Packing to get home turned out to be a lot tougher than I had originally thought. Since my bag was overweight on the way out to Beijing, I figured that I would have to leave some stuff behind to get the stockpile of souvenirs I've amassed home. It's also a lot harder to get a duffel bag in Beijing than I first thought. I hate traveling with two checked bags, mostly due to the fact that I've had bad luck with lost luggage in the past. This time though, there was no way I could get everything home in my one bag, even when it's as massive as my luggage is.
So after packing my bag in a way that would probably make my mother ashamed of me, everything was in order for the trip home. Chris and I tried to make one last trip to Paul's for breakfast Tuesday morning, but cabs are harder to come by each day as the end of our trip comes and we didn't want to take the subway again, so that plan fell through. That meant nothing but a couple more going overs around the room to make sure nothing was still left out of my bags. I freak out about those things, so it wasn't the most fun in the world.
We discovered another great part about having an Olympics credential, as we got to bypass the normal check-in lines and all of our bags got Olympic tags on them. In the words of the volunteer who helped me, it was so they took extra special care of my bags. I love this kind of treatment.
So I've still got lots of Chinese yuans in my pocket, and with several hours still remaining until my flight, I stopped by the airport bar. Now people have written stories and sung songs about random people that you can meet at an airport bar, but I've never experienced it. Today I started talking to an older gentleman about what we were doing at the Olympics, and it turns out he is the president of the canadian amateur boxing association. We talked for a while about boxing, cycling and Johnny Cash, and the hours ended up passing by pretty fast. It was just another story among the pile of others that I've worked up over the weeks in Beijing.
The plane trip back from Beijing to San Francisco was a lot worse than the trip out to Beijing. The excitement on going to another country during the Olympics helped the earlier flight, and it wasn't a crowded flight. The way back was packed in cheek to cheek, and instead of chairs, the Air China plane featured individual sized torture machines. OK, the controls for the in-flight movie volume are on the inside of the armrest and they protrude about an inch-and-a-half into my thigh. 12 hours of that was terrible. I was ready to jump out of the plan right around when we hit Alaska.
Everything else went well, as both planes from San Fran to Milwaukee and from Milwaukee to Indy were on time. It's amazing how easily one can deal with a four four flight right after you get off a plane you spent 12 hours on. I also probably came as close to flying privately as I ever will on the flight from Milwaukee to Indianapolis. It was only a 40 minute flight on a small jet, and it had only 10 people on it. No waiting for the carousel to spit out the bags either, because with only a couple people having bags, they're already waiting for us by the exit.
I heard that a couple other Purdue students had definite issues getting out of Beijing with delayed flights, and a couple are even stuck in other cities in the U.S. over night, so I'm pretty happy with how my travels worked out. It's nice to be back home.
This will likely be my last post, so I want to thank my family and friends for keeping up with my travels on the blog. Also, all the readers from the Noblesville Ledger, thanks for reading my adventures, because I had a great time telling them to you. Hopefully you can look for me in the future, but for now I'm out of the blogging business. Thanks again.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Final Days
Our final days in Beijing have been mostly caught up with packing and tying up loose ends. Saying goodbye to new friends has caught us up, and tonight we had a dinner party at a former Purdue grad student named Tan.
She gained her Ph.D. at Purdue and now lives with her family in the suburbs of Beijing. The idea of suburbs are brand new in China, and a lot of people aren't very happy about the idea. They work against Mao's ideals of a collective community, or so the traditionalists believe, and having gated neighborhoods that have houses with their own private yards are very different than the communal houses of the recent past or the apartment buildings of modern Beijing.
We had to find our own way to the northern outskirts of Beijing, well beyond the regions that the subway reaches. After the subway, we had to make our way on the bus system, an option that we had avoided like a plague to this point. The busses are a lot harder to navigate than the subway, and the only way we made our way to the neighborhood was a helpful set of volunteers who knew where we needed to get off and actually escorted us there.
The neighborhood that Tan lives in was on par with the largest neighborhoods I've seen in U.S. cities, with large, very suburban style houses. Tan's house was beautiful, and her daughter turned out to be the life of the party. We had lamb cooked over coals and other delicacies, several of which were common in my China experience as I had no idea what I was eating. Anyway, the food was amazing, and after hearing the first set of fireworks at the Bird's Nest at the closing ceremonies we went inside to their film room to watch. We were a little upset that the CCTV cameras skipped over the American athletes at the ceremonies, but overall the ceremony was a good time. The London presentation, which included British cyclists Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton riding bikes alongside the bus, was crazy. It presented just how different the London games in 2012 will be from the Beijing games. The 2008 games were great in their own way, but London is going to come with a much different approach.
After Tan's fantastic dinner, we made our way to Sanlitun for the last time, joining the rest of the ONS staff for drinks. We essentially took over the whole bar while getting to get one last good night out with the Aussies, Ernst and Krystyna before we all go our separate ways. They actually ran out of beer at the bar we were at, but thankfully Beijing's cheap drinks helped us again. In all, it was a fantastic way to finish up the trip. The extended groups that we had formed in our nearly two months in Beijing all got a last time to see each other, and we'll all remember the night for a while.
We head home soon, so I will likely have one last post about my travel back to Purdue. Stay tuned for it.
She gained her Ph.D. at Purdue and now lives with her family in the suburbs of Beijing. The idea of suburbs are brand new in China, and a lot of people aren't very happy about the idea. They work against Mao's ideals of a collective community, or so the traditionalists believe, and having gated neighborhoods that have houses with their own private yards are very different than the communal houses of the recent past or the apartment buildings of modern Beijing.
We had to find our own way to the northern outskirts of Beijing, well beyond the regions that the subway reaches. After the subway, we had to make our way on the bus system, an option that we had avoided like a plague to this point. The busses are a lot harder to navigate than the subway, and the only way we made our way to the neighborhood was a helpful set of volunteers who knew where we needed to get off and actually escorted us there.
The neighborhood that Tan lives in was on par with the largest neighborhoods I've seen in U.S. cities, with large, very suburban style houses. Tan's house was beautiful, and her daughter turned out to be the life of the party. We had lamb cooked over coals and other delicacies, several of which were common in my China experience as I had no idea what I was eating. Anyway, the food was amazing, and after hearing the first set of fireworks at the Bird's Nest at the closing ceremonies we went inside to their film room to watch. We were a little upset that the CCTV cameras skipped over the American athletes at the ceremonies, but overall the ceremony was a good time. The London presentation, which included British cyclists Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton riding bikes alongside the bus, was crazy. It presented just how different the London games in 2012 will be from the Beijing games. The 2008 games were great in their own way, but London is going to come with a much different approach.
After Tan's fantastic dinner, we made our way to Sanlitun for the last time, joining the rest of the ONS staff for drinks. We essentially took over the whole bar while getting to get one last good night out with the Aussies, Ernst and Krystyna before we all go our separate ways. They actually ran out of beer at the bar we were at, but thankfully Beijing's cheap drinks helped us again. In all, it was a fantastic way to finish up the trip. The extended groups that we had formed in our nearly two months in Beijing all got a last time to see each other, and we'll all remember the night for a while.
We head home soon, so I will likely have one last post about my travel back to Purdue. Stay tuned for it.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
List Time
With only a couple of days standing between us and a return to normalcy in the States, I figured it might be time for a little list. First, what I will miss most about China and living in Beijing:
1. Getting 40 channels of Olympic sports 24 hours a day. While my need for american football is growing, my need for water polo and synchronized swimming has been filed for at least four years.
