Dear friends,Happy Palm Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday, and Easter! I hope you are all having a great week as we celebrate so many wonderful things. Spring has come to Langfang, and we are relishing the warmer days, the growing flowers, and the green trees. Spring is a time to celebrate new things, and this week has been full of new adventures!
Newt arrived in Langfang with Tony on Wednesday, which really made our week. We were so excited to see the friendly and encouraging face of our leader again! Newt spent a lot of time meeting with the students, the faculty, and us as he arranged for the English Week in May and discussed departure dates with us. It’s hard to believe that we’re already talking about traveling home! On Wednesday, Brad also split Peter’s lip in a heated game of basketball with the students. Both men received their fair share of teasing after that incident. In addition to all of the other excitement on Wednesday, Tony informed us that he and Lily are pregnant! We are so excited to welcome a new member into our China family this October. :)
On Saturday morning we headed out to Beijing where we first went to register for the Great Wall Marathon (26.2 miles, some of which are on the Great Wall of China) on May 17. I am somewhat anxious since this will be my first marathon, but Brad is a great coach, and he encourages me all the time. After registering, we joined Tony and Lily to host the very first Beijing English Club. Everything went really well; there were skits, music, speakers, and refreshments. Lily’s teacher and friend Chris Wang (now a Canadian citizen) spoke eloquently about how the Chinese learn English, and we foreigners felt that we learned a lot too!
Sunday began with an informal meeting at Tony and Lily’s apartment, and then we left for the subway ride to the new Wukesong baseball stadium in Beijing. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to see the Padres vs. Dodgers exhibition game on such a warm and beautiful Sunday afternoon. In many ways the game resembled any other American baseball game. You could buy Texas steak sandwiches, T-shirts, baseball hats, and Coca-Cola around the stadium (for outrageous prices). There were foreigners everywhere--more than we’ve seen in a long time. Brad wore a Cal Ripken Oriole’s shirt, eliciting cheers of “Yeah Ripken!” and I wore a University of Maryland shirt, leading to introductions with a man from College Park. We laughed at a girl near us who simply cheered, “Yeah America!” The actor Jet Li threw the first pitch, and we cheered for both teams impartially. Unfortunately, we didn’t all have seats together, so Newt, Tony, and Lily sat across the stadium from us. When Shannon and Peter left to sit with them, Brad and I decided to wander around the stadium for a little while.
When we got behind the Dodgers dugout, I stopped to photograph a sign that read, “Athlete Entrance.” When I turned around, Brad was gone. I found him at the field entrance for the grounds crew, which happened to be right next to the Dodger’s dugout. As we soon realized, the security personnel were very lenient. Brad and a small group of fans stood under the press camera stand, separated from the Dodgers by a simple chain link fence. Whispering excitedly, Brad and others pointed out the infamous Joe Torre (Gold Glove, MVP, 9 All-Star Games, 2,000 hits as a player, 2,000 wins as a manager, winner of 4 World Series and 7 division titles while managing the Yankees for 8 years), and Dodger players. They were even more excited when Matt Kemp came over to the fence mid-game and began signing baseballs and programs. I urged Brad to get his program signed, and once he did, he hurried out. I followed him, only to find he was heading for the Padres dugout on the opposite side. I laughed, and ran alongside. We picked up Peter and Shannon on the way, and kept going.
At the Padres dugout, Brad spoke to some men inside, asking if he might have one of the broken bats from earlier in the game. The man went to check, but then returned and said that the batboys had taken them. From behind us, Peter and Shannon told Brad to come speak to them for a minute. Thinking I wasn’t needed, I stayed behind to photograph the players in the dugout. In the meantime, Peter and Brad introduced themselves to Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield (22 Seasons, 7-time Golden Glove winner, 12 All-Star Games, 1 World Championship, drafted by 3 sports). Brad asked him for an interview, which he politely declined, but he did allow Shannon to take a photo of the three of them together, and they all shook hands.
