Wow - it has been a whirlwind these past 48 hours. Last night, I got to bed around 2:45AM and was up at 8 ready for work. This is the first chance I've had to reflect on the past few days. Here's what's been going on...
August 8th, I left the hotel at 12:30 to get to the Olympic Green. I wasn't sure how bad the traffic was going to be and I wanted to get some footage around the area. Security was the highest I've ever seen it and I ended up having to walk to the Green - we've always taken the bus. I must have passed through five checkpoints before I was even CLOSE to the Green. It was funny, I wasn't quite sure how many levels of clearance I had every time I approached a checkpoint. I pretended I knew what I was doing and walked briskly through. When I was
stopped, I tried to reason, but it doesn't help when the police officer doesn't speak English...and he thinks you speak Chinese. I walked around for awhile and finally ended up getting to the entrance around 4:00PM! I was dehydrated and tired from walking so long and being rejected by the guards.
At the NIS, we met journalists that had come to interview the athletes pre-Opening Ceremonies. The NIS was the staging area for all the athletes before the Parade of Nations. I went outside and watched the start of the Opening Ceremony with a bunch of volunteers on the Olympic Green.
About two hours before the ceremony, people started pouring in. I can only describe it as an international gathering and melting pot of countries from all over. Everyone was in a party mood and we took the opportunity to take pictures with as many people as we could. It was a mutual sharing of photos and there never seemed to be enough people to take the pictures!
There were monitors set up...but they were not showing what was happening inside! I was disapointed, but many of us made a pact that if it came to that, we would want to say we were there in person. We could watch it whenever we wanted to.
I got to see the drummers line up for the opening portion of the performance and got some pictures with the actors. They were all very popular! Then, we gathered around the large chute that was set up for the athletes to send them into the stadium for the Parade of Nations. It was incredible seeing all the countries go by. The Chinese people were feeding off the athletes when they responded to their cheers. It was one surprise after another.
By
the time 11:30PM rolled around, we were getting tired. Many of us wanted to stick it out to watch the flame. Close to midnight, the cauldron was illuminated and without hesitation, it was lit in a bright flash. Fireworks followed in a cornucopia of colors and shapes. One formation was in the Olympic rings. Not only were they shot off by the stadium, but down the entire Green. The sky was literally filled with fireworks and we were surrounded! It was one of the best shows I've seen! As an extra treat,
fireworks continued to go off as we headed to the subway - conviently, they were in the same
direction! Words cannot describe the evening...here's a better attempt. (waiting for the fireworks)
Today was our first day on the Olympic Green during the Games. Seeing the flame watching over us was very cool! We entered the NIS and got ready for our first round of competitions. I worked with the NBC Sports people - national. We interviewed all of the men's team after competition in subdivision 1. When you see the interviews with them, I'm standing literally inches from them scribbling down quotes. It was so much fun! I stuck around for the other subdivisions throughout the day helping out and
observing the competition.
I also heard today there was a murder near the Drum Tower. That is located in Ho Hai - an area we visited awhile back - the place with the rickshaws. It is very sad to hear about the incident. Haven't heard too much about that here locally. (Drum Tower performance weeks before)
Will try to keep you updated on this incredible journey. Hope you enjoyed the start to the Games! Thank you to all for checking out this blog - I hope it can help you see another side of China.
Ted
5 comments:
The Chinese newspaper said last night the police at the Olympic green made 160,000 people out of there before the opening ceremony in TWO hours! That's unbelievable! And by the way I can't find any video about the opening ceremony on Youtube. I want to see it again!!!
I love these blog entries! It makes me feel like I'm there! Thank you and great job!
Ted & friends, The drummers were so unbelieveable on the "telly" that I cannot imagine what the sound must have been like in person. Think what they must have gone through for training. (I did see a single little light or two at the wrong time though and wondered if the Director knew who was off time.) Scary. I envy you being able to be there. Thanks so much for your report.
Ted,
Thanks for all the blogs, especially the view of the drummers outside the birds nest. They were amazing & it's fun to see how they loaded in. Had to be hours & hours of rehearsal to bring it all off.
THANK YOU ....ALL OF YOU FOR THE GRET UPDATES....IM LOVING READING THEM EACH DAY....CHERISH YOUR TIME AND KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!!
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