We Are the World

One the main goals of the 12 hour+ first day orientation was to get to know and learn about the other volunteers at the USA House and the United States Olympic Comittee's (USOC) Headquarters. This was accomplished by participating in 2 activities.

The first was having to come up with a song to introduce our table members using a nursery rhyme tune. My table was thankful that I was an elementary school teacher. I'm glad that I could help, but it was amazing how few of them they knew. We finally settled on "Are You Sleeping?" This was a fun activity. It got to show off our creativity and good nature.

The second was a scavenger hunt all around the city of Beijing. My team members consisted of Paull (that's the correct spelling), Gary, and John.

Paul is in his 3rd year at Yale and is the son of the US Ambassador to China. He was the only one of us who could speak Mandarin. He is about 6 foot 3 inches and was born in Hong Kong. He is an amazing person. I loved his knowledge of Beijing, his kindness and friendliness. He was so nice to invite us to his family's home.

Gary is the legal council for the USOC. In other words, he is their main lawyer. He is the one who would handle any of the medal disputes or any legal services that the athletes or USOC members may need. He gave me incite into the political party of the Games. He must be really good at what he does.

John is also a lawyer. He works as the athlete's ombudsman. He too works for the USOC. He has been dealing with the disqualification of the swimmer who failed a drug test. He was kind and very down to earth. He had a lot of knowledge of the Olympians past and present. We had something in common. We have both traveled to the Philippines many times.

The scavenger hunt had us walk, and ride the subway as well as taxis. The first 5 hours was easy as we had Paull translating and communicating with us. After 5pm he had to leave his 3 non-Mandarin speaking so that he could be present at his father's dinner with some top CEO's. That's were we were faced with the challenge of communicating non-verbally. Thank goodness for the Chinese guide in which we were able to point to the Chinese word for restroom. It was challenging for us to get a taxi as well, but we did it. If I was on the "Amazing Race," I'd definitely be eliminated. We were the last time to arrive at Paddy O'Shea's Pub. We were an hour later than scheduled. John took this picture of Paul (left), myself, and Gary (right). Sorry, but I can't believe that I didn't take a picture of John. Bummer!

The hunt was good in that we were able to see Tiananman Square, the Bird's Nest, the Silk Market, and the Forbidden City. We were are given tasks like find the most unique item you can at the Silk Market and bargain for it, take a picture of you group in front of the Bird's Nest, take a picture of the portrait of Mao on the Forbidden City, and bring back your subway ticket.

When we arrived, we shared our adventures with the other groups. We all had a great time. It was really wonderful to start to get to know all of the volunteers. We are from different countries, we are of diverse ethnic backgrounds, and range from 21-early 60's in age. It's a nice mix of personalities. We will have to work together to help make these games the best ever for the athletes and their families.
It was fun and exhausting. I enjoyed the company and the fact that we could get to know each other better.