You Know You're in a Foreign Country When....

.....you're eating pork for breakfast every day, you take your life in your hands as a pedestrian crossing any street, and random strangers come up to you begging to have their picture taken with you (I've posed for the camera with so many Chinese babies now I feel like the President!)

Only five days into my trip and I already feel like I've seen a lifetime's worth of stuff.  That's why it has taken me so long to post on the blog -- it's just been go, go, go since landing at the airport, which was scary in its own right -- some official looking guy grabbed my passport and my working visa and took off.  I had no idea where he went, all I know is he took my only forms of identification and split, not to be seen for 45 minutes.  I had just landed in the country and nearly had a heart attack.  

Since then, though, it's been great.  I couldn't have asked for better story assignments.  I've been paired with a local Chinese American TV reporter named Eyee who grew up in San Diego and moved to Beijing 5 years ago.  She's fluent in Mandarin and has been an awesome resource for me and the crew.  Here she is (in the red shirt) talking with a family who lives in the traditional Hutong -- it's an unbelievable part of the city made up of hundreds of small little alleyways, barely big enough for a car.  It's a fascinating community because it's so old school and such a different way of life from the new Beijing that's emerging (new construction all over the place!)

 

Our next assignment was about the famous Chinese street food scene.  Scorpions, silkworms and sea horses on a stick.  No thanks!!!!

We've hit a lot of snags trying to shoot in the city.  We're supposed to have government clearance (we carry around all kinds of paperwork that says we're allowed to shoot), but it doesn't stop officials from putting their hand in our camera and causing us much stress!  Here, we were trying to take simple shots of a new shopping plaza in Beijing.  A security guard was never too far away...

The Games begin in 3 short days, and once they're up and running I'm not sure how much more of the city I'm actually going to see.  But I'll be in touch when I can.  In the meantime tune in when you can - my pieces are airing all over the place (during the half hour Olympic Zone show before the network coverage begins, on cable stations throughout the day, and once in a while on the big network show).  Hope everyone is doing well......Zaijian for now!