Flipping through the Olympics

The Olympics are going by so fast, and its such an exciting time. You never really know if its going to live up to the hype, or if Beijing succeeded in sucking the 'fun' out of the Olympics - as was predicted by many western media. The truth is, it may have gotten off to a bit of a slow start, with the Olympic Green not being open to the public, but they've certainly made up for lost time. I've now been to the Olympic Green since events have been going on in the bird's nest, and I'm not sure they could have it any other way. It is completely packed, every venue and almost every seat is taken. Not to mention you can hardly walk for all the people packing the space that just last week, and audi was able to cruise down easily. That audi wouldn't be able to make it at all this week, without a police escort!


After the diving last week, I went to wrestling and boxing, both of which are not on the Olympic Green, and therefore, lose out big time in the fun factor for me. However, the highlight was snagging passes to the American House on Saturday night. The American House is the hospitality center for the Americans, its invite or pass only, and is primarily for families of athletes, the athletes and coaches themselves as well as members of the media and sports companies. There is a Nike store in the American House, daily postcards of top American moments, daily Olympic pins, a Lenovo laptop center were you can, gasp, rent a laptop for a day, Splenda bar (with splenda baked goods, smoothies and coffee), a hot buffet during meal times, grill all day, open bar, rooftop bar and athlete demonstration center. It's pretty amazing, and has been the highlight of the Olympic experience for me. All but the Nike store are free, which makes it even more amazing. As if you couldn't top that, all the people that work there are Americans who have volunteered their time, paid their own way to the Olympics, and are working there! It's incredible. Dom and I took a moment at the entrance to pose with a picture from the opening ceremony of the American athletes marching around the track. We pretty much blend right in, right?

This week I kicked off the Olympics by going to beach volleyball on Monday. This was at Chaoyang park, but was still pretty fun. I went with my friend MJ, who is visiting from New York. She used to work at Ogilvy with me and is the woman behind the J&J Olympic campaign, Yin Ai Er Sheng - roughly translated as 'to live because of love'. It's a fabulous campaign that made huge headlines in China. Going to the event as her guest, was pretty much like going to an event with a rock star. Not because J&J hooked us up (they didn't) but because she took advantage of 4th of July sales to load up on American paraphernalia. MJ is no doubt, the most popular person at the Beijing Olympics. If you are with MJ, everyone wants a picture with you. Everyone wants to try on her hat. Everyone that walks by you, for the most part, says something to you. Whether its another American saying "Go USA", or a Chinese person wanting to have a mini photo shoot with you, or just someone scouting tickets - everyone will speak to you. Note to self - at next Olympics, be sure to bring OTT (over the top) dress attire. It amps up the fun factor exponentially.

Last night, I went to the gymnastics with Helena and saw Shawn Johnson (my favorite) win Gold on the balance beam. When I say I saw her, I mean I saw a small blur at a great distance, I mostly watched it on TV like everyone else, having to look to the big screens to really see her. It was a packed stadium and we were on the side where the parallel bars were. Nastia Liukin got Silver, so it was USA, USA, China. Felt good, and I was so pleased for Nastia and Shawn after some skeptical judging calls in the Gymnastics. Romania gave a great performance, she only faltered slightly on her landing. China faltered four times but got bronze, mysteriously... That home court advantage is really something to be reckoned with. Especially as the Chinese gymnasts were only 13 years old last year, and miraculously are 16 this year. I think they aren't old enough to compete, its being called the 'cheat' Olympics... One thing that is undisputed, is that they are very good, but there is a certain obnoxious favoritism that is affecting the judges in the gymnastics area, if you ask me.

You might be wondering why Dom has not been attending these events with me. That's because he's been to the Olympic Green almost every day, been going to numerous events and has decided that he doesn't want to go with me to certain things. Basically, he's not gotten over me taking him to 'synchronized' diving... He's been having a blast and is out to all hours enjoying the Olympics to their fullest. He's been to boxing (3 times), football (soccer), and is at the athletics as I type, this time, with the two ayis and Niamh. I'm sad I can't be there to take the princess myself, but we only had three tickets, and as Dom and I are going to the athletics together on Friday, I thought it would be nice to make sure the ayis both got to go to the Games - of which, neither one of them had tickets! We couldn't let them miss this event, and Dom bringing Niamh means they won't back out of it, because really, he must 'need' them there! Expect cute pictures to follow of Niamh at the Olympic Green. I've had her outfit picked out for days...