8/6/08: Hunter and Mr. Yu

Hunter and Mr. Yu are both drivers for NBC.  They are both totally awesome because they drive us places, sit around and wait for us (sometimes up to 5 hours+), and will still greet you 

excitedly with a giant smile on their face.  Hunter is probably my favorite because he speaks English pretty well and is quite a character.  The second day we were going on a shoot, so he drove us down to the market area.  All the other drivers usually just do their own thing when we leave.  But with Hunter, he parked, threw on his backpack and announced that he was coming with us!  He ended up being a lifesaver and really helped me out a lot.  Later in the day, he helped me run errands at IKEA and Walmart (the chinese call it War Ma, it sounds like they're trying to say walmart only they have a ton of cotton stuffed in their mouths).  I think we are definitely pretty tight now since I told him I love him and gave him a big hug (what can I say, stress makes you do strange things).  The picture is us shopping at Walmart, Hunter is the tall, gangly Chinese dude on the right, Jared is on the left and he is one of producers who needed an activity so he got stuck shopping with us, poor guy. 

As for Mr. Yu, today I went to the transportation desk (where you order your car) and I told them the car number.  Then I asked, "Is Yu driving us?"  And the woman replied, "No, I don't drive the cars, I have to call the driver."  So I said, "Ya I know, but Yu the driver."  We went through this who's-on-first bit a couple more times, then cleared the whole thing up.  I found this amusing and so China.

Everyday I get to do new things.  Usually go on one big trip per day.  Today I went to the Summer Palace.  Got interviewed (again) by CCTV (China Central TV).  Because they thought it was great that I could speak Chinese.  The reporter and the camera man that I was with are both from San Diego and were born in raised in California.  So they got a lot done, but they were really chill and we all had a great time.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Great Wall again.  Only this time we are going to a different part and we are going with the American Greco-Roman Wrestling team!  I'm pretty excited about this one.  We are climbing with them on the Great Wall and then tobogganing down the side of the mountain.  Then tomorrow night I'm sitting in on an interview with Rory Mcgowan, the head engineer for Arup – the European architects that designed and built the newest most talked about venues in Beijing such as the Birds Nest, Water Cube, the new CCTV Tower, Terminal 3 at the Beijing Airport, etc.  The reporter said she would be happy to introduce me, so I can do a little networking!  Everything is going great, OLYMPICS START IN 2 DAYS!