Well – here I am in Beijing! I have no idea what day it is or how much sleep I have been deprived. It just hurts my head to even try to figure it out! According to Beijing time it is Friday, August 22nd at 6 in the morning. As you can see, I managed to get packed and out of town on Tuesday. With only 2 hours sleep I got everything done and was on my way. Although it appears that Fay had a delayed arrival we were glad that we didn't take the chance on leaving Wednesday. Fortunately, we were able to get to Chicago on Tuesday, met up with Brandon on Wednesday to continue on to Beijing. The flight was LONG but uneventful – except for 40 minute delay that made our tight schedule in Beijing even tighter!
We arrived at our hotel with about 15 minutes to spare before heading over to the Olympic Green for our first event! We quickly met our 4th traveling companion, Hector, who is from Columbia as we raced to catch the bus, and before we knew it we were getting our first glimpse of the Birds Nest! Even thought it was overcast and a bit hazy, the Olympic flame burned brightly and just took my breath away! It was hard to believe that just a day earlier I was sitting at home, on the other side of the world, watching it on TV! It was quite a hike and required going through a security check but soon we were in the stadium. While it was getting dark outside, as we walked into the stadium there was a bright glow of light and a wall of energy that just pulsated from inside! Once we got to our seats, which were only about 13 rows from the track, we were just pinching ourselves! We couldn’t believe that after all these months of working and planning we were actually here!! We were at the track and field events and there were things going on everywhere! We were watching the triple jump, relay races, hurdles, women’s javelin and so much more. It was pretty wild to see the little remote control model cars that they used to retrieve the javelins. That would be a kid's dream job! It was so cool to look around and see people from all over the world, laughing, cheering and celebrating these AMAZING athletes! It was so incredible to see the look on the athletes’ faces (on the jumbo screens) as they received their Olympic medals, and listened to their national anthem as their flags were raised. It was just awesome to watch USA take all three medals in the 400 meter!
Well, it is now early Friday morning, Beijing time, I have just a few hours sleep and we are off to the Great Wall for the day and then to the men’s basketball semi-finals tonight. Hope I can sleep on the bus!
These photos are from our first night at the Bird's Nest.
1 comment:
It was great to get your update. I too watched some of these same events on television last night. I am totally confused about the change in time, but I think it is 5:30 Friday in Beijing as I write. I am starting my work day, and you have spent your day at the Great Wall! Don't forget to keep your eyes open for Michael Phelps!
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