Wondrous Olympic Adventure Wrap-Up
Unfortunately, I was MIA from the blog for the last 5-6 days in China due to very limited internet access. What a fantastic few days they were though…
I got the chance to cheer on Anna Tunnicliffe with a ton of fellow Hoya alumni, ex-MAISA sailors, and other American fans as she sailed for a Gold medal. We watched her medal ceremony from the seawall and soaked up every moment as the National Anthem played over the loudspeakers. The following day, we were off to Beijing on a train. We made a new, smiley friend named Li as we shot through the countryside at high speeds. Li showed us the proper stroke order for a few Chinese characters and concluded his lessons with a competition between all of us Americans for the most beautiful and fastest writing of a given sentance in Chinese, to be judged by Li and two other Chinese guys sitting across from us. I finished third, behind the two people in our group that had studied Chinese before, so I felt pretty good about that. The winner, Mac, had to “gambei” (chug) a warm TsingTao beer as a prize, and did so to loud cheers from the entire train car!
Our days running around Beijing seeing the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the USA House, and various restaurants and bars in search of the most excellent Peking Duck were full and tiring. Us non-Chinese speakers got around by having others write our destinations down in Chinese and doing lots of pointing and gesturing, only to get rejected by several cab drivers (before the ride even started) over the course of our stay. Our group was lucky enough to catch the USA baseball team’s bronze medal-winning game against Japan. Somehow, we were seated in the midst of the most raucous Japanese cheering section, including a man dressed as a samurai, and I must say we did a pretty good job of cheering back when we could. I also got to see the USA women’s basketball team win the gold medal against the Australian team (sporting unitards) the same day- pretty amazing. I left on the day of the Closing Ceremony and made a quick stop by the impressive Bird’s Nest to catch a glimpse of the Olympic Flame burning bright on the way to the airport. My 13-hour flight home was made much more exciting by the presence of the bronze and gold-medal winning USA baseball and basketball teams on the same flight…I even got to tell the women’s basketball coach, who must be at least seven feet tall, congratulations in person. No idea how she squeezed herself into her seat. I am so thankful that I got the chance to witness these Games and travel around China with such good friends. Thanks to Andrew for giving us the excuse to get ourselves involved…we’re all really proud of you and the rest of the US Team!
August 27th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
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