Beijing, a year later

Editor’s Note: You all remember Shawna Xu, the Renmin University student who helped out the group from the University of Missouri last summer while we fumbled our way around Beijing. Her translation skills saved us countless times.
In an e-mail, she reminded me that it’s been a year since we experienced Beijing and the Olympics. And [...]

Six-thousand hits!

Six-thousand hits?
Who would’ve thought that when we started this blog just three weeks ago that we’d get over 6,000 hits?
By all accounts, it’s been a popular thing on both ends. We enjoyed sharing our experiences. We watched the counter number grow and hoped that folks enjoyed reading our posts and personal blogs.
I’ve been trying to [...]

Chros McDougall: A mystery storm

Well that was weird.
It was 4 a.m., two hours after I fell asleep, when a relentless thunderstorm woke me up last night. We keep the curtain closed so we’re not blinded in the morning, but the light was still getting through. This wasn’t normal thunder — it was more like a boulder rolling down a [...]

Trinity Nelson: The torch relay

Is our stay coming to an end?

Our China trip must be coming to an end.
The Olympics end with Sunday night’s closing ceremonies. We have a farewell dinner with our Remnin hosts on Monday. And then, most of us head back to Missouri on Thursday.
Seven students will stay on to volunteer for the Paralympic Games, which begin in Beijing immediately after the [...]

Sarah Orscheln: Beijing photos

Chros McDougall: Gymnast-mania

Access was opened up considerably for volunteers today.
Thus, Beatlemania. Or in the case of China, Gymnast-mania.
I’ve written a lot about the Chinese infatuation with their athletes. The 12 particular gymnasts representing China in the Olympics won seven medals this year, five of them gold, including both team titles. It’s fair to say that the gymnasts [...]

Lyndsey Nielsen: A day in the life…

The bus turns the corner and I can see that it is going to be a long day.
On a bus with barely 20 seats and a maximum capacity that cannot be more than 75, there are probably close to 90 people riding this morning. Since I don’t have a choice, I squeeze myself onto [...]

Furqaan Sadiq: Not just a hockey match

Amid the political mess from the War on Terror, Pakistanis find solace in two things: cricket and field hockey. Given that cricket is not part of the Olympic repertoire of athletic events, hockey steps in once every four years and Pakistan reawakens its love affair with the sport.
Pakistan’s heads of state – even the [...]

The “Bird’s Nest” at Night

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