Last Day at the USA House in Beijing

Today has been a bittersweet day at the USA House. I watched the extinguishing of the flame at the Closing Ceremonies and said my goodbye's to my new friends at the House. It was a painfully slow night at the store. Most people were partying and not really shopping.

The night shift crew went for a foot massage after work. I had one earlier this week. It really saved my feet. I'm definitely going to miss them.

Even though I'm officially finished with my job here in Beijing, I still have much to blog. Stay tuned. When things settle down at home in San Jose, I'll post more of my adventures in Beijing.

Women's Marathon and Bird's Nest

Performers all doing the splits.

A very excited boy and his parents who sat next to me.

Oldest winner in the history of Women's Marathon, 38.

Terrific sprint to the finish for silver and bronze.

The finish!

Color guard performers.

Hundreds of performers entertained us while the women could be seen running on the big screen.

In-line skaters and bicyclists with flags make their way around the track.

Tai Chi performers with fans that they would open and close.

Before the beginning of the Women's Marathon.

They're off!

I'm so glad that we decided to buy tickets for the marathon. They were only $11.00.

Cheryl, Anne, Ben, and Melissa showing their spirit. Melissa runs marathons.

Drummers in the marching band perform before the beginning of the race.

Finally a picture with my traveling gnome, Shaka. Sorry for the blurred picture.

The Bird's Nest is probably the most photographed of the venues. It AWESOME and AMAZING!

The Olympic Flame

There were several groups of cheerleaders at the marathon, one big on the left of the staduim and one large group on the right of the staduim with pom poms. These were the ones closest to my seat.

Here are the leaders of the cheerleaders. They looked so cool when they moved together.

Sorry that the pictures are out of order. I've been on-line now for 3.5 hours posting the pictures from the events I've attended. It's off to relax.

Men's Volleyball and Women's Softball

This is what they flashed on the screen at the men's volleyball game that encouraged the crowd to do the "Mexican Wave." I'd never heard of it being call the Mexican Wave before, but the Chinese all knew what it was. The crowds at the game were so spirited and really into the match.

This was Germany vs. Serbia. It was an outstanding display of strength and athleticism. Here the German's put up a 3-man block that stuffed the Serbian attack.

Germany was the being cheered on by the Chinese. I guess they like to cheer for the underdogs. They kept on chanting for Germany even when the German crowd wasn't and in some cases they lead the cheers. It was a really good match. It was so entertaining. Serbia ended up winning 3-1. The last game was only decided by 2 pts. It was so close.

Topiary of volleyball player.

This was this little girl's first softball game (she's here to watch USA Women's Soccer). This is the crowd's reaction to the monster home run by Crystl Bustos.

Team USA acknowledging the crowd's support during this overtime win.

Here you go Judy. Ginkgo trees outside of softball stadium.

Introducing Team USA and Team Japan.

One of Crystl Bustos' fans. Crystl was instrumental in hitting a 3 run homer in extra inning to sent the team into the Gold Medal Game. We were in pins and needles the entire game. I met Crystl's cousin in the USA store and he gave me tickets to a game.

Crowd and team after a home run.

This was from the first Japan vs. USA game. The ladies scored 4 times in the first inning. The first batter hit a home run.

As we walked to the China vs. Canada, we saw Team USA warming up. They are right next to us. We wished them good luck.

This boy was one of many groups of Chinese children at the game.

Our original seats were in the bleachers. We stayed here for awhile and moved next to our friends who were in the shade. It was a hot and clear day.

It was a great day to see a ball game.

Jumbo screens like this one were at every venue telling people to cheer. I loved the enthusiasm of the fans. It was nice to know that the everyday person in China could afford to see most of the events. The tickets were about $10-20 USD.

The perimeter of the softball stadium were lined with these very clever softball planters.

Little Japanese girl with her mother in the USA vs. Japan game.

Melissa in front of the softball stadium entrance.

Team USA warming up for their game with Japan. There are two warm-up fields next to stadium.

Softball Sculpture

This was a beef noodle restaurant we went to after the game. It was special for us because it was the first restaurant that only locals ate in and the first one that didn't have any English menus or English speakers. The people were all staring at us. I don't think that they get very many foreigners here.

Table Tennis and Baseball Events I Attended

This was the match right in front of the front row seats that we had. The only problem with the seats was the railing in front of us that was at eye level. It was there to prevent anyone from falling into the pit. We had to watch the games between the middle and top railings.

These are just 2 of over one million Chinese volunteers at the Games.

There were beautiful sculptures outside most of the venues. This is table tennis doubles.

Steps leading to and from the table tennis venue.

Dereck and I attended table tennis. We saw men's and women's singles, doubles, and team competitions.

I call this the ping pong pit. There were 8 matches occurring simultaneously.

This was an amazing match. German vs. Poland. The gal in the aqua blue who is serving, had only one hand. Her right arm only went just below her elbow. She was an inspiration to all. Unfortunately she lost by the slimmest of margins. She however won her doubles games.

It was at this venue that I realized that the Chinese crowds could "will" their countrymen to win. In the Chinese vs. Australia men's singles team matches the Australian team seem to jump out in the lead only to lose by 2. One Chinese man was behind 1-7 and came back to win 11-9 after the Chinese began cheering for him. They wouldn't all cheer at the same time, they were take turns cheering from different sections of the gym. This always gave the Chinese competitors that extra boost of positive energy. It was something to see and feel.

I attended a baseball game for Chinese Taipei and The Netherlands. This was a hit for a double.

Chinese Taipei won 5-0. This is the traditional high five's after the game.

There are 2 baseball fields just next door to the basketball gymnasium.

After each game, there is an army (about 20) of grounds keepers that were preparing for the night game in which the USA was scheduled to play.

They shovel up the chalk lines and then re chalk them.

View of basketball venue from the bleachers in the baseball stadium.