Day 40 - The Opening Ceremonies - A Local Perspective

Hey Everyone!

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

Fire in the sky!

I'm sure you've all seen the coverage! The Games of the XXIX Olympiad are off to a great start! I uploaded my video from last night. The fireworks were out of this world, but could you expect any less from the people who invented them?

I'm sorry the video is shaky, I was a little excited at the time--there are a couple of shots where you'll tell I didn't know where to look!

Just a few points of reference. At the beginning, you'll see the faint light from the torch being lit, a few seconds later, the fireworks begin! Most of them are shot off from the east side of the Olympic Green, some others from the south. At the end of the video, a parting shot of fireworks at Tien'anmen Square.

Enjoy!

Mark

Opening Ceremonies & more...

The opening ceremonies went beautifully. Lauren Wooldridge, my friend and Mizzou student, is currently writing for STLToday.com during our stay in China. She was invited to watch the opening ceremonies at Club Bud, and she invited some of the Mizzou students to join her. The Budweiser company and Beijing Games sponsor opened its largest Olympic party venue ever, giving journalists a first look at Club Bud during the viewing party for the opening ceremony. The venue holds about 2,000 people, but last nights limit was 250, which was great because we all got a fabulous view of the opening ceremony. My dear friend, Sarah Orscheln, was lucky enough to watch the rehearsal of the opening ceremony on August 5th, but according to her, this opening ceremony is made for TV! We had to watch CCTV’s telecast from Club Bud, but I sat next to a couple NBC cameramen, and they said that NBC’s airing of the opening ceremony is going to be incredible! So I hope you all enjoy watching the ceremony as much as I did! I called my family this morning as they were watching the opening ceremony. I completely forgot that it was currently airing in America, since I had already watched it last night.

Tonight will be my official first day of work during the Games! My last day of training was amazing. The women’s gymnastic teams were practicing, and I was able to work as a flash quotes reporter in the Broadcast Mixed Zone. I met so many wonderful people from NBC and BBC; I can’t wait to work with all of them throughout the Games! And as Ted mentioned, if you see any interviews on NBC, we are most likely standing right next to the camera, taking down the quotes. Watching the U.S. women’s gymnastic team was incredible; I honestly can’t wait to watch these girls in action during competition! Tonight is the only time I will be covering the men’s teams; otherwise, I will be working during the women’s competitions.

As many of you have probably heard already, the U.S. men’s team lost another Hamm brother. Morgan Hamm was forced to withdraw from the Games due to a left ankle injury. Hamm's withdrawal came just 10 days after his twin brother Paul also withdrew due to a hand injury.

I have to say most of the “women” competing are girls, around 16-years-old. Shawn Johnson has the entire world looking at her, and she’s just 16-years-old. However, there was one woman that stood out in the National Indoor Stadium that training day. Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina is a 38-year-old gymnast, competing with Germany in the Games this year! She is already an Olympic medalist and World Champion gymnast. She formerly was a citizen of, and a competitor for, the Soviet Union. In 1988, at the age of 13, she won the all-around title at the USSR National Championships in the junior division. By 1990, Oksana was a vital member of the Soviet team. She was the vault gold medalist at the 1990 Goodwill Games and nearly swept the 1990 World Sports Fair in Japan, winning the all-around and every event except the uneven bars. The following year, she won gold for her floor routine at the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and placed second on vault. In 1992, Oksana competed at the Olympics with the Unified Team, sharing in the team gold medal. But in 2002, Oksana’s son, Alisher, was diagnosed with leukemia. Seeking advanced medical treatment for her son, Oksana and her husband accepted an offer of help from Shanna and Peter Brüggemann, head coaches of the Toyota Cologne club, and moved to Germany. With prize money earned from gymnastics competitions, along with the help of the Brüggemanns and members of the international gymnastics community who fundraised and donated to the cause, Oksana was able to secure treatment for Alisher at the University of Cologne's hospital. While Alisher underwent treatment in Cologne, Oksana trained with the German team, and she will be competing with them this year.

