And they're off!

The Olympic spirit permeated yesterday, as the godsend rain worked its magic and turned the Beijing skies blue overnight. I awoke to this view:

Outside, a cool breeze greeted me as I headed to a road that runs alongside our university for a jog. Perfect weather.

All of us Purdue students left the CUC at 2 p.m. and traveled by shuttle bus to the Velodrome. Security forces blockaded the road leading to it, as today marked the first day of track cycling competition. Inside the venue, fans shook the Union Jack, chanted "Go China" in Mandarin, sported aboriginal headdresses (I think in support of Australia) and snapped photos of the colorful collage of teams in the center of the track. Most of the FQRs stationed themselves in the mixed zone for quote gathering. The ONS managers assigned Kelsey, Megan and me to the broadcast zone. Working in the broadcast zone meant the three of us found much sparser crowds of journalists to push through and had more of a chance to follow athletes from newscaster to newscaster. The catch? Get in a cameraman's shot and feel the wrath of angry newscasters.

The British team won the main event of the night, men's team sprint, and I jumped into taking quotes from the team members: Chris Hoy, Jamie Staff and Jason Kelly. The three stopped first to talk with a BBC reporter and I squeezed alongside her as her cameraman filmed the interview. Thinking back on the quote-taking, I maybe should have felt awestruck standing just a foot away, literally, from Olympic gold medalists. At the time though, only gathering quotes concerned me, and gather them I did. I followed the British cyclists for two interviews, then ran downstairs to enter them into the INFO 2008 database. A press conference commenced a few minutes later.

There, Lauren, Megan, Amy and I recorded highlights from the gold, silver and bronze medal winners--Great Britain, France and Germany, respectively. I've been cultivating a friendship with one of the German cyclists here, Rene Enders. In a typical day we greet each other with a smile and then he trains and I carry out my journalistic duties and, well, we never interact. But I am determined to make friends with my German brothers and sisters!! So during the press conference, I took a step to further our friendship. I asked him, "What are your emotions right now?" Gasp! Brave, no! He said, "I feel frankly nothing right now. I don't realize that we've won bronze." Talk about trying to play the macho man role. He bawled on the track after winning. But I'm one step closer to achieving my goal of befriending a German.

Enders

Exhausted from the commotion of working in the mixed and broadcast zones, we all could have called it a night and gone to bed by 11:00. Not a chance. In true Purdue fashion, we ventured out to explore more of Beijing. Our ONS managers told us about a place called the Holland House. Many countries represented at the Olympics host "houses" where athletes, coaches and their family and friends gather to socialize. The Holland House takes that tradition a step further and allows media members and international visitors to join the festivities. The Holland House comprises a museum honoring Dutch achievements, a beer garden with ping pong tables and a stage and dance floor. Most of the FQRs from Purdue met up with our manager, Amy, and her FQRs from road cycling at the House.

A human sea of orange flowed through the grounds. Nearly everyone wore the color to support the Netherlands. Those who didn't sported their jerseys for the event they competed or will compete in. Yes, athletes roamed the crowds. I saw one of the Angolan beach volleyball players I had just watched play a few days ago.

After a full night at the Holland House, I found myself asking once again, "When else will I ever have a chance to do this?!"