Beijing Blog – One World – One Dream
A couple of more pictures from yesterday.
- The OLYMPIC SLOGAN – in Tian’an Men Square
After a long day yesterday, we settled down for a leisurely one. We enjoyed a buffet breakfast that was highlighted by 28 staff serving 14 diners. It kind of defeats the purpose of self service. The people here are trying there very best to please everyone in every situation. Language is still the barrier and although they get a A+ for effort, at times you have to walk away and start over with someone else. After breakfast we headed over to Canada House to get our credentials and event tickets. Canada House is a meeting place for Canadian media, parents and friends of athletes, Canadian Team sponsors and of course athletes. It is highlighted by a lounge sponsored by Petro Canada showing the live Olympic feed from CBC and TSN. Canada House also features a complimentary bar and restaurant. As the week moves on and we meet other families, it will be the place to hang out.
After hanging out there a while we headed out to the Rowing Center to watch a session of men’s and women’s 2 , 4 and 8 ‘s. It was neat to see once, but we won’t be going again anytime soon. For the swimmers in the crowd, rowing makes a 11-12yr old 1500m swim really exciting. Canada Rowers have progressed to a few finals. In today’s events, the two Canadian boats were eliminated. The one disappointing thing is the lack of event programs. The rowing event today had one page summary with country names in short form with no athlete names.
After rowing it was back to Canada house for a few cold Canadian beers and then we headed back to the Hotel.
We are looking forward to getting to the pool. As I mentioned earlier, swimming tickets were tough to secure and we only have tickets starting Thursday. Many of you have asked about Lindsay’s race. She will be swimming between 8-9am EST Thursday – 200 backstroke. The 200 back is one of the last events of the session.
CBC has been airing the prelims although sometimes delayed.
The Water Cube at night, The lights continually changes and images of fish travel across the length.
Tomorrow we are off to the Great Wall and if time permits have a quick visit with Lindsay before her afternoon workout. She has been feeling good and getting anxious to swim.
Talk to everyone to tomorrow.
Greg & Sue
PS: a special "Den How" (hello) to all the staff at Wooden Sticks. Keep the grass cut and the door open!!
