This is a Blog not a Livejournal

As the title says, I really should stop using this site as a public diary and more as a medium for communicating how awesome and unique being in Beijing in the summer of 2008 is. Arrogant bantering aside, I realized that I have the opportunity to spend a lot of time getting to know Beijing, practicing Mandarin, and then come out fully prepared to report on the Olympic Games.
Here's an article to consider: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3453777&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1
Very nice article appearing on ESPN's Outside the Lines, eloquently phrasing all thoughts that I've already considered. Bob Holtzman has nothing on me except a contract with ESPN. So I've been here 3 weeks now and have discussed Beijing and the game quite extensively with my tutees. The general lack of excitement has surprised me and I wonder if that sentiment is shared by residents of other Olympic cities. Surely Athenians weren't complaining about the additional traffic and safety regulations in 2004 were they? I think Beijing cannot be compared to Athens or Sydney or Atlanta though, because those cities did not have the crowding problems that this city experiences. When I ask them for their feelings on Beijing, nearly all my co-workers say something like, "Uhh the traffic...it's too much, too many people." The streets are crowded, the roads are crowded and the subway is crowded...in fact its hard to tell which one of those three is the most overwhelmingly flooded. So when you throw in the expected 3 million visitors from all over China as well as all over the world, some level of apprehension is only natural. However I'm sure during the Opening Ceremonies, Chinese flags will be waving everywhere and national pride will be on full display as the world hears the scream of a billion people. I'm looking forward.

Olympic tickets are slow to come buy. Did you know that a google search for "Olympic tickets" momentarily resets your connection? Wow, I guess the government doesn't want to encourage scalping. I need a proxy server badly. Hope I don't get arrested for posting that.

Here's another article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1813778,00.html that I found while posting on my brother's wall. Hi DJ I know you're reading this. Anyways its written by his ex-girlfriend, a Chinese-born British-raised Harvard-educated Francophone, but basically it really eloquently describes the sentiments felt by Han ethnics with a Western upbringing.

Anyways I hope to really apply my knowledge of sports with my cultural perceptions and really get a complete understanding of the 2008 Summer Olympics. In life news, I played Ultimate today for the first time in over a month...and wow. It was this weird pickup game where if you make a mistake, you run off the field and someone takes your place, and it was 5v5 with about 30 people playing. So in the States I'd be furious that so many people were on the sideline, but here I was thankful because I was constantly gassed. A combination of minimal conditioning and the polluted air really has taken a toll on my lungs and the points were rather painful. Yeah, that's going to affect the Olympics, although Beijing is rapidly seeking to change that. One of the more drastic policies is a driving restriction that will take place on July 20th in which even numbered plates and odd numbered plates will switch off days in which they can drive. So half the people will drive one day, and the other half will drive the next. They had a 4 day experiment with this policy in May and apparently it did lower the pollution so I'm hopeful. However that policy is not without obvious consequences, not the least of which is that the already overloaded subway system is going to scream in agony. Also the 66,000 cabs will be on the road all the time. I do not envy Beijing city officials.