Home at last

We'll after my 3 plans from one side of the world to the other a find myself in thunderBay with my family looking at the most beaufitul little boy ever...my nephew soren. I now have to start training for my 3 day stage race in haliburton so i will post the news on that after that weekend wich is the weekend of the 13th!!!

By for now

Volley Ball Tourney

This was one of the coolest things i have ever done i think...NBC set up a volley ball tourney with 12 teams from NBC and we got to use the actual beach volleyball courts, 3 warm up courts and the finals court as we'll...IE the one that was broadcast around the world. Our team named the Splice Girls made it to the final court..allthough by the time the final game rolled around most of our team was too drunk to be affective and we succum to our own love for beer...lol. It was one of the greatest nights ive had hear or ever in my life so take a look at the pics!!!

Strike

We'll i finally have daily internet allthough more expensive i have it! we have been striking events for about a week and half now and tomorrow will be one of last days for striking, we still have a days at the field shop to finish everything but we are on the home stretch. Strike has gone really we'll but the crew is tired you can feel it in the air that we are all at the end. Allthough we are still in great spirits but we are all looking forward to getting home i think. Take a look at some pics!

Soren

We'll as of this morning at about 1:30 China Time, my sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I wish i was there and havn't had a chance to talk to her yet, but i have seen picture and naturally he is the cutest thing on two small feet. So every one i am officially an UNCLE and couldn't be any prouder. His name is Soren, and we have so much to take care of... from building rope swings to the perfect toboggan run but you can't tell mom cause it will ruin the whole system.

Can't wait to get home to meet you Soren, So hello from your uncle in beijing China!!!!

Closing Ceremonies

We'll the olympics are officially over, i was luckyt enough to be on the field during the closing ceremonies...yes ON THE FIELD and i have pictures to prove it...lol. it wasn't as good as opening but it was cool to have the seat that i did. a lot shorter and a lot more talking, and the atmosphere has allready changed this place feels quite again. Most of the venues have been torn out and all the workers have gone, we are now on the last venue and our biggest venue to tear out and then we are done. we move from the media village friday morning back over to the continental grande hotel which is were i started my journey in China. Most of my friends have now left and its pretty much just the cable crew that remains! Allthough i am ready to come home there is a part that will miss china, its this prefect utopia at the olympics, were everyone loves there job loves each other has lots of money and is always happy. It is a very unique situation that if feel is so rare to experience let alone be part of and i was right in the thick of it. I feel blessed but sad that it will all come to an end next friday and i will be back on my plane home to ontario. But i can't wait to see my family and someone else that im sure i will grow to love if i havn't allready by the time i get there!!!!

Crocs Part 2

We'll I got off the bus today and headed straight for the lotus determined to get my crocs there, i passed the electronics, through bulk sales stands almost got caught up at the chicken feet and there i was standing right in front of the crocs with 400 Yuan in my pocket they were mine...i could feel it i was finaly getting my crocs. Then i realized they all looked a little small so i started trying them on different ones in different colors but nothing would fit!!! finally a young chinese lady walked up behind me looked at my feet and demonstrated that there were no sizes that would fit me. Once again i was not gonna get my crocs...so i settled for the toe sandles beside that now hurt when i walk in them..lol. China just doesn't want me to have crocs!!!! bahhhh

Besides that i just got my notice that i will be working the closing ceremonies tomorrow. So im super pumped about that cause it will be an awesome show im sure. Anyways i have to stop writting and get ready for work because i am going to beach volley ball and then tianeman square. Oh and i had the best thai food last night at a place called serve the people in salitun in the Chaoyang district and it was great!

Brodie From beijing

CROCS

Well today i am back on the old schedule working with the boys again and back on normal hours. We are having our canadian night tonight and i think its gonna rock. I spent most of the day at the field shop just mulling around because of the rain. Tomorrow we start striking a.k.a. "pulling all the cable out". I had my first oh crap moment at the grocery store today, i bought some stuff at the lotus market but didn't have enough money and i noticed this as she was ringing in my total and tried to stop her, then i just handed her the money i did have a shrugged my shoulders and hoped she would figure it out. So from there it was her asking me for money and me shruggin my shoulders trying to explain that i have none left and that i ca ngo to the ATM. So as the the line grew behind me she then just started taking stuff off my bill and messed it up so she had to call her boss in and then they both laughed at me and the people behind me grew earlier!!!!

