Day at the Village!

One of my favorite memories will be of visiting the Olympic village...Jess got us passes the day before we were leaving and we got to experience the life of an Olympic athlete. So cool, it's hard to describe. So will just post a few pics for you to enjoy...














And then there is the famous xxxxxxxxxxl tshirt dad purchased on an earlier trip to China, now full of autographs! Gotta love it!

Welcome Home

Wow, we made it! 16 days and we survived the emotions, the excitement, the heat, the food! And coming home always feels so good, especially after such an eventful trip. I just wish Jess could have been with us to see the great welcome she/we received from our wonderful neighbors on Arends Drive! The pictures can't really describe how awesome it was to see...balloons on every mailbox leading up to our house, a big bunch of posters on the corner of our street and then the entry to our house with personally decorated posters and our family American flag (which is GIGANTIC) hanging in our front doorway! Thank you, Arends Drive friends and neighbors, we will treasure the moment!

HI HO SILVER!!!

Sorry for the delay...it's been an exhausting couple of days but definitely ones we will never forget. The final game was a rollercoaster ride for all us fans, but in the end it's just great to see Jessica wearing a medal around her neck! We will post some pics when we get home, I'm just too tired and busy packing to do it now!

After the final game, we enjoyed a great meal and beverages compliments of the Olympic Committee while waiting for the girls to show up after all their post-game stuff. It was a late night but alot of fun...then yesterday was spent enjoying some free time with Jess (we ended up back at Silk Street for more bargain shopping...surprise!!!) and then venturing to the Birds Nest for some awesome track and field finals. It was a beautiful night, the Cube and Birds Nest all lit up like Christmas. Today was a highlight for us; Jess got us passes into the Village so we toured, shopped and ate lunch surrounded by great athletes and their families. We are looking forward to getting home...but what a ride it has been. Thank you, Jess for this wonderful gift. It's been awesome and we will remember these days forever!

Is your heart pumping yet?

Ok, I feel like I've run a few marathons this week after all the excitement of these games. What a day yesterday...the place was so packed and our seats weren't too good. So we waited until the china/italy game ended and moved in to the USA section and fortunately no one kicked us out. We had some wonderful Chinese fans around us (at one point, they tried to leave and Carlos "persuaded" them to sit down and finish the game with us for good luck! They were so cute, they stayed and cheered until the end!)

I was fairly calm until the 3rd qtr...we were tied up and then USA pulled ahead by 3 (what a relief ) but it didn't last long as you know! So we all held our breaths as the final seconds ticked down. And then the celebration began! My pics didn't come out too well in the venue (oh, by the way, NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY allowed and flashes are going off all game long!) But here's our little champion!

So keep up the cheers! As you can see, there is alot of American Spirit here in Beijing and we hope to have many more fans on Thursday! Today we'll try to relax and enjoy some Beijing sights...if we can relax! GO USA!!!

Hungry?

Forgot to show you the Yummy chicken we ate on our way down from Great Wall...thought you'd all enjoy the visual!

p.s. Men's Polo advances to SEMIS with huge win over Germany! Both teams, TOP $!!! Go USA!!!

Have we mentioned the crowds???

Ni hau from Beijing! It's been a week and we're finally just about acclimated to time, weather and food. We had some days off due to advancing out of our bracket to the semis, yahoo, and have been enjoying it! We're getting in a little sightseeing here and there, meeting some really cool athletes and their families, doing some bargain shopping at the pearl and silk markets and seeing lots of great water polo. (Did I mention how naturally Charlie took to the whole bargaining thing at the markets? Big surprise, he learned from the master, Carlos who seems to be well known and loved by many of the Chinese salesladies, they always give him "best price" because he's so special, haha! The girls picked it up as well, I just sat back and enjoyed the great entertainment!) Charlie, our historian and barterer extraordinaire, ended his stay here early, heading back to practices at CAL. I think he is glad he came and we'll certainly miss him!

