Dispatch: The Water Cube

Another fabulous day at the Olympic Village as 54-speed walkers embarked upon the 50-km walking race, a punishing three and a half hour endurance event that bookends the decathlon competition on the Bird’s Nest track. Europeans were expected to dominate the walking race, but in the decathlon American Bryan Clay was the clear favorite as his mastery and dominance in every skill only increased his lead as the ten events followed each other. Alas, it wouldn’t be until the evening competition that he finally won the coveted Gold Medal. Led by Alex Schwarzer of Italy, who set a new Olympic record of 3:37:09, 47-speed walkers crossed the finish line over a forty-five minute time span.  Several collapsed and were attended to by ever ready medical professionals. There were no exotic herbs or acupuncture treatments for the wasted racers, instead copious amounts of water were poured over their dehydrated bodies and down their throats. All but one exited track without assistance. I cannot imagine what was going through their heads as 60,000 appreciative fans cheered their reentry into stadium as they watched themselves cross the finish line on the mammoth high definition monitor beyond the finish line.

We passed time exploring the Olympic Village prior to the eagerly anticipated 7 pm men’s 10-meter platform preliminary diving competition. We bought trinkets at the Olympic mega-store, then Violet, the girls and I picnicked on the green with some delicious Big Mac meals before heading to the National Aquatics Center, popularly known as the Water Cube.

 It’s alive!!! The outer shell of the Cube consists of more than 10,000 interconnected Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE film) cells.  Up close inspection the Bird’s Nest is reflected in the individual cells, and if one looks even deeper I swear that you can observe its molecular structure. During daylight the position of the sun plays off of the four walls and individual cells in different and breathtaking ways. The Water Cube seems to be responding to your impressions of its magnificence.

The interior of the Water Cube doesn’t disappoint either. It is consistent with the ETFE cells, and not only because the walls are translucent. Various water elements seamlessly integrate the theme of flowing energy that permeates the entire building. The competition venue itself is much more than the racing and diving pools. From our vantage point in row one, level one, we were able to appreciate the sophisticated design elements and functionality that have received universal praise from the most important critics of all: the athletes.

As Bachman Turner Overdrive said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet”. Upon leaving the Water Cube on a dark, clear and breezy night it becomes obvious what the buzz is all about. The stadium beneath the Bird’s Nest silver shell explodes in deep, rich, red lighting. You literally have to stop for a moment to let the breathtaking sight register.  However, the crowning architectural achievement of Olympics is the Water Cube after dark. A beautiful rainbow of changing color pulsates and shimmers around the four walls giving the impression that the Water Cube is a living and breathing entity that has honored us with its presence so that we can delight in its wonder and surprise.

You can see it in the thousands of faces milling around Olympic Village at night. We are all sharing something special. I don’t know if it is the presence of world class athletic achievement, spectacular and meaningful architecture, the obvious emergence of China as world super-power or perhaps a combination of all of these things and more, but we are all witnesses to a special moment in time. Anyway, we had about 2-minutes to process all of this before Kelby broke away at walking race pace and announced that he had found the money spot for perfect pictures of the Bird’s Nest.

We caught up with him about 20 minutes later.  The stadium was beautiful but our Canon PowerShot cameras and marginal skills were not up to the challenge. Kelby reluctantly followed Violet, the girls and I back to the Water Cube, which beckoned with every pulsating change. Before we arrived he said that he was going to see if we could ride the elevator to the top of the Olympic tower. We didn’t see him again for 90-minutes, effectively anchoring all of us at a disadvantageous location. Alas, our Olympic finale was cut short. The girls and I did return to the Water Cube for a few minutes, and Eva did spend about 20-minutes there looking for Kelby, but to no avail. Eventually, sometime around midnight I returned to the apartment with the girls while E and V made one more lap around the village. Finally, at 12:17 a.m., I received an email from Violet saying that they had found Kelby and that he had been at the Water Cube all this time taking pictures of tourists so that they could maximize their Olympic experience. Go figure!!!

Dispatch: Bird's Nest

The summer rain challenged our indomitable spirit today, but we donned our poncho’s, caught our taxis and bee-lined to the competition. The stadium filled slowly and the events were postponed for about an hour, but everything ultimately went as planned. After giving the issue serious consideration I have come to the conclusion that women speed walkers have the best rear ends of any of the athletes. That is not to dismiss runners, jumpers, throwers, fighters, or shooters as all of the athletes are amazing to look at, but there is something about the walkers.  Perhaps it is the particular discipline or maybe the muscles that are used but those little puppies stand proud and firm.

While we are on the subject, do you have any idea how many pretty Chinese women and girls there are? Literally hundreds of millions, but you only have to look at one to imagine the possible variations on this theme. The younger generation is particularly hip and stylish. They love to wear bold colors and logo shirts. They are not as sophisticated in their choices as say, Europeans, American’s or New Zealanders, but if history is any kind of guide it won’t be long before they catch up.

Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni (Beijing Welcomes You) is the unofficial theme song of these Olympics. It drills itself into your brain like a McDonald’s commercial. Not unlike 1985’s We Are the World, it features national and international celebrities endlessly repeating a cute but annoying chorus at various cultural sites throughout China.   Jackie Chan’s voice is so filtered that it sounds like he is channeling Mili Vanilli. Violet has taken to humming the repetitive little ditty in her sleep.

