Olympic Summary

Yes, the Olympics have been over for just over a week now and I have almost recovered from the excitement of the games and having family in town. Additionally, I was able to pick-up extra Olympic tickets the last week of the games, which allowed me to see more games than I ever dreamed of.

Here is a quick overview of the games/venues I was able to see:
9 Aug: Boxing @ Worker’s Indoor Arena, with Family
12 Aug: Softball @ Fengtai Sports Center, with Family
12 Aug: PM Chan Yi the Legend of Kungfu (Not an Olympic sport, but fun show with the family)
13 Aug: Baseball @ Wukesong Sports Center, with Family
13 Aug: PM Acrobatics Macrocosm (Zachary and I caught a show while the girls went to a basketball game)
14 Aug: Beach Volleyball (women’s) @ Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, with Family

Family Returns to the U.S.

16 Aug: AM Trampoline @ National Indoor Stadium
16 Aug: PM Soccer (men’s) @ Worker’s Stadium
17 Aug: Track and Field Athletics @ National Stadium (Birds Nest)
18 Aug: Beach Volley (men’s) @ Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground
22 Aug: Soccer (women’s) @ Worker’s Stadium
23 Aug: Taekwondo @ Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium (I didn’t go, but used the ticket to get into the “Olympic Greens.” It was too nice of a day to be indoors.)
24 Aug: Volleyball (men’s) @ Capital Gymnasium

Next stop… Paralympics! Beijing is now doing what they can in order to get ready for the Paralympics. Last night, I saw a crew of Chinese workers installing a wheelchair slide for the stairs at one of the subway stops. If you ever been in the Chinese subway system, you would know that elevators are scarce and stairs are plentiful… This “wheelchair slide” is a mini-rail system which allows a person in a wheelchair to go down stairs. It should be interesting to watch, because the subways, subway hallways, and subway stairs all are normally crowded with people… Not a good place for an able bodied person, let alone folks with disabilities.