Jet-lagged in Qingdao

Landed safetly in Qingdao and am finally beginning to feel like myself again. The 12-hour time difference really left me feeling like i was standing on my head.

Oskar and I are staying at the Gloria Inn and are really happy with our accomodations. It is an Olympic approved hotel and because of that service and quality are up to a certain standard. I really appreciate the complimentary jasmine tea, fruit basket (that contains chinese peaches which are in season right now), hot water, and king size bed. After seeing the squat toliets at the Qingdao Airport, I must admit I was a little scared.

Oskar starts racing the 15th, with a practice race tomorrow.
To watch his races go to:
U.S viewing schedule: http://xrl.us/nbcsked
Canadian viewing schedule: http://xrl.us/canadiansked

Already the 49er's, laser, laser radials, windsurfers and finn's are half way through their regatta. The Canadian Finn sailor, Chris Cook, is having a great regatta and is currently in 4th place.
Oskar's family and I have tickets to watch the racing from the break wall, but the coverage on tv is alot better. Unless, you have a high powered telescope, it is really difficult to tell what's going on.

Our hotel tv has great coverage of the Beijing and Qingdao events. There is Qtv which is fully dedicated to the water events taking place locally. Also, in the malls the chinese have set up a seating area with large screen tv's, which have the added bonus of ac.

In terms of food... Oskar's playing it really safe so that he doesn't get sick pre-games. He's sticking to non-chinese restaurants that import most of their ingredients. I on the other hand can afford to be more risky. A great breakfast buffet is provided by Gloria Inn. This morning my favorites were the noodle soup in a chicken broth with scallions and tomatoes, steamed buns, and spinach/pork dumplings.

For lunch I've been hitting up the 6th floor restaurant that specializes in szchuen & chinese food. The portions are huge and the prices are low, however the food has been on the oily side (even when ordering vegetarian) so I may try something new today. I don't like eating vegetables for dinner and then leave the table feeling like i just had an unheathly meal. Eating western you'll pay the same prices as home, where as eating local you'll pay a third of the price.