When Brad came back to the Padres dugout, he was elated. He took off for the Dodgers dugout again, and we found a larger crowd this time looking for autographs at the fence. Taking in the situation, Brad looked around and brazenly walked right by the security out on to the field with the grounds crew. I hesitated a moment, and then took off after him. First he ran across the field to tell our group to wait for us, and then he came back to me, where I was photographing the cheerleaders. I saw a group photo forming, and urged him to join them. He laughingly joined the group, and I took his picture. While Brad roamed around, I made friends with the sports photographers. I struck up a conversation with Patrick (from New York), Greg (from Pennsylvania), and Jim (from Iowa). They work for a company called Fly Films in Shanghai, which was hired by ESPN to cover the event. They also do work for BBC and MTV. I asked them what they were waiting for, and they said that Joe Torre would be giving a press conference shortly.
While I was standing there chatting with the photographers, a Chinese man in a black jacket was walking backward with a large group of people around him. He didn’t see me, and backed right into me, so I put my hand out on to his shoulder to steady both of us. He kept moving with the group around him, and I watched him pass. My new photographer friends remarked that I’d just touched the actor Jet Li. I laughed and said I’d never wash my hands again. :) They joked about him coming to the game “with an entourage for his entourage” and said he was treated better than the players.
When Brad returned, I told him the news about Joe Torre. When all of the reporters walked into the Dodgers clubhouse, Brad just walked with them. I followed him, not knowing what else to do. We went right through the clubhouse and out to the busses, where we watched Jet Li climb into his van. Brad smiled and spoke to every Padres and Dodgers player that we passed, wishing them a good trip home. Then he turned and sprinted into the Padres clubhouse. I stopped to speak to two little boys who said their father was inside. A man named Kurt introduced himself to me, but then Brad came looking for me. He hurried me through the clubhouse where some Padres players were still walking around in their towels and eating their Texas steak lunches. After wandering around some, we came out through the Padres dugout, where Kevin Kouzmanoff was signing autographs. Since we were already on the inside of the dugout, Brad walked up to him and asked for a photograph. Mr. Kouzmanoff was friendly, and talked to us for a few moments.
After talking to Mr. Kouzmanoff, we walked back over to the Dodgers dugout where a crowd of the press was gathering. We walked up to our press friends, and they told us that Joe Torre was on his way out. I got my camera ready, and Brad stood prepared with the video camera. We only waited a few moments before Mr. Torre came out. The crowd pushed forward against the outside dugout wall as flashbulbs flashed, video cameras recorded, and microphones stretched closer to Mr. Torre. All of the questions asked of him were about China or about the new stadium. Brad was barely breathing behind me, so I asked him if he had a question prepared. He said yes, so I urged him to say it. He tried a few times to get a word in (“Mr. Torre!”), but he was in competition with all of the other reporters. Finally, he caught his attention, but accidentally interrupted the interpreter. When she was done, Mr. Torre turned to Brad and waited for his question. Brad asked the only real baseball question of the press conference: “Mr. Torre, some of the Dodgers fans living in China are wondering what’s going to happen with third base over the course of the season?” Mr. Torre laughed for the first time. After the interpreter had translated, Mr. Torre turned to Brad, looked him in the eye, and said, “Well, right now we’re trying to figure that out ourselves!” He then proceeded to give Brad a thoughtful explanation of the position and the players. Then his aide gave the signal to “wrap it up” and the conference was over.
Brad was on cloud nine for the rest of the day. We got a photo with our new friends, and were just about to leave, when Brad wanted to make one last run through the Padres clubhouse. There we found a young man giving out batting practice balls to anyone who wanted one. So we asked for seven of them (stamped especially for the China series) for our friends, snapped some photos in the dugout and the clubhouse, and then joined Peter and Shannon outside the gate. Brad’s smile was huge as he laughed all night about his escapades at Wukesong. He couldn’t believe that we’d “crashed” a press conference with no credentials. I couldn’t believe his gumption, and we all laughed at his assertiveness in exploring the Major League Baseball stadium and meeting some of its better known players. We laughed that he was getting advice for his fantasy baseball team from the coach himself. And we laughed that we were able to blend in so easily with the press, speculating that perhaps they thought that the passport around Brad’s neck was his press pass. What a day! I’m sure we’ll remember it for a long time to come.
Thank you again for all of your support, encouragement, and laughter! Thank you for sharing in our lives and our stories.
Love,
Jess and Brad