2. Donata's, the pizza place down the street. Considering even the Chinese students here don't eat the food at the cafeteria, they've basically kept us all from starving weeks ago.
3. The Chinese volunteers that we worked with at the ONS office. Yao, Li, Raul, Winslet, Rita and Erik were fantastic, grabbing Chinese athletes we couldn't talk to and others as well. Hopefully they learned from us as much as we learned from them.
4. Some of the Chinese food. I may never be able to eat at Rice Cafe again after some of the better Chinese food we've had on our trip. But the bad Chinese food we've had may make me not really want to try.
5. Basketball with the locals. They may not really know what they're doing besides put the ball in the hoop, but they're a lot of fun either way.
6. Random singing guy at the outside track at 6 a.m. I really can't explain it better than that.
7. "Welcome to take Beijing taxi," every time we get into a cab.
8. Walking down a street at 2 a.m. and seeing a little old lady walking her tiny dog. And feeling 100% safe.
9. Conversations with cab drivers, especially the ones that throw random English words into their Chinese when trying to talk to us. And cut across eight lanes of traffic, and blow through red lights. Actually not much different than drivers in New York. I'll miss them nonetheless.
10. Not having to worry about what to wear to work, because you and about 1 million other volunteers are all wearing the same uniform.
11. Beijing Subway Musical Chairs, the game that lets you run over Chinese people for a seat because, hey, they're doing it too.
12. The China Daily, the official English newspaper in China. The reporting is, well, biased you can say. Lets talk about the article that says tall white guys with blue eyes aren't stared at in Beijing, when the guy across from me in the subway is burning through me with eyes.
13. I will miss the history of Beijing. The Forbidden City and Great Wall were great, and I'm going to be sad to not have those things around.
14. Krystyna, Ernst, Amy and Andy, our bosses at the ONS. They really were better than we could have ever hoped for, especially with all of the obstacles that we found during the Olympics.
15. Last but not least, 2.5 yuan giant bottles of beer. It equals around 10 cents a beer, which you're not going to get back home.
And now the things I'm looking forward to most about home:
1. This could easily go in the other column, but having everyone speak English is going to be fun. It might take some getting used to in crowded places though, because now we can't just say whatever we want.
2. Not having smog hide the sun, moon, stars and the sky in general.
3. As weird as it feels, I'm actually looking forward to getting back to school and work, if not as soon as I get home though.
4. Not sleeping on a mattress that's as hard as quarry rock.
5. Not having my toilet inside my actual shower.
6. Being able to grab some Taco Bell/Steak N' Shake/Q'doba/Subway whenever I want. Our entire group has been dreaming of food for weeks.
7. Driving a car again. I really, really miss my car.
8. When people form a line, people actually get in the back and don't cut it.
There's tons of stuff more, for both of these columns, but all of our time here has been too much for me to put it all down. Tonight's the Closing Ceremonies, so I still have a couple more posts before our time here is done.
1. Getting 40 channels of Olympic sports 24 hours a day. While my need for american football is growing, my need for water polo and synchronized swimming has been filed for at least four years.
2. Donata's, the pizza place down the street. Considering even the Chinese students here don't eat the food at the cafeteria, they've basically kept us all from starving weeks ago.
3. The Chinese volunteers that we worked with at the ONS office. Yao, Li, Raul, Winslet, Rita and Erik were fantastic, grabbing Chinese athletes we couldn't talk to and others as well. Hopefully they learned from us as much as we learned from them.
4. Some of the Chinese food. I may never be able to eat at Rice Cafe again after some of the better Chinese food we've had on our trip. But the bad Chinese food we've had may make me not really want to try.
5. Basketball with the locals. They may not really know what they're doing besides put the ball in the hoop, but they're a lot of fun either way.
6. Random singing guy at the outside track at 6 a.m. I really can't explain it better than that.
7. "Welcome to take Beijing taxi," every time we get into a cab.
8. Walking down a street at 2 a.m. and seeing a little old lady walking her tiny dog. And feeling 100% safe.
9. Conversations with cab drivers, especially the ones that throw random English words into their Chinese when trying to talk to us. And cut across eight lanes of traffic, and blow through red lights. Actually not much different than drivers in New York. I'll miss them nonetheless.
10. Not having to worry about what to wear to work, because you and about 1 million other volunteers are all wearing the same uniform.
11. Beijing Subway Musical Chairs, the game that lets you run over Chinese people for a seat because, hey, they're doing it too.
12. The China Daily, the official English newspaper in China. The reporting is, well, biased you can say. Lets talk about the article that says tall white guys with blue eyes aren't stared at in Beijing, when the guy across from me in the subway is burning through me with eyes.
13. I will miss the history of Beijing. The Forbidden City and Great Wall were great, and I'm going to be sad to not have those things around.
14. Krystyna, Ernst, Amy and Andy, our bosses at the ONS. They really were better than we could have ever hoped for, especially with all of the obstacles that we found during the Olympics.
15. Last but not least, 2.5 yuan giant bottles of beer. It equals around 10 cents a beer, which you're not going to get back home.
And now the things I'm looking forward to most about home:
1. This could easily go in the other column, but having everyone speak English is going to be fun. It might take some getting used to in crowded places though, because now we can't just say whatever we want.
2. Not having smog hide the sun, moon, stars and the sky in general.
3. As weird as it feels, I'm actually looking forward to getting back to school and work, if not as soon as I get home though.
4. Not sleeping on a mattress that's as hard as quarry rock.
5. Not having my toilet inside my actual shower.
6. Being able to grab some Taco Bell/Steak N' Shake/Q'doba/Subway whenever I want. Our entire group has been dreaming of food for weeks.
7. Driving a car again. I really, really miss my car.
8. When people form a line, people actually get in the back and don't cut it.
There's tons of stuff more, for both of these columns, but all of our time here has been too much for me to put it all down. Tonight's the Closing Ceremonies, so I still have a couple more posts before our time here is done.
Friday, August 22, 2008
BMX and Club Bud
With the Olympics winding dow, we've been as busy as ever while at work. In the past couple days we've seen the end of track cycling and the beginning and end of BMX cycling.
Track cycling ended with Chris Hoy taking his third gold medal for Great Britain in the individual sprint, wrapping up a very good Olympics for the British team. Theo Bos, the before mentioned favorite and cover boy of the sport, finished very poorly and appeared at a few moments to be on the verge of a total breakdown. But with an end to the very staid and regal atmosphere of track cycling comes the wild world of BMX at the Olympics.
We were all excited to get to talk to the BMX guys, just because of how different they are than their track cycling counterparts. Not to mention that the U.S. was very heavily favored to win several medals. I'd apologize for being a blatant homer, but I've heard Great Britain's national anthem way too many times over the past two weeks.
The finals were expected to be yesterday, but rain delayed the runs because BMX, unlike mountain biking, can't be run in the rain. So today began with the semifinal runs, and the winners decided after a single final run for men and women. If you look back at the course pic that I posted earlier, look at the first corner coming off of the ramp. That corner was a disaster for a lot of riders today. I don't know if it was the big stage, the idea they were gunning for an Olympic medal, or what was going on, but the riders were out for blood and the high speed the riders had off of the higher than usual start ramp meant spills galore. The female favorite, British rider Shanaze Reade, fell once two days ago during qualifying on that corner and then misjudged the jump leading into it today and spilled over her handlebars. That wouldn't even be the worst for her, as she made the final run, but instead of realizing she couldn't pass the leader on the final turn and settle for silver, she tried to dive underneath, clipped the leaders back tire and spilled. She said later she wanted gold nothing, and sadly for her, she ended up with the latter.
