Day 3 08/08/08

Somewhere south east of Beijing China.

Today is the day that China has been planning for … for at least ten years. There is every expectation that the Opening Ceremony will be spectacular. It is as much about the Olympic Games as it is about China being center stage and in the world view. The new architecture employed is awesome. It has to be seen to be believed. It will be well worth the time watching tonight as the ceremony is truly unique and tops anything that has come before (oops…. I guess you can tell that we here in Beijing are about 12 hours ahead of the Bloomington and I have already seen it!) Watch it in HD if you can… you wont be disappointed. It is simply beyond words and the most fantastic pyrotechnic display ever!

There are many thousands of athletes from around the world here now. And while it is still possible to be among the very few English speaking people around, the Chinese people are fine hosts and have anticipated all of us “visitors from afar.” That doesn’t mean we can communicate easily. But being able to draw pictures and smile really seems to help. I am careful to carry a pen and blank paper with me. And a map. The map isn’t worth much but it simply makes me comfortable… because the Chinese letters are absolutely unlike anything I’ve seen before. There are more than 3000 chinese characters and even the Chinese seem cnfused by many. And, even the Chinese seem to be confused by the map. At one point today we were saved by a woman from Chicago, who did business in Bloomington, and whose family is from and childhood was spent in Beijing. She saw us drawing pictures and trying to explain what we needed to a half dozen police officers (and --- safety patrol people) and realized in her words that she had run across a couple of “Midwesterners.” I think we owe her dinner.

The weather is stifling - hot and humid. But no rain so far. The smog is bad but not unbearable. I, however, am not planning to run a marathon in this heat. The locals ( and safety patrol people) would actually like it to rain to clear out some of the smog. It doesn’t appear that this will happen. I don’t expect that this issue will be a problem in the Natatorium. We shall see.

We took a cab to the pool today, or at least tried to do so. The cab suddenly pulled over and the driver motioned “out!” He motioned for the money, hollered out the window and opened my door. And so we got out. The police (and safety patrol people) told us we could go no further without a ticket. A ticket for what? Well, we never really knew. There were no events today other than the Opening ceremony so we were not sure what we needed a ticket for. And as it was early this morning… and nothing took place until late tonight??? So we started walking the other way after multiple discussions and many phone calls and much delay. When we finally managed to attract a taxi we asked to be taken back to our hotel (map and drawings etc) and the cab driver proceeded to drive back the way we had just been blocked from going originally ( by safety patrol people) and we drove pretty much past the pool without stopping. Tomorrow is another day! Did I mention the architecture?

We did get out among the locals for a bit in order to get stamps and exchange some US dollars for yen. Because many official businesses were closed for the Opening Ceremonies and we couldn’t make heads or tails of the menus in the eateries we passed (Coach Steen declared he wouldn’t eat what he couldn’t identify, some deep seated worry about ‘heads and tails’ I suppose) and as such was the case, we decided to walk back to the hotel ( I have simply learned not to ask about the particular menu items and just go with what looks digestible ... and is no longer moving.) The one eatery we stopped at served both boned and un-boned chicken feet and of course fresh soft shell turtle. Yum. How do you know the turtle is fresh you ask? Because they let you pick it out of a very large aquarium… all by yourself. I opted for a Fanta Orange and a Dove bar for dinner and allowed the turtle live another day. It did answer one question for me though… did you ever wonder what KFC does with the parts they don’t use (CHICKEN FEET!) They apparently send them here to China.

In any event, we felt we needed the exercise and walking would certainly allow us to mingle a bit. So mingle we did. For a very long time. Those of you who know me well understand that I can be stubborn at times. I like to think of it as “not giving up easily.” Or striving for my goals! Jim was convinced we should just flag a taxi and start drawing pictures. I said we should tough it out and “stay the course.” Well, by the time we made it back to the hotel I am not so sure either of us was recognizable as being human. We certainly didn’t smell human. But they did let us in… but stood well back.

And, if you worry about my safety, while cruising the Beijing ‘hood I kept remembering the old joke about being safe in the woods when you know there are bears in the vicinity. All you need to be able to do is to run faster than the slowest one among you. I am pretty sure that I am at least that. Normally this isn’t a thought that comforts (or is simply not appropriate), especially when I am with my wife Nan. Mostly this is because I am pretty sure she can outrun me! Does anyone know how fast a panda can run?

So we didn’t accomplish much today other than seeing a lot of the ‘real Beijing’. Tomorrow we see if we can get things going with the prelims for the first couple swimming events; the 100 breastroke and the 400 IM. Michael Phelps “Event 1” and round one of Kitajima vs Hansen. Should be interesting. We are concerned about whether or not we will be allowed to bring video cameras into the swimming venue and how long getting though security will take. The safety patrol people are saying.