03 Sep Memories of Beijing
Jennifer Blandin, one of our missionaries in Macau, is a sports buff. So you can imagine her delight upon having the chance to attend the Olympics for five days. She went with two other friends. Here are excerpts from her most recent newsletter.
During our stay in Beijing, we were able to attend the women’s team gymnastic finals, men’s volleyball prelims, women’s basketball prelims, and softball prelims. Other than the gymnastics, the event tickets allowed us to watch two games/matches for each sport.
Being a softball fan, it worked out that we were able to get tickets for two sessions, thus could attend four games. One of the amazing things that happened was that for all the sports we had tickets for, we saw the USA play. And, for at least three of the sports, we watched China play. “Why is this amazing?” you ask. Well, the tickets available in Macau had to be purchased months in advance. Also, my friends and I were choosing what we would see based on what events we wanted to see and how the times would work in a day’s schedule. We were not able to choose WHO we would see competing!
Some of the highlights of the experience were:
Watching the events in person, rather than just on TV!
The atmosphere was amazing! The crowds were often lively, and I had the opportunity to watch the various ways fans cheer for their respective countries.
For example, at the softball competition:
- One man dressed in traditional Japanese clothing led the Japanese fans in their cheering. Their cheers were short and repeated often.
- The American fans often yelled out the names of the players and would do a few cheers that I remember from when I played softball.
- Across the board, the Chinese fans had one battle cry, “Give it gas!” which is the literal translation of it. The figurative meaning would be “Don’t give up!” or “Keep going!”
Many friendly volunteers!
Most of the Olympic volunteers had a smile on their face and showed a genuine enthusiasm to help us. Sometimes the volunteers could not give us the exact directions to the destination we needed, but often their help could get us in the general direction and toward another volunteer who could help us.
East vs. West style of softball!
This was a rather funny discussion that was relayed to me later by my friend Jana. While I had gone to buy something during the break between two softball games, Jana and our Chinese friend (Joanne) got into a discussion about the different styles of playing softball. (Mind you, Joanne had little or no knowledge of the sport before attending the games.)
Joanne’s opinion was that the East played softball more correctly–because the players were thinner and thus “softer” in their playing of the game. The players from the West (not just USA) were often meatier and played “harder” or more aggressive. Amazing the various perspectives that can be held for just one activity and what we consider “correct”!
A sports lover’s dream–watching athletes give all that they had to compete!
Some athletes came to the Olympics with the reachable goal to win a medal; others came with the goal of just participating in the Olympics. Either way, no matter the final score, the competition was good. Athletes were giving all they could in hopes of fulfilling their dream. I found that was something special to watch.
Closing Ceremony
Seven years of planning for a 17-day event! Wow! Isn’t it funny how the planning takes a lot more time than the completion of the actual event! Even my own planning to attend the games for 5 days took one year of preparation. Yet, in the end it was worth it.
While the Olympics are mostly focused around sports, I wonder if God was looking down smiling at the view. Why? Maybe, just maybe, it was a good preview of what heaven will be like. People, from around the world, came together with one focus–to cheer on the athletes. In heaven it will be the children of God coming together with one focus–to worship and praise the One True Savior and Lord.
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