The crashes were also causing some sniping from teammates, as two Aussies got into trouble on that first turn and would later make comments to the media about it being on purpose, or more not knowing if it was on purpose. Just the mention though gives you an idea of what the girls were thinking.
And this doesn't mean that the guys were free of problems. Eventual bronze medallist, American Donny Robinson, was involved in a couple crashes, one in the first corner. If you were caught in the pack there, it would be bound to happen that someone would either not turn enough and take others down with them or turn too hard and wipe out.
It also turned out that the U.S. didn't dominate BMX like many expected. Mike Day too silver for the men with Robinson getting bronze behind a Latvian rider and American Jill Kintner took bronze behind two French riders. I would have liked to see the U.S. get a gold, but it may be better for the sport in the long run if others do better right now.
Our time here is rapidly growing shorter, so our time to get some more good times in is also short. A couple of us found time to go to Club Bud last night, which is like the Holland House but with the english speaking crowd. It also has free beer, which is never a bad thing. We got to hang out with a couple of the athletes that we've been covering lately, but it was a little bit of a let down that we didn't get to see the BMX riders. If the rain delay hadn't put everything back a day, they likely would've been there with their medals celebrating.
The place really was amazing, but unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it. Also, perhaps highlight of my life so far, I had a couple beers with Jay Mariotti, the columnist from the Chicago Sun-Times and a regular on ESPN's Around the Horn. I won't lie, I never really liked him on the show. I mostly don't agree with his opinions. But considering a couple of random guys came up to him at a bar and started talking to him, he was a really cool guy. Definitely a great way to be looking at the end of this trip.
OK, the trip is beginning to wind down. We've got a couple more fun things planned before we get out of China, so hopefully you'll look forward to that. Thanks for everyone that has read my blog, and thanks again to the Noblesville Ledger for posting me.
Track cycling ended with Chris Hoy taking his third gold medal for Great Britain in the individual sprint, wrapping up a very good Olympics for the British team. Theo Bos, the before mentioned favorite and cover boy of the sport, finished very poorly and appeared at a few moments to be on the verge of a total breakdown. But with an end to the very staid and regal atmosphere of track cycling comes the wild world of BMX at the Olympics.
We were all excited to get to talk to the BMX guys, just because of how different they are than their track cycling counterparts. Not to mention that the U.S. was very heavily favored to win several medals. I'd apologize for being a blatant homer, but I've heard Great Britain's national anthem way too many times over the past two weeks.
The finals were expected to be yesterday, but rain delayed the runs because BMX, unlike mountain biking, can't be run in the rain. So today began with the semifinal runs, and the winners decided after a single final run for men and women. If you look back at the course pic that I posted earlier, look at the first corner coming off of the ramp. That corner was a disaster for a lot of riders today. I don't know if it was the big stage, the idea they were gunning for an Olympic medal, or what was going on, but the riders were out for blood and the high speed the riders had off of the higher than usual start ramp meant spills galore. The female favorite, British rider Shanaze Reade, fell once two days ago during qualifying on that corner and then misjudged the jump leading into it today and spilled over her handlebars. That wouldn't even be the worst for her, as she made the final run, but instead of realizing she couldn't pass the leader on the final turn and settle for silver, she tried to dive underneath, clipped the leaders back tire and spilled. She said later she wanted gold nothing, and sadly for her, she ended up with the latter.
The crashes were also causing some sniping from teammates, as two Aussies got into trouble on that first turn and would later make comments to the media about it being on purpose, or more not knowing if it was on purpose. Just the mention though gives you an idea of what the girls were thinking.
And this doesn't mean that the guys were free of problems. Eventual bronze medallist, American Donny Robinson, was involved in a couple crashes, one in the first corner. If you were caught in the pack there, it would be bound to happen that someone would either not turn enough and take others down with them or turn too hard and wipe out.
It also turned out that the U.S. didn't dominate BMX like many expected. Mike Day too silver for the men with Robinson getting bronze behind a Latvian rider and American Jill Kintner took bronze behind two French riders. I would have liked to see the U.S. get a gold, but it may be better for the sport in the long run if others do better right now.
Our time here is rapidly growing shorter, so our time to get some more good times in is also short. A couple of us found time to go to Club Bud last night, which is like the Holland House but with the english speaking crowd. It also has free beer, which is never a bad thing. We got to hang out with a couple of the athletes that we've been covering lately, but it was a little bit of a let down that we didn't get to see the BMX riders. If the rain delay hadn't put everything back a day, they likely would've been there with their medals celebrating.
The place really was amazing, but unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it. Also, perhaps highlight of my life so far, I had a couple beers with Jay Mariotti, the columnist from the Chicago Sun-Times and a regular on ESPN's Around the Horn. I won't lie, I never really liked him on the show. I mostly don't agree with his opinions. But considering a couple of random guys came up to him at a bar and started talking to him, he was a really cool guy. Definitely a great way to be looking at the end of this trip.
OK, the trip is beginning to wind down. We've got a couple more fun things planned before we get out of China, so hopefully you'll look forward to that. Thanks for everyone that has read my blog, and thanks again to the Noblesville Ledger for posting me.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Project 119
I feel like a kid who had his present taken away on Christmas Day. I think I'm the last person in the world to learn that the giant's footsteps down Beijing towards the Bird's Nest weren't real. In my defense, our work has pretty much taken up our entire time, so my time on CNN.com has been severely depleted.
I really thought that was one of the cooler parts of the opening ceremonies, and just knowing they weren't real has upset me a bit. I understand the Chinese's explanation for the need for graphics, that it wasn't feasible nor safe for a helicopter to follow the path of fireworks, but it still isn't nice to hear that they made up the whole thing. It just falls into the whole idea that keeps coming into our lives in Beijing, that the Chinese are so obsessed with appearances that they really don't even care if things really are going well. All that matters is that everyone thinks so.
Whether it's dealing with the bureaucracy at the velodrome where everything has to be done a certain way even after it's obvious that it won't work or seeing the TV switch off of a European or American athlete that is winning to show anyone else. It happens all the time. I can see the interviews with a last place Chinese athlete, I mean it's Chinese TV in China, but they will intentionally not show certain athletes if they can get away with it.
These feelings have been with me for a while, but they're coming out now mostly because of what I've learned recently about Project 119. Kelsey heard about it from her mother on recent phone home, and now it's been on all of our minds. Project 119, formed after the Sydney Olympics, is designed to place China atop the medal count for the foreseeable future. The Chinese government funds athletes to do nothing with their time but train to compete in Olympics. Unlike other athletes from traditional Olympic programs, where professional athletes are paid by private leagues or sponsorships, Project 119 brings the government into the course of Olympic athletics.
Project 119 was also specifically designed to win China medals in their non-traditional sports. For the most part, these include track & field, swimming and rowing events that China doesn't win with any kind of regularity. Except, these Olympics are looking to be the time for China to see Project 119 really take effect. China's already taken medals in swimming and rowing, and even with the loss of Liu Xiang to injury, China may still steal some medals in track & field.
PS, I thought the media would blow Liu Xiang's injury out of proportion in relation to its effect on the Chinese populace, but the reaction I saw from the Chinese we work with was very depressing. He's essentially our Michael Phelps, and imagine if Phelps was injured right before his seventh race. That's the feeling these people are feeling. Probably even stronger.
