Olympic Fever

The excitement is really building as we get closer and closer to opening ceremonies. If you haven’t heard it’s this Friday (8/8) at 8:00 PM China Time or 8:00 AM Eastern Time. You can’t miss it around here, signage is everywhere and in some stores there is a countdown clock, not to mention the media coverage – it’s pretty much all that’s on TV, not that we can understand what they are saying, but we understand the images. Living here you can’t help but catch the fever.

DH found out that the U.S.A. Men’s basketball team was going to be in Shanghai for a few pre-Olympic exposition games and arranged for the three of us to see the U.S.A. team play against Russia. The sports arena was a 45 minute ride outside of the heart of Shanghai, but from what I gather, within the city limits.

When we arrived at the stadium, the scene was not unlike a sports event in the U.S. There were scalpers, people selling t-shirts/posters, radio promoters, and thundersticks! DD loved the thundersticks and used them to cheer on both teams.

We enjoyed watching the game, the players, and fans. There was one young fan who sat next to us and she was quiet vocal when ever Kobe Bryant was on the court. She was all decked out in Kobe attire and even waved a poster whenever she thought he might be looking (our seats were good, but not good enough for a play to see us). She was almost as fun to watch as the game.

We poured out of the stadium with 10,000 of our closest friends, and with a little luck, found our ride and came home. While it wasn’t an official Olympic game, it helped us get in the spirit and we are now counting down the days until the games begin! Go U.S.A.!