Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Old Journals from My Life in the Middle East

And now because of the news of the last few days, I cannot continue on the Olympics without commenting on months of travel in the Middle East in 1965.  I am digging out and skimming old journals, memories are triggered while Gaza is suffering.

Mary Sparrow Devins and I were students at the University of Florence in '65 and one day after class we spotted a brochure in the window of a Travel Agency with incredible discounts on the Turkish Maritime Lines.  The discounts for students were the greatest.  So off we went, from Milan, to Naples, to Greece, to Turkey.  We didn't go 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or bunk class.  We went "bunk without food class".  It was great.  Every port had great farmers' markets.  When we got to the hostel across from the blue mosque in we decided that we knew too little about this part of the world.  Therefore I stayed and with the return ticket to Milan in my backpack traveled south with Janet Bailey from Christchurch, New Zealand.  We traveled as far as we could by train then trucks that were transporting oranges became one of our main sources of transportation.

By the time we got to Ramala where a Palestinian family wanted to learn English and took us in, we had many many stories to share about Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.  This family had many stories to share as well.  They told us about the land that was once their family's land for many generations but now a part of Israel.  Although we were young, we knew that they had dignity and yet deep suffering in their past.

Later we left the quite environment in our neighborhood, always difficult to say goodby, and crossed The Mandelbaum Gate into Israel.  Jerusalem was divided then.  Once you passed this gate, there was no returning to the Arab countries.  In Israel we saw so much ammunition, so many tanks and so many women with rifles.  Such an incredible contrast to the peaceful shepherds and small villages we had recently been part of.  We were young and for the first time had fear. Fear of the present.  Fear and wonder about the future.  We were in the middle east only for a matter of months.  Such a small slice of our history and such a long history of their suffering.

Now in December 2008, the great suffering of the people of GAZA is presently in the news.  I continue to think of those good folks who I met and hope and pray for peace.


Monday, December 15, 2008

Forty Year Old Journals from 1968 Lead to Questions

Hmmm, now just why haven't I been blogging lately? I spent more time on the Obama campaign then I planned but was verrry happy. Then went searching in old hand written journals from prior olympic games and spent long hours reading. The old journals made me more interested in some of the history of the olympics. I would open a journal and find myself reliving history. Nothing quite like a book, especially an old book, you open the cover...and it lives, present tense, once again! Therefore, I spent time researching or reviewing and refreshing my mind about many journal topics as well as the olympics. What fun.

Also, I am "in between computers". Since my six year old laptop, that was constantly used in my classroom with a big screen, finally is acting strange I decided to clean out old pre-internet computers. Sheez. Before leaping ahead to the future must clean out some oldies but goodies.(Hey, these old computers have some great "reliving" as well.)

I will continue to come to the library to go online briefly until I replace my faithful old laptop in 2009.

One of the topics that interests me now was a topic that never really got understood during the Mexico Olympics, the student protests. I spoke to a few people about them. Some wanted to change the topic. Some of these students felt they had a leader, unlike Fox, and felt they needed to have more freedom of speech and, quite simply, more power as human beings. Those who were there said the students were peaceful, very peaceful. Some believe that the riot was not started by the students. Over forty years have passed and there is still a difference of opinion about how many students were killed and and how some of their bodies went missing. Perhaps some of the families could never properly give their children dignity in death because of their fear or perhaps because some of their childrens remains went missing they lived for years, not knowing. Perhaps we can learn the truth of this some day.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Heartbeat of the Olympics, Mariachis and Drums

Ahhh yes, Mariachis were the heartbeat of the Olympics '68 just as the drums of the opening ceremony were the heartbeat of the Olympics '08.

And the local drum beat of the '08 elections has me sidetracked so will continue more of the Mexico Olympics in November. Am off to volunteer again for Obama.

Received a few emails asking about my month long homebase in Beijing. It was located in the center of the busy city of Beijing, just north of the forbidden city, incredibly well-located, inside Ring #1. In 2007 it was one of the hostels that I checked out after my Hong Kong International School Reunion. Nanluoguxiang Hutong (Alley) is to Beijing what "the village" is to New York City. The management and staff of this hostel made sure everyone felt welcome. It was clean and according to incoming guests who switched from five star hotels, the mattresses were, yup, "superior".

