brother in water

p.s.

2008-09-11T10:41:00.001-07:00

thank you to all who have been reading and a special thanks to all the positive feedback i have received about this thing both directly and indirectly.

asian adventure closes....real world ensues

2008-09-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Happy september 11th!

Soooooo..... after 48 hours of travel, (seriously, 48 hours straight of airports and airplanes) we touched down in Toronto on the night of the 30th. I was pretty happy to be back.
After spending three days in Thailand.... i wasn't ready to get back to the regular toronto grind, but i wasn't too keen on staying in Beijing either. We spent about 7 hours in the Koh Samui airport (also known as the most beautiful outdoor airport in the world. i didn't get any pictures because i was too busy panicking over the fact that i might be delayed getting home by a whole day) on standby, I guess we thought that out of 21 flights heading to bangkok that day, we'd be able to get one one of them....what we didn't anticipate was the riot in Phuket, and all flights heading there being cancelled and subsequently switched to bangkok. Through some act of positive thinking or, as I like to consider , " my negative thinking", we got on the LAST flight at 10.30 pm. success.

I actually got some sleep on the 12 hour flight back to newark, and once i got there i had about two hours til home, and i was too excited to really care anyway!

Thailand was everything I imagined it to be and more. If you close your eyes and think about how Thailand's beaches SHOULD look, then you have the real thailand. It is a real life paradise. We spent our three and a half days there sitting on the beach drinking [600 mL 6.3 per cent alcohol] Beer Changs, eating really cheap delicious food getting sunburned beyond belief all the while thinking about renting jet-skis, going on a boat tour and taking an Elephant Ride to a waterfall. Of course, thats the extent of it, but it was wonderful nonetheless and now I owe my brother about a thousand dollars, but it was well worth it.

I was sick as hell during the closing ceremonies in Beijing and the whole way to Thailand. I laid in my bed alone watching the fireworks explode outside my window, watching gilmore girls (comfort television) dreaming of Thailand. I found that popping excessive amounts of Tylenol Extra Strength the whole way there really helped my case, although in the Bangkok airport the smell of the Thai food at 6 am was not working in my favour. I survived though, and literally minutes after i arrived in thailand (or minutes after i woke up after the three hour nap we both indulged in when we got there) i felt 100% better. Just as expected!

We thought there may have been an issue with my chinese visa (our return flights back to canada were from Beijing, so we had to return there from Thailand on the 30th) as i only had "1 entry", but somehow that all worked out, after i took a long cab right to the ministry of Entrances & Exits in Beijing to confirm.

It was amazing, especially now that I'm home and going to school and working and ah! it was just... pretty unbelievable. I was happy to spend it with brother adam, of all people too. Stuck in the Koh Samui air port while i sat there with the horrible look on my face, thinking about how I'm going to get home a day late, and i have to move, and start school, and ahhhh my life sucks, Adam graciously got up and walked back through security, to the standby desk every single hour for 7 hours, without asking me to do anything except stay positive. He'd walk back with a smile and say, "not this one! Theres a better chance for the next one though!" and take my negativity with a grain of salt. As it turns out, he was right! We did indeed get on the last flight, and i was given one of the many "told you so!" grins I've come to be so familiar with being the sourpuss that I am these days. Stay postiive!

I suppose that is why HE is the olympian and i am on my third go around at school.

ahahhahahahaha
oh siblings.

So, its over. all the build up, the trials, the anticipation for the past three and a half months. The preparation (on my parents part; i had it pretty easy needless to say), The thought about being at the Olympics, being in ASIA! going to thailand....

my only regret is choosing THIS SEPTEMBER to go to school. I'd still be in Thailand if not. or maybe not, considering all that shiat going on over there right now. talk about timing.

good job brother adam, and thanks for the amazing experience.

p.s. if anyone is thinking about going to Koh Samui, and would enjoy a "backpackers" experience, then please stay at Shambala! it is beautiful and so relaxing and delicious!

2008-08-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

oh, and also, i was never able to see Rachel because stupid china wouldn't let her in until after the Olympics. So, i guess she's coming today, and unless i find out that i infact can't make it back to china after Thailand, our asian reunion will never happen. thanks for nothing, china!

fingergross

2008-08-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

the only thing that creeps me out more than men with long stringy hair... are men with super long fingernails. I'm feverishly sick as i type this and after a few vomitting spells from yesterday to today, i got into a cab (to work out my visa situation...another annoying thing all together) where the Chinese driver pointed to the address I was going to with one, extremely long pinky fingernail. I literally gagged.
The same thing happened on my way back to the apartment... Whats with the ONE long nail here? are you all cokeheads? is this some statement? What does it mean to have one disgusting long yellow fingernail?

2008-08-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

and did i ever get ridiculous...

this trip is one of many firsts.....i passed out AT The bar! noooooooo! pictures to follow, i'm dreading.

