Live From Beijing

My friend Weijean reports in from Beijing:

It's 9:09 AM on 8.8.2008. Only a few more hours to go till the games. There are big Olympic countdown clocks around town that have been counting the days for the past year. Today all the "day" counters are at "0" and the hours and minutes are ticking away. We're definitely feeling the Olympic spirit here in Beijing.

I attended a Jamaican Olympic team event sponsored by Puma the other night (snapshot included), through work, and the energy was palpable. I felt both the excitement and the nervous energy in the room, as all the athletes tried to enjoy themselves despite the heavy pressure to perform well over the next few days. And the prime minister addressed the crowd via live video conference, and told the athletes, "Go out there and perform your best and make our country proud, and your best will good enough for us." What a great thing to say! Really inspiring. Much better than some Chinese official who said the other day, "If our star sprinter doesn't win gold in Beijing, his past achievements will be worth nothing."

The good news is we can feel the energy of the Games. I had a breakfast meeting at a hotel this AM and the taxi driver, doormen, servers, all projected a certain energy. They smiled a bit wider, opened doors with more gusto and greeted you w/ more curiosity. The bad news is the AIR!!! Yuck. It's just as bad as ever. One of the worst visibility days I've seen. Here's a photo from today. I'm in my office this AM then taking off for the national holiday.

Wonder who will carry the torch for the final leg. It can't be Yao, he's already carried it. Will it be an athlete? A politician? A celebrity? A Sichuan earthquake survivor? A lumbering panda?