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!!!
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3 comments:
The panama hat really helps! Everyone saw Carlos and Mags but wondered where mom, Teresa and Charlie were sitting?? Keep cheering cuz they do show the crowd after the scores! So glad you're getting to experience Beijing, sounds like some incredible memories. Have you gotten to see many other events? Keep up the blogs, we're loving it!
Hey guys!
We totally say you over here in the last match (Italy match) and I was able to get a picture (screen capture) of you guys, and one of Jess when she made her goal! So, you have to give us your email so I can send them over. Mine is paola.moll@gmail.com.
Sounds like you guys are all having a blast! Hope to catch you again on the telly!
Familia Moll
Okay...we really think Water Polo is taking a big back seat to all other sports coverage.....first of all, they only show part of the game, today the 4th quarter...but we did catch Carlos again in his hat....the lucky hat! Your descriptions are wonderful....we can picture you in all your glory at the spa, gym, and restaurant....priceless! We're glad for the revival of the team as the team plays the way coach expects!!!!Keep up your fun times as well as great trips among the city and country....what an experience! and don't forget to get enough sleep. Love, MOM
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