42 cent beer

2008-08-23T05:19:00.001-07:00

So I am sitting here alone in my chinese apartment; sans parents, sans brother (until tonight when we get ridiculous at GT Banana) drinking the beer i picked up on my way back from our thirty dollar Thai meal tonight. It's the second time we've been back to that place, but we just love it. The food is amazing but I think we mostly went back because we both have a crush on the cute little asian Waitress. she's adorable! The four of us went a few days ago and while Adam was scoping out the menu about six waitresses giggled and oogled him from behind.... "look you're a celebrity!" i said and as he turned around they all cooed and giggled in embarrassment. So funny. They love the foreigners, they really really do. That is one thing I am going to miss about this place. How absolutely friendly everyone is. Its incredible! The other day while my dad and i were rifling through our bags trying to find our map outside a cab, a half-chinese woman asked us how much money we needed as she thought we forgot OUR money somewhere. When we said that wasn't the problem, (BUT THANKS ANYWAY!) she asked if she could translate where we were going. It's really unbelievable. In Toronto, everyone is scared of everyone, and I think it started to make me a little afraid of strangers too. If nothing else I think this trip has made me more trusting and unafraid to ask for help. The politeness is sometimes unbearable. Cabs insist on dropping you off to as close to your front door as possible - i had one cab keep pulling over to check the map while i was only a few feet from my gate. I had to beg him to let me out, throwing money at him until he finally succumbed. Its great though. Sometimes in the cabs they'll just point to various things and tell you the Chinese word for it. I can't say I remember anything I"ve learned, but its still awesome. Adam could tell you the Chinese word for earlobe, traffic jam, and various others but the only thing i'm taking away from this is the words for "Thank you!" (Xie-xie) and "hello!"(Nihao)

I don't think i've really written for awhile but after the Olympic swimming was over i got to go to the Swimmer speedo afterparty where Michael phelps was oogled and photographed as he bumped chests with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James while they puffed away on cubans. Apparently the two of them are huge fans of swimmers because from word of mouth i've learned they have been texting some female Olympians like crazy. I also heard from one of Adam's teammates that he walked in on Kobe Bryant "making out with some white chick" at the speedo party. It was crazy. For my first "red carpet" experience it was pretty insane. I don't think I knew what i was in for that night but it was awesome. Adam handed me the invite and i walked down the red carpet (that i was not expecting) with him in my ripped jeans and inside out t-shirt. A british guy greeted me with a "Thank you so much for coming," and a firm handshake while i entered this endless abyss of free alcohol (no ice!) and cuban cigars. I had a pretty annoying conversation with some american swimmer girl (i THINK..way drunk) who said she just wanted to make out with phelps "just to say she did". i have fairly low tolerance with people who disrespect themselves on such levels so i may have offended her but perhaps she was too dense to really pick up on that anyway. no harm done! EDIT (Due to memory returning): Also, in classic Devon Style I tripped and almost fell down the flight of stairs at the entrance on our way out (it was actually the red carpet that i tripped on) and in not-so classic Devon style i actually caught myself and saved myself a probable injury and a SERIOUS AMOUNT of embarrassment. I even got credited and congratulated on how I caught myself so well. All in all, it was a good night.

The other night we dragged my dad out to the bud house (free budweiser!) and i think he loved it. We even took him to another bar afterwards where we were told it closed at 2 (at this point it was 3 am) and scoured the place for a bathroom (he opted out of peeing behind a bush). i think he took that as a sign (as i should have) and i hailed him a cab and he went back to the apt... We went on to another bar with insanely loud music were we drank three tequila shots... after that. I have no idea, other than Adam took me home and within five minutes of being here i had forgotten he was with me in the room so when i saw him passed out in my king sized bed i think i freaked out a little. Needless to say the next morning was a rough one. My mom woke us up to go to the market to pick up my dad's suits but i don't think i could have made it if i tried. She picked up on this, bless her heart, and let me sleep for a few more hours - not that it mattered considering when she woke me up at noon it felt like four seconds since the last time she had done so. They were heading back to Newark (to meet with friends for the evening) so we walked down to say goodbye to them in the parking lot where i still slurred my words and staggered around reaking of booze. My mom hugged me so tight, as if she would never see me again and her voice cracked as she told me to be careful and have fun in Thailand. Now, i can't handle seeing my mama cry so i of course did the same. My blood-alcohol level probably didn't help my emotions at that point.....stupid depressants! She worries about us so much, I am exactly like her in that sense i've realized. It makes me feel good.

Since Mike brown is a stud we were all able to get into the Oakley party last night, where we played Nintendo Wii and Air hockey on I guess Oakley's dime, cuz the booze was flowing and it was ONLY grey goose vodka, and i wasn't paying for it. Shawn Johnson (USA 16 year old gold medalist gymnast) and she played air hockey while a bunch of asian workers hid behind pillars and photographed her. I'm amazed at how little inhibitions these people have among the presence of semi-famous athletes.... The four or five times i noticed her that night she was always posing for someone else and I wonder if she came out that night intending to do things like that, or just hang out and enjoy herself. Also, two different Australians approached me and asked me for a tampon. I didn't have any, but i thought that was funny; but wished them luck on their quest.

Adam told me that today he was walking out of the Village to meet me at Hashow market and Kobe Bryant was in front of him when a Volunteer asked him for an autograph. Kobe i guess replied with, "its my birthday! don't bother me on my birthday!" and declined his request. Then two obviosuly attractive brazilian girls came over and asked if they could take a photo with him. "for you guys, sure.." he said as he posed RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE POOR TEENAGED VOLUNTEER Who again asked him if he could sign something for him.
Thats the icing on the cake and when i said i thought Kobe bryant was annoying before, i definitely think he's a piece of shit now. I know it must be annoying to be constantly ogled at for being famous but dude, its the Olympics, not the NBA...the fact that you're even here is annoying me, being a professional sport and what not, but while youre in the village (*where you aren't even STAYING because its below your 5 star hotel standard, where you come to relish the free food and likely just to turn innocent heads at your presence) you should frigging suck it up and sign the damn autographs, birthday or not, ESPECIALLY when you're willing to pose with two sexy brazilians right in front of the poor bastard who asked you for the fucking autograph in the first place. jesus, like your frigging life is so hard.