So now that I've had my time on the soapbox, I don't want this to overtake the great things we've experienced in China. Some of our group are extremely critical of the Chinese, and I've been part of some comments about how parts of this society simply do not work, but I do hope that some things will change here. An openness to new ideas would be nice, and perhaps a stop to the need to appear so perfect to everyone, whether in the medal count or just some fake fireworks. I just don't think it will happen.
For more information on Project 119, look at The First Post's article on it at http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45023,features,chinas-119-olympic-dreams
I really thought that was one of the cooler parts of the opening ceremonies, and just knowing they weren't real has upset me a bit. I understand the Chinese's explanation for the need for graphics, that it wasn't feasible nor safe for a helicopter to follow the path of fireworks, but it still isn't nice to hear that they made up the whole thing. It just falls into the whole idea that keeps coming into our lives in Beijing, that the Chinese are so obsessed with appearances that they really don't even care if things really are going well. All that matters is that everyone thinks so.
Whether it's dealing with the bureaucracy at the velodrome where everything has to be done a certain way even after it's obvious that it won't work or seeing the TV switch off of a European or American athlete that is winning to show anyone else. It happens all the time. I can see the interviews with a last place Chinese athlete, I mean it's Chinese TV in China, but they will intentionally not show certain athletes if they can get away with it.
These feelings have been with me for a while, but they're coming out now mostly because of what I've learned recently about Project 119. Kelsey heard about it from her mother on recent phone home, and now it's been on all of our minds. Project 119, formed after the Sydney Olympics, is designed to place China atop the medal count for the foreseeable future. The Chinese government funds athletes to do nothing with their time but train to compete in Olympics. Unlike other athletes from traditional Olympic programs, where professional athletes are paid by private leagues or sponsorships, Project 119 brings the government into the course of Olympic athletics.
Project 119 was also specifically designed to win China medals in their non-traditional sports. For the most part, these include track & field, swimming and rowing events that China doesn't win with any kind of regularity. Except, these Olympics are looking to be the time for China to see Project 119 really take effect. China's already taken medals in swimming and rowing, and even with the loss of Liu Xiang to injury, China may still steal some medals in track & field.
PS, I thought the media would blow Liu Xiang's injury out of proportion in relation to its effect on the Chinese populace, but the reaction I saw from the Chinese we work with was very depressing. He's essentially our Michael Phelps, and imagine if Phelps was injured right before his seventh race. That's the feeling these people are feeling. Probably even stronger.
So now that I've had my time on the soapbox, I don't want this to overtake the great things we've experienced in China. Some of our group are extremely critical of the Chinese, and I've been part of some comments about how parts of this society simply do not work, but I do hope that some things will change here. An openness to new ideas would be nice, and perhaps a stop to the need to appear so perfect to everyone, whether in the medal count or just some fake fireworks. I just don't think it will happen.
For more information on Project 119, look at The First Post's article on it at http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45023,features,chinas-119-olympic-dreams
Chad at the Bird's Nest
OK, I officially had one of the coolest nights ever. We get off of work real late, but have tickets to Saturday's Bird's Nest session, which includes the now famous 100 meter dash. We got into a cab as soon as we could, and then practically sprinted from the cab stand to the stadium. PS, the cabs stop a really, really long way away from the Bird's Nest.
Anyway, we just get into the stadium when we hear "and starting in lane nine is," so we know that the 100 meter final is just about to start. I said that I'd be happy with going to the stadium even if all I got to see was the 100 meter final, and that, essentially, was exactly what I got. We got there right before the gun went off, with barely enough time to pull out my camera to get some very, very bad photos from very far away. I really wish that I'd gotten it on video, but I had no time to think about anything but snapping away. The crazy finish, with Bolt parading through the finish line on his way to a world record, was only seen after the fact by us, but it's pretty cool to be able to say that you were there.
We've got nothing else to do with the night, so we hang around for some closer pictures of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. The Olympic Green was just ridiculous. I was tired as hell and hadn't eaten in about a day (true story, and if you know me you know that's a big deal), but I figured that I may never, far more likely will never, get another chance at an Olympic stadium. The whole place was ridiculous. The flame was pretty cool, and the different things that light up (the Water Cube, the light fixtures, the ground around the Water Cube, AN ENTIRE BUILDING) are really crazy. They have an entire building dedicated to the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting for the Beijing Olympics, which is the one in the pic with the diamond shaped lights that change.
Oh yeah, everything has different lights, which makes the 100 or so different pictures I took worth while. I swear the Water Cube and bureaucracy building are eight different colors through the night. The entire place is just ridiculous. I realize I've used that word that word a couple of times now, but it's really a cool place to be with everyone there. They even keep the subway open until early in the morning to get people home for cheap. I literally can't describe it all in that great of detail, so hopefully my pictures help it all out.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
So Apparently the Brits are Pretty Good
Saturday meant three more finals for track cycling, and nine more medals to give out. The individual pursuit, the men's keirin, and the men's point race all ran on Saturday. The points race is for the endurance riders and the keirin is very much a sprinter's game, so the pursuit falls somewhere in the middle.
Taylor Phinney, the big story back in the states for his parents and for his own cycling potential, ended up finishing in the bottom half of the first round. He raced a good enough time in qualifying to get him into Saturday's runoffs, but he couldn't beat the New Zealander he raced against who would eventually race for gold and get silver. Afterward, he seemed very upbeat about the situation, happy with his performance and the comforting knowledge that he'll be back in four years in London.
The only annoying part about working in the velodrome is that most journalists couldn't care less about his race and want to talk to him about how much he's been talking to the women's gymnastics team. Since I only want quotes about cycling, that means I have to get my own questions, which ticks off the journalists to no end. I swear these guys look at us like we're bugs running around their feet. Considering we're doing their work for them a lot of the time, you think their egos would deflate a little. I was wrong.
So for the second day of track cycling competition, the British took home five more medals. Chris Hoy, part of the Brits gold medal team sprint team, won another gold in the keirin. I'm happy to say that this blog's new fan favorite, Malaysian rider Josiah Ng, made it into the second round of qualifying, but couldn't beat out a stacked heat of Hoy, Australian Shane Kelly and Frenchman Arnaud Tournant for the finals. Brit Ross Edgar took silver in the keirin, while fellow Brit Chris Newton took bronze in the point race.
The point race is still a mystery to most of us, considering that the race is 160 laps long and you earn points by placing well in the sprints that run every 10 laps. I still have no idea how the points are allotted, so I'm no help there. Watching it can be fun though, because there is one guy that his entire job is to spin in a circle and point at the leader of the race, because the leader isn't necessarily the guy at the front of the pack because guys get lapped. Like a lot of Olympic sports like Judo and others, the rules aren't as important as just enjoying the race.
Taylor Phinney, the big story back in the states for his parents and for his own cycling potential, ended up finishing in the bottom half of the first round. He raced a good enough time in qualifying to get him into Saturday's runoffs, but he couldn't beat the New Zealander he raced against who would eventually race for gold and get silver. Afterward, he seemed very upbeat about the situation, happy with his performance and the comforting knowledge that he'll be back in four years in London.
The only annoying part about working in the velodrome is that most journalists couldn't care less about his race and want to talk to him about how much he's been talking to the women's gymnastics team. Since I only want quotes about cycling, that means I have to get my own questions, which ticks off the journalists to no end. I swear these guys look at us like we're bugs running around their feet. Considering we're doing their work for them a lot of the time, you think their egos would deflate a little. I was wrong.
