Greetings from The Family Center!

I'm sitting right now listening to the opening ceremonies on TV. It's an amazing show, and I'm seeing it long before you. It's quite fantastic. If you get the chance, watch it! The local staff are absolutely mesmerized. It's really, really fun to watch. The Olympics are great source of national pride for them. During the past week I have been handed no fewer than 6 Chinese flags on the streets of Beijing. The staff are so excited just to be here. It must be a little conflicting for them to be working so hard to make our center a great place for the Americans to hang out, while they are also wanting to root for their Chinese favorites.
I must say it is quite fascinating to me to see the president of China at the opening ceremonies. Such a delight after all of the fears and paranoia in the US following 9/11.
It's been amazingly busy around here getting the place ready for all of these guests, and it looks fantastic. We have received a lot of great compliments on the look. We are always left wishing they had seen the place a week ago. I swear, one evening I did nothing but move plants for 3 hours. And I thought I had a lot of plants. It was an interesting lesson in the Chinese lack of symmetry. Or, shall I say, a perceived lack of symmetry. I moved plants from here to there and everywhere just trying to establish a sense of balance in each room. It was absolutely awful. I'm not kidding this place must have 50 plants, and, quite frankly, they were all in the wrong place. Once they were in place it was time to water. And the drama went on.
Now we are open and having a great time. The place is just buzzing with the opening ceremonies. There has already been a frenzy of pin trading. And I'm sure you are aware of my fondness for that. Today's coups include: USA Water Polo, USA Swimming, ARD/ZDF (German TV), and an NBC pin. I definitely keep team pins. The system is worked out, so that I always know what I'm willing to give up. Trading is a complicated deal and the intricacies are, to me, very fun. The bad news is that someone hooked me up with olympinclub.com. Dangerous. Very Dangerous. If I have to be bailed out of a Chinese brothel you will know it is because I sold my soul to buy more pins.
Aside from working here at the family center for the last several days, I've not much to report to you. One of my tasks yesterday was to buy lanterns to put on tables here. While at the market I managed to buy an oil painting (pictures to be posed on Flickr) and a bust of Chairman Mao. I don't really know how it happened. I was shopping for lanterns one moment and moments later I was walking home with a bust.
At the close of day one, I just want to say that I love the energy of the family center. There is just so much activity. It makes a 12 hour day with two twenty minute breaks seem so acceptable. Of course, there is down time. After all I am blogging now and we are still open. The families are great, the athletes are great, and the vibe is fantastic.
As for the food, that may have to be the topic of its own post once I've had a minute to organize some photos. "Meat Patty Explode The Stomach" was a dinner to remember, and I'm pretty sure I'll go back as soon as I'm allowed to dine out on my own.
More to come soon.