TUESDAY 08/19

-A very good day. Received a compliment on my marathon information packets as soon as I walked in the and it was only uphill from there.

-All the sports were stacked in the afternoon, so I had a very light morning. I used it to listen to Chinese Pod, practice characters and catch up on some important emails. I was feeling the end of the Olympics draw near and I spent some time contemplating how, exactly, I wanted to use my last few days.

-After work, I got on a buss to the Argentina vs. Brazil soccer semifinal. The place was packed, and all the volunteers—usually infinitely patient and good-natured—were clearly at their wit’s end dealing with the throngs of hurried and self-important media types pouring in. I somehow managed to find my friend Janique in the stands (she texted me incredibly detailed directions). I cherry-picked the most exciting part of the game, sitting down just in time to watch Argentina score two crushing goals against Brazil.

-Unfortunatly, I only got to see a few minutes of the game, as I had planned to meet Tong outside the stadium. My disappointment was short-lived, however, as Tong brought me to the [normally off-limits] athletes section of the extravagant USA house, a posh club where US athletes and their families can go to relax. Tong was working with US Wrestling Team, who were celebrating the gold-medal victory of their 55kg contender Henry Cejudo. I met some really nice people and I got to hold and admire Mr. Cejudo’s medal—very cool. Don’t know when I’ll be that close to a gold medal again. Tong showed me her extremely impressive collection of Olympic pins and hooked me up with a dozen freebie pins from USA House so I could begin trading, too. After helping some guys find a cab, she then gave me a complete tour of USA House, from the rooftop club to the basement boutique.

-Shortly thereafter I headed home, catching busses to the IBC and then to the MV, and went to bed exhausted.