(ok, so adam JUST called me and in the time its taken me to write out all this shit, he's been in a cab TRYING to get to the stadium to watch the diving but some idiot cabby had no idea where that was, took him OUT of the city, through TWO toll booths and racked up a 169 yuan bill PLUS the toll money....I guess he had someone translating for him saying that he wasn't paying this bullshit but apparently in china "thats the way it works"...which essentially means, if they pretend to get lost and drive around aimlessly for hours you STILL have to pay. fuck! are you kidding me? He coudln't even watch the diving because its now too late (he left my place at 7.20) INSANITY!)

Anyways! Thats annoying... but i guess thats china. We leave for Thailand on Monday so I'm sure adams now ready as hell to get out of here.

My dad and adam bought watches from this secret place at the pearl market, where we have to go to booth 184, ask for bobo, and are lead through several piss smelling alleyways (although when we went to day we walked through a restaurant kitchen and out the backdoor), to this underground area where we take an elevator to the fourth floor, to a dingy apartment - through a hidden door masked as a bookshelf, into this "high quality" watch area. The best quality watch is around $260 canadian and is an EXACT replica of their 20 thousand dollar real things. THey even have purses as well. And a particular Prada purse was unbelievably convincing....insane quality leather with even the certificate of authenticity. So i dunno... We had to go back today to buy for friends! and on our way out, the girl showing us the way directed us to a back entrance because there were apparently police waiting outside... "you no trouble, i have trouble" she said as we headed to this other elevator.
so insane!

I've also bought a trillion pearls. they are insane over here. lots for gifts and requests of friends, but i feel like im' losing track and forgetting people. I really love the girls i befriended at one particular pearl place at Hashow Market. Its nice when you aren't being harrassed and it seems like these people just really want to help you. Ive been back four times and at the request of kathie to grab another double strand set of white pearls, i've decided to keep them for myself so I'm going back AGAIN tomorrow to replace the set i had originally bought her.

Whoa!
this is long winded and i have lots of beer to drink. So i'm off. Thailand thailand!
I probably won't be able to write while I am there So I hope you all have a good week and I cant wait to see you when i get back! Although, i dont know if i can justify to myself to spend regular canadian prices on booze anymore, so i may have to quit buying things all together. 42 cents is just too amazing. my dad also bought a 26er of Stoli vodka f0r 52 yuan... ...... SEVEN DOLLARS.

please.
i love this place.

2008-08-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

i really really want to write a bunch about the past week or so but i'm really really tired and don't feel like it.
hmm.....perhaps later.

although i WILL say that i'm steering clear from tequila shots from now on and i've peed the bed one too many times (with someone else in it).

also, the time on this blog is all screwed up. its actually 11.19 am on saturday morning i believe....this makes me excited! that means i'm going to thailand a day earlier than i had originally thought! woo!

the great wall

2008-08-19T22:35:00.001-07:00

with the family. and nikki!

pictures speak better than words.

magic foot & capybara

2008-08-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

the big return...TONIGHT!
in china!

(rachel gets here this evening!)

red carpets and cigars

2008-08-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

we love couch beds

2008-08-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

and free beer.

speedo party

2008-08-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

(this is my dad getting his wrinkles fixed..apparently)

I was supposed to see a beach volleyball game with my parents tonight sorta by our apartment but after about 15 drafts from 11 am - 7 pm i opted to go to a party with adam instead...
i headed back to our apartment and am just waiting to hear back on how to get there. Adam said one of the American swimmers didn't bring their plus one, so somehow i made the cut. exciting.

The canada house is so great. they are ridiculously overstaffed - but only in the best way. they are so so helpful. you have about three people ready to pour you your beers, or open a door for you. i almost feel guilty being a non-athlete and all. So far so good.

Adam and i are for sure going to thailand i believe on the 25th.. "for sure" meaning....we really, really want to go but have not booked our flights yet. After a bit of research i think we can get there for around $500 round trip each... hopefully we aren't'' mistaken. we ran into an american guy on the subway who owns a few restaurans in China and Thailand and is actually going to be in thailand at the same time as us... he described it as "paradise" and the "best time you could ever imagine" so after a bit of speculation and hearing this description it pretty much sold it for me. Its a bit more pricey than we thought to get there but taking into consideration the fact that we will spend next to nothing while we are there we thought we're stupid NOT to go.
after hearing this guy talk about thailand really made my dad want to go.. i suggested they make it the next trip they go on. Thailand. THAILAND!

My "boss" (i love saying that) is coming to Beijing on wednesday! its going to be great great to see her... i haven't seen her in like a month and back in our regular toronto schedules we are usually inseparable.

i made us sound like lesbians. anyway! its going to be fun regardless.

I think my mom, dad, brother and i are heading to the great wall (finally) on the thursday but i'm not for certain...i can't wait though. its going to be awesome. soooo beautiful. can't wait to share a bunch of photos with you all.

oh yeah.

some photos of the last few days

2008-08-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

without text, as i am too tired to form sentences
(except that i am going to bed now...and for the past four nights i have put on the ending of stranger than fiction and still have yet to finish it. looks like i will be trying again tonight!)

goodnight!

