Olympics: We have made it to at least 8 Olympic games. Unbelievable. I never dreamed I would be in Beijing, China sitting in top notch seats at an Olympic event. Probably something I have dreamed about since Barcelona '92. Saw a few soccer matches in Shanghai, caught in a downpour of rain we bought an umbrella to blend in with all the Chinese, who carry one regardless of the weather, rain or shine. We sat soaked amidst thousands of Chinese fans, creating our own English chants and trying to yell above the buzz...that was the first week. Beijing only got better.
Most memorable matches by far:
We bought scalped tickets to our first event in Beijing. Thought we would check out the madness of the Birds Nest, you know just to say whats up. In the excitement of the atmosphere we bought tickets from the second person we talked to. I was just excited that he spoke English and I could actually understand him! Chiara was just excited to be there. Thinking we may have jumped the gun, when we realized he totally ripped us off, we started running frantically around trying to find him in the crowd. Nearly impossible anywhere in China to locate anyone, not just at the Olympics.
The match was set to start in ten minutes, and once we entered the arena we were not even in the right place...it was at least a half an hour away.
So Chiara and I, in the midst of our sudden flurry of anger and trying not to kill each other, and curse the British dude, we finally caught a bus and made our way to the right stadium...Once inside, we were astonished to find out that we had scored much greater tickets than we thought.
Roger Federer was in the middle of a doubles match on the first court, and we found our way to the Williams sisters doubles match, sitting nearly on the court. The venue is an incredible array of at least five courts all sprawled out, allowing ample time to rush back and forth between matches.
After the Williams match, which we won! We stuck around to watch Sweden and France play doubles. Not a big deal at all sitting on the front row right behind the service line. The third match went to 18 sets, Sweden going home big! One of the most exciting events I have been too, Chiara and I were probably the only Americans there, but we cheered our little heads off.
As we were waiting in line for some more beers, getting ready for the next doubles match between the Swiss, Federer, and the Brian twins from the US...some random dude walks right up to us and literally hands us two tickets to the the center court. Our scalped tickets were apparently not quite dope enough to let us in to the biggest court. We enthusiastically accepted his offer, gave up our seats after the first US match, and made our way over to the semi final between Nadal (Espana) and Djokovic (Serbia). Just a small little fact, they are ranked number one and two in the world...and Nadal went on to win the gold in singles.
One of the longest days ever, as the matches went on for hours well into the night, but well worth our time and money, at this point we were full force feeling the affects of the Olympic high.
I made a pact to never mention this event again, but in reflection a week later it is too funny to pass up. Feeling the Olympic fever, and obsession with seeing as many events as possible, Chiara and I were directed to a website in which you can actually buy legitimate tickets at the starting price. So naturally we got some tickets to the quarterfinal soccer game between Italy and Belgium. Two huge power houses in the soccer world.
After going on a wild goose hunt to collect our prized tickets, deciding we still had tons of time before the game we made our way back to our hostel. Eventually walking the wrong way for too long, we didn't get back until around six pm. Thinking this was fine, because all day we were intent on the game being at 8, we started watching a movie and relaxing. Half and hour later, just to be sure..this is what went down.
me: Did we check the time on the tickets, just to make sure its at 8?
Chiara rummages through her bag, which always takes at least five minutes..triumphantly pulling a folded ticket out, her smile quickly turns to panic: ummm, We have to go NOW!
me: what the fu*$# do you mean? Its at 8 right?
Chiara: Nope it started at six!! Lets go now, fu#$%#$^(*(#%$#$%.
So in a fit of rage, and a cross between hysterically laughing and crying, we raced out the door and jumped in a cab. Workers stadium was only a few blocks away from our hostel, thank GOD, so we made it just in time for the second half.
Sitting in between a huge crowd of Belgium fans, in amazing seats near the field, thoroughly pissed off that our floozy selves managed to misread the time, we had to shake it off and
enjoy the rest of the game. Key word, had...we were still at a quarterfinal game in the Olympics. Still, probably the worst moment of my life realizing what had just happened, we swore never to speak of this event again. :)but...We totally redeemed ourselves a few days later. We were lucky enough to buy tickets to the US women's soccer semifinal match against Japan. Since I pretty much thought someday I would play in the Olympics on that team when I was ten, it was a pivotal event just being able to watch the game. Feeling the energy of the crowd, regardless if all Chinese people are totally bias to China and still feel the need to wear red and yellow to every event. After sneaking into much better seats, we did manage to get our section cheering for the US,...at least that's what I thought, but who knows what they were really saying in Chinese.
Our ladies won the game, and went on to win the gold...a coincidence that we saw three Olympic gold winners pre gold? hmmm.
So that's it for now...hope this was somewhat entertaining for those of you stuck behind a desk.
I am off to India tomorrow, so until then!
-s
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