We interupt this program . . .

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you this late-breaking news (sorry Matt and Alex, you'll have to wait till next time :) . . .

Jed and Jen Accidentally Go to the Olympics!

So, in order not to have to fork over our first born for a hotel room, we had been trying to avoid being in Beijing at all this trip. But, we were on our way to Inner Mongolia from Xi'an, and had to switch trains in the "Forbidden City." In typical Jed and Jen fashion, neither of us had the foresight to check if there was sufficient time to transfer trains. Wellllllll.... we did check the times, but apparently 20 minutes isn't enough if you walk as slow as Jen does.

So there we are, 7 am, stranded in Beijing with nothing to do and all the hotel rooms in town either having been booked since Athens or costing as much as a moon flight.

While foresight-full we are not, we ARE, however, quite crafty (or lucky). Three glorious hours (Jed) / The three most boring hours ever (Jen) at the train station internet cafe later, Jed managed to get a hold of an old friend from high school who, miracle-of-miracles, happened to have a couch we could crash on. We made our way over to the Dongzhimen area where he lives, dropped our stuff, and decided to wander the city / search desperately for a theater showing Batman - Dark Knight.

As we came out of a cafe near the Worker's Stadium, we assumed the night was over. Our Batman grail-quest had proved fruitless (what's up with China, by the way? They train all the best atheletes in the world, but can't get Batman into their theaters???) and we were ready to crash. Just then (!) we were approached by a friendly American dude flashing a pair of orange tickets our way.

"Olympic Boxing?" our new best friend said with a smile. "Front row spectator seats -- right behind the athletes -- for face value ($22)?"

Jed wasn't so sure we should bite, but after Jen threatened him with her killer right-cross, there was no turning back. We were going to the Olympics!

We stood on line, giggling and high-fiving, till we were stopped for security inspection. A young volunteer rifled through our bags and told us how nervous he was after mistaking a half-finished crossword puzzle, haphazardly printed on the back of a flyer, for anti-Chinese agitprop in Jed's bag.

And then we were in the stadium, buying beer that wasn't overpriced: $1 for a large beer (God bless these Chinese -- at least they haven't stolen all of our marketing techniques / take that Wrigley + Fenway!), finding our way to our front row seats, overhearing the kids sitting behind us asking for the American heavyweight contenders autograph (okay, clearly we had no idea who this extremely tall, ripped man sitting behind us was, but we asked the kids after he left), chearing for Ireland, then Cuba, then Great Britain, then India with the Chinese guys next to us, being at one with the masses.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. And not a minute too soon for Jen.