Bye Bye Beijing

I just lived through the longest, and yet, fastest 6 weeks of my life. I am sitting on a plane en route to the United States, typing to keep my fear of flying at bay as we streak across the Pacific Ocean. I’m sitting and thinking back on the past day, week, month, etc…and find it hard to place times with events that happened during my time in Beijing.

On my last night in China, I sat at a swanky jazz bar in Beijing with two friends and the scene was wildly surreal – the Chinese jazz band (with a female songstress) effortlessly, but with funk, covered melodies from Miles Davis and John Coltrane; the drink menu was listed on a 2 foot tall cylinder in code that was only decipherable by a red cover that moved up and down the illuminated tube; liquor bottles were shelved in human sized bird cages; and for my first time in Beijing, the wines were more expensive than what you find in the States for the same drink. The club was at The Hilton, where our marketing and executive staff stayed and rooms ran close to $800 a night during the Olympics, which somewhat explains the posh atmosphere.

As we drank our libations, we noted how we would recall an action or event and think it happened days or weeks ago, only to realize it occurred that very morning. Days were looooong, but weeks were swift.

The 2008 Olympic Games are over, yet even The Movement continues forward. Although most of the USOC staff have departed and returned home, a few have stayed to work the Paralympic Games which begin in a few days and will be held at the same venues employed for the Olympic Games. A whole new set of amazingly talented athletes will descend upon Beijing, but with much less attention unfortunately.

It’s hard to process the experience at the moment – it is all too fresh. As my boy Adam noted, we’ll look back on things that angered us in a few weeks and laugh and realize the gravity of the adventure we just completed.

But for my friends and family who faithfully read my stream of conscious scribed across the wireless galaxy, self-actualized processing needs to be immediate and uploaded! So I will do my best, after all, I am sitting on a 12 hour flight in business class (a perk for working at the airport with our extremely helpful United peeps). After all, I am here on this work trip only to serve….

The Beijing Soundtrack

Anyone who knows me knows two of my passions are music and movies. They also know one of my obsessions to over analyze life. Combine all three and you get what I call musical soundtracks to my life if certain portions were turned into movies. I never said I wasn’t a little special. Without further ado…my Beijing soundtrack, volume 1.

Shook Ones by Mobb Deep
The Message by Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five
“Don’t push me cuz I’m close to the edge. I’m just trying not to lose my head.”

Working an Olympic Games is hard work. Your days are extremely long, you live in small quarters (at least the folks at BNU and the Village did), you get minimal sleep, you are away from friends, family, and the culture you are used to. Everything is different. You don’t get days off. You work not for yourself but for a larger goal that you see others easily forget. Its rough. For me, I didn’t have one responsibility I could focus in on. I was assigned to several tasks that were very diverse from each other, which was tough. And honestly, I don’t think many people can do it. You could see it on people’s faces towards the end. Some people crack, others shine. We all got testy. I relied on people back home for inspiration (thanks Mom and Lindsay, you guys saved me in ways you never know). Other times, small things got you through the day. Amazing how a smile or pat on the back or watching an incredible race got you through the next couple of 15 hour days.

Can You Feel It by The Jacksons
The energy surrounding Beijing the days before and after the Opening Ceremonies was incredible. I can’t think of a more perfect song to describe it. And just like the video, we all hoped and looked to athletes larger than life to make it rain gold.

Beautiful Day by U2
The rain in Beijing always cleared up the skies and cooled off the temperature. And it truly illuminated how beautiful the city is. Lush green mountains, towering high rises for miles, clear skies…truly picturesque.

What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye
The Chinese do business very differently from the way we do business in the States. That isn’t they are wrong and we are right, or vice versa. It is a statement of fact. And this fact made work for us challenging on more than a few occasions. At times, you couldn’t worry about winning “the battle.” Sometimes you had push and compromise and swallow your pride and do what was best for the team, even if that meant more work for you. But before coming up with new solutions to resolve conflicts or hurdle obstacles, we were all left shaking our heads trying to figure out what the hell was going on half the time.

Eat It by Weird Al Yankovich
This was one of my favorite songs as a kid. I would stay up late at night just watch the video come on MTV back when they actually played videos. So this song comes to mind with all the various food options I cam across. Although I never at a fried scorpion, I know friends who did. I did eat more McDonald’s and KFC than I imagined I ever would in Asia. The food at BNU, thanks my man Adam and Miss Terri who I think secretly runs at least a pocket of Beijing, was ridiculously incredible. And healthy.

But my favorite memory comes from the time I had dinner with Jacque, Adam, and Beth and bit into a dumpling – only to realize (a little too late) that it was filled with not only pork, but also some type of vinegar sauce. As I bit down on it, I heard it squish and pop and watch out of the corner of my eye as juice sot out across the table nearly scalding Jacque’s face. We all shared a food laugh.

