Watch out Beijing...we're here!

After about twenty hours of travel, we have all finally arrived safe and sound to Beijing and spent an incredibly exhilarating half-day in the city.

In case you aren't exactly sure why I am in China in the middle of the school semester, here is a little background information. I am in Beijing for 16 days, along with eleven other students from the Missouri School of Journalism, in order to report on and volunteer at the China Open Tennis Tournament. We will be at the tournament each day working and reporting, but will also have a few days to explore the amazing and cultured city of Beijing- including a visit to the Great Wall of China (hence my cheesy blog title name) with the players from the tennis tournament.

Here is the link of an article that was written about our trip: http://www.journalism.missouri.edu/news/2009/08-11-china-open.html as well as the link to the China Open website: http://www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/2009/! Stories that we write during the duration of the tournament will be posted on the China Open website and in several Chinese news sources.

It's interesting that I am writing this blog post at a little after midnight in China, but really, it is 11 a.m. to the rest of my body. It'll be tough getting adjusted, but we all seem to be doing pretty well so far. It seems that we will be getting the star treatment here in Beijing. When our flight landed, we were greeted by several Chinese volunteers from the tennis tournament, who helped us with our luggage and escorted us to (what we thought) would be buses to take us to our hotel. Instead, 12 black Mercedes cars pulled up...one for each of us. We had our own car and our own driver to deliver us in style to our hotel, which is situated right on the site of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, also where the tennis tournament will be held starting October 2nd.

To top off our incredible first day here, our teacher Ernest took us to an amazing, upscale Chinese restaurant. We were served a three tier meal- aka three separate meals with about 10 courses in each one. Fish, chicken, seaweed, duck brains...you name it, we ate it. It was such a different experience than any restaurant I have ever been to- plus the food was unbelievable.

Tomorrow we head to the courts for an orientation on what our jobs will entail during the tournament. I cannot wait to experience the marvels of the 2008 Olympic Village firsthand. This is truly the experience of a lifetime and we haven't even been here 24 hours yet...i'll be sure to keep you all updated!