DAY TWO:

Note: Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday or the day before; We went swimming Saturday so I was pooped and Sunday the internet was down.

We had to get up a 7:30. Not fun, but not too bad, relatively speaking. We had breakfast with one of the other choirs. They were from Indiana. Henceforth ICC. That was when I noticed that one of the guys was kind of cute. Unfortunately:
a) I never actually talked to him,
b) Their choir left before ours.
Anyway, at breakfast the spring rolls were really good. I sat with Lena, Ash, Ann and I think Kris, though I could be wrong about the last. Oh, and Bear. In case you cared at all.

A weird thing about the meals is every one of them had watermelon served. Is this a big thing in China? I liked it, anyway. Watermelon=very yes.
Also, they served cereal with yogurt. I think the yogurt was spoiled, though. It tasted gross.

As we visited our first sight to see, we discovered a few more things about our tour guide.
a) First of all, I'm going to marry him.
b) He's really funny.
c) He has seen a lot of movies, and remembers all of them.
d) He watches the movies to help him learn English.
e) His mom wants him to get married before he's 32. He has 5 years left to make enough money, he says.
f) When he mentions a number (like 2:30) he spells it out. "2:30. 2 3 0." He also draws it in the air, although that didn't help too much.
g) His name isn't really Adam Weaver. Actually, we thought for a long time, because of his accent, he was Adam Waiver. Apparently he has changed his name a few times. Originally it was Hu. Then he changed it to Larry James (at his college they called him Larry as a joke.). We thought he said Larry Jams. Anyway, he went to America, and one of his American friends told him that you couldn't have a first name as a last name. Then he asked a lot of people on his tours what his name should be and a woman said "Adam Weaver." So he kept it.
h) Cee kept thinking his name was Tony.
i) We had the best tour guide in the world.

The Forbidden City was CROWDED! Adam told us that a lot of people got lost there, but we were his perfect angels, and none of us ever did. Ann and I kept close tabs on each other.
The Forbidden City was interesting. There were about a billion different halls and stuff like that. We pretty much all decided that if we were Emperor we'd get lost every day on our way to breakfast, or whatever.
"Oh yes, there goes Empress Bard. It looks as if she's lost again. Do you suppose we should help her out, or just watch her wander around aimlessly? Yes, I think it would be much more fun to watch her suffer in the blistering heat."
Meanwhile I die. Either that or find some shady place and yell my head off.

One of the main reasons none of us got lost was Adam. He always waited for us at the left side of the building. We figured that even if we got far behind, we could just go to the left and end up back with the group. Being separated from the group was a real threat; Adam Weaver was definitely a speed walker. He walked faster than I run. I think towards the end he was worried we'd get off schedule, so instead of saying "You have 3 minutes for this and 2 minutes for that," he'd say "Alright Angels, 30 seconds." Tre amusing.

After the Forbidden City we visited Tian Anmen Square. Adam didn't say much about the protest there; he said that although he was there to tell the truth, the Chinese people don't like to talk about that much. We walked around for a little bit, and a bunch of peddlers tried to sell us stuff. Ann got way overcharged for a Mao watch ($9 when some people got it later for $5) but she said it was funny because it waved. Rachel bought a guidebook only to notice afterwards that it was all in French. She has a good sense of humor, though, so it was okay. She laughed.

Rachel and Dakota were waving as some guys in another bus and they started blowing kisses and junk. It was MUY disconcerting. Pretty soon the entire bus (minus me) started waving to everyone. They tried to get me to have a go, but I was pretty freaked out. They were mostly guys in their 30s-40s!

At lunch Ann and I got some ice cream. Most people didn't even know that they had ice cream at the restaurant. It was funny to see everyone in choir glaring enviously at us. Outside the restaurant (it was inside a museum, but we didn't really visit it) there was a little stall of stuff to buy. I bought a Jade rabbit for Monet. One down, 1,000 to go.

Right in front of the museum there was a countdown TO THE SECOND of how long until the 2008 Olympics being hosted in Beijing. There was major restoration going on, and cranes everywhere, especially in Beijing.

The Pandas I saw next were cute, but the prices on the merchandise was to die for. I got some nesting dolls for 5 bucks. They were worth at least twice that. I also got a little dress for Baby. I only hoped it wouldn't be too small.

Dinner was uneventful, except they served some really good chicken that we all liked, and the good doctor sat with us at the table. Good doctor being the physician accompanying the tour, especially for the children's use. My choir being the children. He was really cool. I think a lot of people said they had headaches and stuff just so they could talk to him!

Henry Leck was at our first rehersal. He's an... Interesting fellow, to say the least. His choir has to sing the same song before every meal to give thanks, I guess. It's cool the first time, but, I dunno, it just seems like they're singing because it's the right thing to do, not because they're actually thankful. That could just be me, though.
Anyway, the rehearsal went well; the choirs in China were a lot better than the choirs in Italy were. ICC was about the same level we are. I know it sounds really stuck up to say something like that, but it's not like I'm bragging. I'm just documenting. Besides that, I can actually tell a good choir from a bad one. The China Children's Choir was really good, but it was a different style than any of the other choirs there. The Hawiian choir was pretty good, although I think their hula-ing was better than their singing. The choirs mostly knew the music, unlike in Italy, where we were the only ones (along with the Canadian choir) who did.
So, although it is tiring to sing for three hours, it wasn't too bad.