So what continues to be a challenge is navigating through the seas of people everywhere you go! We have been fairly spoiled at the water polo venues where we can get through security fairly quickly. The place is usually packed full of Chinese coming to cheer on this new sport but it's really manageable. We know this because we were fortunate enough to get tickets to the USA/Greece basketball game. THAT was an experience! We had a late start to begin with and then imagine trying to catch a cab at rush hour during the rain in Beijing!! What were we thinking? So we arrive at the venue right about game time to a crowd so large we didn't even know where to look to get in line. Well ok, there was no line. It was just this mass of people all funneling into a small entrance and then fanning back out again before squeezing through two security lines. The Steffens fam huddled together so that we wouldn't get separated and inched our way forward VERY SLOWLY. (Schnugg women know this as the amoeba factor!) I couldn't stop from giggling as the Chinese people successfully and calmly "pushed" their way through...they are quite comfortable in this environment, we apparently are not! Anyway, the game was great, the stadium beautiful and we were grateful to be a part of it. We're desperately trying to get our hands on more tickets but . Hopefully we'll get lucky...

Our guide and friend Patrick from Yantai took great care of us all week, dealing with cabs and translation issues. I don't know what we would have done without him. His last day with us was another good one...a trip to the pearl market, the temple of Heaven, a fabulous Peking Duck dinner in a renovated section of Old Town near Tienanmen (can you spot Carlos in photo with his new hairdo?) before heading out for some nightlife in the Hoehai (sp?) district. This area is really spectacular at night, like Disneyland, 100s of bars and restaurants surrounding a few lakes connected by canals and filled with boats. You could walk for hours but we ended up in a little place with a live band. The hostess spotted us as players and seated us right in front. The Chinese band launched into a set of toe-tapping, country music. Before we knew it they were playing reggae then latin and the Steffens family was up and dancing. We were the entertainment at that point and I think that was their plan! Tons of fun and a great end to another great day.




So the nerves will start again as we get closer to Tuesday...we are in the semi-finals and we'll be playing Australia. So keep cheering, the girls are playing great and loving all the good energy coming their way. Awesome job, TEAM USA!

U - S - A !

Yesaterday, we played Russia and we creamed them! We started of strong this game and had a 5 - 0 lead in the first quarter. Not to mention that JESSICA scored another goal! It was a perfect outside lob, crosscage corner. We all jumped up and cheered and hopefully got on tv again! But she played awesome in set and just pushed the girls out so they couldn't do anything. The team played really well and ended up with a 12 to 7 win. It was much more relazing to not worry about losing or ending in a tie. ( It's because of our great cheering :))

After the game we went to silk street. We were a little rushed so we didn't get too much, but I learned a thing or two about bargaining. It was this huge building with little, tiny shops everywhere. Sellers would just grab your hand and try to sell things to you, even by dropping their prices from 1000 to 100. I hope to go back again and get some coach wallet for super cheap or something :). Anyways, once we finished our silk street adventure, we head over to TGI Fridays. The whole team and their family and friends were there. It was really nice to finally see Jess for more than 10 minutes. She's having a lot of fun and hey, she's playing in the semi-finals of the olympmics! The food was great but having the whole fam together was even better!

O and we went to the Great Wall!! It was a perfect day, there was actually BLUE SKIES and some wind to keep us fresh. It took us an hour and a half to get there, but it was completely worth it. Luckily, there was no line for the gondala, which is very un-common, so we were very fortunate. Once you get up there, it's so gorgeous! It really gets you thinking as well, I mean they had to build this wall on this huge mountain, wow! But maybe Teresa will explain it better, but let's just say it was amazing!

Relaxation time for familia!

