Birds in Buildings

My Australian friends seem surprised when I explain that it is unusual for birds to be found inside buildings in America. Unless my memory is a complete failure, I'm pretty sure it is not common to see birds inside places such as schools, shopping malls, and grocery stores in the US. We are not talking about "open air" buildings either...these are structures that are not exposed to the outdoors with the exception of doors and windows that generally remain closed.

Birds frequently visit the school building where I work. I suspect that birds get into the building when doors and/or windows are opened, and from there they decide to stay. I have thought perhaps that this has something to do with the fact that a lot of buildings in Australia do not have screens on the windows.

This bird made it into an office that is inside of another office!

A bird on the indoor running track, which is right next to the school cafe area, called the "canteen".

In our local mall ("shopping centre" in Australian English), there are heaps of birds. There is a tree inside the mall that I am sure is home to more than one bird.

Inside our local shopping centre. Lots of bird noises come from that tree.

These two birds were just walking in and out of the shopping centre using the automated doors!

I often seen birds in the grocery store (which is inside the shopping centre), flying above the aisles. I have been trying for weeks to take a picture as proof, but the birds fly away quickly! Today there was a bird on the ground in the nut, seed, and dried fruit aisle, but just as I got my phone out to take a picture, he walked under the shelves. The amazing thing is that no one seems fazed by the birds in the grocery store!

The bird was right in the middle of the aisle, I swear!

When we lived in America, Erik and I once had a bird make a nest in our clothes dryer vent, but that was as close as we came to having an encounter with birds inside buildings. American friends, surely I am not forgetting birds in buildings? Please correct me if I am wrong!

Beijing

During our week in China, we also had time to do some sightseeing in Beijing. Because we are all sport enthusiasts, one of the highlights of Beijing was touring the site of the 2008 Olympic Games. We spent about half a day walking through the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, imagining what it would have been like during the Olympic Games. Our manager, who was with us, was in China for those Olympics, coaching the Australian race walkers.

Not sure what this tower was used for but there would have been great views from the top!

All of the medalists are on this wall.

Bird's Nest

Olympic Torch

View of the Water Cube from inside the Bird's Nest

Crazy-looking building from inside the Bird's Nest. Might have been a hotel during the Games?!

One night we headed to the Donghuamen Night Market to see (and taste!) the unique food choices on offer.

So many interesting foods to choose from...more to come about that soon!

The "boys" leaving the Night Market

After our experience at the Night Market, we walked through Wangfujing Dajie, where there are lots of chain shops and another market with various food offerings.

We also had the change to visit Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, though we did not actually get to go all the way through the Forbidden City due to the fact that we visited on the one afternoon of the week when it closes. Unlucky!

My fan club checking out a picture they took with me. It was quite amusing!

Traffic in Beijing was insane. There is really no regard for traffic signals or crosswalks, and we almost witnessed multiple accidents. Interestingly, we were on the road A LOT and we only saw 2 actual accidents. Our van driver came close to hitting other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists on numerous occasions. The Chinese people definitely make good use of the horns in their cars!

Not really the best picture, but have a look at people, cars, bikes, and motorbikes in the streets!

Overall, we found the people of Beijing to be very friendly and helpful. We often struggled to communicate but most people we encountered were patient with our lack of Chinese speaking skills and tried to understand what we were saying in English.

One last post about China to come, as I want to share a few of our food experiences!