In Beijing-

We arrived in Beijing on Friday after a two day trip (I left Wednesday at 11am!). As soon as we arrived we met a friend of a friend at the airport to head straight to pick up all of the tickets we had purchased the week before. Cindy and Ken (Mark's sister and dad) took the luggage to the hotel while Jenny, my mom, and I headed out with Jewel (our new friend) on our first Beijing adventure.

We took a taxi to the ticket office (which was much easier with traveling with someone who spoke Chinese we later learned) and then took the subway to the hotel from the ticket office. We used the restroom which was much different than in the states, to say the least.

At this point we were thrilled... we had picked up every ticket that we had ordered. We were all so relieved to have them in our hands after hearing and reading about horror stories of fake and fraudulent ticketing agencies. We were set and ready to go!!!

When we got to the hotel we were pleasantly surprised by all of the amenities and familiar things. We are staying at a Double Tree complete with chocolate chip cookies. During the opening ceremonies, we met up with all of the other USA Swimming families to watch the opening ceremonies together. It was so nice to meet and mingle with other parents, families, and friends of other USA Swimming team members.

Mark's event, thankfully, is on the first day of the Olympic Games. I say "thankfully" because I cannot imagine what it would be like to have to be nervous for many more than 24 hours before we got to Mark swim. Mark's first swim was not his best, but was good enough to get him into the semi finals ( 1:00.7- Mark's best time was posted at the US Olympic Trials at 1:00.1) With a big sigh of relief we knew that he would get at least one more swim the next morning in the semi-finals (top 16 make the semi-finals and Mark was 15th after prelims).

As a side note: I got horribly sick on this first day and it was a miracle I even got to see Mark swim. Once I was able to cleanse my system of whatever had gotten in it I started feeling much better. I immediately stopped making fun of my mother who packed 100 individual Germ-X wipes and enough over-the-counter drugs to supply all of Beijing. Each and every Germ-X wipe will be used by the end of the trip... I can guarantee you.

So, excited to watch Mark loosen up a little and swim his race like he knows how to do, we got up early this morning, ate breakfast (don't worry, I just had a piece of toast) and headed to the Water Cube on the bus organized by USA Swimming. We got to the pool and anxiously sat in our seats.

I don't know why any of us were nervous... this is Mark's job and he does it very well. Very confidently he got up on the block and swam like he needed to swim to put him into the finals (1:00.44- still not his best time, but a solid time to lock him into a finals swim tomorrow). He was so happy, he even looked up into the stands and smiled.

After swimming, my mom, Cindy and I (along with two friends of our who traveled to China to watch Mark) sat at McDonald's and ate something familiar, finally... french fries! After lunch and hanging out at the Olympic Park for a couple of hours we went to a gymnastics qualifying round (during our time in Beijing we will see gymnastics, diving, table tennis, men's soccer, and swimming, of course). One thing that is surprising to all of us is that the venues are not full. There were literally hundreds of seats open at the gymnastics session. We are shocked because the events are sold out but it seems as though people are not showing up. It is so disappointing to see people outside of the gates, desperate for tickets, and hundreds of open seats that these desperate ticket seekers could be sitting in.

Our challenges in Beijing have included transportation and getting around the city. It is incredibly difficult to hail a cab and once you get a cab to pull over, no cab drivers seem speak English and some cannot even read a map. The hotel we are staying at is very new and so many drivers don't even know that it exists! Tonight we circled Beijing in a cab for almost an hour.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow's race. Mark will swim in the finals and I've got a great feeling that it is going to be a big swim for him. I saw him tonight after his practice and he looked happy and ready; I can't wait! Tomorrow will be the day that he breaks 1:00 minute.

I will try to get back on and post again in the next few days. Please keep your fingers crossed and Mark in your thoughts... I am off to bed to dream of fast swimming and french fries!