For those of you who is against China hosting the olympics, I was on the the boat with you untill I read this in the email. Below is an portion of the email from "Dave Kindred: Feelings from the heart: reflections from Beijing"
Today's column is an answer of sorts to Monday's, in which I said it was sad that the Olympic Games have been awarded to a government that massacred hundreds, maybe thousands, of its own citizens at Tiananmen Square only 12 years ago.
Sportingnews.com reader Hiep Tran wrote me, "From a Western perspective, it's very easy to say China shouldn't get the Games, that this whole thing is just a government-orchestrated parade. However, there are 1 billion people all across China who are absolutely ecstatic about the fact that they got the Olympics. A friend of mine who is currently studying abroad in China just sent me an email that I've included for your reading."
That email is from Jason Chang, a student at Cal-Berkeley now studying at China-Beishida University.
It's a look from the inside of China that is optimistic, happy and illuminating.
Chang's email to Tran, who gave me permission to reprint it:
"I guess there's no way I can escape writing a log about China winning the Olympics for 2008 while studying abroad in Beijing. For all you isolated Americans back in sunny California, I must say that being in Beijing to witness firsthand what hosting the Olympics means to the
people was such a fascinating experience that I couldn't sleep tonight without writing this log.
"I encountered the announcement of Olympics 2008 in Beijing on a small 20-inch television in a local McDonald's near Beishida University.
Around 7 p.m. that day, all my floormates decided to take a cab to Tiananmen Square to witness the official Olympics 2008 announcement.
"I, on the other hand, decided to skip out on the excursion to downtown. Rather, I hopped on my $10 bike and started pedaling aimlessly. From big streets to local alleyways, I was en route to the most grass-roots Olympics celebration I could find.
"To my surprise, I found hundreds of people crowded in a McDonald's -- Big Mac in one hand, Bai shi ke le (Pepsi) in the other, eyes fixed
to a dinky little television set, all anxiously awaiting the announcement of the 2008 Olympics.
"There were probably 100 people standing outside the McDonald's, just loitering or smoking. The rest were inside -- packed like sardines --
awaiting a milkshake and the Olympics in 2008.
"I parked my bike, locked it up, and decided to join my sardine brothers and sisters inside. With a strawberry milkshake in one hand and a curious set of eyes, I joined in on the festivities, blending right in with all the Chinese people.
"The announcement came like a sudden surge of energy. After anticipating the Olympic announcement for quite a few hours, I forgot about the moment, sat down at one of those ubiquitous plastic McDonald tables and then the screaming suddenly occurred.
"The screaming came first from the 50 or so people crowded in front of the television set. Then, a few seconds later, the scream of 50 or so people in front of a crowded television set turned into a deep roar, a roar that felt like it spanned for thousands of miles. The roar came from outside, the roar came from the elderly as well as the young. The roar was accompanied with screams, tears, and a soft-core mosh pit. The roar lasted for about five minutes.
"I stepped outside to watch the fireworks from Tiananmen blast into the sky. The moment I stepped outside, I could feel the ecstasy of 1.2 billion people. The roar filled the skies, tingling my nerves, giving me goose bumps. It is amazing how much the hosting of the Olympics means to the people of China.
"Curiously fascinated and a little shocked, all I had to do was look at individual expressions of each person in that McDonald's restaurant
to realize that hosting the Olympics wasn't some communist-manifested, government-supported policy. It's easy to get confused with what it
means to be a Chinese citizen as opposed to a citizen of China.
"Amidst the clouds of official opinions and government-controlled media, I took a look at the four college kids standing next to me -- one teary-eyed, another jumping up and down, the others hugging each other -- and it dawned on me how special hosting the Olympics means to the people of China.
"Enveloped in a radius of commotion, one lone Chinese-American stands still, watching observantly, slowly trying to understand what this
feeling is that he's feeling deep inside. Sure, I'm happy for the Beijing Olympics. Sure, it's nice to be in the middle of a billion happy people. But fashionably poised as a foreigner in disguise, somewhere in between the plastic garbage can and the ghetto fake-oak television set, stood me -- a confused Chinese-American looking through a distorted mirror.
"Maybe I am a little racist. If so, I would like to apologize for my racism. But I am too proud to be Chinese to end racism. There is an essence within me that is utterly Chinese -- something I don't think I can ever escape. It is difficult to explain it in words, and it doesn't exist as a digital picture I can send to you guys over the internet. Somehow by observing the Chinese people in that McDonald's, I felt like I saw a little bit of myself. Each tear that whiplashed to the floor, each smile that flashed my way, each cheer that uttered
"wei!" . . . I saw myself.
"So now picture the camera of my life zooming out slowly, the focus slowly shifts from the lone, quietly observant, mildly confused
Chinese-American to a bird's eye view of Beijing. First out of McDonald's and then ending my story in the midst of a nationwide celebration with a grandiose image of the city of Beijing -- smothered with ant-sized people cheering and roaring -- I see my Chinese-ness on the rise.
"Beijing Olympics 2008, here we come."