Cheap Calls to China: Keep Tabs on Friends at the Olympics!

Cheap Calls to China: Keep Tabs on Friends at the Olympics! was written by Caroline Telford from dialtosave.co.uk

With all the focus on China as the Olympic Games come to their town, there are probably at least a couple of friends or family that are bound to be heading over there to be enthralled by the monumental fixtures themselves. If you're stuck in England yourself, and are pretty much resigned to watching the festivities over the television, it can be pretty dull considering perhaps the people you would've watched the events with or telephoned afterwards to marvel at the results may not be in the country. Of course, with cheap international calls, the distance isn't really that big a barrier.

Dealing with time difference

Although distance may not be the barrier that it once was with the existence of cheap calls to China, time difference still is. Due to the sheer size of the country, it spans a grand total of four time zones technically, however due to standardisation; the entirety of China operates at GMT +8 all year round to avoid confusion. Still, 8 hours is a huge difference, considering that means that at noon in UK it will already be 8pm in China.

One of the best ways to deal with time difference is to simply keep a clock set on that time. Use any spare clock really, and set it on the time zone that China is in. With this, there'll be no need to constantly be doing mental sums trying to calculate what time it is. Just remember not to confuse yourself by thinking that the China-timed clock is your regular time (unlikely to happen, but just in case!).

Keeping an Olympic calendar

Since your cheap calls to China are mostly going to be to gush about the great performance of athletes after certain events, or bemoan the abysmal results that you really hope won't happen, you should have some way of keeping track of the events. After all, with the multitude of sports that are being competed in, it can be daunting at times to try to remember exactly when a single given event is taking place.

Thankfully, Olympic calendars are readily available, both online, and even in some newspapers. Such calendars are convenient to have around, somewhere that allows them to be quickly glanced at occasionally. Also, it will allow for planning ahead of time and should permit you to know which events you'll actually be able to catch, and which ones would clash with your work schedule or sleeping hours.

Whatever the case, the summer promises to be an exciting one with the Olympic Games going on. Granted, it may have been nice to be able to afford a trip to the games themselves, however this way at least you need not feel too 'out of the loop', as you can still discuss, cheer and banter with your friends or family, almost as if you were really there with them. Sharing their good experiences is the next best thing to experiencing it yourself.