Internet Goes Down, Security Increases, and Games Begin

I have lost my wireless Internet signal at my apartment. So, I am writing this with the hope that I can get Internet access at the NAC tomorrow. Tonight at 8:08 p.m. (consistent with the date of 8/8/08, as the number 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture) is the Opening Ceremony, and we are meeting the International DCOs to have dinner and watch the show on a big screen TV. Security everywhere has picked up, even at the apartment complex.

This morning, I met with Mike again and saw his pharmacy operation. He is set up at Beijing Normal University, where many of the USOC workers are staying. They are also using the facilities there for athletes to train and practice. There is a pool, a gymnasium, and I even saw a boxing ring set up in one area. Mike was able to secure a one-day pass for me so that I could enter. As I walked out to go back home, a Chinese girl walked up to me and asked in English if Kobe Bryant was there because the team practices in the gymnasium. There were a number of people waiting around the entrance with cameras, hoping to catch shots of the famous athletes. No one seemed interested in taking my photo, though.