Beijing Day 2

It has been a busy day in Beijing. My day started at 6:30 am when I put my walking shoes on and decided to discover my neighborhood by foot and find a good cup of coffee. There weren’t a lot of people out at that time of day and the few that I did see were for the most part, either street vendors, cooking breakfast, or exercising. It was very peaceful. I was feeling a bit helpless because everything was in Chinese characters. I was very excited to finally see a 7-Eleven until I realized that the 7-Elevens in China don’t sell coffee. After walking around for another half hour, I was so incredibly happy to see another American brand...Starbucks!!!!

With a venti coffee gripped tightly in my hands I was ready to do some more walking before I headed back to my room to Skype with the family and then head off to Romp n’ Roll. I took some photos of street vendors and a picture of an older more traditional storefront nestled in between modern buildings.  Miss Jill and I plan on checking it out tomorrow.

The rest of my day was filled working at Romp n’ Roll. I did instructor training followed by helping get the facility organized. At lunch the Chinese instructors took Miss Jill and I to a really cool “food court” in a big shopping mall. I saw a man make homemade noodles. I had to take a picture:

He was very excited and proud to have his picture taken by an American. The next picture is of me at lunch with the Romp n’ Roll instructors.

There are two Chinese girls who call themselves Nana and Herbie (their American names) and Miss Jill who came from America to work at Romp n’ Roll for a whole year.

When I arrived at Romp n’ Roll , I noticed that the graphics had been put up on the outside of the space and looked spectacular:

I am so used to seeing Romp n’ Roll’s in strip malls, that having a Romp n’ Roll on the third floor of a retail and office building takes some getting used to. According to Luyin and by what I have witnessed it is very typical. I took some pictures of the gym and of the instructors practicing teaching a gym class with the sales staff.  The classes are a different dynamic in China because Herbie, Miss Jill’s assistant, has to translate most of what Miss Jill says. Although many people speak English, some still have difficulty understanding it. Herbie is there to make sure that our educational value doesn’t get lost in translation.

There are many things I love about the construction of this location. However, my two favorites are the lobby and the shoe closet. What gal wouldn’t like a whole room dedicated to shoes. Now if I could only have something like this in my house.

Tomorrow I am conducting more training with the staff as well as helping them with additional organizational tasks. Tomorrow is one day closer to the Grand Opening excitement. Tomorrow is going to be another good day.

Zai Jian (Good-bye) until tomorrow.