They haven't happened yet. Actually they'll start in about two hours. I don't know what I'm going to do or where I'm going to be. Like the opening ceremonies, the ticket is elusive. And to be honest, after three weeks of clamoring crowds inside of various venues, I'm ready to enjoy the Olympic buzz from the outside of the bubble. The company that I'm working for is throwing a party in the IBC tonight, and I'll definitely stop in for a while to enjoy the free food and what not as it will be my last stop on Olympic-related hangouts. I was just looking back over my blogs, and all I could realize was how incapable they were at capturing the entirity of this experience. All I can say, is if anyone ever has an opportunity to attend the Olympics for any period of time, it's something he or she shouldn't pass on. To end my writings from Beijing, I'd like to mention the "regular people" I've met that didn't pass on the games. THe quotes are because we spend the entirity of the games talking about the special abilities of athletes, but in all truth, meeting the people who maybe aren't being hailed for anything has reaped the most rewarding conversations. Here's some of the cool people I've talked to.
Lewis Chapman - Lewis is with the FBI. I met him a few days after the stabbing of Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law. It was about the first itme he'd breathed in weeks and he made a quick stop into the Water Cube to watch Michael Phelps. Because Lewis is in the FBI, he scares me, so I don't want to talk about his official position or the things he told me. They could be monitoring this blog.
Amy ? - I met Amy when she was sitting at the empty athlete seating opposite of an ongoing diving competition. She was decked out in USA gear and was athleticly built, so I figured she was probably an athlete. I passed her at first because she was journaling and I didn't want to bother her, then I just figured what's the worst that could happen. I sat next to her and we started talking. She was actually the sister of cyclist Amber Neben. She's a fifth grade teacher in Orange County, CA, and she probably provided the most exciting diving competition I experienced the entire time. She was funny and cool and had good stories about the fringes of the red carpet that the athletes family recieves.
Aussie Lady - 12 straight summer Olympics for this Aussie. She looked like she was 90 and bounced around like she was 15. SHe was the loudest, most talkative old lady I'd ever met, hilarious and cool! I broke the rules and told Seven (Aussie TV) that they couldn't take their cameras into the crowd to film her for a story, but if they requested special access I'd have to leave for about five minutes before I came back to tell them the answer was no. Best decision I've made in awhile.
Chinese People - They can't understand me, but they're eager to please and are probably the purely nicest nationality that I've hung out with here. On the flip side, if a Chinese person has a responsibility like guarding a door, they'll make you kill them before you get through the door. Two sides of a coin.
Julie and Julian - An NBC News Channel producer and her cameraman were the nicest, most accomadating duo of all the broadcasters I had to deal with at the games. They were congenial and cool. They're the ones that informed me about the swim party that I went to. They've been doing the thing a long time and had all sort of stories. Julian's favorite story was about the Tennis venue at the Athens games. Apparently, after the last match, all the Greek volunteers stormed the venue with cases of Johnny Walker scotch and Skyy vodka. THe place didn't shot down all night. Trust me, the Chinese are not allowing that.
Hopefully, I'll get to do some more blogging of some sort as I've really enjoyed sharing my experiences with all of you that have been reading this. Wknows, maybe I'll do one more post when I get home and have time to digest everything. Besides, it's closing ceremonies tonight! Who knows what's going to happen.