The last day of diving has finally arrived! I really thought this moment would never arrive, but now that it's here, I'm kind of sad to see it end. During this morning's session, which was the men's 10m platform semifinal, I was actually sent out into the city with one of our local interns on a hunt to find Ginger Ale for one of the diving talents that was feeling ill. I missed the entire morning session, but I did get to explore an all-out Chinese grocery store. Had I gone alone, I would have been lost beyond belief, but the girl I was with is actually from Beijing so she was handy to have around, except that she didn't know what Ginger Ale was.
I've noticed that even Chinese grocery stores are way different from those in America. It's those little differences that I love about our two cultures; it makes them both more interesting. The few stores I've actually been in here have all had a few things in common that American stores don't. The first is that they are all multiple stories high with ramps or moving ramps in place of stairs or escalators so people can push their shopping carts up and down them. Second, Chinese grocery stores have everything you could ever possibly need all in one place, from clothes to shoes to appliances to entertainment to food. It's kind of like Wal-Mart, only spread over five or six floors and far more crowded and noisy. Third, they all have little boutique stores built right into them, places like hair and nail salons, independently owned butcher shops, sushi bars, and optometry and dentistry places. And the last thing that all Chinese grocery stores (as well as many random parts of the city) share: you literally can't go anywhere while breathing through your nose. Most of the city, I hate to say it, smells very strange, and stores are no exception. We got our Ginger Ale and got out of there as quickly as our little (well, HER little, MY big) feet could take us.
We've had a long break this afternoon in between diving sessions, so we got to leave the compound for most of the time. I saw my first live soccer game today and it happened to be the Olympic gold medal game between Nigeria and Argentina in the Bird's Nest. We caught the second half of the game, so we got to see the Nest packed with crowds and we saw the Argentinian victory celebrations. They defeated Nigeria 1-0.The next stop on my little mini-Olympic tour today was synchronized swimming, which was going on in the Cube all afternoon, but NBC doesn't have a team of broadcasters for the event like they do for most other sports. So I was strictly a spectator today, and I actually managed to squeeze myself into a seat in the American cheering contingency. Synchro is actually incredible to watch. These girls do all kinds of intricate and artistic poses before they even enter the water, and once they dive in, they stay under for an eternity doing all kinds of fancy synchronized leg movements above the water. They were throwing girls into the air to do all kinds of flips and twists and flexibility displays. They used their hands and feet in such unique and interesting ways that I wondered how someone could have ever possibly choreographed the whole thing. It was actually really incredible to watch. Everything was so precise.
The Russian team ended up winning with a nearly perfect score, but the Japanese team was the talk of the competition. At the end of their routine, they had their heads underwater for a very long time, and one of the girls didn't ever come back up. Her teammates had to go get her from the bottom of the pool and lifeguards dove in to help move her to the side so they could get her out. When the guards got to her, she had woken up and was nodding her head so it looked like she was okay, but by the time they got her to the side she just had a blank stare and wasn't responding to anyone. When they lifted her out of the pool, she passed out again and was carried out of sight on a stretcher. I don't know if she woke up after that or what, but I was horrified for her. Drowning is one of my biggest fears (I know that's weird since I'm a swimmer, but water is a powerful element that sometimes can't be controlled), and seeing someone come close to it gave me chills of fear. I hope the poor girl is okay after all is said and done.
On a much, much lighter note, as I've said about a hundred times before, diving is almost done! I can't say it enough to show my true excitement. Just tonight's session left, then striking the compound and packing everything up, then AMERICA!! I sure do miss home...
1 comment:
That sounds exactly like a super-walmart with escalators, and probly smells the same.
Too bad you didn't get to watch the women's soccer final. Not only was USA playing, but we took gold. Would have been a lot more exciting than watching two other countries play it out.
Did that Japanese chick have to be resuscitated (and don't even try and make fun of me for spelling on that one, I looked it up!)? Like a dramatic Baywatch boobs-while-running shot followed by 9 hours of improper CPR? Or did they just kinda drag her out and let her keep breathing (boring)?
On a final note that you may not know or care about, USA MEN'S INDOOR VOLLEYBALL BEAT THE BRAZILIANS FOR GOLD!!! This is exciting to me, Brazil are - excuse me, were - top dogs in volleyball for the longest time, and we smoked them. It was awesome because a bunch of the players have been on the team for a long time (this was the setter's 4th olympics) and they finally won.
That makes gold for men's and women's beach volleyball, men's indoor volleyball, and silver for women's indoor volleyball. Badass.
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