So dudes, if you are headed for China, and only want to spend about $8.00 per night for an awesome place to stay which includes breakfast, check it out...Beijing Downtown Backpackers Hostel!!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mexico Olympics 1968

Financially, Mexico '68 was profitable because of my work at CBS News. (How can I NOT discuss the economics of Olympic Games during t h i s October of 2008! Sheez all the graphs and charts this October look like the cliffs of Dana Point! Oh how I am reminded of the root word of "investment" and the root word of the word "credit". Investment comes from the Latin word of garment, thus something coming INto the pocket of the garment, and as most of you know, credit comes from credere to believe...credo...or I believe you will pay me back!)

Although I did not see or witness the student uprising prior to the games, it was incredibly serious and I believe over 200 hundred were killed just weeks before Opening Ceremony. These games came soon after Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were shot. Such sad times but again, I was living in Asia surrounded by joyous sixth graders at Hong Kong International School.   As the thousands of doves were released at Opening Ceremony the world was yearning for PEACE.

Getting hired by Bert Quint was awesome, working whether in the office or out of the office was totally enjoyable. In the office we had a teletype machine, busy phones, good vibes, and people coming and going often. I greeted them and assisted them with their needs. Heywood Hale Broun, American Sportswriter and "poetic" commentator and his wife were a joy to take around Mexico City. Marjorie Margolies, from Philadelphia, was another visiting broadcaster (who I should look up one day). When I worked the phones in the office I was most excited hearing Walter Cronkite's voice on the other end.  Our office was on one of main streets, Avenida Reforma, and quite often I would go off to the games. In those days we did not have credentials as we do today. We had a goldish medal and when wearing that around our necks we were free to go everywhere, opening ceremony, all the venues and of course inside the Olympic Village. The Village had great food, great fun and great everything.  The signage was artistically created and it was easy to spot from a distance. We just had to look for the big P for PRENSA, therefore learning logistics was easy.  Learning about Olympic Protocol was new for me but just being proper covered most of it and having parents like mine made that easier because they gave us the basics plus a bit of etiquette as well when we were young.  My "broken" Spanish came in handy and my craving for Mexican food was satisfied.

And ohhhh that MARIACHI MUSIC...it was everywhere...OLEY!!!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

So How Did All of This "Olympicism" Start Anyway...

Yes, I will go back to find some of the pics and journals and post parts of them later. But until then, quite simply, there were many circumstances. Among them, swimming in the NJ State finals and living near a beautiful ocean, greeting foreigners at a convention city adjacent to my home town, Ventnor, at the New Jersey Shore, having parents that realized traveling was an education, loving sports, and loving life certainly helped to make ten olympics possible. Knowing people who encouraged me like Eleanor Weems of Long Beach, California certainly made a big impression on me as a young girl. And before my first Olympics in Mexico '68 I became even more curious during my year of teaching in Japan because it was soon after the '64 Olympics and quite often I was stopped while riding my bike in Tokyo for an autograph. I had to explain that even though I might have looked like one of the athletes, I was not. That was 1966. In 1967 when I spoke about the olympics while living and teaching in Hong Kong, for the most part, I heard discouraging words. A year later I found myself walking down Avenida Reforma in Mexico City headed for the CBS News office. Bert Quint was chief of the Latin America Bureau in those days and although I did not have an appointment he had a look at my resume and said that my resume would even be better with CBS News on it. And I was hired!

Now what exactly was it like to work for CBS News during the exciting Olympic months in 1968? That deserves a post or two in October. (Yes, I will also cover some of the adventures that I skipped in China.)

Friday, September 5, 2008

Speechless..."Home, Home on the Beach!"

Left my voice in Beijing. Yes, indeed. It was gradually disappearing in Ned's on Nanluoguxiang (I'll have fun posting about Ned's in the future.) Then it was going more rapidly when good friends Shirley Lind and Nancy Ryder met me after a long long flight via Korea. My voice was totally gone as we drove south on PCH and stopped in Laguna for a pit stop. I stood on one of the patios of the beautiful new coastal home of the Sawdei Family, another OLYMPIC SPIRIT FAMILY, and after Mike Sawdei gave us a royal tour I simply paused and whispered to my sparkling ocean..."I'm HOME".

