A Typical Day

A typical day for me is pretty long. They have us working 10 hour days seven days a week and it will probably get more intense when the Olympics begin.

My day starts at about 6:15am. I get ready for the day, get into my volunteer uniform and have breakfast at 6:45. My host family is so accommodating that they usually always have breakfast ready. Breakfast here is very different than the States. Usually it's a combination of the previous night's dinner leftovers with noodles or fried bread or rice porridge. I would highly recommend it!

Next, I take a 5 minute walk to the bus stop, show the driver my volunteer badge, and ride for free the 316 bus to Yuanyang Square. Volunteers who show their badge are given free use of the public transportation services (also in Beijing too). Since my stop is the first for the 316, I am almost guaranteed a seat. The 316 is a local city bus that stops every couple of blocks; a portion of the route runs along the water, so I am able to see the ocean everyday on my way in to work. I get out at Yuanyang Square shopping district, which is the closest stop to the Qingdao Olympic Village.

Once off the bus, I have about a 10 minute walk to the facility gate. I show them my badge and they scan it to log me into the system. Security is like going through airport security except that you don't have to take off your shoes. Sometimes they look through your bag in addition to putting it through the x-ray machine. After security, I walk or take a golf-cart-shuttle to my building. I have to show my pass again because of extra clearance issues. I walk inside, punch-in via fingerprint and walk up to my office.

My office, is made up of about 8 rectangular folding tables arranged into two squares on the third floor of a partitioned-off open room. When I first got here, we had our own office in another building, but another department needed our room so they moved us to this makeshift office. There are about 12 computers.

We have about 14 people in our office who make up the language services department. Most of us are from Qingdao (11 people), but the foreign countries represented include France, Switzerland, and the USA (3 people, myself included). This year's official languages are Chinese, English, and French. We translate anything from signs, to official documents, to facility readiness updates, to event tickets. It really depends.

My work in general is doing proofreading for my Chinese colleagues. They send me a draft (via MSN messenger!) and I make sure it sounds fluent from a native speaker's background. If the translation is simple, I may only have to add a couple of articles or change a couple of verb tenses. If the translation is more complex, I have to attempt deciphering some of the original Chinese text to see what it is supposed to mean. That is when it can get dicey. My Chinese vocabulary is still rather limited and some of the more professional vocabulary is out of my reach. Usually it helps to have a colleague explain what it means in Chinese for me to understand.

At 11:30pm we have lunch at the cafeteria downstairs. "Ba da bap bap baph! I'm lovin' it!" I've never eaten so good in my life. They have some of the best Chinese food and I think I may even be putting on weight. After lunch we get a break and we usually take a nap for about an hour. We just line up chairs and sleep on the cushions. I like to sleep on the carpet.

After our nap, we resume working until 6pm. At six, I punch-out, walk back to the bus stop, and ride the bus back home (standing room only). Usually I get home at about 7 or 7:30. Needless to say, I am thoroughly exhausted. My host family and I have dinner together around the table and once again my taste buds are dancing with delight at what is set before me. We have seafood and different types of vegetables and meats with noodles or vegetables. Tasty!

My evenings are spent updating my blog and hanging out with my host family usually watching Chinese TV. By that time, I don't have much energy to do much else. On most nights, I hop in bed at 11pm.