You’re So Vain by Carly Simon
One of the disheartening things about the experience was the number of people I came across who weren’t athletes, yet completely thought the Olympic Games were about them and for them. Maybe I’m just a sport purest and think the Olympics are about excellence in sport performance on the world’s grandest stage. And I realize that with the support of fans, friends, family, staff, etc. the Games wouldn’t be the extravaganza it is. But ultimately, it all comes back to the athletes and their experience. They come first. And when I saw people push that concept aside or not take that into consideration at all and instead place the fulfillment of their desires first, I would find myself shaking my head. It certainly causes the Games to lose a bit of the luster it attempts to illuminate.

Inner City Blues by Marvin Gaye
Staying at BNU gave us a chance to see and experience much more of the culture of Beijing than what would have been experienced had I stayed at the Hilton or what was seen around the competition venues. The culture of Beijing is very different. Although the people of China were extremely nice and generous, there were just so many things about the everyday of life of the populace I couldn’t get used to. Now I never saw any of the abject poverty I imagine may exit in the country provinces outside the city and most of what I saw never made me sad, just uncomfortable.

People spat with regularity, whether outside or inside. And they let you know it was coming as they hawked them up from deep down, gutturally calling to their ancestors to bless their phlegm. Infants usually didn’t wear diapers; instead they wore pants with slits in them and no underwear. And when nature called, they went. Sometimes the parent lifted the child above a trash can and helped them shake it out. Other times, they joined them in the process and merely squatted along with them.

Because of the socialist system(my guess), most Chinese people you worked with never made decisions. And if you needed to solve a problem that arose, it was often a painful process to get taken care of because you always had to go through some immense bureaucratic process, or talk to 12 managers to receive authorization 10 days later. We found that if you became very aggressive (but not violent or threatening) and asked a lot of questions, you could out last that person’s patience and get what you wanted. This also worked with haggling at the various markets. Unfortunately, this brings out an easily agitated and flippant disposition in me that I did not enjoy. I am glad to be leaving that behind.

There were also very dissimilar ideas of what was considered hygienic to our own. People washed their underwear in the street. Some shop owners sold items wearing only pants. Folks were always moping, but never changed out the water. Beijing city life was interesting, but not for me in the long run.

Mathematics by Mos Def
· China was going after 119 overall medals and won 100 (51 gold)
· The US set the bar for 45 golds and earned 36 (110 overall)
· Over 100,000 Chinese volunteers were employed and could be found everywhere.
· The US had the largest team delegation with 594 athletes
· I stayed in China from July 17th through August 28th
· 6.8 rmb = $1
· China spent over 2 billion dollars on their sport performance plan
· The USOC budget is generally around $100 million per year
· An estimated 14 million people live in Beijing
· Over 350 million people in China don’t have access to clean drinking water
· The US has approximately 300 million in population
· Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals or 22% of the US Team’s gold medal haul, he now has 13 overall
· Someone lifted more than 550 pounds over their head to win a gold medal in men’s weightlifting
· 9.69 and 19.30, the times Usain Bolt flashed through the 100 and 200 meter dashes in world record time
· 20 - number of hours I slept over the course of 6 weeks, 20,000 - the number of hours I worked (both wild approximations)
· 50 – the number of hours I will sleep this weekend
· 0 – the number of hours I will work this weekend
· 2 – the number of suits I had made in Beijing
· 2 – the number of Chinese women I found attractive
· 1 bike purchased in Beijing
· 350 – the amount of rmb spent on said bike ($51 American)
· 2 – the number of glasses of wine in now takes me to become intoxicated

For the Cool in You by Babyface
Superstar by Lupe Fiasco

American Boy by Estelle with Kanye West

The Chinese love Americans. I had my picture taken daily. Seriously. I know I’m pretty, but even that was a bit much. And Beijing went bonkers for Kobe Bryant, Dwane Wade, Michael Phelps, anyone who was blonde or African American, gymnasts, Jenny Lang Ping, and pretty much anyone on Team USA.

The World Is Yours by Nas
The Olympics really catered to the athletes competing. The Athlete Village was amazing. BNU was incredible and we went above and beyond expectations to provide an incredible training environment and an even more memorable experience for our athletes.

But the Games belonged to the Chinese more than anyone. The Opening Ceremonies were ridiculous. 51 golds! Wow. They were winning everywhere and everything. The venues were breath taking. They truly opened their doors to the world and proved they are a force to be taken seriously.

I Miss You by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
For all us of who were away from our families and loved for such a long time. This trip also makes you realize how much you really love American culture and your material possessions and so many little things we take for granted. Like English, telephones, washers and dryers, coffee, good plumbing, pedestrian right of way, running trails, 8 hour work days, weekends, and so much more.

Jigga What by Jay Z
The album version of this song is also called Nigga what, Nigga who. And the two words I most often heard in mandarin were jiega and niega. But there pronounced jigga and nigga. They mean “this” and “that.” And I could never get used to hearing “that” in mandarin.

Midnight in a Perfect World by DJ Shadow
The lighting of the Torch during Opening Ceremonies was incredible and took place during the midnight hour. No one could have imagined how insanely cool that would be. London and Vancouver have their work cut out for them.

