The Work Begins

We began work on 7/29 at 6 p.m. and have been kept very busy ever since. Yesterday we went to first-aid training at International SOS. It was, how you say, interesting. The instructor was a Chinese Dr. and his English was not great. Some of my favorite words and phrases were:

"First Aider": one who provides first aid.

"Meat Soup is brilliant!": This refers to the mixture of blood and flesh in an open wound and bacteria's fondness of it.

"Me I can only handle one bottle of beers.": Explaining that an adult male can only stand to lose one liter of blood before risking the collapse of his circulatory system.

As you can guess from these examples the whole discussion was a little bit gruesome. He kept referring to dismemberment, gaping wounds, and being pierced through by a "metal stick" at a construction site. The whole thing was quite amusing.

Then it was back to the family center where construction is in full swing. I'll check today to see if I am allowed to take pictures. The restaurant itself is absolutely beautiful. 15,500 square feet with 8 private dining rooms (5 very private with curtains, 3 elevated platforms that are semi-private), two koi ponds, 2 bars, plate glass windows everywhere, and a roof terrace. The terrace has an incredible view of Workers' Stadium and we suspect many an interview of athletes will happen there.

I keep forgetting, but am constantly reminded, that the summer games is a completely different animal from winter games. It's about twice as large, which means the family center will be incredibly busy. We are expecting to serve meals to 1000 people every day--Take that Bagdad Cafe--and we are only open for lunch and dinner. We received the shipment of swag yesterday. Holy bejeezus. Box after box of gifts for the athletes. Backpacks, water bottles, first-aid kits, you name it.

We took a walk through the kitchen yesterday. Bad idea. Maisie our Chinese assistant told us that it was very clean. We were all appalled. Remind me not to the next time I suggest eating anything that is less than fully cooked. That is all I am going to say about this matter. :-)

I still await the actual beginning of my job. The computers have not arrived and once they do arrive I will not have anything to do until someone with much more knowledge sets up the network for me. :-) How did I get this job again? BTW - I wasn't sure if I was to be flattered or insulted, but when I introduced myself to the room at first-aid training an "ooo" went through the crowd. I think they were all jealous because my job sounded so easy compared to their 18 hour work days.

That is all there is to report. After my 4 days here I've been designated the resident expert on Beijing and will spend some time in the next week orienting the other managers to the city. You know how much I love to play tour guide, so it will be a lot of fun. Dinner tonight is at "Meat Patty To Explode Stomach." Full report tomorrow, if I survive.