Tear show on the pool deck

8/3/08 9:02 Local Time, Water Cube Broadcast Compound

It really started to hit me at work yesterday that I'm actually in China and the Olympic Games are actually starting in just a week. Aidan and I got to go on a little tour during work of the inside of the Water Cube and all of NBC's broadcast areas. The first stop was called the Costas Platform, which is probably pretty self-explanatory. He has a spot at one end of the pool up above the blocks overlooking the entire natatorium. The view was incredible -- I put all of the Olympic athletes in the pool in my mind. Then it hit me that I was standing in the exact spot that Bob Costas would be broadcasting from. I suddenly felt my heart pounding against my chest in its flutter of excitement. I actually wanted to cry it was so unreal.

The next stop was the swimming commentary booth located in the stands at the finish line. That's where Rowdy Gaines and Dan Hicks will be during the meet. None of the cameras or computers or anything were set up yet, but I could completely picture it all put together in my mind. All of the other international broadcast stations have booths right around ours, but ours is in the best possible location.

The third stop was the diving commentary booth that looks out over the biggest diving well ever built and the most gorgeous platform towers I've ever seen. We then went down on deck to the mix zone, which is where Andrea Kremer will be doing interviews of all of the athletes after their races. The mix zone was this huge row of little knee-high boxes that lined the length of the diving well. Every country broadcasting had its own box. We stood in Andrea's and took pictures for a while (we, of course, have the best position there, too), and by this point I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I just had to call my mom to tell her where I was standing, even though it was 3:30am in New York. It went to her voicemail, which I was hoping for, and I told her I was so excited that I thought I was going to cry and, sure enough, I started crying. Just a little. The whole experience was so out of this world. It was beyond a dream come true. And on our way out, I even ran my hand through the water. I almost died thinking about what I was actually touching. I seriously asked Aidan to pinch me because I thought I was dreaming.

The rest of the day at work, I got to drive people around in a golf cart to all of the different places on the Olympic Green. I went to the Bird's Nest again and finally saw the broadcast tower up close (where the Today Show is broadcast from). And the Today Show actually starts their broadcasts from here tomorrow! I think they're doing a tour of the sets in our section of the IBC at some point this week, so when that gets aired, just know that that's exactly where I am every morning, noon, and night. It's cool that people at home will get to see that, too.

After work I met up with Ben, a fellow intern who I went out with a few nights ago, and we ventured out to find a good place to eat near the Media Village. We ended up in this one restaurant, where we tried 3 dishes -- one rice with egg and Chinese vegetables, one rice with pork and grilled onions, and one stick of seasoned lamb meat and bamboo -- that only cost us 30 RMB total, including 2 large bottles of Chinese beer. So 15 each...that's like 2 or 3 American dollars each. Can't beat it! The lamb wasn't my favorite, but I did try it, and the other 2 dishes were amazing, even though when we ordered them we had no idea what we were ordering because the menu was all in Chinese and there were no pictures.

After dinner, we just went to this bar right in the Media Village that has fun little tables and umbrellas set up outdoors. And for those of you wondering, Chinese beer is surprisingly delicious. We didn't stay out long, though, because we both had to be up early for work. We did get to see fireworks from the Bird's Nest while we were outside because they were doing a rehearsal for opening ceremonies. They were huge, and that was nothing compared to what the ceremonies actually have in store. And in less than 1 week from today, the swimming will have officially begun! I can barely contain myself.