Too Hot by Kool and the Gang
During the days when humidity was at its peak and the sun was shining bright, the temperature inside and out was stifling. Even for a heat lover like myself it got tough. Those first few weeks were impossible to stay hydrated. You were sweating out everything you took in. And most buildings had poor cooling systems, so you were always sweating. Working out was tough. The days I was on the track with former teammate Eli Bremer, we were drenched 10 minutes into our warm up.

Even though I'm now back in the States, I'll keep throwing out a few post Beijing thoughts. I still have to document my Walmart and Hooters experiences, as well as my visit to the Great Wall and other notable stories. So stay tuned!

Back at the airport

I can't believe I am in the stretch run. Almost 5 weeks in the book. The Games are winding down and I am heading back to the airport - this time to make sure everyone gets back on to the plane and back home.

After that first day at the airport, I never properly talked about how crazy it was. It got soooooooo packed with media. It got scary at times. And it was draining. Just look at the throng of people waiting for Team USA to come out of baggage claim. One glance and you can see why we had to "sneak" Michael Phelps into Beijing. It was normal practice to bring 4 or 5 of our biggest staff members to serve as body guards as we escorted athletes to the Village buses and away from the crowds.

Check this series of pics to see how packed things got. I only hope it doesn't get this way the second time around. Wish me luck.

So your family works in textiles...and ham.

My experience here in China has been amazing. But that is simple and ambiguous. And obviously fitting with the USOC's ad campaign "Amazing Awaits."

At times it has been amazingly beautiful, other times is has been amazingly maddening, and from to time it is amazingly depressing. I imagine that with all the good must come some bad - or at least tough moments...

So here are some of my top "amazing moments" in no particular order (and I pretty much pulled them out of my arse).

Amazingly Heartbroken

On the first day of competition, I went to see my good friend Emily Caruso compete in women's 10m air rifle. Her event was the first medal opportunity of the Games and she hooked me up with a personal ticket. Before I continue, some back history...Emily and I dated on and off for nearly 2 years (2003-05). I was young, stupid and wanted to be an international player and wound up treating her terribly in the process. This is something I will always regret and never forgive myself for because she is a great person and will make some guy very happy for the rest of his life. But despite acting like an evolving bipedal troglodyte, she gave me the chance to remain great friends with her and for this I am very grateful. And I was very happy to be in China to watch her compete. Or so I thought...

Who really wants to watch anyone shoot at a target 10 meters away for 75 minutes? Apparently a lot of Chinese. I got to the event an hour early and didn't even get into the venue. Despite having a ticket into the shooting complex, I couldn't get into the event and see her shoot because it filled to capacity quickly. Instead, I had to go into the venue where the final would be held and wait for 2 hours, hoping that Emily would push past the prelim shoot. And when she didn't make it, I was crushed. For a million reasons, but most importantly because she didn't fulfill her goal and dream of winning an Olympic medal. She missed making the final by one shot. (Women shoot 40 shots on a 10 point target the size of a dime. 400 is a perfect score. The top 8 shooters advance. #8 to advanced with a score of 396, Emily shot a 395. She missed it by an eye lash quite literally. This was pretty much the same result she had in 2004).

After the final, I snuck my way into the athlete area and found her. People were asking her for interviews, but when she saw me, she came over and we walked to a quiet space to get away. There I hugged her and she cried. And I cried. Ask anyone who knows me...I am not one who cries. I am surprised to know I have tear ducts. But I wanted to see my friend succeed so badly that it hurt to see her come up short. And it hurt even more to see that realization on her face. I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about it now.

I told her I was proud of how she competed and that she should be as well. I told her she was amazing just to be here when so many people gave up on her. I told her she was great...and it is all true. I don't know if it helped...but I think me just being there lifted her spirits a bit.

In the following days, we hung out a bit and talked about her future and and her emotions. And in the end I was very happy to be there for my friend...even if it made me cry.

Amazingly Bad Draw

Another good friend of mine is epee fencer Seth Kelsey. He and I have trained and competed against one another in fencing as well as Rock Band. He is unique in every way imaginable. He is also a great fencer, arguably one of the best ever for the US. He has been on fire the last 6 months, winning medals at international tournaments no American ever has. This elevated his world ranking to 5th in the world coming into the Games, giving him a great seeding.

Yet somehow, he drew the absolute worst person he could get...Fabrice Jeannetof France (who is the fencer I dream of being). And we were all worried. Seth is one of the more confident people I know, but he was not happy with his draw. His opponent should be ranked in the top 3 on the world, not top 30. Yet as we say, in order win, you have to beat everyone at some point.

Sadly, Seth couldn't pull it off. He started out cautious, going down 5-1 early. But he came back strong to take the lead at 8-9. But the Frenchman was too good and experienced in the end and Seth lost a heart breaker 15-12. Jeannet went on to win the silver medal. Go figure.

Amazingly Random

A few nights after both Seth and Emily competed, we were all hanging out on the roof deck of the USA House. The USA House is where our marketing department rubs elbows with sponsors to make money for our athletes. It is very different from the performance side of the USOC, but just as essential for gaining revenue that allows us to best care for our athletes.