2008-08-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

somehow i forgot to mention that one of the female swimmers here, somehow picked up the chicken pox while in singapore... and apparently, NO ONE in china gets the chicken pox. they were fearing epidemic... and had her quarantined with guards at her door until they ran their course. can you believe that? i think she is swimming either today or tomorrow though. so she's all clear!

mike brown missed a medal within a few one hundredths of a second, so thats a terrible upset. Fourth is the worst. its too bad. i thought it was his and i think a lot of people did, including him. I'm sad for him. I saw him in a few interviews and i'm amazed at how he's not only keeping it together but so graceful and optimistic about it as well. He's incredible and I'm sure soon enough he'll get the medal he deserves. blah, canadian olympic swim team curse. damn you!

tian'anmen Square and other happenings

2008-08-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

yesterday i woke up and none of my pants fit. my belt wouldn't keep them up either. i think i sweat off half my body weight in a day.
it was amazing! but really annoying at the time..

its 9.30 am beijing time and i have no idea where my parents are. well, i assume they are at the pool, or the canada house. but i have no idea how to get there, or if i should go, i can't recall what we left it at last night. so i guess i will stay here.

adam finished swimming yesterday - he didn't have a very good time in the 100 fly, but he DID say hello to trenton in the interview... i thought all you fine folks would eat that one up!
i think we will probably do some sight seeing today but i'm not sure where... or what. i am STARVING though. thats all i know.

every morning i wake up with INSANE amounts of sweat all over my body. i don't think i sweat overly much on a regular basis, but this morning my shirt was SOAKED! i have no idea why. its not even hot here.... the duvet is nice and cozy but i never feel hot. its strange. must be that weird china air.

the other day my parents and i went Tian'an men Square...it was really neat. insane history.
yesterday, we went shopping in a few places where i ended up buying a necklace, but thats about it. i find when i'm in the markets and all the vendors are going, 'hey lady! lady!" even if i find something i like by the time they hand it to me i just don't even care to buy it anymore. hahaha. i went into a camera store to see if i could find any deals on a good camera.......but i also read that "despite popular belief, china is not a place to find cameras for cheap." hahahah. so anyway. the prices pretty much equated to Canadian prices, but when i walked in all the sales ladies just gushed about my olympic pins on my cardholder around my neck. it was hilarious. "so beautiful!" at first i thought they were referring to me! but it was just my shiny pin. I said, 'oh! i think i have an extra one in my bag..." as i searched, they watched intently but to their (and my) dismay i didn't have any. My parents were outside so I grabbed a few from them and held them up as i walked back in the store... they all cheered and fought over the two pins i threw on the counter. it was hilarious.

Then we went to this department store because its started POURING. apparently it isn't supposed to rain in beijing during the Olympics? apparently they were going to make sure that didn't happen? hahaha...but its rained twice HARD since we've been here. anyway. we took cover in this big Bay-like store, where my dad's wrinkles underwent a replenishing system and where i sat and watched and laughed while being told i had too many blackheads. She handed me my blackhead cream and my dad his two types of wrinkle cream (at this point he had a pad under his eye for about ten minutes) and my dad said, "ok you buy yours to take the pressure off me."
it was funny. I think he's really considering the wrinkle cream though.

When we got out, we saw this little beer stand where we ordered three pints of yanjing beer and got completely drenched in minutes.

We decided to go to a museum until the swim session at 6, but in the midst of making those plans soaking wet, I slipped and fell three times and ultimately put a damper on everyones day. literally. We opted to go back to the apartment instead of the museum.

My mom just came into my room so i guess they are not at the pool. I'm starving too so i gotta shower and get to Canada house. pictures to come upon my return.

interesting fact

2008-08-13T06:53:00.001-07:00

i was reading this blurb in a book on beijing where they mentioned the language. I read, for example, that the term for "good", is the combination of the symbol for "woman" and "child". together, makes the word "good".

isn't that amazing?

(half) censored thoughts on the mens 4x200 m relay

2008-08-13T04:30:00.000-07:00

just know that in this entry, i am holding back for the sake of my brother. The last thing i want to do is unintentionally make adam look bad even though he has nothing to do with my opinion on this, or, plainly said; what is right.

all i will say is this:

adam didn't swim in the final for the 4x200 relay. the person who took his place swam a second and a half slower than he did in the prelim, that being said;

no medal.

this relay switch up was a bad decision, and more than anything i hate that he couldn't swim the final he deserved; the fact that he made the team at the trials is what should say it all. he helped bring that team TO the finals, but i guess that wasn't enough. apparently rules are bent when one is in the position to bend them.

a couple came into the Canada house today and asked how the mens relay did. I overheard someone say, "they got fifth, no medal." their response was, "well at least they made the final. that was spectacular."

i cringed.

so thats that.
other than pointing out once again that adam is amazing, i'd just like to send out a big fuck you! to swim canada.

have a good night!

day 1: beijing is confusing

2008-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

i think i've been pretty jetlagged as i've felt rather wonked the past two days, epecially today.
adam swam his 200 m Fly tonight (beijing time) and beat his own canadian record, with 1:57.5 i believe... so that was exciting! "one of the hardest things to do is show up at the olympics and make a best time" says our trusty old swim coach!
He said that he's feeling fast and looking forward to the 100 fly... tomorrow he swims the 4x200 m relay, but unless he's one of the fastest on the team during the prelim, theres a chance he might be able to swim it (if the other guys are faster). i'm not really sure, my brain is just mush. and so are my feet.

