Can we play sports now?

Guarding the street so the motorcades could pass, post ceremony
The PLA soldiers looking quite stern

八月八日0八年

A collective sigh of relief was breathed here in Beijing as the Opening Ceremonies went off with out a hitch. Spectacular - yes. Memorable - thankfully not especially, just as no other Opening Ceremonies have been save for those that encountered some disaster. Mostly significantly from my perspective, they are over and they were impressive for the domestic and international audiences. And finally the sporting events and athletes can take over the attention.

On 8月8日08年 8/8/08 I was feeling a bit ill from my ongoing flu I battle here in China and was undecided till the last moments about whether and where to witness the grand event. I got a call late in the day from my French - Chinese friend Annie who invited me to eat Peking Duck with her family at Da Dong, one of Beijing's top duck joints. As I took the subway downtown to Da Dong, Beijing was sooooo quiet. The government requested that people enjoy the ceremonies from home, and also step up stop points on the perimeter roads to restrict entrance into the city for residents only.

That evening, For the first time I remember in Beijing, the subway had lots of open seats, we didn't need a reservation at Da Dong, the streets were literally bare! We enjoyed our duck then walked next door to a bar where again, despite their big screen presentation of the ceremonies, the place was dead empty and the staff were very happy to see us!

The hardest part of the night was crossing the street to get home as I live near a main boulevard that connects the Birds Nest to Tiananmen district where China's central leaders and dignitaries stay. The photos of the street blocking are above. Excitement was certainly in the air that night, however a stronger feeling was that of restraint as foreigners and Beijingers alike minded the law and basically tried to stay out of the way so the ceremonies could proceed smoothly.

Mens Volleyball China vs. Bulgaria

And now we can actually watch an amazingly talented and well trained group of athletes do their thing! Sunday night (8/10) I attended men's volleyball Beijing's Capital Gymnasium. The venue was great and the crowd of about 90% Chinese and 10 % foreigners showed up to see Bulgaria punish the Chinese men's team in 4 sets. Although security was supposed to limit political expression in the athletic events. I guess yellow sloganed t-shirts announcing "we support and cheer for the workers of Beijing" did not count as political, poor Marx would be disappointed to hear of that!

The match was good and it actually just felt good to be putting attention to the game, to the athletes, and not all of the other crap that surrounded the lead up to the games. It was surreal to just be in an Olympic event. For this event I invited my professor from CAS, and she sent along her mother and brother to attended the event with me. It was good fun, although I really felt I had to hold my applause for Bulgaria amidst my Chinese boss & in the Chinese dominated crowd! I have seen what fervent nationalism can lead to in athletic events!