FRIDAY 08/21

-Covered an earlier shift again. It works for me: I don’t mind getting up early, and having evenings free means I get to see more events.

-Games were really winding down—we were averaging 2.5 events/hour that needed printing, which made for a very slow day.

-Spent about 2 hours writing my opinions of the Opening Ceremony ‘scandals’ on my new Tumblog. I had picked up a stomach bug and was feeling a bit low.

-In the afternoon a writer came in and had me make a bajillion copies of various closing ceremony-related packets. It ended up being a backbreaking 3-hour technological nightmare, the details of which you shall be spared.

-At 7:30 I met with Tong and her friend to arrange some guest passes for her and her employer to come tour the IBC. I figured it was the least I could do after she showed me around USA house.

-Brian and I headed out to the basketball venue. We caught the tail end of the Spain-Lithuania semifinal. The place was packed, and we squeezed onto the stairs to watch the US-Argentina semifinal.

I don’t really follow basketball, but it was still cool to see all these big names in basketball—Bryant, James, Wade—playing together. The entire time I wanted to yell “Kobe!” after Kobe made a basket, but his shooting game was way off and I never got the chance.

-At one point a guy from the commentator booths came out and tried clearing away the forty or so people sitting on the steps. At first I tried ignoring him, but for some reason he singled me out to pick on. He claimed that commentators were complaining that we were blocking their view. I’m certainly not one to stop people from doing their jobs, but there was no way I was blocking anyone’s view—I was on the lowest step, behind a wall, whereas most of the people were sitting above me. I calmly and firmly argued my cause—I’m not blocking anyone’s view, so I’m not moving. The guy kept at it for a while but he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere and he didn’t really have a leg to stand on. He eventually backed down, but not before shooting me an oh-so-hateful stare. I was nervous for about five minutes after that, worried he was coming back with help, but I soon relaxed. The reason I even mention this incident: I haven’t been bullied since middle school, and it’s nice to know that I can still stick up for myself.

-It was a rough game with lots of penalties (though whether that’s typical for a basketball game, I don’t know). Somehow the Redeem Team’s fans were vastly outnumbered by fans of Argentina; I had heard that many Chinese were huge fans of American basketball, but if that’s true it certainly didn’t show. The Argentina fans were being obnoxious, too, loudly booing the US during free throws and cheering at American penalties and gaffs. Between the poor sportsmanship and the discomfort of sitting on concrete stairs, Brian and I decided to peace halfway through the game. The US eventually won.