one thing i have noticed about this place, everything is so damn confusing. it would be enough that everything is in chinese, and thats to be expected. but as confusing as their language is its almost as if they like to make everything equally confusing. Every single time we've left our apartment to go someplace, we get excessively lost. I mean eventually we'll figure it out (with the help from a good local samaritan or two (one girl even ran around in the rain with us trying to find a cab to take us to the Canada house.....and ultimately ended up getting in the cab with us becuase the driver had no idea. She refused the money we offered to pay for her cab home, and insisted that she take the bus.) But the (even mild) english speaking locals are incredibly hospitable and always always willing to make sure you find your way. several times we didn't even have to approach anyone, i suppose we just exuded "help me?"

they are very strict with their exits and entrances. Leaving the Olympic park tonight proved difficult. After walking 15 minutes to the spot we thought was the exit, ended up being another entrance, and once directed to the actual exit, we found the road barricaded. A guard eventually came over and let us through, but then we had to walk down this (what seemed to be) a brand new road with five lanes and white lines, but appeared to have never been used. After that we had to hop over this little fence and walk down this beautifully landscaped hill, onto the other side of the street. it was just so very strange.

The olympic park is amazing, obviously.

We saw the world's biggest TV.. i guess its something like 60 feet high. its pretty insane.

I saw Michael Phelps swim and it was boring. the dude has no competition, and went out slow. at least it seemed like it, and his time was off of his best time, so i assume he's just waiting for the final to win his one of 8 future olympic Golds (and mark spitz's record of 7 Olympic medals) and likely a new world record (which was his to begin with, so it won't be any big deal).

on our way out i stood a few feet from Glenn Close; stood there staring as I thought to myself, "Is that somebody's mom?" i was about to ask my mom who it was when she yelled, "look its glenn close!" I didn't take a picture for fear of her seeing my face and associating it with an annoying tourist with a camera gawking at celebrities in beijing. even though there wasn't much gawking and fairly little thought went into actually taking a photo.
no one approached her though. i wonder if they recognize her over here.

My mom has been trying to give out Canadian pins to whoever will have them but so far, no one will. poor mom just wants to hand out free canada pins!

Also, lots of people choose to squat on the street as opposed to sitting. They'll just hang out and squat right next to a curb, or a bench, and not look like they are struggling at all. I suggested the comparison that perhaps they are used to the no public toilets kind of thing, and so they have built up their muscles necessary in a good squat, that its ultimately become enjoyable. i'm going to find a picture.

oh, and there are guards everywhere. just standing on the street. they are extremely friendly and love to smile. but they're everywhere!

It is exhausting here, thats for sure. i suppose i'm still pretty jetlagged but everytime we go anywhere, we can almost guarantee it is not what it seems.

last night after going to the Canadian Olympic House (a meeting place for friends & fam of canadian olympians..free booze free food free internet.) we waited a while for a cab, and when one finally came, we showed him our address in Mandarin and he had no idea what it was. Even though it was obvious we clearly could not speak english he continued to go on and on and on, which makes sense because most English speaking people i know tend to just raise their voice and slow down their words while talking to people here, as if they will understand if you just give them a little more time. Anyway! we even had a concierge explain to him where it is, print him off a map, everything in his language and he had NO IDEA! he just had this sad, dumb look in his eyes and no idea what to do. so we went anyway and eventually he got us to almost where we wanted to go. after stopping to ask three other cab drivers where it was. who knows where we'd end up.

Everything is super cheap (7 RMB = 1 dollar), and we checked out the pearl market today which is INSANE.
"lady you want purse? lady you want shoes?" ive never seen so many people jump out of corners and latch onto you. It really makes you appreciate those far less intrusive (but at a time would have called them excessively intrusive) people of China town.

i wasn't aware of this before but i found it interesting. tipping is not accepted here. when i first heard this i thought, 'oh whatever, do it anyway" but they really really do not accept it. some restuarants have signs that say "no tipping" and waitresses will be fired if they accept! Even cab drivers! its just not a part of their culture and Apparently they find it hilarious that we just throw all this extra money at them...
they must think we are disgusting back over in the west.... considering our dollar is INSANE to them over there in addition to tipping. whoa.

im super tired right now... but i think i'm going to upload a bunch of pics that i took tonight. hope you enjoy!

(late edit; i'm sorry...i'll upload them tomorrow. sleep calls. my apologies.)

the olympic beijing.

2008-08-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

one early wake up call, two different plane rides, one 13 hour flight, two continents, three countries, five terrible plane food meals, four movies, six episodes of Friends (played in no particular order) 40 minutes of sleep, nine pieces of gum, two raw- bitten nails, three sets of puffy eyes,
one grumbling stomach and a real big urge to sleep.

you have summed up my day. (11:00 pm edit: only the beginning of my day, which i will get back to)

we arrived in Beijing (FINALLY) around 3 pm or something, beijing time...which is 3 am....your time. if i had a phone i probably would have called a bunch of people to announce my own anticipated arrival. geez. that was one long flight. i honestly anticipated sleeping for more of it, but probably only slept (as said above) for forty minutes or so.

yeah.

im too lazy to organize all this stuff....but here are a few pics of the place i'm staying in. pretty coooooool

and did i mention it has a toilet?

goodbye old friend

2008-08-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'll miss this dirty slanted house and everything that goes along with it.
i wish you well matt.

2008-08-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

HOLY FRIG TWO DAYS!

man, i love my cat. so much it hurts!