This all because i wanted some crocs...ive been trying to get some since ive been here but something allways gets in the way. at the silk market they wouldn't talk to me, at the lotus i bought some water shoes that looked like sandles at the time, and today they were in my basket and they were the item they deleted...so im going back tomorrow determined to get my crocs!!!!!

Athletics

We'll its been a while since i have had a chance to update this and that is because i have been working 18 hour shifts as a utility in the birdsnest. what does that mean you might ask...we'll that means i work with a camera man on the Field of Play and I am his runner. I work with the RF guys witch are wireless so there are no cables too coil or things to plug in so basically every hour i hand him water and ever 2 hours I hand him a battery lol! otherwise I sit and watch the events from about 10 feet away. So Alan im like the cool guys sitting on top of there vans on the infield of a nascar event....lol.

Ive seen Two world records being broke, countless close races and some heartbreaking moments. Ive also seen the worlds fastest man shatter the 100 meter record without even trying which will probably be one of the greatest sprint of all time and i was there and i have a picture too prove it...mwah ha ha just to show how close i really was. this will make you all a little jealous im sure. Today is the final of the 200 meter mens and a lot of people of people are waiting to see what Usain Bolt will do.

The Olympic Green is busy as ever i have a video and pics to explain how many people are here and how we drive the golf cart through them...lol.

Oh we also saw a girl break the pole vault WR and it was insain the entire stadium was on its feet it came down to her last try and she pulled it off it was that pefect olympic moment that everyone waits for. it was soooooooo cool probably better then the 100 meterb

GT Banana and The Heinechen House

we'll since i last posted i havn't been up to much except the OC, but seeing how are week as been a bit more tame then normal i decided to try and cram as much booze down my through in a two day period as possible. So allthough i don't have any pics of these places cause i was affraid to loose my camera i will inform of there coolness none the less!!!

For lockes birthday we went to GT Banana, which is an upscale club in the chaoyang district in beijing...put it this way it was right beside a bentlel dealership. So we walk into this club and lets say its pretty swanky we continue up to our booked table and here we are in 20 by 20 booth with out own servers and our booth overlooks the the dance floor so basically we have the hotest booth in the hotest place in town...and the best part is it was not a lot of money for us like maybe 800 yuan to have the table thats how much you had to spend wich is like maybe a 100 bucks...so you can see it was pretty sweet. So then the base it was retarded...so much base it hurt but it was a good hurt and also the dance floor bounced with you as you went up and down!!!

The heinichen house, oh my lets just say beer, 400 dutch people, crazy weird music from the 80's and few super gourgeous women and a whole lot of orange and we'll its the craziest party ever!!!! lol. we will be going again so i will save the next post for that with pics!..thats all for now miss you all,

Brodie from Beijing!

The OC

we'll everyone i got to witness the the rehearsals of the opening ceremonies last night and it was friggin awesome. me and locke spent the day being on call at the OC "Opening Ceremonies" and we had to stay during just to make sure so we tucked ourselves up on top of the RF platform and caught the greatest show on earth. I will also be lucky enough to be there tomorrow night for the actuall opening ceremonies in all its glory. But i do have to say the security is getting crazy here and its pretty intense to experience but at the same point i have had some fun adventures in the past week. I got to crawl the attic of the the birds nest and climb on top of it which is only for very very very special people. Last night i got to see the entire city lite up liek christmas and its intense ill tell you that much. But it is a beautiful place at night but still super smoggy. As for work, we have finally hit the point were things start to slow down a little wich is nice cause it gives us a little breathing room and some more sleep. But its all gonna start getting nuts tomorrow as the olympics start....more so in the partying aspect cause all the bars start up tomorrow ie...the heinichen house!!! Which is apparently the hottest place to be in town during the olympics! Myself i am doing great, i love my job here, i get to hang in rafters hundreds of feet up and wear cool climbing harnesses that make be look all bad ass and shit. The rest of the crew is in good spirits and we are trucking along, once we get past tomorrow we will be in great shape.

