Does this make my ass look big?

Well, we made it to Beijing without incident. The flight was 13 hours non-stop. No major hiccups at either airport. No lost luggage. No delays in ground transportation. Really, no problems and so much better than when we were here in April for the ISSF Beijing "Good Luck" World Cup.

What can I tell you so far? The hospitality is impressive. There are volunteers and facilities staff everywhere. Everyone wants to help and, if you can hand them a pin afterwards, they freak out. Its kinda funny. But, then it gets weird. Let me explain.

I like distance between myself and strangers. I tell people that I'm antisocial and they laugh and say "Sure." I smile and on we go. But, I really like space and when I can find it, solitude. (That's why I live in Toronto, and spend most of my time either coaching or training people. Go figure.)
What weirds me out is that everyone is SO nice and SO helpful. One person insisted in getting me a coffee in the self-serve line. I went there, because it was self-serve. This morning, I found an empty section in the village cafeteria at 6am. There was nobody near and I thought that is communicated a desire for solitude. So, a volunteer came to sit with me and chat. Don't they know better not to approach a Canadian just having his first cup of coffee.

Not to worry: I was polite, exchanged pleasantries, finished up fast and beat a hasty retreat. (Personally, I figure he was pretty tough. I had just finished jogging and was pretty sweaty. He probably thinks all westerners smell pretty nasty.)

What else? Well, the sun and sky is visible and things look lovely. Many people with more experience have said that the Beijing village (called Dream World 2008) is the nicest they've ever seen. The gardens pictured are lovely. The rooms are spacious by Chinese/European standards. Everything is clean, and, there are lots of volunteers saying hello.

Right now, I'm in one of the Village Super Recreation Centers. Essentially, there is wi-fi, computers, an arcade, meeting rooms, TVs (currently on BBC), business centre (fax, printers, etc.), and pretty comfy chairs and couches. Everything that you need to connect to the outside world. Unfortunately, I can't get to my regular email (haynes-at-targetshooting.ca). Somehow, I can't connect to it, but my yahoo account is good.

And what does the title mean? Well, I received a team package of clothing. Some of it looks really nice (some: not the Chinese-Canadian Maple Leaf Paisley Camo PJ Pants). Unfortunately, all the fit was the hat, a pair of flipflops (never to be worn) and a pair of shorts. I have sizes from small through 3-XL in my package. I don't know who put the package together, but they must have been on drugs. So, this afternoon, I'm off to fitting and hopefully I can get them swapped. Yes, I'm getting the full experience.

Okay, enough rambling. We hope to hit the range tomorrow. Keep y'all posted.