Let the Games Begin!

August 7th was my friend Sarah's birthday. Unfortunately on the 7th we were at work from 9am until after 10pm so there wasn't time much for celebrating. Despite the long hours I spent at the National Indoor Stadium that day, it was one of the most exciting days, probably of my entire life. For the past few weeks we have had training in the National Indoor Stadium, but the huge arena was pretty empty except for the Chinese volunteers and some of my American friends that were training as well. However, the 7th was quite different: journalists and athletes were everywhere! I met the writers from the New York Times, USA Today, AP, Reuters, Newsweek and the LA Times. My title is "Press Tribune Assistant" which means I am situated in the center of everything. I stand in the press tribune (the best view in the stadium) and help the journalists to their seats, provide assistance when needed and basically stand back and enjoy the show. Also, just a few feet away from me is the NBC live broadcast setup. Elfi Schlegel is the sports analyst for NBC Sports as well as a retired gymnast from Canada. She also played herself in the movie Stick It! which is about gymnastics. I get to watch her makeup artist touch-up her face before going on air. I was equally excited by both the journalists around me and the gymnasts on the FOP (field of play). The gymnasts are amazing. The girls are so much smaller in real life and their bodies amaze me. I feel so fortunate to be in the position I am and even though I will be working everyday, sometimes very late into the night, I suspect that I will be enjoying each and every moment!

Since the 7th was such a full day, we slept in yesterday and decided to go for brunch around noon. Lauren, Sarah Orscheln (birthday girl), Sarah French and I went to Grandma's Kitchen for breakfast where I enjoyed freshly squeezed orange juice and pancakes! After brunch we decided to take Sarah to get a pedicure. We had seen a place that looked good while walking on a street near HouHai Lake a few days back. We got to the street and it was so hot ... almost like walking through a cloud of stinky steam. We walked up and down the street but couldn't find the nail place. After asking around, we discovered that it was closed for the day! Disappointed, we recalled yet another nail place near the Workers' Stadium. We hopped in a cab but once we arrived we discovered that we needed an appointment to get our nails done at Sheela's Nails. An American woman who has been living in Beijing since April told us to go to the Yashow Shopping Market to get our nails done. We walked a few blocks through the heat but when we got there, we decided we would rather not get our nails done at all than go to the crowded, unsterilzed nail salon in an open bargaining market. We walked around a little and ultimately decided to leave. Just as we were walking out we looked to our left and saw: a nice-looking salon with foreign women getting their nails done in big, comfy red chairs. Obviously, we decided to join them. For 60 yuan ($8) we got much-needed pedicures and had the chance to relax a little before our big night watching the Opening Ceremony. My friend Lauren blogs for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and they invited her to watch the Opening Ceremony at Club Bud (Budweiser). She invited a few of us to tag along with her and we were all really excited by the invitation of free Budweiser and free food.

After taking the subway to the party we were excited to see big spotlights in the distance. We followed the lights but ended up in front of the Heineken watch party. The Heineken people were a little upset when we asked them where Club Bud was but we certainly were not disappointed when we arrived on their Red Carpet!
It was so amazing inside: tons of media and journalists, free Budweiser, crab cakes, steamed vegetables, kebabs and tons of plasma TV screens to watch the Opening Ceremony on! The best part were the outdoor cabanas and TV projector screens. We felt like celebrities and it was so nice to be surrounded by Americans, many of whom were from St. Louis. It was a great night and an amazing Opening Ceremony. I am so excited to go into work tonight from 6pm until 1am! Yay gymnastics and the 2008 Olympics!

XOXO,
P