I had the day off a couple of days ago and attempted to find this antique mall with some other Mizzou students. When the taxi driver dropped us off in the wrong area, we decided to take a look at China’s Military Museum since it was in the vicinity. The museum is composed of two four-story wings and a main building of seven stories topped with the emblem of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. After passing through the lobby, one comes to the central exhibition hall, which contains over 500-odd photographs and more than 1,000 mementos of the Chinese revolution led by Mao Zedong over the course of half a century. The first floor is devoted to the Second Revolutionary Civil War (1927-1937), the second floor to the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945) and the third floor to the Third Revolutionary Civil War (1945-1949). It was just coincidence that Sarah Orscheln and I both wore our camo hats that day.

Our next stop was to the 798 Art District, which is a thriving artist community, among 50-year old decommissioned military factory buildings of unique architectural style. It is often compared with New York's Greenwich Village or SoHo. This was by far one of my favorite places in Beijing!

We also celebrated Sarah Orscheln’s Birthday on August 7th, while China celebrated the Qixi Festival, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day! In the Chinese world, Qixi is regarded as the most romantic traditional festival. This year's Qixi is quite special for many in China because it fell just one day before the Beijing Olympic Games.

We’ve also found ourselves eating at a lot of rotating sushi restaurants; however, the food isn’t quite what you’d imagine...

Raw squid

A banana sushi roll
This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity. I’m enjoying every moment I’m here, and I’m thrilled the Games have finally begun!

Sarah

Quick note on the opening ceremony

Hi guys! Just a quick note before I head back to work at the National Indoor Stadium. I spend most of my evening wandering around the spectators' stand and met a lot of athletes.

Here is a video of Yao Ming (flag bearer for China) getting ready to walk over to the Bird's Nest. I apologize for the lack of audio, my camera did not pick up the sound. But everyone was cheering for the Chinese team, chanting 中國, 加油! Literally, it means "China, add fuel", a Chinese way of saying "strive for the best".

Opening Ceremony!

Hi all! As I write this, most of you are 6.5 hours away from the Opening Ceremony coverage on NBC. Not to rub it in, I watched it hours ago...and can't wait to see it again on Youtube!

Matt, Allie and I headed to the Olympic Green at noon today. We toured and toured and toured AROUND the Green, since we were missing the magic sticker that would let us on! Although we didn't get access to the Olympic grounds, we were super close and got access to the media village.
We only hung around for 14 hours, but made memories for a lifetime! I couldn't even start to share all of the fun and interesting things that happened. (It's 3:45am!)

I hate to reduce my "Favorite parts of today" to quick bullet points, but I don't want to go on forever!

Just to name a few...Spending all day at near the Olympic Green, evading security, acting like I belong in secured areas, trading pins with foreigners, meeting a hilarious French-speaker from Quebec, evading security, lunch in Media village, evading security, meeting people from around the world, sneaking into a hotel, seeing President Bush 30 feet away, acting like I belong in secured areas, seeing a high school friend in the parade of nations, seeing the torch lit with my own eyes, fireworks! fireworks! fireworks!, seeing Jackie Chan's son, knocking the torch lighting off my 'bucket list'...

I'll sleep on most of this and share a couple of stories with you tomorrow. I'd love to share more right now, but I really don't want to ruin it for you all.

My only advice is to watch the Opening Ceremony tonight 8/7central on NBC.

Mark

Day 39 - *****THE 2008 OLYMPICS HAVE BEGUN!!!!!!*****

HEY EVERYONE!

Wow - what a once-in-a-life-time experience!  I'm super tired, but wanted to give you some quick thoughts before I head to bed.  (working tomorrow at 10AM!)  We got home around 12:30AM.  The show was absolutely phenomenal - from the outside.  We actually didn't get to see the show from the inside...but got to be in the atmosphere of the Olympic Green.  It was electric about two hours before the start because everyone was coming to get into the Bird's Nest.  We got pictures with people from all different countries.  Everyone was so excited!  Then, we positioned ourselves by the chute where the athletes would parade in before the Parade of Nations.  It was so neat to see them walk by and the crowd got really energetic over athletes that responded to them.  Then, we sat and watched the firework display on the Green.  We were surrounded by fireworks at the finale and it was such an incredible sight!  I am jealous you all get to watch it again!  It was all that I had hoped it would be - and that's just the beginning!  Tune into the gymnastics competition tomorrow to check out the men's qualifications.  I'll be in the broadcast mixed zone - inside the arena in a line of cameras.  If you see any interviews on NBC, I'll most likely be standing right there!