I also got to the BMX, velodrome and mountain bike events the other day which if any one knows me is my home turf. THe BMX track looks awesome and the walls of the track of the velodrome make the banks of nascar look whimpy...lol. Sorry alan but bikes rule again....hahahaha. and the mountain bike track looks cool allthough i can't really see that much of it, it was still really cool to see were the pros ride.

Media village # 2

We'll here it is, i went outside today and took some pics of were i am living and the surrounding area. Its a pretty rad place... the pics really don't do it any justice.

As for work these days...today was a good day, we had our first slower day probably since we got here...we were tying of loose ends everywere so a lot of time was spent travelling from venue to venue today but we did get to wrap up 4 events which i think was a great thing. Seeing one of those venues was my venue...so lets keep pur fingers crossed.

We went out for our first official chinese meal...i mean official one was not so tasty this one was picked by a local who knew what to order and were to take us. Everything was awesome from the food to the location. The menu had some interesting items on it but all in all the options we picked were really really good. I tried peking duck which is the trade mark of beijing...and it really is an amazing dish.

I have started drinking fresh lichy tea with roses at night, no sugar, no milk this tea one an award out of 500 other teas in an annual competition. it really is that great...ill bring some home for people to try if they want.

We have a giant party this saturday for my room mate Adam...there will be like 200 people from the media village attending this at the duck and goose. Its a crazy bar were they have dancing cheer leaders and batting cages indoors and golf indoors....plus some crazy street ladies....lol. and chinese singer that sounds like Janis Joplin...hahhaa ill take pics.

The smog here is nuts its like the worst day of fog you have ever had but every day, but china is doing things to try and change that wich is good but its certaintly not like home!!!

The Media Village

Hey everyone how are you, sorry i havn't been able to update this for a while but, i have moved to the media village and havn't had internet untill now...it will be pretty sketchy from here on in, bu ti got hook ups for that kinda stuff so it should be easier from now on...the media village rocks, we have a pool on the 27th floor, our own little village with bars and restaurants and laundry and we kinda seem to get what ever we want its awesome...mom you wont want to here this....but if it wasn't china i probably wouldn't come home...also the fact that i wouldn't get this treatment if it wasn't for the olympics!! i don't have any new pics as off yet but i just wanted to give you and up date on things....mom and dad i will send you a big email soon and just so you know you can call my cell I DON'T PAY FOR IT SO CALL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you have the number so please use it cause i can't call out!!! Give it to Amy and tell her to call me as we'll

Im getting an awesome tan, we have new works clothes and then we have out transportation clothes...haha work clothes is our skin...i also ate a retard sandwich for lunch and cut my hand with a box cutter and then forgot to put sun tan lotion on. But the everything rocks im feeling at home finally and its awesome.

I have no new pics right now but will up date that soon!

Miss you all!

The Great Wall!!!!

Hey everyone, so my recent adventures has been the great wall, its an amazing thing, you truly have no idea the scale of it untill you have stood on it and walked on it...its un imaginable! At the same truly beaufiful and inspiring.... also packed with tourists...lol. We also went to mings tomb and the imperial gardens and then participated in a ceremonial tea service, although some people didn't quite get the importance of what there doing, i was we'll aware of how special that moment was and tried my best soak it up as much as possible. We tried a 5 different teas and were tought how to drink it and what there properties were .... it was once in a life time thing thats for sure.

As for work, we are now doing 12 hours days as things are starting to ramp up here more and more, i have seen the venues and they are truly beaufiful pieces of artwork and I wish you could all be here to see the scale of them, they are amazing truly amazing. Its a testament to what these people can do and how fast they can do it.

Im starting to slowly fall in love with this place, why cause they have such a passion for who they are there way of life and they celebrate it...from the tea ceremony to the food, to the local culture , they just are willing sacrifice those things...its something we don't get in canada or understand.

Oh and everything in negotiable here, never pay full price...its a fun challenge to see how cheap you can get things...they jack the prices up cause your northern american and they expect you to talk them down!!!!

Anyways im gonna go i miss you all will put more posts soon!

Oh and the night life here is friggin awesome...."china doll was fun" killer club...

