Our trip started on August 9th 10:00 AM.
We boarded the plane from Phoenix Sky Harbor to Portland.
From there we had a flight from Portland to Tokyo/Narita, Japan.
Guess how long that flight was? Oh, a mere 10 hours.
Good thing they gave us our own T.V.
Then we flew from Tokyo to Beijing. I had no idea what time it was until we got to Tokyo. Little did I know I pulled an all-nighter. I crashed on the plane to Beijing. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I was so sad because I didn't get a window seat, we flew at night, and it was raining, so I didn't get to see Beijing from the air.
The airport was surprisingly clean and calm. There were people with Beijing Olympic shirts and they handed us maps of Beijing when we got off the plane. Once we got through with papers and all that, dad handed me an umbrella and we walked to the car waiting for us.
That night I fell asleep at 11:00 PM and woke up at 8:45. I was afraid I would be waking up at 1 in the morning to have a bowl of cereal or something, but I adjusted without problems!
THINGS TO KNOW WHEN YOU VISIT CHINA:
The currency there is RMB/Yuan. For every US dollar you own, it is worth 7 RMB.
If the time is 16:00, just subtract two from the 16, you get 14:00. Drop the one... 4:00 PM
Back to the Story...
Team China played Team USA in a practice game. And this is where it gets exciting.
We took the subway to Wukesong Baseball Field. People stare at you in the subway, it's weird. Then at the park, all was calm and normal. Suddenly a horde of press came swarming out of a door and flooded the field. "What's going on?" mom said. A man in a light blue shirt and black pants strolled onto the field and mingled with Team USA. Whispers swept through and people stood up in the stands taking pictures, My ears pricked up at the word, "President Bush." No way! He was here! On the field! There he stood, shaking hands and posing for pictures with members from Team USA and Team China. About 30 minutes later he made his way to his seat by his daughter and Mrs. Bush. I grabbed my camera and snapped pictures. 25 minutes later, the crowd shifted and he stood up to leave. "Where's Big Lefevbre?" He shouted, directing it to Bryce, (Jim Lefevbre's son.) Bryce stood up and shook his hand, they stood for a picture. The only person to take a picture was me. I pressed the shutter button. President Bush's eye's lingered on me for a second. "Are you related to her?" He asked Bryce, "Oh, no," answered Bryce, "That's Little Ontiveros; Steve Ontiveros' daughter." "Well," President Bush said, "Come on down!" I mechanically climbed down the row and thrust my camera to the nearest person. I stood next to the President and the picture snapped. "Oh, let's see your camera!" He said. "Check the picture." I looked at the picture; it turned out. "Where are you from?" he asked, I hesitated, and noticed my reflection in the Nikon lens of a photographer. Funny what you notice at the most important moment of your life. "Scottsdale, Arizona." Phwoosh. It all ended so fast. The next thing I knew, I was sitting down; shaking from the knees down and thinking to myself, "The kids back home are not going to believe this!"
The President on the field with Team China. This is 5 of 40 pictures I got that day.
Liu Kai urging us to come onto the field. I don't think he understood that we weren't allowed.
Bryce Lefebvre (Jim Lefebvre manager of Team China's son)
I took this shot.
President Bush and me.
Ooh, and if you want updates from my dad about Beijing, Olympic games, updates, and stuff, visit http://www.beijingbaseballblog.blogspot.com/
I designed the blog and he just writes, I do the rest. It's like a team thing.
More later...
~Eve
4 comments:
Hey, I met Pres. Bush too...and his dad. He was super nice.
That is so awesome!!!!!!!!!
That's really Bush? It almost looks a little like an impersonator. But I'll take your word, young Onto.
Yah but his daughter is in the background too and look at those hard core secret service guys!
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