Stupid Big

Saturday, my crew and I moved to our accommodation for the remainder of the Games. The new local is called the Media Village. It is a series of apartment high rises that sit around a common courtyard like area, with a secure perimeter. It houses many of the working press along with some Broadcast personnel. The apartment conditions are more like dorm rooms than hotel rooms. You share a bathroom with another person. There are dining options 24 hours a day but only breakfast is provided free of charge. We have free laundry facilities in the basement of each building. There is a pool on the 27th floor of one of the buildings which makes for a pretty cool view. There is a workout room. There is a general store, a souvenir shop, a newstand, atms, and a few other items. You’re one stop shop for Olympic living. Constant shuttle buses run to take you to several local venues or the hub of the IBC/MPC area. Its about a 20 minute bus ride to work now. One new thing for this games that is very much appreciated is that we have what is called clean to clean transfers meaning, that when we go through metal detectors getting on the bus at the Village, as long as we don’t leave the secured IBC/MPC parameter we don’t have to keep passing through security checks. That saves so much time and hassle. Think of it like traveling through airports. Once you’re in, you can fly domestically without a security check over and over, until you exit the system. Similar concept here. We always have to pass through security to get on the bus from our Village, but once a day sure beats the potential 3-5 times of the past.

Now the downfall is now I don’t have free internet outside of work. I enjoyed it while it lasted. So pictures going forward won’t be happening. The new thing for today was in riding the shuttle to work, we saw some different venues and areas. This Olympics is absurd big. What the Chinese built for these Games is mindboggling. Even maddening in a sense. If they sunk this much effort into taking care of all their citizens, then well you can imagine where I’m going. Thousands of motorpool cars parked in dozens of concrete lots. Fencing for kilometers (have to shift while here). I can’t help but be struck by how much money is being spent on this event. Admittedly I have a very different perspective than most involved here. My job in Atlanta being helping the least of these. Having been to places like Haiti, Pakistan, Albania, Guatemala, Brazil, etc. I unfortunately bear the burden of truth that the amount of money spent on the Olympics to make a very small group of people a lot more money could literally wipe out severe poverty in the world, clean water problems, Malaria issues in Africa, and on and on. NBC alone will spend several billion dollars on coverage.

I love that Olympics stands for peace and unity of the world, and this creates an incredible melting pot of cultural exchange, but my goodness, we could raise all the money, change the world, then just report the results of the competition. I truly believe that God has been prodding me with these thoughts and reminders, because there is certainly nobody else making these points. I’m in the middle of the biggest PR effort ever. In between the Chinese governments efforts and the already strong PR blitz that comes with an Olympics, there is no negativity to be found around here. I will certainly watch and enjoy the athletes competing and the stories that will unfold, but I also won’t forget all those for whom the games won’t matter because they’re too busy surviving.