I sat down with Olivia during our bus trip to Tianenmen Square and we had a chat about her week. She's found Beijing to be much different to what she expected- for a start, she wasn't expecting dry and dusty at all! But she's also surprised about the amount of beauty, and how there is so much history in this city. The people here are smart and intelligent- that's quite easy to see.
Olivia's favourite place to visit was the Birds Nest; she was in awe of standing in the same place as where all those Olympians had competed 5 years ago. And, of course, she liked the shopping and told me she hadn't paid more than RMB 100 (NZD20) for anything...
We talked about the football team, and Olivia thinks its scary how much they've improved this week, with their structure and passing. In terms of our opposition, Olivia thinks they've been pretty evenly matched although a couple of teams had 1-2 excellent (even world-class) players that made the difference in the end. The Chinese players are generally fast, skilful and competitive, but also friendly and just keen to have a good game. The 4th game vs Xicheng Sports School is the standout game for Olivia, with the hosts making us individual gifts and staying after the game to chat with us. This was also our first win and Olivia was very happy that everything finally clicked for the team.
Olivia isn't so keen on the food; she's no fan of duck and there's not much variety. But she's more skilled at using chopsticks now, which is a positive! She hates the dirty, squat-style toilets, and seeing the people living and working in such seemingly desperate circumstances. But would she come back?? Without hesitation, Olivia tells me she would, to play football or to tour. And she would like to visit some other places in China too. Sport is such a good means to make new friends and enjoy new experiences.
Overall "it was awesome, it's so cool to be here" says Olivia. Her advice: if you ever get the opportunity to go to such a challenging place like China, you MUST take it! Thanks Olivia.
Later, I got 10 minutes with Lucy at dinner and we talked about her week. She likes Beijing. Sure it's different, and some things are beautiful and some things aren't (like the food!) but there's a lot to like. Lucy loves all the artwork and murals you see in the historical sites and the fact they are now kept sacred. What she doesn't love so much is the spitting, the toilets, the slums etc.
In terms of our hockey team, Lucy tells me they have grown stronger together and developed so much, and she knows them all quite a bit better. The week didn't start so well with most people not in the right head space, but we got better. The highlight for Lucy was the game against the other visitors, Uplands College. It was played in great spirit, and was close until we grabbed the winning goal in the final 10 minutes. Going from a 9 goal loss in the first game, to winning our last game was a great achievement! Lucy liked the bar-bars game too.
Lucy has enjoyed most things. The Forbidden City wasn't really her cup of tea but she really liked the Temple of Heaven as it was so pretty and there were lots of people doing different things like dancing and tai chi. The food has been lacking the variety she was expecting, which is a little disappointing.
I asked Lucy whether she would come back. The answer was automatic: of course she would, but maybe Shanghai next time and perhaps not as a package tour so she could experience things a little more at her pace.
Lucy has had an amazing experience, learnt about a new culture and seen some new and unusual things. Meeting the South African team was a big highlight too, culminating in swapping shirts after the last game. Thanks Lucy.
PS: Lucy was sporting quite a shiner from earlier in the week but I can assure our readers that its quite faded now...
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