How-to China: US expat in Beijing looks forward to the Winter Olympics

Q: Have you ever experienced ice and snow sports before and how did you become involved in the winter sports?

Crossman: I grew up in the suburbs of New York with four younger brothers. On Saturdays, our mother used to drive us to an ice rink in a van. Then we played in the children's ice hockey team there.

So I played ice hockey from the time I was in fourth grade in elementary school until my second year at junior high school. Later I joined the ski team in high school because I was also good at skiing.

I can do two kinds of skiing: One is sliding down the mountain, which is great since I like the feel of freedom as one is skiing down a mountain.

Cross-country skiing is also my thing. I like it very much because it brings you to a quiet nature and there're no other people around you. Pine trees in the forest are covered with snow.

I believe it's fantastic and I would love to do some cross-country skiing again.