Hi all! It's been a few days, and we've been resting and enjoying the Beijing "hospitality" and surroundings. The morning we played Italy, we decided to have a "family" workout session before the game to calm our nerves. It was pretty funny to say the least...Carlos discovered this awesome facility across the street from our apt, The Financiers Club with complete workout facility, 25m indoor pool with wading and massage pools attached, all in a tropical atrium setting. We had the place to ourselves and had an audience while we were swimming laps (and I swear I smelled gardenia being pumped in every breath I took!) The attendants (and there are 5 for every one of us) all think Charlie is an Olympian as he works out in the gym and then swims his laps. The Chinese people make everyone feel like a celebrity, they sneak pictures of us all the time, ask to have their pics taken with us, basically stare us down. But their hospitality is unbelievable...they have trained well for this event. We went to a "hot pot" restaurant, were greeted by the "door opener", then by the 1st welcome hostess, then our seater, then the napkin, placer, the menu lady, the interpreter, etc. etc. Our "cook" delivered a delicious meal of items that are cooked in a hot pot, one for each of us. She does the work for you, and of course focused most of her attention on King Carlos, then Charlie, and then the rest of us. What is that all about??? And we had an audience, the cooks peaking out from behind their curtain, the hostesses all staring while we ate, hilarious. By the end of the meal, Carlos had them all in stitches with his Chinese communication, mostly with gestures and limited vocab. The Chinese girls are adorable I must say and it was a great end to a busy day.

We all agreed on a later wake up for our trip to the Great Wall, thank goodness! Carlos learned we don't do well with those early morning adventures (ok, middle of night as Annie says!) And it was a SPECTACULAR day...weather was crummy but by the time we got to Great wall around 9:30, it was beautiful. So I'll let Teresa describe the day as we've got to run for a little "spa swim" across the street before our big game against Russia! Thanks for all the great emails of support!

Lots of ai from china!

p.s. Carlos will be wearing his panama hat (that's about as exciting as the Steffens family is with our outfits!) so watch for him on the fan scan!!!

The history of Beijing

Yesterday was a big day as Mom slightly mentioned. We started off the memorable day with a 4:15 wake up call:). We were off to Tien-anmmen Square where we would see the raising of the Chinese Flag by the army. Little did we know it would be pouring rain! So there we were in the at 4:30 sopping wet. It was well worth it; the army was very disciplined in its routine to raise the flag. There were many local people there to honor the flag wearing sandals and acting as if the rain was no big deal. Honoring the flag is clearly extremely important to the Chinese people. After a rest at home, the kids were off to the Forbidden City. We found the city to be HUGE. The City was built 600 years ago and was used by the Qing and Ming Dynasties with seperate buildings for each activity the emperor did...it was like an actual city. The architecture was beautiful and unique with intricate, colorful designs on the buildings. Charlie, the historian, asked tons of questions and we learned a lot about the luxurious life each emperor lived. Then we were off to Jess' game which was already explained and then to a Korean BBQ restaraunt right down the street from our hotel which was delicious. It was the best day so far!!

what a game!

Ah! We beat China 12 to 11 making the USA fans, like me, a little too nervous. We were actually down 3 to 1 from the start but then ended up cathing up and just trading goals until the end. Jess was the first sub in and thats when I started getting real nervous. She played awesome defending the HOLE man, who was a huge chinese lady.That was her first game in the Olympics and she did great! I was so proud when we saw her after the game, and of course our whole family is! The cheering was great, even though it was a little tough to beat the China cheer on their home turf. Golda played insane, scoring 4 goals and great defense. The whole team did really well and hopefully they'll win their next game.

Bad luck has a great ending...

Ok, so the last two days weren't the best for the Steffens...Maggie was generous when she said we broke our new camera.  I actually dropped it in my pijiu (beer) at the men's game when I got a little excited.  Wow, how dumb and unlucky but we were able to save the card with all the photos of our first days. Then Maggie lost it somewhere after our 4:10am wakeup call to see the raising of the flag in Tienanmen (did I mention it was pouring rain? I'll let Teresa describe for you!) - I guess it was just not meant to be.  Jetlag hit me pretty severely (among other things) and I barely made it to Jess' game. Thank goodness I did! What a game, my heart was racing throughout, I clearly need to learn how to pace myself or I will definitely be in some Chinese hospital by the end of this adventure! I hope you got to catch the game on tv, it was a nailbiter to the end and Jess played great!  We loved seeing her briefly at the end of the game, very emotional for all of us.  So today, we rest a bit, visit the USA House where all the merchandise (or whatever is left at this point) for a little shopping and maybe visit some temples for some calming prayer and meditation (that would be for me!)  Watch for more details on the kids' trip to the Forbidden City with our guide and friend, Patrick!

woops

Well we went to watch beach volleyball yesterday morning (usa won) and we watched some men's polo last night, but unfortunately one of our camera's broke. And I lost the memory card which had a whole load of pictures :( It just wasn't the best day).