So for the second day of track cycling competition, the British took home five more medals. Chris Hoy, part of the Brits gold medal team sprint team, won another gold in the keirin. I'm happy to say that this blog's new fan favorite, Malaysian rider Josiah Ng, made it into the second round of qualifying, but couldn't beat out a stacked heat of Hoy, Australian Shane Kelly and Frenchman Arnaud Tournant for the finals. Brit Ross Edgar took silver in the keirin, while fellow Brit Chris Newton took bronze in the point race.
The point race is still a mystery to most of us, considering that the race is 160 laps long and you earn points by placing well in the sprints that run every 10 laps. I still have no idea how the points are allotted, so I'm no help there. Watching it can be fun though, because there is one guy that his entire job is to spin in a circle and point at the leader of the race, because the leader isn't necessarily the guy at the front of the pack because guys get lapped. Like a lot of Olympic sports like Judo and others, the rules aren't as important as just enjoying the race.
Holland House
Friday night finally came, and the knowledge that the real work is now to begin. Since training is over, the rotation we've enjoyed the past week is done, and from here on in we are all working every day.
Friday, the first day of competition, also meant the first medal awarded in track cycling. The team sprint made for a lot of fun, as it's one of the fastest forms of track cycling. Also, since it's cycling's version of a relay, the extra riders on the track lends itself to more excitement.
Speaking of excitement, the very first race of the Olympics was opening qualifying for the team sprint event, with Poland riding by itself due to odd numbered teams. On their first or second lap, their anchor rider out of the three slammed into the track after falling around the corner. I've seen it happen on recordings, but seeing these guys fall at full speed onto a wooden track is not pretty. It's so loud that everything else stops, and everyone looks to see the guy still sliding down the track due to his feet still being hooked into his bike.
Amy told us to expect some pretty gruesome injuries after falls as the riders slide on the wooden track, and she wasn't kidding. Amy said he probably had crazy splinters on his side from the track, and his suit was burnt by the heat. He didn't look like he could ride anymore, so they brought in an alternate and let them ride again, this time finishing without incident. The British ended up winning the team sprint, with the favored French earning silver and the Germans getting bronze.
After that first true day of work, the entire group felt pretty wore out due to several complications with the venue staff, other ONS staff and journalists. In all, it was a tiring day. So we heard that there was a place called Holland House that we needed to go to. Ernst told us that it started in 1992 and has followed the Olympics every four years since. They rented out a giant Chinese structure that I'm pretty sure must have been a museum and then set up a giant party inside. Everything s decked out in orange, the Dutch royal family's colors, and everyone wears orange inside. On days that a Dutch athlete wins a medal, they usually bring them to the stage so everyone can drink to him. On top of the overpriced Heineken's, this place had ping-pong tables set up, a Wii Fitness area, and several other festivities that the drunken public could take part in.
Ernst, our own Dutchman and the most excited about going to this place, actually bailed on us, or as Amy said, piked on us. So it was just us and Amy, which turned out to be a very good time. Due to work, we didn't get there till late, so it could have been even better, but hopefully we'll get a chance to go back. Google Holland House though, because I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, and it's worth taking a look at.
Friday, the first day of competition, also meant the first medal awarded in track cycling. The team sprint made for a lot of fun, as it's one of the fastest forms of track cycling. Also, since it's cycling's version of a relay, the extra riders on the track lends itself to more excitement.
Speaking of excitement, the very first race of the Olympics was opening qualifying for the team sprint event, with Poland riding by itself due to odd numbered teams. On their first or second lap, their anchor rider out of the three slammed into the track after falling around the corner. I've seen it happen on recordings, but seeing these guys fall at full speed onto a wooden track is not pretty. It's so loud that everything else stops, and everyone looks to see the guy still sliding down the track due to his feet still being hooked into his bike.
Amy told us to expect some pretty gruesome injuries after falls as the riders slide on the wooden track, and she wasn't kidding. Amy said he probably had crazy splinters on his side from the track, and his suit was burnt by the heat. He didn't look like he could ride anymore, so they brought in an alternate and let them ride again, this time finishing without incident. The British ended up winning the team sprint, with the favored French earning silver and the Germans getting bronze.
After that first true day of work, the entire group felt pretty wore out due to several complications with the venue staff, other ONS staff and journalists. In all, it was a tiring day. So we heard that there was a place called Holland House that we needed to go to. Ernst told us that it started in 1992 and has followed the Olympics every four years since. They rented out a giant Chinese structure that I'm pretty sure must have been a museum and then set up a giant party inside. Everything s decked out in orange, the Dutch royal family's colors, and everyone wears orange inside. On days that a Dutch athlete wins a medal, they usually bring them to the stage so everyone can drink to him. On top of the overpriced Heineken's, this place had ping-pong tables set up, a Wii Fitness area, and several other festivities that the drunken public could take part in.
Ernst, our own Dutchman and the most excited about going to this place, actually bailed on us, or as Amy said, piked on us. So it was just us and Amy, which turned out to be a very good time. Due to work, we didn't get there till late, so it could have been even better, but hopefully we'll get a chance to go back. Google Holland House though, because I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, and it's worth taking a look at.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Beach Volleyball Surprise
We were under the impression that we weren't going to be able to go to any events. I was pretty upset that there wasn't even a chance for it when we heard, but Sunday night we learned that we were going to get a chance to see some beach volleyball on Monday. While not the first sport you would think about when you look at the Olympics, but seeing an event at the Olympics is still a fantastic opportunity.
We actually had to get up at 7 a.m. so as to take a group picture with our uniforms on for Howard Sypher, the comm department head at Purdue who would be joining us at the volleyball match. It wasn't bad since that's not as early as we wake up for work, but I don't know how good we looked for the picture.
The beach volleyball venue is at Chayong Park, not very far from our university and familiar to us since the park has a large bar district on one side. We got to see the Australian and Angolan men play, then the highlight match, the Chinese and Belgian women. The Australians from both UQ and QUT dressed up to support their fellow Aussies, and cries of AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OY OY OY! were jumping up every couple of minutes. After the match, the Aussie team even pointed at our section to recognize their cheering, which was pretty fun.
The China vs Belgium match was what the vast majority of the fans at the venue came to see, with the Chinese holding the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Belgians were only No. 13, but they ended up taking the first set from the Chinese before losing the last two to allow China to advance. With our main concern being the medal count we keep seeing on the TV, I'm not ashamed to say I've been cheering against every Chinese team I watch. Certainly nothing politically motivated, I just don't want to lose the medal count. One thing that irks me is that China continues to put the medal counts up wrong. They place emphasis on only gold medals, not medals overall. So teams with five medals and only one gold are placed lower than a team with only two medals but both gold. It makes no sense, but it conveniently allows them to place China ahead of the U.S. because they have more golds than us but not as many medals overall.
The Chinese took every gold medals available in table tennis, but hopefully that can be answered back by the U.S.'s success in the pool yesterday. I had to work on Tuesday, but we made a point to watch those swimming matches. All those golds help, but the semifinal for Phelps was crazy. We all thought he was going to get second in the semifinal, certainly enough to move on, but not great. Then he turns on the afterburners on the final leg to go from a body length behind to a body length in front of his next competitor. I mean, it's not anything that hasn't been said, but the guy has to be part dolphin or something. I don't know about eight medals, but if anyone has a chance, it would have to be him.
We actually had to get up at 7 a.m. so as to take a group picture with our uniforms on for Howard Sypher, the comm department head at Purdue who would be joining us at the volleyball match. It wasn't bad since that's not as early as we wake up for work, but I don't know how good we looked for the picture.