(You will hear more about the Sawdei Family, and more about Shirley as I weave stories of past Olympics into my blog)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Thank you Johnson and Johnson, Closing Ceremony was AWESOME

Soooo what was Closing Day of the Beijing Olympics like for me. (I know, I know, I am skipping a lot of Olympic days and Olympic nights but...later! )

Had the standard western style hostel breakfast...one egg, fresh fruit, a sausage, 3 pieces of toast, butter and jam. The Downtown Backpacker Hostel is as central as central can get yet tucked away in artsy cozy hutong. I need to write a post ONLY about this hostel when I am home in Dana Point. Anyway, after breakfast I chatted with Apple and the girls at the front desk, chatted with Stan from Canada and a few others in the hostel lounge, helped some newcomers to the hostel, taught a bit of English and in between wondered how and if it was possible to get Closing Ceremony. When I thought about doing what I did to get in Opening Ceremony, I just pictured rows and rows of soldiers who were responding to the crowd control experts. Their goal to get everyone moving at least a kilometer, maybe more, away from the Bird’s Nest discouraged me. It sure is a good thing I did not have this knowledge prior to opening, aye? What alternative options do I have...hmmm...

I remembered visiting my son Don when he lived near Cole Street in San Francisco. “That was Craig of craigslist” someone told me as I exited a coffee shop during one of my visits. (Both of my kids, Don and Marion, are great and once they asked me a question about the thing I liked best about myself. I remember answering...I don’t think that I could ever be bored because I am interested in so many things but most of all, it is always entertaining for me to see HOW I will be and how I will react to new unpredictable situations.)

Anyway, here I was on the other side of the world in an unpredictable situation and craigslist.com popped into my head. I was able to get online clicked on “China”, clicked on “Beijing”, and yesss, clicked on “tickets”. Wow, saw many ads but too expensive. So I placed an ad. As the morning passed I got some responses but my sim card from Chinesesims in Massachusetts didn’t work in my Samsung camera (2meg) phone and the front desk was busy and didn’t want to bother them. Then Fiona a local girl from this neighborhood who joined me in Sanlitan at Ciro’s one night, happened to come and visit me and...sweet...she had a local cell phone and happily answered the ad responses. The prices were way way out of my range. So nada, niente...nothing was reasonable.

That’s that! So I decided to prepare and pack with my sign-making department...a few magic markers, a large paper and tape. After cleaning up a bit and showering, started to head out to the alley for the Olympic Green. I went only a short distance and returned to the hostel, and something made me return. What was it that was turning me back after taking only a few steps from the hostel? Ping pong pong ping. You tell me what you think and I but here’s what I think...THAT OLYMPIC SPIRIT!

It must also have been Craig. After being asked several times in an interview once what he would sell his company for, and after repeatedly saying it is not for sale, finally, after being asked if there was ANYTHING that he would exchange his company for, he responded with...”WORLD PEACE!” Cool dude, aye? And really ANYONE who plants seeds for world peace, whether they know it or not, has the olympic spirit, after all, “oneness of humanity”...and the stuff that makes us human with all our faults...that is the theme for every olympics. And every olympics that I experienced has been sort of an invisible but giant global social worker.

Now THIS is why I will sing the praises not only of Craig but of Johnson and Johnson forever. I checked craigslist one LAST time and YESSS there was a short ad because of a co-worker who had to fly home to the states had heat exhaustion and am quite sure because, like our family, they did not want to waste! The olympic fire within began to flame up. So off I went, PRONTO, not even returing my sign-making department to my room, to catch a cab in order NOT TO WASTE that ticket! Was OHHHHHH so grateful to experience, from the “50 yard line” and the 13th row, CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE BEIJING GAMES! 2008 Thank yous to the JOHNSON AND JOHNSON gold medal sponsor team!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Crowd Surfing at Holland's Heineken House

Sooo, the Heineken House is huge. There is a large long hall for partying with a stage at the end. There are also restaurants, shops, and even a Dutch bakery. Dutch TV broadcasts its Olympic programs from the roof. There are also beer gardens outside and although I forget that I am in China when I am there...ping pong tables are available. Krokets were tasty, ice cream and T shirts were half price and beer was a bit expensive but whoever set this place up and orchestrated all this fun deserved it.

