eight

it's not what i expected.

somehow i thought that the whole of beijing would be walking just a few inches off the ground ... eyes filled with wonder ... hearts open to embracing the new and the different ... "it's a small world after all" would be played on loud speakers while we held hands and rode a mini bus around the city. i imagined that anticipation and excitement would bubble and pass between shiny happy people who need no language outside of sport to be united.

well, it was sort of like that. it just took some work to find it.

beijing is looking its best. with a new fleet of cabs (some of them even pulled out the seatbelts), lush green adorning every empty space, clean streets, fresh paint, and some clear government mandates when it comes to "normal behavior" (i.e. spitting, crack crazy driving, pjs in public, etc.). the city has contradicted all of my expectations.

we learned quickly that tickets are hard to come by. scalping is apparently, a full time and lucrative business in china, and the prices were outrageous on the streets outside of the olympic park. chad and i got there early on the morning of phelp's quest for number 8. if there was ever a time we had to pull out all of our best negotiation skills, this was it. we are typically a good team, but after 2.5 hours and only a glimmer of one ticket (before it was snatched away in return for more money than we were offering), we were within minutes of the race, and beginning to accept our destiny. we were going to have to sacrifice our system of values to get it done.

that's when chris and lynn of california stepped out of a cab. chad casually asked them if they had extra tickets. they said they had 2. he made them a quick offer and shoved money into their hands as the curious crowd closed in around us. an hour had passed since the event start, and we RAN. in sweaty disbelief, we settled into the best possible seats alongside family members of many of the athletes. the sweetest little lady sat next to me giving me the run down of her "boys" from the states. "oh, aaron peirsol, he's my favorite. he did it the other night, and he'll do it again. don't you worry."

she talked ... and i watched dara win 2 silver medals at age 41. she talked some more, and i watched michael phelps make history. i'm a sucker for sports moments, and it doesn't take much to bring tears, but this was beyond my expectation. there was magic in the water cube.

i still have a lump in my throat.