The beach volleyball venue is at Chayong Park, not very far from our university and familiar to us since the park has a large bar district on one side. We got to see the Australian and Angolan men play, then the highlight match, the Chinese and Belgian women. The Australians from both UQ and QUT dressed up to support their fellow Aussies, and cries of AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OY OY OY! were jumping up every couple of minutes. After the match, the Aussie team even pointed at our section to recognize their cheering, which was pretty fun.
The China vs Belgium match was what the vast majority of the fans at the venue came to see, with the Chinese holding the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Belgians were only No. 13, but they ended up taking the first set from the Chinese before losing the last two to allow China to advance. With our main concern being the medal count we keep seeing on the TV, I'm not ashamed to say I've been cheering against every Chinese team I watch. Certainly nothing politically motivated, I just don't want to lose the medal count. One thing that irks me is that China continues to put the medal counts up wrong. They place emphasis on only gold medals, not medals overall. So teams with five medals and only one gold are placed lower than a team with only two medals but both gold. It makes no sense, but it conveniently allows them to place China ahead of the U.S. because they have more golds than us but not as many medals overall.
The Chinese took every gold medals available in table tennis, but hopefully that can be answered back by the U.S.'s success in the pool yesterday. I had to work on Tuesday, but we made a point to watch those swimming matches. All those golds help, but the semifinal for Phelps was crazy. We all thought he was going to get second in the semifinal, certainly enough to move on, but not great. Then he turns on the afterburners on the final leg to go from a body length behind to a body length in front of his next competitor. I mean, it's not anything that hasn't been said, but the guy has to be part dolphin or something. I don't know about eight medals, but if anyone has a chance, it would have to be him.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Not Something You Want to Think About
I haven't commented on one of the incidents in China for a couple of days because I wasn't really sure how I should approach it. I feel that I do have to speak on it though, as it may still have an affect on our stay here, and it definitely has an effect on us as Americans.
If you haven't heard, relatives of the U.S. men's volleyball head coach were attacked by a knife wielding Chinese man, killing the coach's father-in-law and severely injuring his wife and their Chinese tour guide. The man then leapt off of the balcony at the Drum Tower, a popular tourist attraction in Beijing that our group has not visited. The attack took place on the first day of Olympic competition and immediately sent a pall over our group.
To this point, we've felt safe wherever we've gone in Beijing, much more so than Chicago for an example. Sure, there's always the thought of a pickpocket going for your wallet, but I've never felt that I was in an unsafe situation, and we've been in some bad parts of Beijing. After the attack, I learned that China's laws actually punish an attack on a foreigner more harshly than an attack on a Chinese national, so I guess that offers us some protection. But more importantly, non of our group have ever felt that anyone around us meant us bodily harm. It was a sad experience for all of us, and even more so when you think that these Games are supposed to be the greatest moments in these athlete's lives, and now tragedy strikes in a way that even the most protective of travelers could not have foreseen. We have no plans on changing our own behavior when we are out in the city, but this attack has made us all aware that we do stand out in this city and we can't assume everyone around us has the best intentions.
To more recent events, several of us went to Tim's Texas BBQ Sunday night for the U.S. vs China basketball game. Reports have this placed as the most watched game in the history of basketball with a predicted 1 billion people watching worldwide. I could believe it, because even though we got to Tim's several hours early to get a good seat, we still had to deal with people standing in between us and the TV as it became standing room only in the place.
The game lived up to any hype that was put on it back home, which I haven't been able to see due to Sportscenter deprivation. The Chinese were really excited for the game, and the ones we talked to definitely thought they had a chance against the U.S. squad. Yao Ming was a little more realistic, acknowledging how good the American squad is, but in reality the crowd for the game cheered for both teams through the night. The U.S. dominant crowd at Tim's wasn't very happy with the score in the early going, as China nailed several treys in a row to keep themselves in the game, but the U.S.'s speed proved to be the deciding factor. Once Kobe, Dwyane and LeBron started pushing the ball and using the fastbreak, it led to easy dunks and a large lead to coast through to the end.
The night was one that I was looking forward to for a while. We don't get the same sporting environment here that many of us are used to back home. By that I mean watching a game with your friends, sometimes in a crowded bar and getting to scream at a TV believing the players can actually hear you. I don't really miss the commentary, as everything is understandably in Mandarin here, but the other aspects of watching a big game aren't common, and the chance to go to Tim's and hang out with like-minded individuals was one I wanted to take.
Finally Get a Story
I got a great chance to talk to one of the riders from Malaysia a couple of days ago. Josiah Ng was born in the Philippines, lives in L.A. and rides for Malaysia, which I'm not real sure how that works. But it's odd and pretty cool that he can switch from a heavy accent when speaking to his teammates and then switch to English straight out of California.
Anyway, he had just gotten done training on the track, and what started out as only a short interview for a flash quote report ended up being a lengthy interview that hit everything from his thoughts on the velodrome in Beijing (he's in love with it) to his recent marriage proposal. The guy is really interesting and is in his third Olympics. He's hoping to get into London too, so he's not looking at stopping soon, unlike several other riders who are retiring after these Games.
The Malaysian team isn't favored to win any medals, either in the team events or as individuals, but Josiah's exuberence for his team was fun. He wants his team to finish in the top eight as a team, which would mean they must break their own national record. I like athletes that truly enjoy the chase of improvement and will enjoy the Games for more than just the fame from winning a medal.
It isn't a kind of interview that was new to me, as I've done feature stories before, but it was the first time I'd sat down with someone who could literally be called a world class athlete. He was a great interview as he would just keep talking while I would catch up on my notes. Stuff I wasn't even planning on writing about, for instance how amazing he thought the opening ceremonies were and how glad he was that he got to see them this time since he missed them at Athens, he was more than willing to talk about. It's not like we're good friends or anything, because he is an athlete and I am part of the press, but it was really fun to get that interview and get my first story into the news service.
NEW ADDITION: I have been informed by a comment that Josiah has a world championship that my research didn't dig up. I found that Josiah was a fifth place finish in the keirin at Athens, but he also has a world championship in the keirin under his belt from the 2006 world championships. Thanks to mrbullocks for the help.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Walking in the Steps of Giants
So by now everyone should have seen the opening ceremony, either live or on the replay at a more suitable time back in the States. We watched it live from Paul's Steak & Eggs, our favorite hangout, and were treated to Paul's rather nice 42-inch TV.
In a word, the ceremony was amazing. Because two of our group members won the opportunity to attend practices for the ceremony, we had an idea of what we were going to see. That didn't change the feeling that the ceremony was above and beyond any Olympic ceremony I can remember. I still get goosebumps thinking about Ali lighting the torch in Atlanta in '96, but the sets, the drums, and especially the boxes in the Chinese ceremony were beyond anything I had imagined they would be like.
We were all wondering who exactly the Chinese would choose for their torch-lighter, and we figured that it wouldn't be anyone that had already participated in the torch relay around the world. We were very wrong as the legendary Chinese gymnast (I didn't catch his name) took the torch again to light it. If you saw the ceremony live, you probably saw one of the only obvious screw ups in the ceremony when the torch-lighter sped past the scroll he was supposedly following. But it didn't matter, because the way that the Chinese lit the torch was as grand a spectacle as you could get. We worried for the lighter though, as that gout of flame had to have singed some of his hair and eyebrows off.
Oh, and did you know that China invented fireworks? Because there was no way you were going to leave that ceremony without that knowledge. They used fireworks in everything, and enormous ones at that. The giant's footsteps, 28 of them to show the travels that the modern Olympics have taken to get to Beijing, were a definite highlight. On our way to Paul's to watch the ceremony, a lot of roads were closed far away from the Bird's Nest, which caught us off guard. After seeing fireworks shoot off all over the city, we knew why.
