So far, my time here has been dominated by sports. I suppose that in an Olympic year this should not be so surprising, but I did not expect sports to take such an overwhelming presence in my life here. Last entry you read about my involvement with the Olympics. This has continued, and I am still overjoyed to know that I have a small role in the presentation of the upcoming Olympics.
Even outside of this, I have spent a lot of time watching sports. I have been here for 5 weekends and already have witnessed three sports events here. The 1st weekend I was here I attended one of the 1st events that the “Water Cube” hosted. This is the venue for the Olympic Aquatic events. Beijing is hosting a series of test events in each of the Olympic Venues, a series called Good Luck Beijing. The World Cup of Diving was held in the Water Cube back in Mid-February. This was my only chance to see the inside of the cube before the Olympics, but tickets were sold out. Trying my luck, I showed up the morning of the competition, hoping to find a ticket for sale. I was shocked at just how many people were selling their tickets, but at a pretty steep mark up. It was worth every penny. The competition was exciting, but the real star was the venue. This is a massive, beautiful pool that will be a showcase for the games. The architecture is unique and stunning. The inside is light and a big, a great place for a Swim Meet. It holds a ton of spectators, far more than any permanent pool in the United States does.
Two weekends ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres played two spring training games in Beijing. A large group of teachers went to watch the first Major League Baseball games in China. It was ok at best. The environment and games were less than exciting, the stadium was a nice place, but nothing compared to the Major League Stadiums back home. It felt like a minor league game, especially as we were surrounded by people that did not really understand the game. The stadium ran out of food, people cheered for regular plays and the atmosphere was one of more confusion than excitement. A fun experience, but not one that I need to repeat.
Finally, last weekend I went to the Good Luck Beijing Water Polo matches. These were the best in terms of excitement of the three I have seen so far and made me really miss coaching that sport back home. The level of play was high, the venue was nice (different than the Water Cube) and the fans were interested, if not wholly knowledgeable. It was at these matches that I had a conversation with an Australian that shared a great quotation with me about the upcoming Games. The Australian are sport crazy which is why they enjoyed hosting the Sydney Games in 2000, Greece loved to host the Athens Games in 2004 since they enjoyed the history that goes along with being the original host, China’s Beijing Games will also be successful and the people will enjoy themselves since they are being told to. This is the perfect encapsulation of the Chinese attitude towards this event. There is excitement, but it is almost a forced excitement, people are caring about things that had never entered their minds before. They are being told that they will cheer loud, told that they will warmly welcome the world and told that the games will be a success. With this direction, there is really no doubt in their minds that this will be the case.
3.26.2008
3.16.2008
Olympic Contribution and Life in China
So I realize that I have not updates in a while. I cannot believe that I have already been in China for almost a Month. The transition from home to China was essentially seemless this time. I went from a life in the U.S. to a life in China with no real transition period in between.
In the month I have been here I have already moved into a second apartment in the city, gone to twice weekly Chinese lessons, a weekly english tutoring appointment, a little thing called classes, Sunday morning workouts with a Master’s swim team and even taught a few classes every week. I love the life here and feel like my schedule is full (in a good way) this semester in ways that it was not last year. I am spending a much greater portion of my time doing things, experiencing China than last year when I had so much free time that a lot of my time was spent watching movies and browsing the internet. This year I am even feel a greater connection to my students, which is due in great part to 1.) the fact that I am returning and many of my students already know me and 2.) my students see me around campus a lot more than they did last year.
My classes have had their share of ups and downs. There are those classes that I walk out of thinking “those kids did not understand a single word that came out of my mouth” and those classes which I am simply amazed at the level of questions that the kids ask, showing without a doubt that they are interested in my lecture and are getting what I wanted them to get out of the lesson. As a very general rule, I find myself enjoying my 7th grade classes more than my 8th grade classes, though there of course are exceptions. I think that this may be due to the fact that the 7th grade students are ordered by their level of English Language, with all of the “good” English speakers in the same classroom. This is something that the administration of the school simply forgot to do for the 8th graders.
That is, in short, what classes and life have been filled with over the last few weeks. I am getting ready to give my 1st test, which last year, caused me a lot of frustration with the scored that the kids received. Hopefully this year, things will be better.
Life outside of the classroom has been good, but busy. The highlight of my 1st month back was this past Wednesday, during my English Tutoring appointment with my friend Liao. Liao Yuan works for BOCOG, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games. Normally during our meeting we just talk, working on basic conversational English. This past Wednesday, however, she had work for me to do. I can now claim to have made a significant contribution to the Beijing Olympics. I am more than a fan, I have actually worked for the Organizing Committee. I spent our meeting editing the announcements that will be made in English over the PA system at the Softball Venue, Fengtai Softball Stadium. The announcements had been translated from Chinese to English by University students and a lot of the language was directly translated, making sense, but not sounding right to an English ear. I have been walking around in a great mood since this meeting, knowing that the announcements that are read during the Olympics were shaped, in part by me. Needless to say, for as big of an Olympic fan I am, this is a huge honor and a pretty big deal for me.
Greeting from Beijing,
Gao Tian
In the month I have been here I have already moved into a second apartment in the city, gone to twice weekly Chinese lessons, a weekly english tutoring appointment, a little thing called classes, Sunday morning workouts with a Master’s swim team and even taught a few classes every week. I love the life here and feel like my schedule is full (in a good way) this semester in ways that it was not last year. I am spending a much greater portion of my time doing things, experiencing China than last year when I had so much free time that a lot of my time was spent watching movies and browsing the internet. This year I am even feel a greater connection to my students, which is due in great part to 1.) the fact that I am returning and many of my students already know me and 2.) my students see me around campus a lot more than they did last year.
My classes have had their share of ups and downs. There are those classes that I walk out of thinking “those kids did not understand a single word that came out of my mouth” and those classes which I am simply amazed at the level of questions that the kids ask, showing without a doubt that they are interested in my lecture and are getting what I wanted them to get out of the lesson. As a very general rule, I find myself enjoying my 7th grade classes more than my 8th grade classes, though there of course are exceptions. I think that this may be due to the fact that the 7th grade students are ordered by their level of English Language, with all of the “good” English speakers in the same classroom. This is something that the administration of the school simply forgot to do for the 8th graders.
That is, in short, what classes and life have been filled with over the last few weeks. I am getting ready to give my 1st test, which last year, caused me a lot of frustration with the scored that the kids received. Hopefully this year, things will be better.
Life outside of the classroom has been good, but busy. The highlight of my 1st month back was this past Wednesday, during my English Tutoring appointment with my friend Liao. Liao Yuan works for BOCOG, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games. Normally during our meeting we just talk, working on basic conversational English. This past Wednesday, however, she had work for me to do. I can now claim to have made a significant contribution to the Beijing Olympics. I am more than a fan, I have actually worked for the Organizing Committee. I spent our meeting editing the announcements that will be made in English over the PA system at the Softball Venue, Fengtai Softball Stadium. The announcements had been translated from Chinese to English by University students and a lot of the language was directly translated, making sense, but not sounding right to an English ear. I have been walking around in a great mood since this meeting, knowing that the announcements that are read during the Olympics were shaped, in part by me. Needless to say, for as big of an Olympic fan I am, this is a huge honor and a pretty big deal for me.
Greeting from Beijing,
Gao Tian
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