Live Wire Blog

Countdown to Olympics opening ceremonies

Posted on Aug. 4, 2008 by Karen Pojmann
Category: Mizzou in China

GUEST BLOG

Five days and counting
A friend of mine who has been living in Beijing for the last three years said the countdown signs have been in Beijing since the city won the bid to host the 2008 summer Olympics. Tonight, she said it seems unreal that the countdown for the days to the Olympics is in the single digits. I see more and more people with credentials to access venues, more security employees and more swatches of Olympic colors than any day before in the month that I’ve been here. I am torn between two feelings: one of excitement and one of anxiety. Am I well enough prepared? We’ve been going to training at our venue for so many days that I feel comfortable with what I am supposed to do, but none of the mock interviews and press conferences can approach what I think the Olympics will actually feel like. I try not to think too hard about it. Maybe when it hits I won’t have time to worry and I’ll be OK. Stay tuned!
-Beth Androuais

Night on the Green
The [Olympic] Green is stunning at night. Runway-style lights line the huge plaza as each building is lit to emphasize its unique grandeur. I’m sure as soon as the tourists arrive, the scene will feel like a wonderland. We saw stages and screens set up everywhere. I can’t wait for the games to start.

Ted called after work to say he had good news. To my surprise and joy, he pulled out a pass saying “Rehearsal” on it. It wasn’t actually a pass into the Bird’s Nest for the opening ceremony rehearsal, but it was a pass onto the Olympic Green. We set up just south of the Nest over the pond and waited. They didn’t disappoint us. Not only was everything lit up last night, but they shot off fireworks several times throughout the practice. Now, if I had my tripod and wide-angle lens, these would be awesome, but they’ll do.

As people were swarming out, one of our Chinese colleagues mentioned her friend getting inside after the last rehearsal. I was very skeptical. But, sure enough, no one stopped us. It is completely amazing. Walking between the huge pillars that make up the outside of the nest, you can only see a little sliver of what’s inside the stands. But, as you approach, it just opens up into an amazingly huge stadium. Everything circles around unobstructed to the very top. It is something to behold.

This week starts “podium training” for the gymnasts. Nope, it’s not showing them what it’s like to win a medal, though that would be kinda cool. Athletes get to train and work out on the equipment in the FOP (field of play), which then journalists and FQRs can watch and ask questions. I finally got my first true Olympic interview. Granted, it was two questions because the athlete was in a hurry, but it still counts! INFO ‘08 published it! We as flash quotes reporters do an interview with an athlete and then run it back to the office, where a copytaker takes it down and sends it off to the editors. If it’s approved, it gets published on INFO 2008, which is the Internet one-stop shop for accredited journalists. Complete with everything from daily weather and traffic to full coverage of past tournaments and biographies, it makes research soooo much easier.

This interview also was my first use of an interpreter, since [the athlete] was a Japanese gymnast and spoke no English. You really take language for granted, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time I would be lost in translation without an interpreter. It went well, though. Now I just need to learn Japanese to see if any newspapers use them.
-Laura Dotson

International friends
The past few days I have been training at the National Indoor Stadium with my new Chinese friends.

This is a picture my friend Rosy (that is her English name) took the other day in our staff training room at the National Indoor Stadium. I am getting really excited about the Olympics starting and cannot believe they are just four days away! All the journalists are beginning to arrive, so it has been really exciting to be at the Olympic Green the past couple of days.

Two days ago my friend Sarah and I were walking around near the Lama Temple after dinner and an older man came up to us and started talking in German. After we told him we were American, he started talking in broken English. He told us his name was Yalcin Ozer. and that he competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics, representing Germany in gymnastics. Now he is 66 years old and has been to every Olympics since he first competed, except for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Despite his age, Yalcin still has young muscles, a great sense of humor and the ability to stay out later than I can, and his kind smile makes him a friend to almost everyone — even if he doesn’t speak the same language.
-Paige Hansen