2008-08-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

two days, and two huge bags of laundry to do.

keele sessions close

2008-08-03T11:15:00.001-07:00

pretend jamie is jay.

all of my clothes are in bags stuffed with dirty socks and underwear. i have five days; which is about 120 hours, or a bit less, since i have to include travel time to and from the air port and the fact that I am meeting up with my parents the day before to get an early start.
I am the biggest procrastinator in the world. I've spent my weekend going to the zoo, signing my lease, sitting on the beach, eating quasadias & homemade icecream, watching Gilmore Girls with adam and saying, "this time next week, I'm going to be in China..."
its not only the fact that i'm going to be halfway across the world in the next week; but my leaving is the end of the keele street era. The end of my time with roommates, the laid back atmosphere of living with three friends and practically vacationing for the past 340 days. Matt is moving to Halifax, i will miss his contagious laugh, his love of poppy sixties music and singing multiple renditions of, "bitches ain't shit but sluts and hoes; motherfucking tricks and motherfucking hoes..."
We had so many plans going into this house and i might have been the only one who thought they were going to happen, but i'm not all that surprised they didn't. i'm most disappointed that i didn't take a photo every season from matt's rooftop. We have yet to do a "family" portrait; costumed in Cosby sweaters and typical family poses. The most extravagant idea was to cast different parts of our bodies and make a "keele street statue" that i guess we'd hang in a corner or something. I don't really have a clue. i'll miss the random bits of artwork on the walls and the gradual cluttered mess the living room became on a regular basis. I'll miss waking up to hearing cat calls and all the different nicknames given to guill. I'll miss how much everyone in this house loved and respected my cat, as I'm sure they will miss everything she gave to them. the too many records with not enough space, the missing dvds, that month long phase where all we did was draw with pen and ink; the ink that still stains the table. the mountain of empty beerbottles and our works in progress littering the mantle. but I guess i took away more from this place than what i initially thought i would take from it. Living with these people has pushed me from basically locking my sketchbook, to jamming out music with a room full of people. As much as I am happy and ready for change, I couldn't thank them enough for praising the artist in me and allowing it to be seen. Every time I'd paint a canvas or record a little song; even a quick doodle on page Matt would look over my shoulder or he'd see it and make me feel like i had created some incredible masterpiece. I don't know if i just got used to it or actually started to believe him, but it totally cracked me and finally i found a bit of a flow. I feel like i am more open to art and able to state an opinion and see goodness and because of that create a few things of my own that i was/am truly proud of.

we're all going out thursday, and i guess i might be home for a day on the 30th assuming matt isn't half way to one side of the country by then.
i hate the end of lease nostalgia i'm hit with, especially this time. There were some really crazy times here, but lots of really amazing times.
China begins a new journey of discovery for me. Not only the travel part, but the moving in with just boyfriend part. and the going to school for restaurant management part. and the living in the beaches part. its all really exciting, but its really kind of sad too.

Swim News

2008-07-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is an article Adam wrote not too long ago after he made the team. It was featured in Swim News Magazine if i'm not mistaken.

Yes, as well as being a world class athlete Adam Sioui is also a gifted writer. Go figure!

Worth the Wait
By Adam Sioui

I am an Olympian.

I am going to the Olympics.

The Olympics: the pinnacle of sport. An event, the event that happens only once every four years. Where roughly 300 Canadians out of 33 million get a chance. Where only 10,000 out of over 6.5 billion even get an invite.

And I’m one of them.

It’s been about four weeks since the Trials ended. Four weeks since I had the best meet of my life. Four weeks since I returned to the meet that had broken me two times before. Four weeks since I left for the first time with a smile instead of tears.

It’s understandable why the Trials are so threatening. Just think about it, once every four years. Four years man. You train, you’re positive, you believe. Then the meet starts. You swim, you race, you fail. And it’s over for another four years. That’s what happened to me in 2000 and in 2004.

I came to the University of Calgary two years ago for my last go around. Up to that point, in my mind I had had a decently successful career. I had broken Age Group records; I earned a full scholarship down to the States. I won Canadian National and NCAA titles. I was a member of Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacific Games and Short Course Worlds teams. Ironically though, the turning point in my career came not from a success, but from a failure. Going into the 2006 Commonwealth Trials I thought I was a sure thing. I was the top seed, and a win would secure my spot on the team going to Melbourne, Australia. But I came second, was out touched by a few tenths and didn’t make it. At the time I was devastated. I called my parents and told them I was lost. I was in the midst of a seven-year drought for best times and had no idea of what to do anymore. I had no confidence and the worst part was that I hated the idea of me in a pool. So I stopped, and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I spent the next five months finishing my degree, hanging out with friends and did not touch the pool once.

Wherever we are in our swimming career, we would not have gotten there without help. Help from our friends, help from our coaches, and of course help from our parents. As my swimming developed and I started having my first taste of success, I began to feel the pressure of having to live up to expectations. My friends supported me, my coaches spent countless hours on me, and my parents, well they did everything for me, and I didn’t want to let any one of them down. At the end of the day however, the one person I needed to worry about was me. Be selfish! Do what’s right for you. If you’re tired, tell your coaches, give them input. But be honest with them and yourself. I was, and it led me to Calgary, which was the right fit for me at the time. Most importantly what the change did for me was make swimming fun. I loved going to the pool again and there was rarely a workout where I was not laughing and cracking jokes. I took that mentality into meets and the results began to show.