The days of U.S. Olympic track and field domination are but a memory. While we definitely hold our own, international competition is fierce, determined and bows to no one. With the exception of China, which is the obvious favorite in this city of 15.8 million and country of 1.35 billion people, all of the athletes are cheered on with equal enthusiasm. The other day when we were at the Silk Road a tall black athlete was mistaken for Kobe Bryant. The ensuing near riot was the closest thing to violence that I have heard about thus far.

For dinner we taxied to a restaurant called the Noodle Loft that we first heard about on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. They serve a variety of noodles that are prepared with flair in the open kitchen. Justine wanted ‘noodles made with one chopstick’ while I opted for ‘noodles made with scissors’. Eva didn’t like her endless green noodle tossed from afar into boiling water. Perhaps she should have ordered ‘noodles made with a knife instead.

Russian speed walker Olga Kaniskina totally dominated the women’s 20 Km. walk this morning and entered the Bird’s Nest to a standing ovation a good minute ahead of her nearest competitor. Fifteen minutes later the last and 41^st place finisher entered the stadium to a nearly equal reception.

Dispatch: Beijing

How many Stephanie's does it take to answer a question? I will tell you at the end of this post. Who would have thought that Beijing would ever be used in a sentence with the phrase blue sky, but that is exactly what happened yesterday as our first Olympic experience occurred under pristine conditions. In fact we got so cocky that we were totally surprised and unprepared for the dinnertime downpour. We braved the elements and met Stefanie Dang (Lucas’ niece) for dinner at Dadong Kaoya Dian, a restaurant famous for its succulent roast duck. We ordered a feast and spent more than two hours at the big, open, modern and very popular restaurant, which makes it all the more ironic the we all spent the night performing our various renditions of the Beijing Bosa Nova back at the apartment.  Best Peking Duck ever? Not if you are the duck.

While we were waiting for our table famed TV chef Martin Yan walked through the door. I waved to him and he came over for a brief introduction and a picture with the girls. It turns out that he and Violet know many people in common. This is the second time during the trip that Six Degrees of Jackie Chan has demonstrated how truly small the world really is.

Taxis are extremely cheap in Beijing and very clean. The Mandarin word for taxi is taxi and once you find one you can get almost anywhere for $3 or $4. It is fast becoming our preferred mode of transportation.  I am blown away at how cosmopolitan and modern Beijing is: a vast improvement over our visit of a decade ago.  I just watched the sunrise, which is a very good omen in Beijing and can see the new CCT V tower from our window, which means that visibility will again be unlimited, so once the Imodium kicks in we should have another fantastic day at the Bird’s Nest. If the Russian women’s gymnastics team is outside exercising again this morning I am going to take some pictures of them.

Yesterday we sat at ground level 25-rows back from the track and today our seats are only 11-rows back. Since all of the seats in the Bird’s Nest are covered by its architectural canopy we don’t need hats, shades or sun block, but a few little American Flags would be nice so we could show a little nationalistic pride.

As dinner was winding up, but not the experience of dinner as it turned out, we couldn’t figure out the ingredient that flavored our shaved ice dessert. Although she very good at conversational Mandarin S. Dang couldn’t understand the answer, which left it to S. Mar to ask, in Mandarin, if it was persimmon. Now you know the rest of the story.

Dispatch: Bird's Nest

Another smooth flight and we arrived in Beijing full of anticipation. Our apartment at Star City is serviceable, but not nearly as nice as the promotional pictures would have you believe. The Russian delegation is staying here as well and as we left the building this morning the Russian women’s gymnastics team was exercising in front of the building. Gymnasts are so tiny that they make Eva and Justine look tall. Anyway, we now have a new team to root for.  Twenty minutes later and we were dropped off at the Nation Athletic Stadium, known throughout the world as the Bird’s Nest. Wow! What an awesome facility.

Security was a breeze and we were soon inside the Olympic facility snapping pictures like crazy. We lapped the Bird’s Nest in what can only be described as a Kodak moment, forever impressed upon our memories. Eventually we wandered into the Bird’s Nest fully expecting to be directed toward the nosebleed section. Instead we found ourselves on ground level within spitting distance of the track. Woops, I forgot that spitting has been banned until after the games. Our fantastic seats were equaled by Stephanie’s reaction. Rarely does one see such unguarded joy on a face.

There weren’t any gold medal rounds on the track this morning, but we watched women’s hammer throw, men’s preliminary triple jump, 200 & 400 meter race, and 100meter hurdles. It is true that being there is an unmatched experience. Somehow, the pomp and circumstance that is portrayed on television is stripped away as you watch mere men and women compete on the world stage. Hamstrings are pulled, tears are shed, and triumph is experienced when that rare combination of training, technique and talent pays off in a world class performance.  We ate hot dogs, but they were cold and we probably won’t buy them again tomorrow morning. 

The crowd was ecstatic and cheering on every athlete. Of course the Chinese got the loudest cheers, especially one woman who automatically qualified for the hammer throw finals which will be held sometime tomorrow. In subsequent heats American hurdler Terrence Trammell and 2004 Chinese gold medalist Liu Xiang pulled up lame and had to withdraw. Both were running in lane 1, which for some reason was a very unlucky number today.

The last name of one of the German hammer throwers was Klaas. On this day she was the only Klaas that didn’t make the cut.