Dinner out in china!!!

We'll we went out for an authentic chinese dinner!!! We are still not sure what we ate but we have decided that we have chicken Knuckles, Colon, stomach and some form of anus cause it smelt like crap!!! lol and then some salad deal that was so spicy you swore you at habenero pepper straight, and we had a giant beer all for 8 dollars!!! we also went to a bar owned by a 22 year old American from the east coast and he gave us free beer and we had the hugest pizzas ever.

As of today it was our first fill work day, pulled a lot of cable and i seem to be meshing in we'll with the guys. There awesome people and have made me feel right at home and im so stoked for the rest of the trip because of them. I have officially been in the water cube and the gymnastics, we can't take pics of the inside so i cant show you any but the water cube is up. its so hot hear like 90+ and super humid, you sweat and sweat and sweat....but i love it, I get at bad ass walkie with a mic on it, and i was up on 40 feet so scaffolding today with crazy harnesses on slinging cable, Byron took a pic and im pretty sure i looked tough as hell...

So untill later im off for some beers with the crew and maybe a massage, and not one of those massages allthough every guy here seems to think I should. Im holding strong against the $200.00 foot massage.. P.S. there is no such thing as a $200.00 foot massage if you get my drift....hahahahahahah

Oh and the building with funny swoosh at the top its a series of 5 building the look like a dragon and they friggin huge, i mean huge and in the one of the pics you can see the scaffolding that i spent half a day on!!!

Allright i just added a special pic, its the view from my hotel room!!!

First Days in China

We'll lets start here, I almost missed my flight due to some information issues, I don't want to get into to much details but lets say that i almost didn't make it to china...it was pretty intense lets say the least. But i am here in china i have attached a few pics, china is nuts the landscape is beautiful, the country is beautiful and the women are even more beautful....lol. Did my first bit of cable installs today and it was awesome. check out the pics...but i love china its an amazing place!!

The Crank Crew @ hardwood hills

We;ll just thought this deserved a little props, cause it was the best day of riding all summer...... so to the people who made my days in uxbridge a better place to matt and nikki who i will soon be seeing in BC. you rock you are awesome people and truly great people to have in someones life!!! To Ted @ africycle i can't wait to come back and help you build some bikes and thanks for all the great rides we will have to continue the epic journeys when i return so i can try and kick you ass on the trails...watch out buddy im gonna be in some serious as kicking shape when i get back!!

Going away Party

I would like to say thankyou to everyone who showed up to my going away party, it mean't the world to me. Its great when you realize the people who truly care cause they show up they take the time and make the effort and to be honest it was absolutely amazing to see you all tonight. You couldn't have made me happier to see you all before I leave. I can't wait to come back and have drinks with you and chat about my experiences, ( kim you are excluded cause your just kim and i know you wanted to be here).

special thanks to Andrea and Kurt for giving me a home to 4 days, you truly are amazing people and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for throwing me a party. It truly means more to me then you will ever ever realize.

I will miss you all more then you can ever imagine, and you make my life a better place and I thank you for that.

You truly are the greatest group of people a man could be blessed to have in his life.


Love Brodie

2 days before take off

We'll the reality has fully set in, i actually realized that i am going to china now, when i was at the HSBC trying to get Chinese money and the entire plaza was written in Chinese and I panicked and said o crap....lol. so i pick up my Chinese dolaroos on Friday and i am excited to see what they actually look like...

Accomodations

We'll i was bored today so I spent some time trying to figure out what my accomodations will be like in china and I found the attached picture i also discovered im rich in China and beer costs $0.73 a bottle in a fancy restaurant. So can you say trouble, cause I can! So lets just say, im a rich western, young and good looking guy and booze is cheap, can you say " Houston we have a problem" hahahaha

Hey everyone i just got some emails of were i will be staying roughly. These are some out door pics of the general area in beijing its pretty cool looking, some unique trees by the looks of it. So im officially moved out of my apartment and now and a transient for the week. I will keep everyone posted, ive emailed a local riding club in china to see if I could go for a ride in the mountains with them...how cool would that be mountain biking in the china in the mountains...common talk about a story for the kids! We'll when i was mountain through the himalayas...LOL!!!!!