Then Trials came. My nemesis. Another Four Years. And the doubt started to seep in a bit. Did I do enough in workout? Did I hit my taper? Am I good enough? All of these questions were bouncing around my head leading up to Montreal, but finally I was able to control them. We’re swimmers, this is swimming, swimming is a sport, sports are supposed to be fun. That might sound lame, but just think about it. What we do doesn’t save lives; this isn’t life or death. This is a sport, and what’s more fun than that? So that’s what I told myself going into Trials this time. In 2000 and 2004 I spent so much time worrying whether or not I was going to make the team, I forgot how enjoyable and fun the experience itself can be. I went into the 2008 Trials knowing full well that it could be the last meet of my life and win or lose, succeed or fail, I was going to leave with good memories this time.

And it happened for me. I made the 4X200m freestyle relay, I broke the Canadian record in the 200m butterfly, I made the FINA A standard in the 100m butterfly, and I remember everything and nothing from the meet. I remember tearing up before the 200 freestyle final, not due to sadness, but because of my parents cheering like crazy people in the stands. Yet I don’t really remember the race itself. I remember touching the wall and hearing and seeing the U of Calgary group cheering, and knowing I had made the team before I even looked at the clock. I remember looking up to the stands before my 200m butterfly and waving to my family and friends, but I couldn’t tell you how many strokes I took on the last 50 metres, or how many kicks I did off the last wall. I remember sitting at dinner celebrating, and looking at my mom, dad and sister, and seeing how proud they were of me, and how they had shared in these experiences with me. But don’t ask me how my start was or how my splits were.

Never stop making goals and never stop believing in them. I didn’t. Whether it’s your first provincial time, or national time. Whether it’s making the national team or the Olympic team. It might take days, weeks, months, even years, but it can happen. I failed in 2000, I failed in 2004, but here we are, and here I am.

I am an Olympian.

I am going to the Olympics.

And so can you.

9 days and a little pre-olympia background.

2008-07-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

proud mama.

its official.

Nine days.

In NINE days, I will be flying halfway across the world to meet up with my brother, in . . ASIA. ASIA! talk about foreign... I've never been anywhere. Save a few trips down to Florida to visit said brother; I've never been...anywhere. In my head, China is this mythical place that was out of my world. and in less than two weeks, I'm going to be there. Actually be there! I'm ready for the culture shock. But that's about it. I haven't even thought about what I'm bringing...and done even less thinking about where I am going to spend my last five days in this giant continent.

On the 22nd, after the Olympics are over, my parents will be flying back to Canada. Adam and I made plans to kick around for a few days afterwards and have a little five day brother sister bonding excursion before we head back to Canada, and reality; to restart our real lives. Adam bought a video camera to document our travels; And I'm coming equipped with three of my own still cams (a regular canon point and shoot digital, Diana Dream Camera with 120 film, and my Old film 25 mm SLR). perhaps this is a bit much. One thing I am worried about, is not being present in the moment while I'm over there. I'm an obsessive Compulsive photographer; capturing moments before I've even deemed them moments. I'm addicted, and when I have a camera in my hand, I. cannot. stop. Which is great for everyone at home that actually wants to see everything... but I just hope I take the time to actually look OUT instead of through a view finder and just be there. at least for a little while.

I would be lying if i said i wasn't a bit excited to be right there at the Olympics.. I mean watching my brother swim IN THE OLYMPICS is going to be overtly surreal; but the last five days of this trip are what I'm really looking forward to. There is talk of going to Thailand, but we are still unsure. (If anyone has ANY suggestions of places to go feel free to send out recommendations! or email me at devonsioui@gmail.com. )

I also have a friend and coworker who will be out in Korea around the same time I'm in China and before she left we half-made arrangements to meet up, so hopefully that pans out. I feel like seeing a regular from your everyday life smack dab in the middle of China will be quite an interesting experience to say the least. I envision lots of, "OH MY GOSH WE ARE IN CHINA" moments.

at the olympic trials; i have a feeling i'm going to
be seeing plenty of this kind of thing...

I have nothing to really say. I have nothing to expect! I have NO IDEA what i am going to come home with after this trip; besides the obvious itch to travel incessantly. I really picked the worst time to go back to school.

I'd really like to take a minute and talk about the Olympics for a second. Well, not the Olympics in general, but Adam, and the Olympics. In my house, the word "Olympics" was never about an extravagant spectacle of physical talent that comes every four years. it was always about when, and where it would be when Adam finally made it. At first it was Australia, then it was Greece. At the 2000 Olympic trials, I was 14, and still a swimmer myself. Back then in order to make the Olympics you had to place first or second, AND make the FINA A Standard Qualifying time. I remember watching Adam from the stands swimming the 200 m butterfly, the entire Trenton Dolphins Swim Club had gone up to Montreal to cheer him on, equipped with a huuuuuge blue banner with yellow writing that read, "GO ADAM GO! WE ARE ALL BEHIND YOU!" I remember at that moment, there was no doubt in my mind he would be going to Australia, and right before the Meet manager blew the whistle for the swimmers to stand up on the blocks, it finally sunk in that we all were probably going. As he swam, i screamed. and screamed. and screamed at the top of my lungs. No words, just screams!. I could see my dad off to my right, his eyes narrowed and his face a deep shade of purple. screaming, screaming, SCREAMING! My mom shaking her program in the air, as if her movements would help his - then i looked down and realized i was holding my friends hand so hard that i could barely feel my fingers. At this point in the race, Adam was in second, gaining on the the guy in first, (who had already made the Olympic time AS WELL as a New Canadian Record in that event earlier in the meet, so all he had to do was win) whom i scoffed at for wearing a women's swim suit during the race (I still have no idea). Adam touched the wall, just after Shamek, and he turned his head in anticipation to look at the clock.

