Experience is humbling

While you can’t escape the political carnage that seems to be the side effect of every Olympics, swallowed in the masses of the country there is a hint of camaraderie and love of sport. Tibet, North Korea and Taiwan might be swear words around here but for so many it truly is about China’s spotlight year.

“I give a shit about these Olympics,” a young Chinese man told three of us as we sailed along on line five to the pearl market. “I’m going to put my ticket in picture and show my kids kids.” He wasn’t old, but he looked it. His father stood beside him and grinned at our American enthusiasm for the Beijing games. The two had spent three days and three nights sleeping on newspaper outside of the Bird’s nest to get tickets for the 100m swim. I think I would look old too. Their shirts offered proof of their ambitions; the white had browned to match the earth they had slept on but neither quit smiling. We stood and let them take our seats, “That is why you have the spirit for the Olympics,” the young man said. Despite enduring China’s heat and smog on beds of old newspaper the pair weren’t tired. They came from a different province and wanted to see Beijing museums, but they had been here before. The older man was a general in the army and that was enough to keep them off of newspapers while scrounging for Asian games tickets a few years ago. This time however, “the Olympics are fair. So we must sleep outside.”

The food sucks and I miss home every day, but the excitement is genuine and infectious. Our mere presence as Westerners incites conversations about the Olympics and elicits a glow around citizens who may have felt slightly neglected by their Western neighbors. There’s still a lot more to do, however, before the city is prepared for additional visitors. Beijing is already bulging at the sides with its current population, and I see my well-thought-out travel routines halting like the traffic once the games begin.

On another note, I had my first and so far last day of training on Tuesday. Although it was relatively uneventful, I experienced something most people never will. I got to stand on the turf for Field Hockey and sit in a vacant, echoing Archery stadium. They’re always different than you imagine. But none of us has ever experienced an Olympics without the aid of a glass screen and a cable box. It’s something that’s bigger than any one country; it’s as big as this world. It’s humbling (and corny) to know that soon the world will come to Beijing, and for two weeks seven continents will be smaller in something that is bigger than we can imagine.


Now, as promised, here are a couple of pictures of my uniform to tickle your fancy and brighten your day! Have a good laugh at my expense, I had one already.