The Olympics

Why I’m excited –

The US Men’s Basketball team, “The Redeem Team,” is going to put the USA back where it belongs in international basketball competition.

My mom is close friends with the owner of DeVeau’s School of Gymnastics in Indianapolis, the home gym of Samantha Peszek. I’m not too manly to admit that I watch the women’s gymnastics. This year I’ll be watching a little more closely and following her progress on the school’s blog.

Why I’m nervous –

If the U.S. Men’s Basketball team ,“The Redeem Team,” loses, it will solidify our position of mediocrity in international basketball competition.

As of today, my book is pretty much set in stone. About 1/5th of the book takes place in China. I’m worried that over the next 10-days something will develop that dates what I’ve written. Never have so many foreign journalists been poking around, and it’s hard to say what they might turn out. For instance, if we discovered that half of China’s population were robots and my book doesn’t mention that, I might look a bit foolish. Nobody cares if a robot works twice as many hours as the government allows.

If you’re looking for a few good blogs written by westerners in China I’ve got some good ones.

China Hope Live

Here’s a sample of a 25-year old man from Tianjin in his own words:

Right now I care a lot about the Wenchuan, Sichuan great earthquake issue. …This is an extremely difficult and especially big affair. Everyone is paying close attention to the circumstances of the earthquake disaster area’s common people… Whoever has money sends money, whoever has strength sends strength, whoever has things sends things. This shows the united spirit of the Chinese people. ‘When one place has trouble, all places provide help’ (一方有难八方支援 / yī fāng yǒu nàn, bāfāng zhīyuán).

China holding the Olympics utilizes a lot of manpower and financial and physical resources. The Olympics doesn’t assist China’s common people very much. It mainly expresses China’s place in the world, by showing that China can run this Olympics well. The Chinese people are extremely concerned with this matter, however, heaven isn’t helping out (天公不做美 / tiān gōng bù zuò měi). Since the earthquake a lot of Chinese people have lost confidence regarding the Olympics. But I feel we ought to transform our sorrow into strength, and strive as much as possible to manage this Olympics well.

Blonde in Beijing

Jodi is from my hometown and she has some interesting insights about being a new mom in China and the conditions the Olympics will be taking place in.

…the air was as polluted as ever. And it was scorching hot at seven in the morning! I sure do feel for the Olympic athletes.