Tennis and Transport - Goody!

This past Tuesday all this planning over the past six months finally became realized when all of us Mizzou photo volunteers got to visit the tennis venue. The main court is supposedly shaped like a lotus flower from above. Since China is a culture big on symbolism, it doesn't surprise me that the Olympic buildings carry it too. In China the sacred lotus means purity and elegance, most likely influenced by a similar meaning in Buddhism. Maybe that is what they wish for in the Olympic Games - purity and elegance in sport? It was neat to be able to see the venue empty and without the crowds that will soon descend. 

Training has been mostly stop and go. Our boss started us off with a Power Point about the venue and volunteer expectations, and then we got an tour of the venue, but most of our time has been spent waiting to be assigned our next task.  I think they felt they had to have us come in for training because the ONS volunteers in our group had training too, yet they didn't necessarily have a schedule of stuff for us to do. We're supposed to help the other Chinese volunteers learn some English later this week to help them communicate with the photographers, but other than that we'll have to see what they have planned. 

I also have more details about what my responsibilities will be during the Games. I will be working, indeed as my title (and pass!) suggests, as a Field of Play Photo Position Assistant. This means I will be helping photographers in the moat, which are basically dugouts on both sides of the court. It is the most up close and personal photo position to the players so I am excited to hopefully see some interesting matches.

Now getting to the venue and just around Beijing has been a learning experience in itself. I'm proud of the fact that I feel like I've learned the basics of navigating the city's public transport system, even if it does take that much longer to get places. This fact is compounded by two basic facts of Beijing: one, being a very large city in size and two, having such a large population trying to get around it. It took me and a friend one taxi ride, two subways and a bus to get to our destination of the Panjiayuan Antique Market on Sunday, but that has all changed with the opening of the new subway lines. Some of us rode on the inaugural day of the opening of one of the lines on Saturday, which are quite snazzy by the way. It makes getting around Beijing a lot easier for us because now we have a functioning subway station near where we're staying. The majority of the buses and subways have TVs so Beijing's citizens can watch the constant barrage of Olympic ads and then competitions when the Games actually start. Coke, Adidas, McDonald's and more are all taking advantage of billions of viewers - read this NY Times article for more. 

Today was also the first day that half of the city's 3.3 million cars were restricted from coming into the city in an attempt to lessen the pollution that continues to dominate the horizon here. I think its going to be a while before we see a difference, it was still very hazy this morning. It is a big deal since it could hinder some Olympians from participating, and there are even some rumors that it could possibly force some of the outdoor events to be postponed if the air quality does not improve enough in time. Just beware of the bicyclists - I got clipped by one by Houhai Lake on Wednesday which left a nasty bruise!

As a last note, I had what I call a quintessential China experience on Saturday when we visited the Temple of Heaven. While the whole temple complex (which is a misnomer since there really isn't a temple on-site) is quite amazing, asking to get my picture taken with a middle-aged Chinese woman stood out as the day's unique experience. They then proceeded to ask me where I was from, and I replied California, and they just laughed. Maybe because Californians have a reputation for being particularly blond?