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After a rainy afternoon yesterday, it was absolutely clear, sunny, and gorgeous today. I only mention this because most days have been cloudy and hazy, probably more humidity than smog, but nevertheless annoying. For the first time I looked out the window from Susan's apartment and noticed that we could see the building shaped like a torch near the Olympic Green. We were headed that way today to see the women's all-around gymnastics final and to explore the giant park that contains the Bird's Nest Stadium, Water Cube, and several other venues and exhibits.
To get into the park you need an event ticket for the day, which also enables you to ride the subway for free. Our plan was to meet Fang about 9AM on campus, take the subway to meet Chen (a student who showed me the sights during my spring visit) at the Olympic station, then arrive at the Green at least an hour before the 11:15 event. But Susan was a bit late returning from an early morning television interview, the subway cars were packed like sardines, and making our way through security at the Olympic station was more complicated than we expected. As a result we arrived at the Green more like 15 minutes ahead of time and decided to grab something to eat before the event began.
The Chinese suggested that we eat at the official Olympic McDonald's, but Susan and I groaned, so they settled for the regular concession stand, which sold instant ramen noodles and little Chinese dinner boxes that automatically heat themselves when you pull the string. I chose popcorn, a fruit-cup, and iced tea, only to find out they were all super-sweet. I think I got the biggest sugar blast I've had since I've been in Asia, and to tell the truth, I didn't like it too much. Our little lunch stop made us a few minutes late to our seats and as a result we missed half of the first rotation. An American pair with seats in front of us had much bigger problems, though-they didn't arrive until the awards ceremony!
I have to admit that gymnastics isn't my favorite sport, but I had only seen it on TV. It is pretty darn impressive in person; the way those gymnasts seem to hang up in the air on the tumbling runs is just amazing. The crowd was again dominated by Chinese, including a row of very loud 8 year-olds sitting right behind us. There was a good American group in our section, though, and we gave the Chinese a run for their money in the cheering war.
There had been some controversy about the Chinese being underage. Susan had asked me point blank if I thought the girls looked under 16 and I said yes. On the other hand many Asians, male and female, look younger than their age to me. But these girls were noticeably lighter and less developed than the other gymnasts. Since the Chinese had won the team competition, I really felt like our girls were underdogs, so I rooted for them loudly and was thrilled to see them come from behind to take the gold and silver. Although I have seen several Olympic events, this was the first time I saw a medal ceremony. It was really emotional seeing the flag go up and hearing the national anthem play-it had been my dream too as an athlete and it was nice to share as someone else's dream came true.
After the event we wandered around the Green to take pictures and visit exhibits under the beautiful blue skies. Just outside the gymnastics hall, and Italian guy approached me to trade pins. After that, I traded with a couple from Connecticut, several Chinese volunteers, some track and field athletes, and finally a woman from Minnesota. It was a fun atmosphere, although the lines were pretty long for some of the sponsor pavilions, and the Shanghai exhibit too closely replicated the crowdedness of a big city. The line to get into the souvenir superstore was huge! It looked like they were giving out free tickets just to visit the Green, but it was also the first day of track and field and that stadium holds 90,000 people. They need to restrict access for security and crowd control. If they just opened the place up to ten and a half million Beijingers, you probably wouldn't be able to move around at all. Anyway I got to see Jesse Owens' and Wilma Rudolph's shoes in the Adidas exhibit; that at least was worth the wait.
In the late afternoon, Susan left for an appointment with an IOC member while Fang and I headed back to campus. I grabbed some Chinese take-out for dinner, ate it while I watched the Olympic news summary, then decided to take a short nap. I was out cold for two hours! It's not just the athletes who get tired at the Games.
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