Last night thousands were there drinking, laughing, singing and dancing the night away. I was probably 500 people away from the stage but it didn’t matter because there were large monitors around the perimeter. Fantasic atmosphere! “Take me home West Virginia, Uuuu Oooo, We are the Champions” and fun dutch songs made our spirits soar. Because there were SO many Dutch gold medal recipients Friday night was the best. Screams of excitement made the walls bounce along with the best music in Beijing and with the dutch singer/entertainer on the stage WITH the dancing olympic flame as the gold medal girls hockey team entered the stage. Hearts were beating to the drums as the team, one by one, dove into the animated audience for “crowd surfing”. It was a wildly happy night.

A Chinese investment banker who I met the other day recognized me in that maze of orange, Mr. Mo. “Don’t you remember me?” he asked, “You were talking with my friend”. Well I have been talking with a LOT of people and aprox sixteen million people live here in Beijing, so I needed another hint! What another coincidence! Mr. Mo's friend, who loves skiing in the USA, and I chatted on and on the other day outside the Olympic Green. (Sheez Tom Reynolds, I was wishing YOU were there!)

Then I bumped into Roelef who I was with earlier. Roelef is a Dutch backpacker from our hostel who has been to China seven times. How could I miss him, in his wooden shoes, his orange hat with big tulips bouncing above. He talks to everyone and everyone talks to him. Such a character!

Dutch politicians and Royalty like crown prince Willem-Alexander, princess Maxima, prime minister Balkenende, the mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen and other politicians frequent the Heineken House as well as our motley yet REGAL backpackers!!!

So, I could go on, but if there was a medal for party people, Holland would get, yup, the GOLD!

Oouuuu Aaaa The Houses at the Olympic Games, THE HEINEKEN HOUSE

Am not sure what the London House, The Swiss House, The USA House, The Japan House, The Russian House or The Nike House were doing tonight but sure know what the Heineken House was up to!

Heineken did not take over a huge tent this olympics. Instead, a castle looking complex that is the huge Agricultural Center.

Thousands of orange Dutch sing’n and sway’n and wave’n their orange arms to the GREAT music of an incredibly awesome band. An olympic flame character was the main dancer, (yes, sounds strange but true) on the stage with the band leading the spirit of the crowd. Any time a medal is won at the olympic games, the houses are the places that the athletes go to please the crowd, celebrate together and feel their glory. Tonight not one but a whole team of hockey players thrilled us all.

Was planning on coming home early to write...but no way could I leave this gigantic celebration. This time it is 4:00! Zzzzz

Monday, August 18, 2008

Phelps and the Today Show, Rowing Team and Marion!!!

It is another 3:00 A.M.er in Beijing so will make this a quick post. Just had fun chatting with my daughter in San Francisco. So, yesss Marion and everyone at deYoung Museum, I was just a few yards away from Phelps today as he was interviewed. To answer your question, my camera went missing, therefore I don't have a photo of us together but a few minutes later Patrjcio, a great guy from Mexico took a photo of Meredith, who interviewed Phelps, and I together so if it is proof that you need, I do have a bit and yes she is wearing the same dress that she was wearing when she interviewed Phelps. I helped Patrjcio hold up his Mexican flag and we chatted about Mexico '68, Matt L. signed an olympic flyer for me and Al R. helped straighten our flag.

The girls USA gold medal rowing team were interviewed as well and three enthusiastic Syracuse rowing mates who stay in our hostel were their biggest fans!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

From the Tennis Greats to Phelps Day

Well today is Phelps Day, and screams of glee filled the air in our hutong. No doubt they could hear our crowd cheer from here to The Cube! A bit close for comfort but we are, and quite sure you are, thrilled for him...such a good person. I had another flashback from former Olympic Games. This time it was of meeting and talking with Mark Spitz right after his seventh gold medal in Munich ‘72. He was whisped away to safety so quickly afterwards that I don’t know anyone else who saw him. It was inside the Olympic Village where the athlete’s live. Out in an almost empty area between the athletes’ lounge and the dorm area my path crossed his. He was with two others and am quite sure one of them was his coach. Even though he couldn’t stay long enough to enjoy his fame, he was happy to hear my exclamation of congratulations. I usually do not collect autographs but after our picture was taken together, he signed a few of my olympic tickets and minutes later he was driven to the airport in Munich.