MUCH more to come later...now off to bed!

Ted

8 hours and counting!

I woke up this morning and couldn't believe my eyes-- my computer and cell phone both say: 08.08.08! It's finally here!

Yesterday, I spent several hours around the Olympic Green searching for the best spot to watch the Opening Ceremony. I think I found it, but can't get a definite answer whether I can stand there or not.

I was hanging around the Water Cube, in front of the Athlete Village when I heard familiar voices. NBC Nightly News' Kevin Tibbles and Today Show contributor Dr. Nancy Schneiderman. I had a momentary memory lapse and had to call Ted to make sure I was right on Kevin's name! I was wearing my University of Missouri shirt, so Dr. Schneiderman came right over and started chatting. I was able to get a picture with Kevin...which made my day. We chatted for a few minutes, but the NBC crew was leaving for their headquarters in a nearby convention center.

I also witnessed something being hauled onto the Bird's Nest. I'm not sure what it is, but it could be the torch. I'll admit it's kind of small, but it is connected to the only large pipe running up the side of the stadium, which I figure to be the gas line. We'll find out for sure tonight!

I'm off to the Green. I plan on finding a great spot with my friends from Missouri to watch the torch lighting and the much-anticipated fireworks!!

Enjoy the opening tomorrow night!!

Mark

Day 38 [20.5 HOURS!!!] - Calm Before the Storm

Hey Everyone!

I was on the Olympic Green tonight!  Wanted to get one more viewing before the craziness begins.  You can see it, too.

Ted

Day 38 [Olympics Eve!!!] - Beijing Huan Ying Ni!!!

Hey Everyone!

It means: "Beijing Welcomes You" - one of the slogans for the Games.

This is it: it's the eve of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and we are just one day away from the start to the festivities.  Our managers at the NIS gave us special accreditation to get into the Olympic Green today and the 8th.  The entire complex is on lockdown for the opening ceremonies.  A lot of us at the NIS agree that even if we won't be able to watch what goes on inside the Bird's Nest (there MAY be a live site or monitor set up outside the stadium), 

it's a rare chance to be at the center of the world for the evening.  We'll get to see the athletes prepare for the Parade of Nations and experience the fireworks firsthand.

For those of you new to the site: welcome!  Including myself, there are four other journalists contributing to this blog page.  The five University of Missouri  students are in Beijing working for the Olympic News Service, an internal news gathering operation that's unlike any other.  A journalist working alone during these Games may not be able to cover every event he or she may want to.  ONS covers every competition at every venue.  We grab quotes from athletes as they finish their competition and put them on a wire service that journalists can access throughout the facilities.  It's a way for journalists to gather information on the go.  Lynette, Sarah and myself are at the gymnastics venue.  Matt is at Field Hockey and Mark is working the Triathlon.  We hope this blog can give you some behind the scenes stories as well as give you a unique perspective to the Olympic Games and China.  We've been blogging for about a month now.  Please feel free to check out our previous posts!  Again, those new to the post: welcome!  Those that started at the beginning with us: thanks for staying!

Ted

The beginning:

My first great story of the Olympics

When people ask me why I want to pursue a career in sports journalism, the fame and money are not the reasons. Ask your local sportscaster if he gets recognized at the grocery store and he may say yes. Ask him if he drives a luxurious sports car and he’ll laugh in your face. So is it that I want to be recognized by the Hy-Vee sackers that I chose this career? Hardly. I truly believe that great sports stories can affect people on and off the court.

Look back and these stories that transcend the game helped define American culture. Who could forget the 1980 USA hockey team who made people believe in miracles. Or what about that first pitch in Yankee Stadium after 9/11. Barbaro captured the hearts of millions of Americans and the bond between Tiger Woods and his father Earl showed how special that father-son connection is. Cal Ripken showed us even superstars go to work everyday, and California showed Stanford that it ain’t over until it’s over.

