Welcome to Qingdao!

Sailing teams from around the globe are starting to arrive at the Qingdao Olympic Village. About 10 teams arrived earlier this weekend and about 15 more arrived today (or yesterday evening). A welcoming ceremony was held on Sunday and another one was held today to welcome teams such as Holland, Norway, Denmark, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand. It was a pretty big deal and included a speech from the mayor of the Olympic Village, a presentation of commemorative gifts, and a short performance by a local girls choir. I got to participate by being a flag-bearer. Actually, all I had to do was stand on the staircase and wave a flag at certain times of the event, but it gave me a good view of what was going on.

Two days ago I realized that my office buiding is directly connected to where the athletes live. Additionally, I have clearance to enter their building at will! Since I'm so close, my next goal is to meet the USA team and see if they need any help while they are in Qingdao. I'm not sure how to get in contact with them. Maybe I'll just try and walk through the athletes center and hope I bump shoulders with them. I'll keep you posted on my progress.