Olympic Views and Wedding Blues

Hello and friendly greetings from Beijing. First off, I've decided to discontinue my practice of writing an entry everyday for fear that I will run out of material. However, I promise to update this blog every few days, perhaps more often if I'm feeling particularly inspired. Rest assured, my dear readers, I will not forget you... All 9 of you. Now that that is settled I can get to today's topic: Ao Lin Pi Ke Hui! As you know, Beijing played host to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. To say this was met with some controversy would be an understatement. However, I will not turn this into a discussion of politics and wrong doings. Regardless of one's personal opinions, it is hard to look upon the Beijing Olympic village and not be impressed. China saw these games as a chance to show the world just how far it hash come. Remember that less than one hundred years ago China was a land of peasants ruled under one supreme emperor. However, this nation of 1.3 billion people now stands on the verge of becoming the next world power. Whether this shall come to pass is yet to be decided. If it doesn't, at least they have a cool stadium and swimming pool. Sorry the break in tone, but those last few sentences were getting a bit too heavy for my liking, and way cramping my style. Anyway, what I was saying was that I visited the Olympic village with my host dad. After arriving, the first site to see was the Bird's Nest. The pictures and videos I've seen of this structure really don't do it justice. It's hard to describe just how massive the stadium is. Although to me, the design isn't incredibly esthetically pleasing, that's not to say it still isn't thoroughly impressive. However, the Bird's Nest is nothing compared to the Water Cube. A massive rectangle, the Water Cube's facade has been built to reflect the rippling effects of water's surface. At its base, it is flanked with glass walls that have water falling over them. The water collects into a pool that stretches around the entire building. This feature is mimicked in the lobby as well. I felt like I was in a Zelda game. Inside the competion area there is a lap pool and a diving well. When I was there, the lap pool was empty and workers were busy assembling something in its depths. The diving well however was left untouched. It brought back memories of my high school days. And I won't lie, I did think to myself, "Might I have competed here had I not quit diving?" Oh well. Coulda, shoulda, woulda! Outside the water cube, there were several women wearing wedding dresses. I asked Dr. Tseng why they were dressed like that since no wedding was taking place. He told me that they were only taking wedding photos. Wedding photos are big business in China, and kind of a weird custom. The couples take the photos well in advance, sometimes a year before the actual wedding. And sometimes, it is only a single woman participating in the photo shoot. In this case, she may not have a fiancee or even a boyfriend. While the Chinese have no problem with this, I can't help but feel a little sad for the single women. Behind their smiles is a desire to find love. And I can't help but worry perhaps they are preparing and hoping for a day that will not come. For their sake I sincerely hope it does.