Dream come true

  Beijing, China
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

When I was a little kid I watched the '76 Olympics on television and saw Nadia score the first perfect 10. I was instantly hooked and pestered my parents until they put me into gymnastics lessons. From that point I did gymnastics until my senior year in college where, after many sprains and breaks, my second major surgery finally took me out. To say that gymnastics was a huge part of my life would be an understatement! Although my childhood dream was to compete in the Olympics, just to be there and experience it was a dream come true for me.

Olympic spirit at the airport

The bird's nest

Outside the water cube

I knew there could be some drama since I entered the country on a crew visa but I had traveled in China before on that visa so I though I would be fine. I had pre-booked and paid for a hostel and my Olympic ticket ahead of time online so I figured once I made it to Beijing I was home free.....NOT! The trouble started when I tried to check into the hostel. Because I entered on a crew visa I didn't get an entry stamp. I had all the required paperwork and ID to go with the visa, but they just couldn't get it. They had my passport and were on the phone for quite some time and I began to worry I might actually end up spending the night in jail! While that was playing out I got on the phone with the company I bought my Olympic ticket from. I had spoken to them before and they said to call when I got to Beijing and they would tell me where to pick up the ticket, I would be able to get it the day before the event. Their story changed once I was there, I would not be able to pick it up until the next day, the morning of. They wanted to meet me at 9:15 and gymnastics started at 10:15 quite far from the pickup point-more frustration. The hostel finally told me I would not be allowed to check in, but they gave me my passport back and at that point I was just happy to be free. All I wanted to do then was just get to the Olympic Park, see the sights and get caught up in the spirit.

Olympic spirit

Non-Olympic spirit

Pedestrian mall

I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening walking for miles and miles all around the outside of the park. I got nice views of the bird's nest with the Olympic flame and the water cube. The best part was being around all the fans and excitement there. Most people were really into it, but one little boy peed on my feet while I was taking a picture. I don't think he understood Olympic spirit! At night everything looked even more spectacular all lit up.

Night time

Cube at night

Nest at night

After being denied a bed for the night my plan B was to find a bar that stayed open late and when it closed transition to a coffee place that opened early. Not ideal, but I could handle it. However throughout the day I had managed to sweat through my clothes and the thought of no shower was becoming more and more unattractive. Also, the cheap flip flops that I had been walking around in all day made an old gymnastics injury flare up (how ironic!). By that night I was walking with a severe limp and really wanted to be able to lie down and prop my ankle up on some pillows. I still had no entry stamp which was obviously an issue but I whimped out and decided to try my luck at another place. I picked a random place near the park and luckily they had a room. The lady behind the desk who spoke English wanted me to see the room before I decided if I would take it. On the way there she noticed my limp and became quite concerned. Back at the front desk I presented my passport and hoped for the best. When the other staff started to question my lack of entry stamp I tried to get my passport back saying I would just leave, still thinking a night on the street would be better than a night in jail. But my English-speaking friend came to my rescue. She gave the others a "talk to the hand" gesture and said they just needed to know what day I entered the country. She took me at my word and soon after I was cleaned up, comfortably resting in my room with my ankle propped up and several cold beverages to enjoy before I went to sleep. It wasn't cheap, but worth every yuan!

I'm finally there!

The next morning I was at the pickup point nice and early, I even managed to keep myself from calling the guy until 5 minutes before our proposed meeting time. When he finally showed up I was hit with the news I had been suspecting for some time but was really hoping I wasn't going to get. "The guy who was supposed to pick up the tickets fell through" yadda, yadda, blah, blah, static. I stopped listening to his excuses because my blood pressure had shot through the roof. I asked him point blank if he was scamming me and he assured me he wasn't. He proceeded to "5-10 more minutes" me to death. I didn't have a lot of 5-10 minutes to give. I had a ways to go and was still moving slow with my bum ankle. I burnt a hole through his head with my eyes as I watched him pace and talk on the phone and I realised I was dealing with a scalper. He could see that I was getting pissed and had the audacity to offer me a refund. I wanted to shove my fist into his chest cavity and pull his beating heart from it. I shouted "I WANT MY TICKET!!!"

My view

He suggested I start making my way to the entry point and although the last thing I wanted to do was lose sight of him, I also knew he was right, and I had his cell phone number. In the end I finally got my ticket. Yeah, I paid way too much for a nosebleed ticket, but when that dude pulled my ticket from his pocket, we were instantly surrounded by fans salivating over it. It was worth it in the end because I GOT IN!! I had 5 minutes before the gymnastics was supposed to start and had to get through security and after that still had a ways to go inside the park. But once I was in I was like a kid in a candy store, I was rushing, rushing, but I also wanted to keep stopping for pictures. I got to the indoor stadium where the gymnastics was being held just as the competition started; I didn't miss a thing!

Me inside

I burst in and the first glimpse of the competition floor actually brought a tear to my eye, this was something I had dreamed of since I was a little girl! Living in the Philippines I don't get to see gymnastics on TV so I had no idea what kind of skills these girls were doing. I saw things I could have never imagined from my days of gymnastics for the first time with my own eyes and was blown away! Being there I got to see so much more. I got to watch all the teams, not just the top competitors they show on TV. I got to see the touch warm ups between rotations. After each rotation the Chinese fans got more and more excited and rowdy. Just before the final event when the Chinese women were on the floor exercise the fans went absolutely crazy! You couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement! They played their floor music so loud I had to put in earplugs! It was fantastic, truly a dream come true for me!!

US women

The fans

Final score

Of course I stayed for the medal ceremony. One of my friends had mentioned to me earlier that some of the Chinese women didn't look old enough to be on the team. I told him that's kind of standard ops for the Chinese, I can remember that being an issue over and over as I was growing up. When I got back I found out that now with all the information available on the internet, someone has been able to find some info about their ages and the team medal may actually be in question! After the ceremony I had time to take a few more photos, hit the souvenir shop and then back to the airport and back to work...

Medal ceremony

Champions?

Outside the stadium