Where at the tickets!??!!

There is something that I do not understand, where are all the tickets forOlympic events!!?? When we watch some games on TV, there are empty seats! When we walk by stadiums and they are half empty it makes us wonder where the tickets are!!?? Everyone wants tickets to events no matter which ones they are, so why can't we get them!?! They are "sold out" but yet some stands have lots of empty seats.

Some of the girls on the trip went off one morning to watch the USA softball match, hoping to buy tickets at the door; however, the ticket booth was boarded up and the volunteers said, "no tickets." As they walked by the stadium and then watched the game at home, there were TONS of empty seats, TONS! So tell us, where are the tickets?! Where are all the people who bought out ALL these tickets? It looks really bad when there are empty seats and there are people who would love to be at these matches! So what's the problem!?! Why are these tickets not made more readily available!!??!!?? It looks bad for the Games and as someone who wants to see these games be a GREAT sucsess it is a concern of mine.

Turned Down!

Today I had to work with just two other flash quote reporters when usually there are about eight of us. I looked up the teams that were training and saw the New Zealand had not been interviewed yet. Our manager was not there and I was kind of scared to ask a coach if I could talk to an athlete on my own, but after a while I finally asked the NZL coach if I could talk to one of the riders. He said yes, that would be fine if he was "in the mood" and he said he would tell him. So I watched as he went to the rider who was sitting down, he told him and they both looked at me. The rider had seen me before because I was the only flash quote reporter there at the time.

I waited around for almost two hours and skipped luch because I really wanted this interview. I had set it up myself, I researched the guy and had come up with some good questions. The team ended their training session and one of the managers (who I had not talked to earlier) walked by and said, "he's coming" so he know who I wanted to talk to. Then the team came by. They were all wearing the same thing and I had only seen my rider on the track from a distance, so I missed him. They all looked so similiar and when he rode by on his bike he was looking the other way and pretty much avoiding me. I mean, yeah I guess I should have called out his name but I was 100% sure it was him. The thing is though, he knew I was waiting and he just got on his bike and road past when many athletes walk by. I was really upset. I mean, I understand if you aren't "in the mood" to interview, just tell me that when I ask so I don't waste time. The fact that the coach said, "if he is in the mood" kind of makes him sound like a diva anyway. It just sucks that I was so excited to be flying on my own and to be proud of myself for putting it together just have it all crash down. That just set the mood for a bad day.

After the bad day at work I went to dinner with two friends from work and it was really fun. We just ate, watched a soccer game and then walked back in the ran. It was fun. I am sad that my time with my Chinese friends is coming to an end! The time that I do have left will be very busy!

I'm going to see Beach Volleyball tomorrow! I am excited!

Blue Army

We have something that lurks around our venue. It’s always there, always watching, always moving. It stands in line at check-in, it greets us with a smile at lunch and waves goodbye when we leave. It’s a little something that we like to call the “Blue Army,” the huge number of Chinese volunteers that work at the Laoshan Bicycle Cluster with us. They have been dubbed the “Blue Army” because of their blue volunteer shirts and because they huddle in masses around the venue.
We first noticed the “Blue Army” on our first day of training. We didn’t, nor did we expect to, see so many Chinese volunteers. They are there to check our bags, check us in, to check our passes, to tell us where we can’t go, to be translators, to help spectators find seats. You name it and they do it.
The Chinese volunteers applied to be volunteers over a year ago. Many of them participated in the “Good Luck Beijing” test events last summer. Being an Olympic volunteer is a big deal and not something they take lightly. They have been preparing for months. They work long days and are confident that when game time comes they will be ready to rock!
At first I looked at the “Blue Army” as a single unit, after a while one smile just faded into the next and I thought of myself on a different level than them. Not in a bad way, just in the sense that they all had experience and more training under their belts. I have come to find though that ever face has a story, every face has a job. Everyday I try to meet some more Chinese volunteers. I know that this is the only opportunity that I have and that our time together is short, but that doesn’t stop me. I have become fast friends with some of the language specialist, all of them university students. I have found that we are not that much different. We are all excited for the Games, we all like music, we like to crack jokes, we all like to learn about each other’s cultures and we all have a common goal, to help host a great Olympic games.
It’s so refreshing to look at every smile in the “Blue Army” and know that it’s not just another smile; rather it’s a symbol of genuine joy and appreciation for being apart of a great event. As cheesy as it may sound, I have to say that the “One World One Dream” Olympic motto rings true in the lives of the Olympic volunteers, whether Chinese or international. We are all ready to help host an awesome Olympic games!

Day Off

Today I had the day off, which I needed, cause I was out late for the Opening Ceremony.

I didn't do much, went to Starbucks and wrote some postcards, went to the mall and had lunch with a friend. After that we went ice skating and then out for coffee.

It's so nice to just sit with someone and talk. Forget about everything else and just listen to what they have to say, especially when they are from another country. It's so refreshing to get a world view on diffrent subjects and just hear what others think. I live for little moments like that. Long conversation, little times spent alone with friends. Not huge parties, graduations, weddings... but little moments that bring people together, that's what I love. I have had a couple of those while here. I have had many conversations here that just make me think. I love learning about how other's lives have been diffrent than mine and in what ways we are united. I love getting to learn about other cultures, it's one of my passions.

On the subway ride home I met a few high school seniors who just graduated from a high school in California. Their friend's dad owns a HUGE business in China and paid for all six of them to come over FOR FREE for a month! They have been lots of places all over China! It was really cool. They are lucky guys.