2:00.02. He missed it by three tenths of a second.

I will never forget waiting for him in the lobby with the rest of the team. Watching him walk up the stairs out of the changeroom with a forced smile until he turned last minute to shield his crying eyes. I walked over to him and gave him a little punch on the arm and told him I hated Shamek.

I remember looking at Shamek's swim coach (who, ironically is now Adam's coach) after the race back in 2000, yelling at him for pacing himself throughout the last race. It was just another swim for him, he had already made the team...but for Adam, this was the biggest swim of his life to date. In the swimming world, you support eachother. If you've made the team and you're the fastest, you swim your heart out to try and push the next person in line onto the team. He didn't do this. He didn't care.

Fast forward four years and another upset. This time I was at home at a friends birthday party, when my mom called me, her voice a bit shaky, when she told me I just started to cry. I was tired of seeing him try so hard only to have yet another upset.

That was when i decided i couldn't bear to watch him miss it again. I hated seeing him so upset, and most of all, i had pretty much had it with the Olympics. He had been to a hundred other events on par with the Olympics; minus all the fancy commercial shit that everyone else in the world gets to see. He's been to the Commonwealth Games, World cups, he's travelled the world and brought back hardware from all over. He was already a champion in my head.

Walking up to the entrance of the Montreal Olympic Swimming pool,
but i like to pretend its a spaceship. That's my dad on the right.

Then the Beijing trials rolled around this year, and i could feel my nerves start forming six months before the meet. I told my mom that I was nervous to watch him and that I hoped he would make the relay team before I got to Montreal to watch him swim the 200 fly again, so I wouldn't have to be struck with such a panic again.

where the magic happens (or happened).

oh, you know, just beating records and winning medals.

I was supposed to take the train from Toronto to Montreal on the Friday, or Saturday, depending on how he did in his swims. My phone had been shut off earlier that week, so I hadn't really been touching base with my parents who were already in Montreal throughout the week. On Wednesday, I checked my messages with my roommates phone, and saw that it was my dad. I didn't let the message finish, so i quickly called him, and he simply said, "So adam had a great swim tonight in the 200 freestyle....Andrew just outtouched him, so he's going, and Adam's going and...."

"WHAT?!" GOING WHERE?"
"To Beijing!"
"WHAT?"
"Here's Adam!"

When Adam got on the phone i choked out the words, "you made it?" Barely, but i don't think he even heard me. He threw out a "Devoooooo!" and then all i could say was, "I'm crying my eyes out!"

I bawled my freaking eyes out! and i have no idea why. I guess its due to the eight years of pent up emotion regarding this STUPID swimmeet thats been haunting my family everytime it comes around. I was so glad that he finally got what he deserved after persevering for eight years.
I ran out to the living room to tell my roommates, still shaking from the news. I texted everyone i could think of and thought about how frigging amazing he must feel. I've also never seen my parents happier.

proud parents.

The next day he swam the 200 m Butterfly. his race. The race that decided it all for the past two Olympic Trials. I got another phone call. He made it again! and not only that, but he crushed the Canadian Record. The same Canadian Record that was set by Shamek Pietucha eight years previous. When Adam was at his side while he made it. It was now his!

I watched the video of his race on the internet and shook the whole time. I had tears streaming down my face and sobbed my way through his gracious, modest interview at the end. He was beaming. How could all of these people possibly know how great he feels? They don't know the half of it! THIS IS HIS RACE! Immediately, i sent him a text that read something like: "HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WAY TO DESTROY THAT ASSHOLES RECORD! I'M SO FUCKING PROUD OF YOU!"
my dad inquired about my incessant swearing, and all i could say was, "well, i was fucking excited!"

Then the guilt set in.

Why wasn't I there? After eight years, I find out the biggest news of my brothers life through a phonecall? I should be there! I should be the first person he sees! Does he know how proud I am of him? I should have assumed my tears would say all that, but I didn't.

I got on a train the next day and rushed off to Montreal. I watched him warm up for his next race, I watched him stretch behind the blocks, and as the whistle blew, I watched him look up into the stands and catch my stare, he offered a little smirk and a wave and I thought about how much more fun he looked like he was having than in years passed. He was totally relaxed, so much that he seemed out of character. That smirk behind the blocks I was talking about...

A major switch from his shaking body standing behind those same blocks eight years prior. The whistle blew, they were off, and right there, I watched him make it again in the 100 m butterfly and it was so intense, i don't know what i would have done if I had seen him make it in the 200... I am envious of everyone who got to see that first hand. i probably always will be. Being a former swimmer myself, and now the sister of an Olympian. I feel like i can fully understand. And i wanted to be there. But most of all i just wanted him to make it. and he did.

three times.

To my knowledge he is the only Canadian male swimmer swimming a maximum of three events. I believe there are a few women in three events, so this would suggest he is Canada's leading male.

I'll try and track down the video of the 100 m Butterfly. its a great thing to watch even if you aren't familiar with speed swimming. My friend Rachel (who we will be seeing in Asia) called me from work after she had watched it and said like she felt she had to cry.

we're all big saps.

let the trip begin.

proud family.