I am writing from a small lovely Tibetan Cafe near our hostel. There is a Russian family next to me and they just came over to my window table to tell me that they were going to frame the little present that I just gave them. It was one of the Atlanta Olympic accreditation tickets from when I worked for Atlanta Olympic Broadcasting in ‘96. They were so appreciative I reached in my backpack to find another present, afirst day issue olympic sailing post card from LA ‘84. (The dad was Sergey Ushakov of Aeroflot.)

The music in this cafe is just about as peaceful as the Dalai Lama. My favorite music here in Beijing so far, other than the music of the Opening Ceremony, was in a Mongolian Bar on Friday night. Anyway, at 1:00 AM Mongolian folk music filled my ears as I was walking by a Mongolian bar and feeling so grateful for another incredible day. I don’t think anyone who loves music could pass by this place without stopping. These ancient glorious sounds kept me from heading directly home. We all were almost mesmerized by this music. Then, close to 2:00 AM and who walks in but one of my dorm mates, Roberta, with three South African Broadcasters! How could I leave! They were sooo much fun and besides Roberta had only two days left in Beijing. I just had to stay. It was another 3:00 AM er.

Saturday was Tennis day for me...yes Venus and Serena and all. A couple from the Holland came into the lounge of our hostel and asked who would like to go to the tennis games. They had a couple of tickets. Like all Olympics whether you work the games or not, it is HOW TO GET to the venues and how to get home again! "Like all Olympics" I say, but especially these Olympics. If you have two events in one day, often you cannot and should not try to make another. It is better to just enjoy the activities on the way and on the way home...if you can. Getting there AND getting back is challenging. I gave Victor from Recife the other ticket and off we went, pronto, this time finding a cab. And it was a great day. Yesss Seth...Auntie Carole is ALSO cheering on Netherlands!!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Nan Luo Gu Xiang Hutong and Random Beijing Blogging

Now to blog a bit about yesterday, 08-13-08 in Beijing.

Late last night Nicholas from Argentina and I chatted about our stories of the day as we shared a short cab ride back to our hostel from the nearby subway (my share was $.75). He made it to the great wall with a neat guy, Nick, who has been teaching English and learning Mandarin in China for six months. I chatted about my day at two sporting events at different venues, then the VIP reception area of Cocacola for drinks and a snack, then watched a bit of the Today Show, then visited a few of the Sponsor's Exhibits and lastly did a bit of pin trading at McDonalds within the Olympic Green. When we exited the cab there, riding a bike after 11:00 PM was one of the AP correspondents. "Hey, I want to get a bike", I told him as he almost ran into me. He bought the bike to use for a month. He was looking for a place to eat in our hotung. I showed him my favorite place to eat down near the Pass By bar and joined him. He had been to seven olympics so we had a lot of chatting to do!

Anyway both tickets to the events were given to me. One by another hosteler who over-scheduled his day. Just getting to each venue is a real challenge. And for that matter, getting back home is another challenge. At breakfast this morning Roberta from San Paulo said they took a train at 1:00 in the afternoon yesterday to get to a China vs Brazil football at 8:00 PM. They could not get near a train to come back to Beijing so took a cab for three hours! It didn't matter she said because they had a grrreat time! They split the cost of the cab and her share was about $26.00, and yup, Brazil won!

Another ticket was given to me at one of the olympic green information booths by a parent of one of the girls water polo team. Watching our USA water polo team is, so far, one of the many highlights. Speaking of water polo, one of my former students Andrew LaForge will be playing water polo for Stanford next year. When I came in last night was able to get on to gmail for a bit and looks like his awesome mom spotted me on the Today Show! Such a buzz.

Two other little buzzes...on the way out of Opening Ceremony my path crossed Kissingers on the Olympic Green. I simply extended my hand and he said, "How are you" in a tone of voice only Kissinger has. Also, one of the receptionists at the VIP area of Cocacola said, "That was the Prime Minister of Canada who just opened the door for you!"

Sooo many things happening will catch up on the last few days later or will weave them into my next posts.

Perfect Seat in the Bird's Nest

"Beep"...yes...ticket legitimate!