Work in the morning, should be exciting.

The Day the Games Opened!

Yesterday was 8.8.08 which means it was the Olympic Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Summer Games. It was awesome!

I met some of my Chinese volunteer friends at Tian' Anmen at 8:30 a.m. to kick off our day. The square was closed (as much of Beijing was) so we walked around and they took me to Qian' Men Avenue. It's an old avenue that looks like how it did back in the days of the Emperor but full of shops and stores. It was actually really cool. We then had lunch at a little restaurant and ate Beijing Noodels, which were pretty good.

After our morning hanging out around Tian' Anmen we went to the Temple of Heaven. It was diffrent than I thought it would be, I didn't think the actually land area around it would be so big. The Temple of Heaven was beautiful, along with the park area around it and all the other buildings. We walked around and took lots of pictures for a few hours, then we headed to KFC where we got lunch and rested for a while.

After lunch we headed to watch the opening ceremony at their university in an auditorium. It was really cool to watch with a huge group of Chinese students. They were all so excited and it was such an exciting time. We choose to watch it there becuase we would actually have seats and if we went somewhere in the city to watch it on a big screen it would have been SO crowded. There were so many people you have NO idea. Thousands and thousands plus some! So I was happy with my little community of Chinese students and my seat, haha. I am so excited for Beijing and China to host these games and to showcase their awesome culture and long history.

Also, the ceremony was AMAZING! It was so cool! I have no idea how they did all that stuff! When it was over we could hear all the fireworks when we were walking outside. It took us forever to find a taxi to the subway station! We walked forever but finally found one after 45 minutes. Once we got to the train station though it was smooth sailing, not busy or anything which was a suprise. 8.8.08. WAS A GREAT DAY!!!!!

Torch Holder!

This morning on the subway I noticed that a good amount of people were on the train holding little Chinese flags and some had armbands with Chinese writing on them. I didn't think too much of it, I just figured since it's close to game time people must be getting pumped up. When we got off at our station I noticed people selling Chinese flags, stickers, arm bands and things and I figured it was for the same reason. Upon walking to our venue, I noticed a lot of people were lined up along the side of the road on the road perpendicular to us. I just said, "look at all those people lined up" and kept walking. Later, I found out that it was because the Torch Relay went really close to us!!! I heard it was in the Forbidden City earlier but I had NO idea until after, and then to find out that we missed it so close to us I was a little upset! It was just across the street and we didn't know.

Later, as I was standing in the middle of the velodrome, I noticed a torch relay runner had come out on the floor and was talking pictures. I saw others take pictures with the torch so I went over and asked my Chinese friends to ask if I could get one, and the runner said YES! So I got to hold an Olympic Torch, one that actually carried the Olympic Flame!! It was SO COOL!

Also, I lot of teams came in today, although, we only got two interviews. Team USA was there, NED, BEL, GER, Czech, COL, CHN, GBR, Ireland and maybe a few others. A lot of the famous riders that we have been reading and researching were there training and it was SO COOL! Many of them don't want to talk with us yet, they are just 'in the zone' or too far out from Game time to have much to say, so we only got two interviews. Team USA would only give us one, and one tomorrow maybe!

If you didn't hear, the American Cycling team showed up in Beijing wearing black masks to protect themselves from the smog. They later apologized but I think the damaged was done; they got a lot of press because of it.

I also had a great day just hanging out with some Chinese volunteers. I kind of stray away from the Purdue group because I like meeting the Chinese student volunteers and getting to know them. I have made friends with some of the "language specialist" one who speaks German and one who speaks Malay (but they both speak English too). They are really cool and really fun. I had a great day and I hope there are more to come, just TWO DAYS 'til the start!

Training Day?

Today marked the beginning of the official training for the athletes. Each country had a two hour time block where they could come in and train, it was supposed to be super exciting, we were supposed to interview some and maybe start to write some stories... but hardly anyone came! We are still 10 days away or so from the start of cycling so some of the cyclists won't be coming in until just a few days before. Also, some of the assigned times where kind of early so they may not have wanted to come. I think the American team just came today and the German team won't even be here until tomorrow.

There were some riders there though! The Chinese team was there, a Cuban rider, the lone rider from Chile, a man from Uruguay and the team from Columbia. The Columbian team actually did some cool training. They went around really fast and were really close to each other's wheels (which is my definition of "cool training", haha). It was neat to see some more riders out there. I hope the next few days bring some more.

We were hanging out in the middle of the Velodrome track in the broadcasting mixed zone and the agencies and companies' names are marked on the ground in tape. The tape says, "Channel Seven" (Australia) "CCTV" (China) "BBC" (Great Britain) and a couple of other news organizations. It's neat to be in the middle of where all the action is going to be in just a week or so!

After work we went to Pizza Hut and then to get coffee (we wanted American food tonight) and we actually ran into some Team USA athletes at Starbucks! They are rowers, one girl and two guys. They were really nice and they talked to us for a while. One is from Ohio, which was pretty cool. It's nice to meet athletes that don't have an ego because they aren't super famous, but they are still VERY talented. This was the third set of athletes he have met, others were rowers from Ireland and swimmers from Croatia. I love seeing all the international people (coaches, athletes, techies, journalists, London Organizing Committee people), it's really awesome.

Tomorrow is training for the cyclists again, hope it's more exciting than today! Although, today was cool.