One day before the Olympics even start in Beijing, I have already found one of these amazing stories. The athlete is South Africa’s Bruce Jacobs. Along with qualifying for his second Olympics, Jacobs is the first player of color to serve as captain for South Africa. While that is a story in itself, the story of his father is better.

Because of the conditions of the apartheid when Alan Jacobs played hockey, he was not allowed on the national team. Nobody of color was. His son Bruce was introduced to the sport when he was eight and grew up around the sport watching his dad play. He always dreamed that one day he would be able to do what his father never got the chance to, represent his country on the national level.

Jacobs called the 2004 Athens game special as he could live out his father’s dream. Four years later and 4,700 miles east, Jacobs will again be representing South Africa. While it doesn’t hold that first-time special feeling, it still retains importance Jacobs said in an interview with me today. It is tough to describe the passion in his eyes when he explained that it was special again this year. It is an honor to go he said, and a huge honor to lead my team in the Olympics.

South Africa will probably not win gold. They probably won’t even medal. Jacobs won’t end up on the SportsCenter's Top 10 in the next two weeks and his face won’t cover the next Wheaties box. His story probably won’t end up in the USA Today and after his retirement after the Olympics, he will become another Average Joe. But his story is everything I love about sports journalism and why it should never die.

Cheers,
-Matt

The Mess with Wess

Today was another day of creating pre-Olympic stories for ONS. I had the pleasure to watch one of the greatest hockey players in the world, Jamie Dwyer play. After the few short moments I watched him, here is my analysis. He is fast, aggressive and can really smack that ball. After the friendly match between Australia and Germany, I was assigned to talk with German defender Timo Wess. This sounded like a pretty easy task. I looked through several photos online and focused on him on the field, as Germany was not wearing numbers. I swear I could have drawn what he looked like.

After the match I headed for the mixed zone to get my interview. There he was, just about to walk into the locker room when I said, “Hey Timo, can I get a few words.” He turned around and laughed saying “I’m not Timo, I’m Benny. Timo is over there.” Just then I had to laugh inside. Timo has a brother named Benjamin on the team. The entire time I was looking at the wrong guy.

I guess this probably served me right. My entire life I always wondered how people could possibly confuse my twin brother Brian and I. I could pick out 100 things different between us. I bet Timo and Benny can pick out 100 things that are different between them. I know how it feels to be called the wrong name, and often shrug it off and point to my brother. I’m glad Benny reacts the same way.

Which Wess is which?


Benny is on the left, Timo is on the right. It is not as easy as it sounds.

Cheers,
-Matt

Day 37 [2 DAYS TO GO!!!!] - Podium Training

Hey Everyone!

Last night, Laura, Shawna and I went to the home of one of the professors from Renmin University.  A cultural exchange program, started by Renmin, allowed small groups of students to visit with the school's professors.  We took a cab to a large complex of apartment buildings.  His apartment, shared with his wife, 50 day-old girl, mother in law and father in law, had a great view.  We chatted for a bit and then headed to a nearby shopping district for dinner.  He took us to one of his favorite restaurants: a hot pot.  It was my first time to eat this type of food so I wasn't sure what to expect.  The server showed up with a huge pot - divided in the center with one side containing spicy broth and the other containing mild.  Then, she served different side dishes to place into the broths including lamb, beef, seaweed, root, mushroom and bamboo.  It was really good and I tried most of everything!  

The bamboo tasted the most exotic leaving a tangy sensation.  The lamb was my favorite.  The meal was wonderful and it was great to talk with a Chinese professor.  He teaches economics at the college and it was interesting to hear a Chinese perspective of world economics.

Today, we had podium training at the NIS - the men's gymnastics groups were training on the different apparatuses in the main arena.  We got to watch them try out the different apparatuses.  After the different teams rotated around the arena, they all went through the mixed zone and we got to interview them.  I got to interview two Canadian hot shots along with the Canadian press.  It was a media circus, but it was a lot of fun and a great experience.  I can't wait to start working in the broadcast mixed zone with NBC!  We got done with work around 11PM...and started that morning at 9AM!!  Long day, but exciting and a preview of the days to come!  I can't believe we are only two days away.  I can still remember when the countdown timer read 45 days.  Now, we're just about to start.  Once the 8th hits, I'll be soaking in as much Olympic mania I can get!

