak English proficiently. One desk clerk told me "your room will not play your computer" when I asked about internet access. Begging for other options, she told me internet in the hotel was out. Lee told me a few minutes ago, however, that he was able to sneak into one of the hotel offices and use the computer for a few minutes before they cautiously kicked him out, so I think I'm going to sneak in there in the morning to post this before the marathon. If the post is dated Friday night, you'll know I was successful. Once I return to Beijing after the marathon tomorrow, Lee tells me the hotel there has free wireless internet. That will give me a chance not only to post about the marathon, but also put up some photos and video (if youtube is available).

Keep checking in!