Katie Goes...

So, Friday, June 20th started out with a book launch for a friend then dancing at "the boat". imagine high school drama with an all Chinese Rockabilly band. it's so nice to wake up and realize, "but hey...I'm actually NOT in high school anymore" . Yay then Saturday dawned bright and beautiful for the Summer Solstice. i packed up blue Betty with books, towel, chocolate, iPod and cheap champagne and headed for Ritan Park- the Temple of the Sun. it was just brilliant, sitting on a rock, overlooking a pond, watching the birds and kites float around through the clouds. That night my friend's band played on the opposite side of the pond and I got a chance to practice boundaries and integrity. good stuff, especially after reading a book by a Buddhist nun all day. the next day, a friend got me tickets to the Symphony :) We actually went to dinner at...wait for it...The Sizzler Steak House.not kidding. We played on the subway, and then, before the concert began,...

So, biked in the brilliant clear blue (the first I've seen Beijing) of Saturday to the subway, then to the theatre to meet up with my friend Kemin, the director of OLIVER (a musical i helped with here) then back to my friend Jenny's for her birthday party. The music was awesome, a boy named Ben was on the bbq, champagne and grey goose flowed, girls played twister and as the sun went down the candles came out. The cute DJ showed up with his other futbol friends and he got down on one knee to tell me how much he loved my voice. He also thought I was 25. He he. Tommy and my new friend Jamie came to get me after I dropped my bike at home and we all went to an outdoor/indoor bar/club called "Dos Caligas" which is right next to the Drive-in Movie theatre (i KNOW- how cool is that?). Fairy lights were strung up and people sat in groups outside on wicker mats. Inside was a roster of alternative to hard-core punk bands and I got to pretend I was a teenager and danced my ass of...

This Weekend was amazing. Friday afternoon I rode my bike to the Temple of the Sun in Ritan Park. As soon as I stepped through the gate it was as if time slowed to keep pace with the wonder surrounding me. Pine trees and roses swayed in a gentle breeze and an ancient stone pathway let me to the gateway of the sacrificial altar. Happily, the sacrificing ceremonies are long over, but it was still profound to go and sit right in the middle of the huge stone square. After watching the sun descend through the distant cityscape and a vertical rainbow that aligned with the West Gate, I made my way through a winding path to the "Stone Boat". It's a small bar/restaurant right on an idyllic pond framed by weeping willow trees. My friend Rachel came to hang out and we hiked up to a gorgeous Pagoda as the first star came out (which is always amazing to see because of the constant pollution/dust) and on the way up surprised two teenagers making out behind a rock. Later, a man with a l...

Wow. Life has the coolest way of coming around! So, I did not get the job for the Olympics with the company I first interviewed (but I met Lidia there, so that's why that happened), which I decided was really o.k. I'm having a brilliant time here and am so happy. THEN a few weeks ago I get this email out of the blue from the woman who interviewed me at that other company. She has resigned and is now working for this NZ events company and could I come in for an interview. I just had a phone interview from Sydney this morning and I'M WORKING A HOSPITALITY SUITE AT A HOTEL DURING THE OLYMPICS!!!! whooo hooooooo! So, every two days I'll get an influx of mostly Australian corporate types who are coming to see the games. We'll have a huge screen tv in the suite and basically, I am party host for about 18 days. that's one long party! I'm so excited I could dance! I'll let you know more as I know more. For now I'm going to help with notes for tech week of ...

As most days in China, today was bizarre. Since I'm at a stopping point, I'll start here. The sky is like I've never seen it; the ominous gray is a harbinger of the coming storm (isn't that a great word, "harbinger"?). I guess being here has made me appreciate words even more, now that I am reduced to the vocabulary of a toddler. The waitress of the cafe I'm at just made me go inside with her because she was afraid of the storm. She couldn't understand why I would take my coffee and go back outside. How could I explain to her that the lightening and thunder and threat of rain is exciting and gives me back the energy that was sucked away by this day. That's as nice a segue as I could hope for, so here goes: I lost my passport. There were no taxis, of course, so I had to go back and get my bike and ride 45 minutes to the place I thought was the Public Security Bureau. I had actually passed it 15 minutes before. : And just a little background, Betty,...

Just to let everyone know, the earthquake was over 1,000 miles away from Beijing. Some people here felt it, but I did not. It's actually a gorgeous day today. My thoughts are with the victims and also the people in Burma devastated by the cyclone. I'm extremely blessed and grateful to be happy and healthy. Lots of love, Katie