and the vacation screeches to a halt...

I woke up this morning after a pretty decent nights sleep (jet lag has been waking me up between 3-4 am most days) feeling pretty excited. It was the first day of work and all the mysterious questions of what I will be doing at the Olympics will be revealed...and more than that, we get our uniforms today! (I've been quite concerned about this particular item as I have imagined only the worst in colors/styles and fit.) I figured our day (which starts at 8 am) would consist of picking up uniforms, getting job assignments and whala...go home early!

I got into the cab to ride back to my hotel tonight and noted that it was 7:30 pm.! What is this? Don't they know that this is my vacation?? In addition to uniforms we were issued computers, phones and some of the 'lucky ones' were given huge, 50 lb manuals to read, review and manage! I almost cried when they called my name as one of those 'lucky ones'..

The rest of the day was spent reviewing the whole hospitality program, learning about our own programs, accredidation, transportation etc. etc. And we do it all over again tomorrow. It's actually quite amazing and incredible how everything comes together to make the Olympics work. And we are only one facet of the Games. Jet Set (our company) has hired over 800 local Chinese (mostly University students) to act as hosts, I will have some working with me. They started training last year and had to go through a multitude of classes and tests to 'graduate'. I almost wish I had as much knowledge as they do!

My job - it's getting clearer but still not 100% sure of all my duties. I've been assigned to a hotel to handle 'waves' of leisure travelers who have purchased Olympic 'packages'. The only downside right now that I see is that they have assigned me to work at a different hotel than the one I'm staying at and it's the farthest hotel from where I am. I think this was a last minute change and I'm hoping they will move me closer. I can't imagine how long it will take me to 'get to work' clear across Beijing with traffic and thousands of people around.

P.S. Uniforms...I'll include pictures later because I had to have my uniform altered and they won’t be ready till next week...quit laughing Chris! The sizing was as bad as I'd predicted and I had to exchange everything...I now have sizes ranging from small to XL, go figure. But the color isn’t bad …baby blue tops and khaki pants.