Saw women's soccer last night - Brazil vrs Nigeria then Sweden vrs Canada where more than 50 thousand people were dancing the Mexican wave in Beijing's Workers Stadium. So fun!
The Brazilians in green wigs beating their chests to cheer, the young Chinese lining to pose in photos with us wrapped in Canadian flags, the Swiss fans bright in yellow, the beer cheap (less than 2 dollars), arms waving with flags, cameras and cups of popcorn.
Japan vrs NZ in field hockey had me cheering for NZ, in Japanese - a fair balance!
The fun of this event was the journey to the stadium. Arrived at the train station with limited time until game start and a china long line to get on the venue bus. Right place, right time, lead us to meet volunteer Su-wen with the same event tickets, time ticking we managed to by pass the bus, flag a taxi and arrive at the best part of the game. The taxi ride though, what a laugh! Some time into the ride, consulting our Starbucks map, we signalled to Su-wen perhaps we were heading well away from the Olympic venues! Lost taxi driver. Good to have learnt a little Chinese this month, Su-wen navigated the driver on path expressing the police stops with his Olympic volunteer barcode. Made it to the game with a new friend, new Chinese vocab, a tour of the back streets and in time for the most exciting part of the game and the rain having passed.
Today, Volleyball with Australia vrs Brazil was match of medal winners - the past Olympic women's champs vs each other. The haze of highrises around the outdoor area painted a Beijing scene on sand imported from which worlds coast? I wonder! Perhaps Australia won on their home ground!? The atmosphere again was super exciting, people wrapped in flags, faces painted, good spirits. The streets are fun and festive, people are united by talent, support, culture and the 5 rings...
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