I’ve just spent the majority of my afternoon on the exhibition floor–it is a treasure trove of information, educational materials, opportunities to try new things, and of course, freebies! I played the Nintendo Wii, saw the new Dodge Challenger, sampled goodies, looked in travel trailers…

I talked to many attendees as I made my way through the  maze of booths and displays.  People came from Washington state, California, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, and those were only the ladies and gentlemen I spoke with!

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Wrapping up the Olympics and visiting Beijing
 
On Sunday, the 2008 Olympic games end.  At the moment, it seems like athletes, coaches, and other Olympic-related folks are flooding the Beijing streets.  In the last few days, I’ve run into people from all parts of the world – South America, Africa, Europe, etc. – as many people have finished with their competitions and are now out on the town to make merry of these last few days.
 
For me personally, it’s been a wonderful and insightful experience to be in Beijing these two weeks.  This is no longer a city of my youth; it has grown up and contributes its spirit to the global community.
 
For anyone wishing to visit or re-visit Beijing, the infrastructure has been strengthened by the Olympic needs, and the city is a pleasure to visit. 

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As a man, you retire at age 60.  As a woman, you retire at age 55.  These are the mandatory retirement ages in China, unless you have your own shop or are a high government official (they are mostly in the 60s and perhaps even 70s – they all seem to color their hair black and therefore look quite young).
 
Every month as a retiree, you get a little bit of a pension payment, which helps with expenses.  Chinese tradition is that parents live with their eldest son and help to watch the grandchildren.  Given the one-child policy started in the late 1970s, it will be interesting to see how these traditional notions change

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I’ve noticed a couple of oddities these two Olympic weeks: there are no street beggars in Beijing right now, the couple sessions of rain have been somewhat unusual, and there has been a tremendous influx of foreign faces.
 
In the past in Beijing, you would see people, often with sun-basked faces and hardship in their eyes, in the streets asking for money.  This week, however, they are strangely gone.  Beijing supposedly has a social program, where people with no or very low incomes receive 500-700 RMB a month of government support.  But these monies are likely distributed geographically, so homeless or addressless people wouldn’t have a way to receive this money. 

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In the U.S., we are almost accustomed to paying outrageous amounts for sustenance at sporting events and entertainment venues.  $3-5 for a drink, and $5-7 for something that resembles little more than a hotdog.  So imagine my pleasant surprise the first time I went to purchase drinks at the Olympics.  Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors of the games, and they have ubiquitous stands at every venue.  But a cold bottle of Coca-Cola only costs 5 RMB, or the equivalent of 70 U.S. cents.  Of course, things cost less in China, but even taking into account the purchasing power parity of different countries, this is a good price for a Coke. 

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