Anyway, we were hanging out and talking about random things. Our conversations are usually always random, but they were enhanced with the help of some Dionysian libations. In any case, the subject of Emily's Italian ancestry came up. And Seth, being the most well traveled out of all of us mentioned that Emily's family originates from northern Italy where her peoples would have specialized in textiles....and ham. How he knows this, I have no clue freaking clue, but it was hilarious and is a prime example of Seth's amazing uniqueness. Never a dull moment around him.

Amazing Grace

One of the several jobsI have here in China is serving as a training partner for one of my old teammates Eli Bremer. Although it isn't an official responsibility, it helps to have a rabbit for some of his runs as well as someone who he can talk to during workouts. And I am more than happy to oblige him.

One day when we were working out the BNU High Performance Training Center track, we shared the running lanes with none other than 400 meter runner Jeremy Wariner. Wariner and his partners were doing 150 meter sprint repeats while we were doing some 200's and 1k's. Now we were by no means going slow. We were cruising through 400 splits at mid 60's and hitting 200's at 29's. But we can't come close to comparing ourselves to Wariner. So we stopped just to watch him run through a few intervals. And talk about a beautiful stride. Wow. Long and graceful, smooth and effortless. It was crazy to watch him glide across the track. He didn't look as if he was putting any effort in, but he absolutely gobbled up the track. Eli and I could only giggle giddily.

Amazingly Small

The television really does add weight to people. You have no clue about anybody's size until you see them up close.

Jeremy Wariner might be really fast, but he is a twig. I have more muscle mass then he does, and I am lucky to weigh 145 pounds and stand 5 feet 8 inches at the moment. And that is the same for most of the track guys. Tyson Gay has the smallest feet ever and a jarringly thin upper body. Shalane Flannigan, bronze medalist in the women's 10k towers over her African counterparts, but she is lucky if she hits 5 feet even and 100 pounds.

I could go on, but the bottom line is that Olympians aren't as big or statuesque as we imagine. I have a much better physique. But this shouldn't surprise anyone ;-)

Amazingly Amazing

Just being able to experience all that I have so far and continue to cheer on our Olympians still competing.

A great night (morning) of swimming.

I'm spoiled. But I am also blessed. And thankful. I have a great job right now with AMAZING perks. I've been in China for nearly a month and still haven't had a full day off. However, I have been able to get some downtime to see some events recently. This morning happened to be one of them.

Today I got the chance to visit the Water Cube and check out some fantastic swimming. Have I mentioned I really enjoy my job and get some awesome perks?

When we got here, out supervisers told us to make a list of our top 3 picks to check for events we wanted to see and they would try their best to get us a ticket. My first two choices were obvious - modern pentathlon and men's epee fencing. I was offered a ticket to fencing but had to work that day, but in replace of it, I was given a ticket to this morning's session of swimming (which was evening for folks in the US).

If you didn't see it on tv, the roster of races that went on today were men's 200 m free final, men's and women's 100 back final, women's 100 breast final, men's 200 fly semi's, and women's 200 IM semi's. Not a bad replacement ticket. Haha....I can't even type that with a straight face.

The racing was ridiculous. Michael Phelps is SO INCREDIBLY FAST. It blows my mind how good he is. Back when I was still competing as an athlete, I had the honor of sharing pool space with him when he came down to CO to train for a brief altitude camp. My coach would pull me out of the water just to watch his technique and see how it supposed to be done.

Flawless. Efficient. Effortless. Really, really, really x 100...good.

While in CO I saw him do a workout where he kicked 50m faster than I could swim. That's really when I knew he was on a completely other level.

And that's the great thing about watching the Olympics and great athletes live. You truly get to see how talented they are. And for sport neds like me, that's akin to Malcolm X going to Mecca. Just opens your mind.

Outside of Phelps, it was great to see Team USA completely dominate the racing. 4 finals and 7 medals. Holy cow. 2 world records! Seriously? And I got to watch that in person?

Here are a few tidbits of inside info for you to nibble on...

• Phelps is a nice guy and shy. Who always tries to remain low key and is rarely demanding. he was great to work with when we picked him at the airport and got him onto the Village bus without notice.
• Phelps wanted that 200 record. You could tell because he wore the full body suit when he normally wears just the leg suit. It is really too bad we didn't get to see him race Ian Thorpe and Vandenhoogenban in their primes. He would have cleaned their clocks.
• Great to see Aaron Piersol win the backstroke in the 100 and break his world record. The guy is California cool. I don't think I have ever seen a more laid back person. And he is a U Texas alum. Gotta love that.
• Natalie Coughlin is hot. But you already knew that.

• Watching the racing in person is a bit anti-climatic. Its hard to tell who wins becuase they don't immediately display it on the monitor. At least not in finish order. They post it all according to lane assignment. So the entire crowd has to wait a few seconds to figure out who won when it is close. And every race looks close. Also, without the build-up from a television broadcast, you don't get that overwhelming feeling unless you know the sport and can appreciate what happened. For example, when Coughlin won, the crowd was kind of apathetic because it wasn't a world record. And that felt really odd. Here she won the gold and was 2 tenths off her record, yet the crowd was silent. Strange.
  
