Great wall and summer palace

We finally got our first two official matches of 20 games finished. Against the two-time defending champion, we won 15 of the 20 games, and against another program, we won 17 of 20. So we are doing very well so far. We are hoping to get in at least 20 more games against each of the other teams, so we hope those go as well for us.

Today we had a scheduled excursion with the rest of the people at the conference. We got to go see a jade factory, the great wall, and the summer palace of the dragon lady. Pretty interesting stuff, although it was a long day, and since this week is the big national holiday, there were tons of people everywhere we went, most of them chinese. Also, it was different for me being with a tour group. We had time to ourselves at the wall, but at the summer palace we had to kind of rush through. Not as much fun as touristing on your own, but I wouldn't have made it to these places without the excursion. But, you probably just want to see the pictures, so here goes. A side note, if it looks smoky and smoggy on the far-away shots, it is because it is. The first morning, I thought it looked cool, like mist over the lake, but now that I have been here almost a week and have yet to see the sky or sun, I am a little tired of it. You can't really see that far ever. And it gets old. Anyways, the pictures:

A few cool sculptures from the jade factory

The great wall, where I climbed up.
Looking down from where I got to
Proof I was there, in case you didn't believe me!

A chinese train across the valley, through the smog (for alec)A cool lion at the summer palace

One of the buildings at the summer palace.

By the time we left the summer palace it was dark and late. One of our party got separated from us, and I don't know what happened to him. We left without him, so hopefully he can find his way back to the hotel. Now I am quite tired after many stairs on the wall, and fighting the crowds at the summer palace. Goodnight.

Day 6

So last night was hell. I don't use that word, but there is no other way to describe it. Alec woke up every 40 min crying and thrashing. He needed me to hold him and be with him for a bit before he'd go back to sleep... sometimes still crying. Half way through the night I had to take him out of his room so he wouldn't wake up Andrew (who is sleeping in the crib next to Alec's bed) any more. I made a bed in my room for Alec, but that didn't do anything except make it hard for Tiffany and I to sleep when he cried himself to sleep. It was worse than having a newborn. I can't think of any way to help him sleep better since there are a myriad of possible reasons for his behavior: his sore on his mouth hurting, preventing him from using his pacifier, his lack of nap earlier in the day, his late/hurried bedtime routine after a CA meeting, having new people in the house, no daddy there for alternate cuddles and loves, his incoming canine teeth etc. I scheduled a doctors appointment for Alec later in the day and when the doctor finally came in to see us, she basically said it looks like an enormous canker sore and told us to numb it and give it a few more days before seeing an ear, nose, throat specialist. So I guess we'll have to wait it out.

In happier news, Tiffany and I took the boys to the zoo today with my friend and her girls for the free zoo day. Although, I guess its only free for the residents of San Francisco, and I guess they are actually making people show proof. So, it wasn't free for us. It was fun to see animals and the boys enjoyed getting out of the house. I'll try to post some pictures from Tiffany's camera soon.

Day 5

Wahoo!! Tiffany is here! It has been so fun already. The boys, Andrew and Alec have really enjoyed playing with each other, especially when we have two of the same toy. :) Alec has this sore on his tongue that is making meal times and bedtimes a disaster (which was the problem with my evening yesterday) but as I find out what foods he can eat without crying, and what bedtime routines need to change everything is going better. Plus with Tiffany here there is someone to talk to, which is a good reason to hold back tears. When I'm by myself there's hardly a reason to stop crying if I feel the need to cry. So yay for sisters!

China adventure

So, here is an update from the next day in China. As far as the tournament goes, we are just starting the first official match. What's that? you may ask. Didn't you already play yesterday and do quite well? That is a good question. Turns out, that the first day's matches was using incorrect noise for the shots, and then when we realized that and played the next day, those matches were without any noise at all. So, we were doing just awesome, but that is because there was no noise. Tomorrow, I should have actual results from the real matches. Until then, enjoy some pictures from near the forbidden city.

The tower on the north west corner of the forbidden city.
The north entrance to the forbidden city (we didn't actually go in)
View to the north from the north gate.
The south side of the forbidden city.

So today is a national holiday in China, I think it is their independence day. Anyways, the chinese have the week off, and there were a lot of people everywhere. There were also some cool arrangements in the middle of Tiananmen squareThe olympic mascots

Then we walked down an absolutely packed pedestrian street that was lined with expensive stores and malls. One mall we went into was 7 stories tall, and every floor was packed with people.

Later we found a long, long line of food sellers. All kinds of food on sticks, fried chicken, octopus, starfish, lobster, other wriggly creatures, and all sorts of other things I probably don't want to know about.
We caught a subway for most of the way home, which was also fun. Anyways, hopefully I will have some official news soon.

Day 4

This morning was fine, this evening was not.

First match in China

Today we had our first match of the competition. To explain, for those who might not know, I (Chris) am in China for the Computer Olympiad and a related conference. The olympiad is a setting for computer programs to compete against each other in various games like Chess, checkers, backgammon, go, etc. For the last year I have been working on a program that plays 8-ball (pool/billiards). This is the first time for us to compete in the competition, and even the first time to compete against other people's programs. There are 4 programs total competing. Today we had a 20 game match against one of the other programs (Elix), and were able to win 16 of the 20 games. That was a successful start and definitely a good sign. Tomorrow we will have our first match against the 2 time defending champion, Pickpocket. That will be a better test of where we really are. We also are planning on visiting Beijing, so hopefully I will have some fun pictures.

Day 3

Today has been both harder and easier than the previous days. My body is having a hard time doing everything Alec wants me to do like crawl around on the floor pushing trains and sitting in the dirt throwing rocks, the kinds of things Chris would do with him. But, on the other hand, I've been able to communicate a lot with Chris and so emotionally it has been easier. We even got to Skype with him and see his face and hear his voice! It was wonderful. I have been so blessed and supported already. I've had friends invite me over for dinner and offer to watch Alec, etc. My sister comes on Tuesday and stays for a whole week so I only have one and a half more days of being Chris-less alone. I can do this.