Slow days at the compound

8/20/08 15:44 Local Time, Broadcast Compound

I haven't had much to write about over the past couple of days because, ever since swimming ended, nothing much has happened. Diving competition continues until Saturday so we are all still stuck on the compound and our hours are still long. Everyone is slowly starting to head home one by one, so it's kind of emptying out on the compound. It's a sad sight to see.

Yesterday I literally did nothing all day, at least until I had to drive to the Bird's Nest in a golf cart. The NBC cameraman who was struck by lightning on the Great Wall the other day was actually a diving crew guy. He came into our office last night to say hi to everyone and tell us about what happened. You wouldn't believe how crazy it is to hear a first-hand account of what it's like to be struck by lightning. He said all that's wrong with him right now is a lot of pain in his shoulders, neck, and back, but other more long-term and serious symptoms still have a chance of occurring gradually, I guess. Before he left our office he asked if I could take him around the Bird's Nest at night so he could take pictures. I saw some amazing views of the Nest and he took some great shots that he's promised to email to me.

I actually had time to go out last night after work, too, and it was a bunch of peoples' last nights here so I had to go. A small group of us just went out to Houhai, that bar street that wraps around a little lake in the middle of the city, for a little bit and sat at an outdoor table next to the water. I didn't have to be in to work until this afternoon, so we stayed in Houhai pretty late, but it was really very relaxing.

This morning was the first morning I woke up without the annoying beeping sound coming from the alarm clock on my nightstand. Instead, it was the housekeepers pounding on my bedroom door that woke me up and I couldn't tell them to go away because I woke up with no voice and am apparently getting sick, which is just awesome. When I finally decided to get up, I met my friend from Syracuse and his dad who works for NBC for lunch at the IBC. While we were sitting there we saw gymnastics gold medalist Shawn Johnson and her family, and 2-time wrestling gold medalist in '00 and '04, Rulon Gardner, both eating lunch. It was hilarious, actually, because Shawn is the tiniest girl I've ever seen and Rulon sat down with a full plate of pasta, 3 sandwiches, and a hot dog and called it his "pre-lunch snack." He's the biggest guy I've ever seen. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the two of them together.

I finally went into the Bird's Nest for the first time today after lunch. There were no events going on so we just got to walk in. The Nest is incredible enough from the outside, but inside is even better. The seats are never-ending and the whole top is open so it's all natural lighting. The torch is in plain view from the seats and stands majestically over the top of the Nest. We sat down in front row seats and imagined what it would be like to watch an event from there with the track only about five feet in front of us. I was actually more curious as to what it would be like to compete there than anything else. It must be the biggest rush of adrenaline ever.

I'm hoping that the diving broadcast manager will let me go check out the women's beach volleyball final tomorrow morning instead of coming into the office early. Americans Misty May and Kerri Walsh are playing a Chinese team for the gold. I'm dying to be there!

I'm also hoping that once all of the aquatics sports are over and the closing ceremonies have passed, we might possibly get to swim in the Cube. My hopes are still so high to get to do that!