• Because of the seeming lack of crowd energy, it almost more fun to watch the racing on the big screen tv's we have in the dining hall with all the staff and athletes who are all cheering wildly. The energy after yesterday's men's 4 x 100 was ridiculously intense. One person said they could hear all the shouting and cheering while on the elevator coming off the 11th floor (dining is on the 2nd floor).


• The crowd at women's water polo was more intense than it was at swimming. Go figure.

• The warm up pool is behind the medal podium. It is out of view of camers and spectators.


• From my vantage point, Phelps is getting tired. He was stretching his legs all through the medal ceremony and immediately before his 200 fly. And in that race, he really took his time and conserved energy - which is hard to believe considering he broke his Olympic record. It is ridiculous how much better he is than everyone else. He should win 8 golds as long as everything holds up in the relays. His toughest challenge will be his teammate Ian Crocker in the 100 fly. But I would throw money on him winning 8.
• I talked to one of the coaches today and he had a great theory on why Phelps is so good. He believes it is because he has only had one coach, and that chemistry is so strong that it translates to some amazing perfomances. Bob Bowman knows exactly how far to push such a talented phenom...and it is scary how good he is.

That's all I have for now. I'll try and post more this week. Everything has been insanely busy up until a few days ago. And it will get crazy again shortly, so I'll do what I can to keep you all updated. Hope everyone is well! Please keep emailing me!

What day is it?

So I think it is somewhere around day 11 or 12 in China. The only way I know what specific day it is now by reading the elevator carpet first thing in the morning. Always tells me the day. Although I hear they misspelled Wednesday. We shall see.



As for dates....I'm starting to get a better idea with my new job. Its obvious that I have Mexican blood in me since I have about 5 jobs here in China. My latest job assignment is transportation - basically coralling US teams and as they fly into Beijing, helping them get their bags and on to whatever bus is needed. China being China, this is actually a lot harder than it seems.



Backing up a few steps, the way I know the date is by scrolling through travel manifest to see what teams are coming in on specific dates and be prepared for certina types of luggage that could pose problems. Ie, yesterday, archery came through. Our task was to make sure their bows and arrows came through. Canoe and Kayak also came in, so we had help them get their boats and oars in and loaded. Approximately 55 rowers came in with about 4 peices of luggage each. We had to make sure the team got onto a bus that took them to their training site, which is an hour outside Beijing, then make sure their bags got onto a another bus that would meet them there.

This still seems easy. But remember, this is China. Nothing is easy. For one, we need a credential that allows us access to get into baggage claim. The day before I sent a copy of my passport over to get the credential. Naturally, this fails because Chinese authorities keep changing the rules and wanted our actual passport. So I didn't get access, but my partner did. My partner being Matt Cramer, who works with Sport Partnerships in the USOC back in the States and runs airport transportation here in China for the US delegation. He and I will work well together as we have a working relationship that goes back to my US Cycling days where he served as a development coach.



Anyway, Matt got his credential. But not without a) hours of hastle; b) an interpreter who rocked; c) noticing his 5 day credential only lasts 1 day and that we have to do this every day!

So literally after 2 hours of working with the airport authorities, we get set up to snag our US team. Why snag? Well for one, after a 16 hour flight, people's curious minds our worse than normal and they tend to wander off like 3 year old kids, especially when they see shiny things and hear loud, appealing noises. Second, 5 of the 20,000 Chinese volunteers will come up and see our athletes and try to "help" by randomly grabbing bags and escorting them to a random bus that takes them to the athlete village. WE DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN. This is how people get sold into the Mongolian slave trade by accident and wind up spending the next 5 years wandering the Gobi desert.



So Matt goes on into the baggage claim area, I stay on the outside with our interpreter, Sarah Ye, who helped enormously and will more than likely prove quite useful in the future I am sure. The importance of a quality interpreter who also understands Chinese culture is essential and fully explaining this is a whole other posting (Sarah also knows a ton about basketball even though she has lived in China for all of her 20 years of existence and is white and attends Brandeis U in the States - and her fluency is in Mandarin in jarring at first). Luckily, we also had Doug Ingram on hand to help, with another interpreter who stands at 6 feet 5 inches. We also had a sign.



Even then people kept slipping through like stray cattle. And before the hungry BOCOG wolves could get to them , we had run into the fray and snatch them up and bring 'em back to the fold.



Controlled chaos. But we got it done.


Some highlights....

• Actually seeing groupies at the airport (pictured here, love the irony of sneaking a picture of groupies taking sneaky pictures). Two young girls wanted to see if they snag some man meat and go to their airport everyday to complete their mission. Hilarious.
• Getting to see a familiar athlete face. I've known Carissa Gump since I moved to the Springs 6 years ago, so it was a great morale boost to see her at the airport and welcome her to China. Even though we only got to chat for about 3 minutes (we talked about one of the books I recommended to her, she is an avid reader of anything and comes to me for good reads every week - I bye her book every 2 weeks or so).
• The creepy mascot robot that we think is a government spy.