But other than that, us kids went to the Forbidden City and to a temple. It was really interesting to see all the architecture and culture that went into the emperor's homes. I'll load some pictures up, but hopefully we can make our mood a little better by winning our game tonight against CHINA.

One World One Dream

Finally!!! we arrived in BEIJING after our long, delayed flight. Luckily, Teresa and I had the whole 4 seat row to ourselves. I have pictures of us just sprawled out over each other. When we walked into the airport, it was huge. I guess it's a new one, so it was really impressive. The guy that drove us to our hotel didn't speak english what so ever, so my dad communicated with him through hand motions. The sky always looks like its in overcast but it is hotter than heck over here. It's so humid and hot that I was sweating from just walking across the street to the mall.

Everything here is about the Olympics. Signs are everywhere, places you wouldn't expect. It's really cool to know that I am here, at the OLYMPICS!!! The slogan is one world one dream, and I'm trying to figure out how to write it in chinese :) After we got to our apartment (super nice), we went to the Bank of America village place, where we can just hang out. Free food, free tickets, free iternet, and maybe even to see some famous athletes with their families!

I'm still really tired from the flight but I think I'll be able to make it through our first Olympic game this morning. (beach volleyball - walsh and may)

First night in Beijing!

Well, we arrived to Beijing's impressive new airport and very high security, not to mention stifling heat and humidity. The excitement of all on our flight was palpable, from the few familiar faces of local athletes and families to the flight attendants so excited to be a part of it. Off to a good start! And our apartment is perfect, 3 bedrooms in a very quiet but secure part of the city. We are in the financial district near the Westin and Ritz and most importantly, the hotel where all the basketball players are staying. May have to venture over for some celebrity sightings! And almost equally good is the Starbucks on the corner. There are police everywhere throughout the city which is oddly comforting and as you get closer to the tourist section and the Famiily Center, the reality of where we are kicks in! The Family Center provides free food and beverage, internet cafe, live coverage of events and free tickets to venues that are available. Plus it provides an American respite and general help for us clueless Americans traveling in this strange and beautiful country! After inching back home in bumper to bumper traffic through Tiananmen and Forbidden city (not sure about the new restrictions for # of cars on the road!!!), we made it back "home" for some welcome sleep. So today we hope to catch some sand volleyball (tickets the kids scored last night at the family center!) and maybe get over to see our little Olympian! First game is tomorrow...against China! Should be crazy!

Wow, what a production getting out the door! Of course we had to have the new camcorder and new mini-camera that needed to be charged and studied for ease of use. We also had to make sure our computers and phones were all in working order for China (which required about 3 hours on the phone with Mac, I might add.) I say "we" with just a hint of sarcasm...although Carlos did do all the purchasing! And Maggie was able to get our blog up and running and is now hopefully posted on Jess' blog as well.

So one more day and we're off! What an adventure, I'm trying to enjoy the moments, even the stressful ones! Beijing, here we come!

Getting ready for Beijing!

Ok, I guess it's really happening! Jess is in Beijing, just moved into the village and is VERY excited! So now, we are buying supplies, packing suitcases, learning a few key words in Chinese and getting speedo ready for a few weeks with Uncle Tom! It all seems so surreal, but we are definitely heading to Beijing on Friday! It's been a bit hectic around here with nationals and junior olympics (you can get all the details on usawaterpolo.com). I'm already exhausted but can't wait to begin our next big family adventure to China!

Fortunately, we have a huge assortment of USA "attire" for the games...so that makes the packing a bit easier! And we'll definitely be bringing along an extra suitcase to cart home all of our awesome purchases. Jess tells me there's lots of great stuff so I'm ready! And thank goodness Carlos is a seasoned China traveler, makes it all so much less stressful! So stay tuned, we'll try to send updates on games and if possible, include photos of the team and the trip in general. If this blogging gets too complicated, I can always email everyone!

GO TEAM USA!!!

- MOM