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.