Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Olympics!

I was lucky enough to see two Olympic events! On Thursday evening, I went to womens Handball semifinals. There were two matches. The first was Norway and South Korea and the second was Hungary and Russian Federation. The first match was so close and had a pretty emotional ending with the Norwegians getting a point at the last second and the Koreans staying on the court for about 25 minutes while the coach discussed the decision with the judges. I had never seen handball before and it was fun to watch! The biggest thrill though, was being in the Olympic Green and being so close to the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. They look amazing all lit up at night. There were also fountains where children were getting soaking wet playing around.

I also got to meet Li Ning, the Opening Ceremony torch lighter! Here I am with him and another new teacher, Mary. The next picture is me holding a real Olympic torch. The head of our school was asked to be a torch bearer this summer, so he brought his torch to share with us.


The second event was Track and Field finals on Saturday night. This was exciting because we got to see several medal ceremonies and the US won a few. This time I got to go inside the Bird's Nest and see the torch from the inside.

My favorite thing was being on the Green and seeing the venues all lit up. Around the Bird's Nest were little Birds' Nests covering the lights. Very cute.


I had not expected to be able to go to any Olympic events, so it was great to be able to go to two!
--Sarah--

5 comments:

Mike and Nikki said...

That is awesome Sarah! It sounds like you are having a blast! I'm glad you made it to see some Olympic events!

Mariah Schmidt said...

Amazing!! Everything looks so neat. What an incredible experience for you!

Naysan said...

Those buildings look so cool; i love the detail that was put into everything; right down the to lighting covers matching the birds nest theme. Just amazing!

glad to see you are having fun before the work begins. eat lots of dumplings!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah, Catherine and I are here in Santa Monica reading your Blog. Thanks for keeping us informed about your wonderful adventure in China. We loved everything abour your apartment, school, and especially the Olympics! Catherine also really enjoyed the part about the Chinese culture lesson and noodle making!

Anonymous said...

great pics Sarah!! I am looking forward to seeing the bike :)

and visiting you in Beijing!