That's all I have about my airport experience. Be on the lookout for my adventure to the Chinese Walmart (they actually have a Walmart Superstore) as well my most difficult assignment: making an Nintendo Wii Game System work.
I'm off to unload another truck, put together fencing equipment, and set up a pool for water polo practice. All before 3 pm (it is about to be 10 am here). Then I have a team meeting, followed by a possible trip to the Pearl Market to find equipment for our Athlete Lounge (pictures to come!).

Again, feel free to email me questions or comments or requests. Thanks mom and dad, it was great talking to you today, miss you guys a lot. Sorry to have gone 2 weeks!

I'll leave everyone with a few more tidbits:

• There are reportedly over 100,000 volunteers from China alone to work the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• BNU is reportedly more secure than the athlete village, even though our initial security check ins are guarded by 17 year female volunteers that make supermodels look fat.
• The air quality is actually good. This from our sports scientist Dr. Randy Wilbur,who has been researching pollution in China for the last 4 years and is one of my favorite 3 people at the USOC. So if he says it, I believe it. Will post more on this soon.
• The new Portishead album is pretty good.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Here is an idea of the wonderful air quality in China. That isn't rain or fog by the way. And people think Americans are snotty for wanting to wear masks. Speaking of which, the only people I have seen wear masks are the local folk. Go figure.

I'm not sure what to expect for the coming weeks. For the first week here, the air was great. But the past few days have been bad. We shall see.

T's Penthouse of Passion

So my peeps did me a solid and hooked me up with my own room on the top floor (11) of our BNU dorm. So big ups to Nicki "Fatkid" Robinson who runs housing here and my gal B Pz who runs venues.

Here is a picture of where the magic happens - and by magic I mean the 5 or 6 hours of sleep I get that is often interrupted by Crackberry emails at 4 am . By the way, I would have taken a picture of my bed and and bathroom, but I couldn't find an angle that would make that work, the room is that small. Sadly enough, this is about as good as international housing often gets. But I'm not complaining, I am really comfortable.

Pictures for Josh and Local Cuisine for Boobra

Random Pictures

On the left and right you will see a picture of Beijing National Stadium, aka The Bird's Nest (left background), where Opening Ceremonies will take place. On the right side of the picture is The Cube where I believe swimming will take place.

Both buildings are insane. When I first moved to Houston, I thought the Astrodome was massive and an impressive demonstration of a sport complex. Well the Bird's Nest seems like it is twice the size of the Astrodome and The Cube is actually illuminated and glows at night. Incredible is all I can say. I'll try and take better pictures this weekend.

Here is the boxing gym that was truly a pain in the rear to get unloaded and set up. The boxing team came in yesterday and they are the first American team to arrive in Beijing. I am pretty excited for the 9 guys who are set to compete. They have all been in Colorado since September. Boxing did something different this time around, brining the entire team together for a resident program, the first in over 20 years. For many of the guys on the team, it was their first time away from home and family for any extended period of time that wasn't for competition. And CO isn't the most diverse setting in the US, so it has been tough on them. But they are in China and ready to compete. I had dinner with one of the guys on the team tonight and all he kept saying was "gonna get that gold." He was pumped. His name is Deontay Wilder, great guy. About 6'5" and 200 pounds, jacked. But a gentle giant. He has a kid who is battling a rare disease (can't remember off the top of my head) and boxes in hopes of going pro to help pay for medical expenses. You'll probably hear his name and see his face a lot during the Games (he is one of the models for Ralph Lauren, a new sponsor). Also ate with another boxer, Luis Yanez. Normally rambunctous and gregarious, he was a lot more focused and quiet tonight. He had a run in with the coach before flying in and almost was taken off the team, and I think that really put a scare into him. But that scare has him focused soley on boxing now. I gave him a hug when I saw him and made sure to tell him I was glad he made it to China because he has earned it. Now he can take care of business.

As I mentioned before, one of my jobs in China will be to work at the training pool. Here we are looking at the water. Jay T Kearny dropped something and we were trying pick it up. The facility is great.

Local Cuisine

So far I have eaten McDonald's everyday. My stay in China is actually a sequel to Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super-Size Me. Not really, of course, at least about the movie, but I have eaten at the Golden Arches every morning so far. Why you ask? Well for several reasons.

1) Dining services here at BNU just opened tonight. First breakfast is tomorrow.

2) McDonald's is cheap. We have per diem, but it has to last 6 weeks. My breakfast of choice - pancakes, sausage, hashbrown, and coffee is less than 20 Rmb. That is a little more $3 American.

3) We have team meetings starting at 7:30 am. I am not a morning person, so I want to find the closest place possible that serves coffee and allows me to get that extra 5 minutes of sleep.

Thankfully, BNU is serving full meals tomorrow. And tonight's dinner was FANTASTIC. I have to give a shout out to Terri Moreman, Director of Food Services, Jacque Hamilton, Head Chef, and my boy Adam "AK 47" Korzun (who runs the menu) - they rocked it tonight. And the dining hall was swank.