Almost all of my 91,000 fellow opening ceremony olympic ticket holders were seated already so therefore I had no waiting time as I entered security. Another short subway trip north under the Olympic Green and an exciting walk with my first glimpse of the aquatics Cube with brilliant changing colors before entering the Bird’s Nest.  My seat was perrrrfect, just behind and a bit above the olympic flag pole. I was speechless as I made my way to my seat with Hong Kong International School parents to my right and a large Saudi Arabia contingency to my left.

And then quite simply, (you all saw it) the opening ceremony began and...
CHINA WOWED THE WORLD!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Inside the Bird's Nest 08-08-08 for Opening Ceremony

On the morning of Opening Ceremony (08-08-08 A.M.) had breakfast with Paulo, a fun Brazilian from our hostel. Departed from the comfy and cozy area of our hostel in the Nan Luo Gu Xiang Hotung (alley) around 9:30 AM to join masses of wandering Chinese outside of the Olympic Green area. We were directed then redirected again AND again by lines of military police. Although many people might have come a long distance I was the only non-Chinese. Hmmm I thought, as we were told to walk in another direction, there certainly are not many decisions that I can make. I did get to cross a bridge and get close to the Bird's Nest gate and saw a few anglo looking roller skaters pass by, had my picture taken often and was interviewed by several TV crews. Then, after hours, saw the first official looking volunteers who spoke only Mandarin. As I walked further it became clear that the goal for those in charge of crowd control was to confuse us and to get us further and further away! As a law-abiding citizen I followed their command. Then after another mile of walking and being told to walk back in the direction which I came, I actually saw a lone "lost cab" on an empty, yes empty guarded street! Did have to break ranks and surpass the police to hail the cab down, but got a ride back to the subway area where I started. Ahhh these olympic rings or circles have a new symbolism for "mois"!!! By 5:00PM thousands of ticket holders were passing me and how were they to know that I needed a ticket? I had to make a sign but there were no other people with signs! Were all these guards keeping others from making signs? Were there new rules for the olympics? I didn't know, but I made my sign anyway while I wondered where all the Olympic foreigners were. Then I saw a guy dressed like Elvis with a sign, whew. I saw more foreigners, whew, a little olympic craziness, finally! By the time a man from Saudi Arabia who had an extra ticket came to me, it was close to the time for the Opening Ceremony. His first offer I didn't take. I don't carry much cash. Then, am sure he wanted to enter the national stadium bird's nest with his ticket so he came down to a bit lower than face value, AND MY SPIRIT SOARED!

I had a flashback of Opening Ceremony 1968 as I rounded the corner for entry. I walked a few steps further and sheez, I saw an old olympic friend, Randy, with open arms. He was with a bunch of Olympic Pin Traders from Atlanta. They were all wearing the same olympic shirt as my AOB uniform from Atlanta '96 (which I didn't bring because I am traveling so light.) What a buzz. Couldn't talk for a long time but Randy said he didn't have a ticket for the opening and the police let them stay there, so close to the Olympic Green entrance without moving them on. Leave it to Randy! He was concerned that I might not get in because of all the fear of matching passport pictures on tickets and counterfit tickets. "We'll be here if you don't get in so join us at a nearby big screen!" HauGEEla!!!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Arrival to Beijing

Having attended Hong Kong International School's 40th Reunion in 2007, "da spirit" led me north to Beijing. In Beijing, the "bod" was too hot so the mind said "basta"...enough. Back in Dana Point, CA for many months I kept from opening the boxes of memorabilia from the last nine olympics in hopes that the olympic fever would not surface. Although when I gave a negative answer when I was asked, "Are you going to Beijing?" I could still feel an incredibly tiny but quite powerful olympic flame inside that eventually overpowered my body and yup, my mind!!

If I really get into this blog, I'll reread this back in California and will write details that are quite interesting later. But because of an extended family wedding on August 2nd at UCI and a few other important family and household matters, I didn't give time or attention to the tiny flame within. Quite simply, at the last minute, Asiana Airlines had a great price and I arrived in Beijing on August 7th.

I had a lot of learning, walking and experiencing the everchanging logistics before I entered The Bird's Nest for the SPECTACULAR OPENING CEREMONY! HOW was I able to get into this spectacular event?

It was the olympic spirit...: )