I even got to take a picture with one of the ladies that carry the flags for the parade of nations!  Watch for them on the 8th!

Ted

Food at the Venue

We get free meals at the venue during our training. Breakfast is provided if you arrive before 8:30am and I haven't had a chance to try that out yet. Lunch is from 11am-2pm and if we have evening shifts, we can eat dinner at the venue as well.

We started training a few days before the Chinese volunteers joined us. Back then, we had a buffet style lunch. There were about 10 family style dishes to choose from and I think most of them tasted really good.

I still remember how many of my classmates got a dish they thought was "cucumber and beef stir-fry" and it turned out to be "cucumber and pig's liver stir-fry" It did look a bit like beef, so I don't blame them. But they were really shocked when they put a piece of liver in their mouths. Now, I get quite a few inquiries about the dishes that we get, making sure they don't put weird stuff in their mouths.


As the Chinese volunteers came, we switched over to microwavable lunch boxes (like TV dinners).
Since there are so many volunteers at the National Indoor Stadium, each department get assigned a different time to go to lunch.

There are seven dishes in each set, usually half meat and have vegetables. Then, we also get a bottle of water, rice, soup and a fruit.
I think the dishes are alright, and out of the seven, I can usually pick two to three that I find okay.
Actually, the lunch in the picture was my least favorite since we start having these kind of lunches.
One of the slogans for this Olympics is "Green Olympics" and I'm really impressed by the recycling system at the venue. After every meal, we have to dispose our trash into three different bins. The smaller bins with yellow bags are for "food waste" and so we dump our left overs inside. Then the taller ones with black bags are for "other waste" which are things like the plastic lunch boxes and spoons. On the far left, there are blue bins (which are barely in the picture) for "recyclable waste" such as our water bottles.

Opening Ceremony

As the Olympic Games draw near, several rehearsals have been taking place inside the Bird’s Nest. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed inside, but we were allowed onto the Olympic Green. As many of you have probably heard already, a Korean film crew gained access to the Bird's Nest to rehearse the Korean national broadcast of the Olympic Games. While the cameramen were inside, they secretly filmed a rehearsal of the opening ceremony. This video has been banned on the Chinese news site Sina.com and has been removed from YouTube in China. China has spent more than $300,000,000 on this opening ceremony, and they’ve been preparing for more than three years. According to the Korean station, this is the most “magnificent, brilliant and mysterious” ceremony in Olympic history. The report claims the video features more than 10,000 performers, including kung-fu fighters, trapeze artists and traditional Chinese dancers, while using the “most modern of laser technology” to execute the 10-second Olympic countdown. The only mystery left is how the Olympic torch will arrive to the Bird's Nest and who will be the final torch bearer.

Here are some photos of the incredible firework finale...

I’ve also included some video footage of the firework show. Unfortunately, we were standing directly underneath the fireworks, so we don’t have the best view. But I can already tell it’s going to be an incredible view from inside the Bird’s Nest.

Sarah

Day 36 [3 DAYS TO GO!!!] - Video Promo

Hey Everyone!

The video promo is up at the top of the page!  It took about 30 hours to edit!  This is just a promotion for the Olympics done in a la athlete profile sequences!  Enjoy!

Ted

Day 35 [4 DAYS TO GO] - Press Conference

Hey Everyone!

Press Conference: 4 DAYS TO GO!!  Can't believe the waiting is almost over!  I don't know about the rest of my blogger friends, but I feel like I am going to explode with anticipation.  The Chinese, of course, are also extremely excited.  It's been seven years in the making!  I was on the Olympic Green today.  Things are basically set for Friday.  They've cordoned off a main part of the plaza for, I believe, the athletes to line up for the parade of nations.  If you watched the Today Show this morning you would have seen Matt Lauer broadcasting live from the Great Wall.  They took bump shots - the last shot before a commercial break - from the Green.  I was standing right by the camera when they were taking shots of the Bird's Nest lit up.  It was fun to watch.  I also met up with a lady from my home station in Indianapolis (WTHR).  I interned there a few summers ago and it turns out we'll be working together at the NIS!  What are the odds!  She's here working for NBC News Channel and will be following major athletes from Indiana.