Speaking of Jacque and Adam, they finally got me out to have some actual Chinese food, or as Speacial K puts it, some Shanhinese food because the culinary style hails from Shanghai. This was late last night and it was an adventure just getting there. My gal, Beth "B Pz" Porreca also joined us. First off, the taxi cab driver didn't know where the restaurant was even though we had someone who lives in Beijing write it out for us in Mandarin. The driver actually got out of his cab and asked other drivers for directions, then dropped us off at the wrong location.

After walking around for about 15 minutes, we finally found the establishment, which to our surprise, was a bit fancier than we had anticipated. We all walked in with shorts and flip flops and this joint looked like it required a lot more than a shirt and shoes for service. But our culinary heroes had a connect that got us in, so we were cool - until we saw the menu.

a) Apps were about 40 rmb and main dishes were about 150 to 700 rmb. I'm used to paying no more than 30 for a meal. Like I said, I am cheap.

b) The menu advertised things like pork and fish. But not just pork chops, ribs, fillets, but the entire animal. So pictures displayed fish and pig heads well roasted.

No matter, we had a connect and Special K was buying. But I was still concerned. I was starving after a long day of hauling boxes and equipment, setting up venues, and making snap decisions to resolve unforseen problems. And I wanted a lot of food that I knew would taste well. Shanghainese food didn't quite fit into that equation. But I had to try. I was moody, but my peeps were excited for something new so what the hell. I needed to be social.

Adam orders sweet and sour pork, house noodles, some type of bbq noodle plate, and dumplings. Everything was ok. Not my cup of tea, but ok. The funniest moment was me trying to eat a dumpling. As soon as I bit into the center, I heard it squish and watched out of the corner of my eye as some type of vinegar sauce went flying across the white clothed table, nearly scalding Jacque's eyes. It was hilarious. We were those stupid Americans.

In any case, I had my Chinese dinner. And now its back to American cuisine. Although neither amount to the Chinese Hooters I tried the other day. But that is a whole other story.

RMB Is Not How Chinese People Mispronounce a Musical Genre

So I am in China. I can't tell you how long I have been in Beijing because honestly, I have no clue. I left July 16th at 6 AM from Colorado Springs and arrived in China at approximately 2:30 pm July 17th. I was in an airplane for somewhere around 16 hours and slept through about 10 of them. And yes Ma, the airplane was one of those double deckers you ask about, but it was surprisingly not that cool.

Since being in Beijing, I have been doing back breaking work, literally. Well maybe not literally, otherwise I would be in a dangerous Asian hospital getting treated with eucalyptus leaves for a broken back. But I have been lifting very heavy equipment all day long since I arrived.

Let me pump the brakes and put this vehicle in reverse for a second. I, along with what will be about 50 support staff am living at Beijing Normal University. We, as in the US Olympic Committee, are the support personnel for the high performance training center(HPTC)US athletes will use prior to moving into the Olympic Village. 22 of the nearly 30 US Olympic teams will come into China and train anywhere from 1 day to 3 weeks before they compete.

The HPTC here in Beijing will be much like the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs - we have great facilities, dorms, dining services, sports medicine, athlete lounge, media center, Asian prostitutes ...only kidding. But nearly anything involving sport, you name it, we got it. There is even a Walmart nearby...well not exactly, it is a Wumart, but pretty much the same in that it gentrifies mom and pop stores throughout China, but that's not my point.

Anyway, originally, my job assignment was to come to Beijing as a member of the 3 man load in team to help unload the near 30 containers of equipment for the HPTC which includes everything like food product, office supplies, Wii game system, medical equipment, and everything a 5-story athletic facility for the Olympics would house. My stay was to be 10 days - all to unload truck upon truck in the heat and humidity of not only the HPTC, but also for the USA House, the swanky set up for USOC marketing to rub elbows and pay the bills, as well as office equipment for staff at the Olympic Village.

After months of working with the USOC and having my superstar status as an employee blow up faster than fireworks on the 4th of July, my ten day assignment has now turned to 6 weeks. During this time, I will be working and living at the HPTC not only serving as load in crew, but will also help run the aquatics facility and athlete lounge, AS WELL AS serve a member of transportation support at the airport. It's exhausting just typing that. Oh and I forgot to mention that I may also serve as a training partner for a few athletes too. Yeah, I have enough on my plate to well feed a fat kid on Christmas.

Back to the present...since arriving, all anyone has been doing is unloading. But there have been some interesting things that have happened so far, as well crazy things about Chinese culture. To save time, space and your eyes, I'll mention them in bullet form as if I was doing a PowerPoint presentation.

* RMB is not the kind of music Alicia Keys sings, it is Chinese currency. And it $1 American is worth about 6 RMB, also called Yuan. Somehow, the dollar is strong here. Thankfully.

* Cars have the right-of-way versus cyclists AND pedestrians. Walk at your own risk.

* The weather is a lot like Houston in April. Hot, muggy, polluted and hazy, but not yet unbearable.

* I never thought Port-A-potties could be worse than what the US has until I got here. Imagine one WITHOUT an actual toilet, just a hole. That is what bathrooms in China are like. Just check out the picture.