I'm not big on these opening ceremonies and I've never gone out of my way to watch them. I still remember that glowing womb thing they did at Athens (I think it was Athens), and sadly I feel that's what a lot of countries do with the opening ceremonies, make a spectacle. However, China put on a good show, using very cool technology combined with crazy amounts of choreography to make a show that people will remember and use as an example for years to come. Bravo China, you did a great job.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
That's a Lot of Bikes...
Tuesday was supposed to be the big day in the velodrome, with the athletes arriving for practice and all, but it turned out to be Wednesday that featured the most action. We talked to a couple of athletes on Tuesday, but by Wednesday we had the German, Belgian, American, Irish and Dutch teams on the track. When the German and Dutch teams were on the track together, there had to be about 30 bikes riding around together. It was interesting how some of the riders who didn't have teammates, like the sole Irish rider, hooked up with the larger teams to go around the track and train. I'm curious how the etiquette works on that.
So I got my first flash quote of the Olympics published on Wednesday. We tried to get some time to talk with the German team, but unfortunately they had a party at their embassy to get to, so we took a rain check on them. A couple of the riders did talk to us, like the Irish team, and I got a chance to talk to the only Belgians to make it to the Olympics for track cycling, Kenny de Ketele and Iljo Keisse (shown above doing the exchange that is the most distinctive part of the madison race). They're partners in the madison, and Megan and I got to talk to them after their training session. They only affirmed what we're starting to learn, that Olympic athletes, or at least Olympic cyclists, are as down to earth as any athletes you can find. They're generally very giving with their time, and when they can't talk they promise to make time in the future.
The best part about talking to the athletes during training is that, with most of the journalists still away at other venues and sports, we get a chance to talk to the athletes without others there. They get to know our faces and our uniforms so that when they have dozens of people asking them questions, hopefully they will take a second to answer one of ours. It's really important that we get that recognition now, because after the other journalists get here, we'll generally be in the background.
It was also exciting to see the team from the Netherlands here for one reason, Theo Bos (the solo photo). Ernst, Dutch himself, is excited to see his countryman, while the girls in our group have been looking forward to seeing him for a while. He's one of the better looking cyclists in world, and so the girls have been having fun watching him practice. He is favored to win the individual sprint, so his talents go far beyond his looks. He's also supposedly the owner, or at least rider, of the world's most expensive bike, coming in at somewhere around 1 million dollars. I'm not sure is that's true, but hopefully we can find out for you.
This should be a good Olympic games for the technology side of the Olympics as well, as cycling has taken a path similar to swimming and their record-breaking bodysuits. Apparently the Australians have a new bike they're waiting for the Olympics to unveil, and the U.S. team has bikes that were designed by NASA, again a rumor, but these Olympics will feature some of the most advanced bikes in the world. And since we're talking about the U.S. cycling team, that's been the story of the city Wednesday. Four members of the team wore masks to help against the pollution when they got off of the plane Tuesday. We could only talk to one American cyclist on Wednesday, Giddeon Massie, and we didn't ask about it since our job is to talk about the sport and the athletes, not outside issues. The masks were designed and given to the athletes by the United States Olympic Committee according to The New York Times, but the blowback from the masks was enough for the athletes to formally apologize. It just makes me wonder how they thought this wouldn't cause a fervor. The masks are pretty conspicuous, and they were the first, and only to this point that I know of, athletes to wear masks to fight the pollution in Beijing. I understand their rationale, that they train their whole lives to be at the top of their game and must do everything to ensure that, but they couldn't have thought that this wouldn't be an issue. I also love the apparent hypocracy by the U.S. Olympic Committee, as The New York Times also reports that they gave the athletes the masks, then became very unhappy with the athletes for wearing them in the airport. It seems like a mixup that could have easily been avoided.
Preserved Eggs Actually Aren't Bad
Paul, one of our ONS managers at the velodrome, took the entire staff out to eat at one of Beijing's nicer restaurants a couple of days ago. This dinner was just another of the great dining experiences our group has had in our time in Beijing, which just goes to show how proud the Chinese of their culinary history.
This time, everyone at the table got pick something out of the menu that looked good. Krystyna decided that the fish soup looked good, but I need to explain what this "soup" entailed. It's a whole fish, head included, in dozens and dozens of peppers and pepper sauce. They even brought the fish out beforehand so that we could approve it, which Andy, our newly arrived Sports Information Specialist, said that was normal in Italian restaurants.
I ordered a plate that was essentially the ingredients for a fajita without the tortillas. It even had nacho chips on top of the beef, onions and peppers, which was pretty surprising in a Chinese restaurants. But the biggest surprise was the appetizer that Paul ordered. It was preserved eggs, meaning non-cooked eggs (I think, but not sure) cut into fourths and laid into a chili sauce. Eating this stuff with chopsticks was a difficulty in itself, but it was even harder that the other Chinese volunteers at the table thought my struggles were absolutely hilarious The eggs were odd, slippery, and didn't really look like eggs at all, but they were actually very good. The chili sauce was the kicker, and I would be happy to dip just about anything into that stuff.
The best part of the dinner was the education I received from my dinner guests, three Chinese girls who were also working at the velodrome. Yao, who also lives and studies at the Communication University of China, taught me how to toast properly when the head of the press division at the velodrome came over to toast our entire table. Apparently, you are supposed to toast lower on the glass to your superior as a show of respect. That means, as a volunteer at these Olympics, I probably should have put my glass around the bottom of his. However, as a show of humility, the superior will try to toast you lower, which I didn't know how to counter, so I did it wrong. Fortunately, I get an out of jail free card for not being Chinese, so my ignorance was accepted.
It was actually fun to get a closer look at the Chinese culture at dinner, which we haven't had a chance to do since we mostly dine with other westerners. Just one more chance for us to use our time in China for the best.
Monday, August 4, 2008
A Rain Delay?
Our final day of running through the competitions meant hiking up the ramp to the BMX course. On a cloudy but very humid day in Beijing, that hike isn't the most fun in the world.
So the run through went almost exactly like the ones we had already done for track cycling and mountain biking, with a fake competition being run, the flash quote reporters (us) taking quotes from the fake athletes, then running them down to our office to get them posted on the database for journalists. The only difference this time around was that the powers that be threw a wrench in the mix by declaring a "rain delay" and having the crews cover the track to keep the dirt dry for competition. Parts of the course were covered pretty quickly, but hopefully they can run that a couple more times this week if they want to really keep the course dry.
BMX is really going to be one of the more exciting events this year. It's been compared the the kind of revival that the Winter Olympics got when they allowed snowboarding. It gives legitimacy to the sport and brings in a sport that will draw a younger audience to the Olympics. While mountain biking offers technical expertise and track cycling gives you the thrill of pure speed, BMX takes the best of the two and throws them together down a four-story tall starting ramp and over jumps. The American contingent, consisting of Mike Day, Donny Robinson, Kyle Bennett and Jill Kintner, will be favored for medals, with Americans taking all three in the men's race not out of the question. Riders from New Zealand and other European riders are strong, but the Americans have been training for months on an exact replica of the Beijing track in California, so they have to have an advantage on the competition.
Unlike the other cycling disciplines on display in the Olympics, the BMX competition doesn't offer several variances or races, just the main race around the track that is split up into several qualifying races before the finals. Speed will be the key for a win on this course, but also the number and size of the jumps will mean any loss in momentum will be disastrous for competitors.