Five weeks have gone by and it feels like it's been long and short.  When I think back to some of the first experiences I've had here, it seems forever ago.  However, with the Olympics right on top of us, it feels so short.  We only have three more weeks to go before we leave...but these days are going to be the best!  You can count on continuous updates during the Games!

Check out a panoramic picture of inside the Bird's Nest courtesy of my friend, Laura.  You can really see how massive the stadium really is.  Just click on the picture and scroll from side to side to pan around.

http://lmdotson.com/Pano/Birdsnest.html

Ted

High Speed Experience

On Sunday, Matt and I went with two other Missouri students down to Tianjin. We read that China unveiled a new bullet train, and we had to experience it for ourselves.



Watch our video from our day trip. The trip was a lot of fun, I hope to return to Tianjin before the end of August!

Mark

What would Simon say?

Few people often remember those who come in second place. The television show American Idol is no different. People remember Justin Guarini only because of his goofy hair and want to forget about Clay Aiken because his lyrics included being invisible and watching you in your room. Pretty creepy huh? In China it is no different as second place is often forgotten.

The first week in Beijing, I had the opportunity to visit a local news outlet known as the Beijing Youth Daily. During the hour-long tour, our guide named Tony showed several of us the convergence journalism happening at the paper. In a college dormitory-sized room, two men sat chatting with a couple. Tony told us that he was a celebrity. (Tony figured this as the woman sitting next to him was beautiful. That reminded me a little of America.) I snapped off a few pictures and then set out to find out who this guy was.
After five weeks of toting around a photo asking if someone knew who this guy was, I found an answer. I was talking to a few of my Chinese colleagues at the field hockey venue when a girl nicknamed Yezi started giggling. She said this guy named Wu Jian Fei was runner-up in the Chinese version of American Idol known as Good Boy. She also said he looked as he was more of a model. After searching that name, I confirmed that he is in fact a model.

It was tough for me to believe that people can't remember who came in second. American Idol had 35.5 million viewers during the premier episode last season. But then I get thinking, who does win second. Quick without opening a new window or tab, tell me who got second in American Idol. It is a little tougher than you may think.

Second place answers: Justin Guarini, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo, Bo Bice, Katharine McPhee, Blake Lewis and David Archuleta

Here's a little more food for thought. What do you think China's Ryan Seacrest looks like?
Lothrop out

Day 34 [5 DAYS TO GO] - Luggage

Hey Everyone!

I was able to make it to church today - the second time this trip. It was nice to be back to the South Cathedral. Four priests from London were there helping celebrate Mass. Then I met some friends at the Silk Market - another tourist mall where you barter for items. My goal was to find a small luggage piece to take back because I have accumulated a lot of souvenirs and knickknacks. The rest of the day was spent lounging around and ended with a game of cards with friends. Again, here are some pictures from the other night. Truly spectacular!

Ted

Day 33 [6 Days To Go] - Rehearsal

Hey Everyone!

WOW! What a day! We had training today at the NIS. Things are really coming along at the NIS. Almost ready! The men's U.S. team was there today and I got to interview the head coach on a number of current topics! It was such an amazing experience and I really felt like I was contributing to ONS. Again, I am unable to go into more detail due to privacy issues.

Today was a scheduled rehearsal day for the Opening Ceremonies. After noontime, the area was on lockdown and only those with special, extra credentials were allowed onto the Green. We were given the credentials which allowed us to come on and off the grounds. In the evening, we headed to the Green to watch the rehearsal. We meandered around the Green and took pictures of the fireworks. We camped out across the Bird's Nest - there's a lake south of the Bird's Nest and the reflection of the lights is really pretty. The show was amazing and included five Olympic rings done in firework displays and "2008" numbering with smiley face fireworks. We also got to see the inside of the Bird's Nest as well. It was one of those awestruck moments seeing the massive stage. I could have spent all night in there, but it was late. I think tonight was one of the coolest things I've done in a long time - yeah, it's sad to say that. Anyway, I really felt the Olympic spirit tonight!

Ted