* You get a good idea of how populated China really is if you look at their service industries. For the Olympic Village alone, they have 18,000 volunteers working. Compare that to the 10,000 athletes competing. Anytime, we need something cleaned, 10 people show up with small brushes to scrub the dirt away. Need food served? 5 people will scoop, plate, pour, and carry your food - all with a smile.

* You never deal with people who make decisions. Anytime you need something done, you ask the 8 worker bees following you around, who then huddle and converse in hushed, aggressive, and rushed sentences who then tell you they will find out if it can be done. They then run away quickly, worrying they may be fired, yelled at, or slashed with bamboo.

* They are always watching. There are cameras everywhere. I will probably lose my Internet allowances just for typing this. Someone call Jack Bauer just in case.

* So far I have eaten McDonald's everyday, KFC twice, pizza once, Italian once, and sushi once. The closest I have come to actually eating Chinese was when I ordered chicken McNuggets and they gave me a garlic-sesame seed dipping sauce. I also ate a sandwich called 3 Little Birds - which was chicken, turkey, and duck. And I ate some dry chicken in the Olympic Village cafeteria. I'll admit, I am not the most cultured eater.

* Lastly, setting up the venues and everything else for the US Team has been a complete group effort and there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to make an Olympic Games run successfully. Everyone pitches in and gets their hands dirty. One day, I was unloading a truck and moving heavy, HEAVY parts to assemble the boxing ring and my lifting partner was none other than the Chief of Sport Performance, who is in the top 5 of head honchos with the USOC. And there we both were, seating our tails off in 90 plus degree weather carrying heavy metal down 3 flights of stairs because there is no freight elevator. And we all got it done because it had to be done. No one pulls rank, everyone works. And that is really motivatingl for a low man on the totem poll like myself.

In any case...that's enough words for now. I am tired, my knees ache and I need a shower, BADLY. Now that I finally have Internet, I will be more frequent with my updates with less verbiage. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or requests for items from China (no guarantees on getting anything though!)

T Stands for Trouble

Some of you may have previously read things I have written - whether it was an email about my random trips to Europe or strange workouts in the sports science lab, a blog about a book I read, a book review in college about a book I didn't actually read, or a story I wrote about vampires at age 5. For those of you who haven't read my stuff, know my style is analytical, sardonic, arrogant, charming, challenging, emotive (for you, not me), reflective, honest, self-deflating, and humorous. At times, I can have the most confident hubris known to mankind, and then completely turn around and reveal the insecurities that plague me. But for the most part, I always do it with a laugh and that Tiller smile.

After numerous adventures this summer, I finally decided to start a blog so that friends and family can keep tabs on me and I can (hopefully) stay in better touch. I pride myself on keeping contact with good friends and loved ones, but I haven't been so good of late. With that said, I am leaving for China, Beijing in fact, tomorrow morning at 6 AM. I will be there for 6 weeks as part of the support staff for the Summer Olympic Games.

My emotions are mixed and I am sure they will run the gamet over the course of the next 45 days. It will be an amazing experience to say the least. I will be sure to document all that I do, see, and feel. Although what I feel right now is a mixture of sadness and anxiety.

I am sad I will miss the opening of the next Batman movie (I hear Heath Ledger is absolutley marvelous). And I can't sleep at night because I am trying to figure out how I will be able to draft players while in China for the upcoming Fantasy Football league I play in. I have a big score to settle with Brett and his in-bred relatives.

Below is a brief rundown of who I am (in case you forgot) and what I do for the US Olympic Committee. Feel free to pass this along to friends and co-workers, or read this to those kids you keep locked in your basement for your amusement (you sick, sick person). Please ask me questions about my experiences and/or comment on anything I write. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing my tales of lore with you.

Terris Tiller, aka "T", aka Internationally Known as T, aka T$, aka T-Dawg, aka
T-Fools, aka T-Bone.

Age: 30
Sex: Male
Hometown: Baytown, TX
Birthplace: El Paso, TX
College: Trinity University, 2000 (BA in History & Communications)
Occupation: Multi-media Coordinator, US Olympic Committee Colorado Springs, CO

I have lived in Colorado Springs, CO for the past 6 years. I moved here to train to be the best athlete in the world of modern pentathlon, which was my former occupation until about 18 months ago. I "retired" due to injuries, financial concerns, burn out, and the fact that I was miserable despite being a pretty damn good athlete. Now I work for "The Man" at the USOC. In short, I help my friends win medals by playing Rock Band with them and poking them on Facebook.

My relationship status is complicated, so don't ask. Technically, I suppose I am single, but my heart belongs to someone and she refuses to give it back. I think she collects things like that in the same way I collect retro Air Jordan's. To each their own.

I'm not 30, I'm 20-10. And yes, I live in a dorm. Still. I do enjoy long walks on the beach, but not in the romantic sense. I like to be alone. An enjoyable day to me is sitting in front of my big screen tv and watching an entire season of whatever on dvd while drinking coffee and eating small donughts.