On the pictures, one is a diagram to give you an idea of the course. The other is taken underneath the riders as they fly over the largest jump on the course right before the second turn. The jump actually goes over the turn that the women will use, lengthening the course and adding another jump for the men's race.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Olympic Run Through
An explanation on the pictures, I'm pretty sure I haven't put up a picture of the Laoshan Velodrome yet, so there is a look at the outside of the velodrome. The mural of past biking champions is on the side of the hill that leads to the BMX course at the top, while the mountain bike course is behind the velodrome from the angle that the picture is taken. A funny story about the mural, the first day that we showed up for work, we noticed that the country names attached the cyclists on the mural were spelled wrong. Ireland was Lreland and England was Englang for instance. It was such a major gaff that we all had to sit there for a second to make sure we were really seeing the mistakes. I mean, I understand that there is a language barrier, but misspelling a country's name? That's a little hard to do. Anyway, the guy in the pic is fixing the names, although you can tell where they had to alter the metal to make different letters. Oh well, they got it right.
The past two days at work have been dedicated to mock press conferences as we have dry runs of the entire facility acting as if there was a real race occurring. Mostly we've just been doing the same thing that we do during training, with other volunteers acting as athletes for us to interview. We ask them questions, this time using the language services volunteers to translate for us so that we get experience with them and they with us, and then type up our flash quotes just like we would in a real race. It's getting to be a lot of fun, because more and more we're seeing cyclists on the track as they practice, and the view from inside the track is really incredible. Athletes get here on Tuesday en masse, so this should be a fun week.
We got to see the mixed zone for the mountain biking course today, and on a day that it had to hit at least 98 degrees, the mixed zone outside was murderously hot. The BMX mixed zone, which we'll get to see tomorrow, should be just as bad, with no shade in sight, so we have that to look forward to. The press conferences have been the most interesting part of these exercises. Normally, we will be taking notes for an extensive press conference highlight during the games, but in this dry run we are instead acting as journalists might and asking sensitive or difficult questions. The goal is to give the moderator, interpreters and other press conference workers a chance to see what they can do better, so we get to have some fun.
We get introduce ourselves as journalists from anything from the Associated Press to the New York Times, so that's always fun. Also, we get to pick any kind of sensitive question that we want, which for us usually involves pollution. Also, the part that was new for me was working with interpreters. You quickly understand that since your question has to be translated from English into another language and the response must be similarly translated through a middle man, the athlete does not get your exact question and you do not get the exact quote. I'm curious as to how this will affect the actual quotes during the Games, but hopefully the translators will be good enough to get everything across to both the athletes and the journalists.
One of the cooler things to happen to our group lately has been Leroy's chance to go to a practice of the opening ceremonies at the Bird's Nest. The practices are not open to the public, but our group of 100 or so volunteers got eight tickets, and in a random drawing Leroy got a coveted ticket to the session. He came back with a ridiculous number of details, so I can't get into everything he saw, but these opening ceremonies might eclipse any we've seen in the recent past in pure manpower and creativity. From Leroy's estimate, there could be over 10,000 different people in the show, so this should be something to look forward to.
Chinese Fashion and Fitness
Since we've been training constantly the past couple of days, I can get to one of the topics that I've been meaning to blog about for a while. The fashion in China is not at all what I expected, for both men and women. This is the stereotypical American talking, but I didn't think that a country that has such control over its populace wold have the diverse amount of fashion options that China does.
Now, I've heard that Tokyo is the center for fashion in Asia, and I did hear that in a bad movie so that could be very wrong, but Beijing can't be far behind in that department. Outside of the Silk Market stalls and such, the actual malls are no joke in Beijing. They have designer clothes from all over the world, including some from Europe that I've never heard of, and they actually have car dealerships in these malls.
Most women will dress to impress just to go get some groceries, or at least that what it appears like when I see women on the subway wearing fashion that I would expect to see at a club on a Saturday night. It is summer here, and with the heat the guys wear mostly the same things we do in the U.S., shorts and T-shirts. Women of all ages wear loose fitting shirts with shorts or dresses, with the idea being, I'm assuming, to draw off some of the heat during the day.
Some of the craziest fashions we see are from the track and soccer fields next to where we play basketball. America must have invented the term "athletic gear," because the Chinese work out in the same clothes they go to work or school in. Having always had work out clothes for sports and going to the gym, I just find it odd that you see men and women jogging around the track in dress pants and shoes. Another habit the Chinese have when working out is their odd way of warming up. Before beginning their jog, many Chinese will slap themselves all over their body, working their way from their arms down to their legs. Then they'll sway back and forth for several minutes at a time, then take off on their jogs. They'll stay out there until it's deep into the night. I'm not talking about it's getting dark but still a little light out, I mean it's pitch black and they're still out there running. The kids we play in basketball keep playing until there was no way that they can see the basket.
Speaking about basketball, the four of us who originally started playing against the locals have recently gotten a chance to get back on the court after the training halted our plans for a while. The last time we played before this, probably a week ago, we lost four games for the first time since we've started playing, which ate at all of us. This time, we came out and only lost two out of 12, against probably the best competition we've played all summer. For the first time they actually had a big man for me to cover, which meant I didn't have to run around after a small guy all day, which made me happy. We're going to try and find more time to play, but this may have been the last time if the workload during the Olympics is as much as we think it will be.
Oh, and I finally got a picture of our uniforms, so it's at the top. The grey pants aren't there because the people who take care of these things are trying to find a pair that fit me, which I'm not too hopeful for. I don't think a lot of clothes in all of China fit me anyway.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Cycling 101
Now that our training has progressed to a level where we are actually studying the cycling athletes' profiles, I figured it might be time to let you guys know a little about the world of track, BMX and mountain cycling Olympic events. Once the Olympics start, a lot of my blogs will concern these athletes, so a quick primer might help everyone understand.
This blog will mostly concern track cycling, which includes several different kinds of racing. There are races called sprints, pursuits, the points race, the madison and the keirin. Men ride the sprint, the team sprint, the pursuit, the team pursuit, the madison and the keirin, while women only ride the sprint, the pursuit and the points race.
The bikes these athletes ride are like the ferraris of the bicycle world, weighing little enough that you can lift them with your pinky, and they run on only a single gear. This means that, unlike normal bikes, the pedals must move with the wheels, and to stop pedaling while moving will end with the rider pitching over the handlebars. The size of the gears can be altered depending on the race and rider preference, but the general rule is that sprint riders have larger gears than endurance riders, leading to the sprint riders having to really push at the start to get the bike moving.
Some of the favorites for these Olympics hail mostly from European countries, with the British team pursuit riders looking dominant, while Dutch rider Theo Bos may take the individual pursuit and sprint titles. For the women, the U.S.'s Sarah Hammer comes back to cycling after several years of taking a break from competitions, and Britain's Victoria Pendleton and Rebecca Romero have strong performances leading up to the Olympics that could lead to success in the games.
One of the more spectacular stories in these games will be American Taylor Phinney, the youngest rider in these games and probably the greatest thing to happen to American cycling in the past, well, ever. He will only compete in the individual pursuit in the Beijing games and is not favored to win a medal, but if he makes it into the top six of the pursuit, he'll be set up to be a favorite in the London games. He's a great story because his mother won a gold medal at the 1984 games. His father was also a star road cyclist, but now has recently undergone surgery for parkinson's disease. If Phinney has any kind of success in these games, look for him to be as big as Michael Phelps in a few years.
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