Life Outside the Oval Office: The Track Less Traveled by Symmonds Nick

Author:Symmonds, Nick [Symmonds, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781935270324
Publisher: Cool Titles
Published: 2014-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

12

This wasn’t my first trip to Asia, but it was my first time in China, and I was glad to have Andrew and Christian with me to share this experience. We were constantly making jokes, and stopping to take pictures along the way.

My lack of sleep from the night before was a blessing in disguise, as I was now able to sleep much of the flight from San Francisco to Beijing. When we touched down I peered out the window and saw a hot, red orb trying its best to shine through the thick brown smog that enveloped our plane. I had been told that the air quality in Beijing was bad, but this was like looking through chocolate milk.

Team USA collected their bags and we were taken through customs and then on to the athlete village. Each Olympic athlete village is different, but they are all constructed for the same purpose: to house and protect each country’s competing athletes. The athlete village in Beijing was brand new and had been built specifically for these Games. There were row upon row of apartment buildings, each decorated with flags that represented the nationality of citizens they housed. We would call these apartments home for one month (until the conclusion of the Games) at which time Beijing citizens who had purchased apartments in these buildings would move in.

We received our credentials and were set free to explore the village. It was extremely hot and humid, and I remember the hiss of the cicadas in the trees as almost deafening. Almost all Olympic athletes must share a room, and Christian and I had requested to be roommates. We found our building and settled into a tiny apartment that we shared for the duration of the Games.

When we first walked into our building we almost bumped into Michael Phelps as he was leaving for the pool. He had been all over the media leading into these Games, as he was expected to do very well here. And he did, winning eight medals in Beijing. Christian and I looked at each other wide eyed.

Our “apartment” was small and simple, with sparse furnishings similar to a college dorm room. Christian and I didn’t care about our simple accommodations much, as we planned to spend the majority of our time in the cafeteria, or by the 50 meter outdoor pool that had been built in the middle of the village.

Lounging by this pool was surreal. Like most pools, there were girls in bikinis, but these weren’t your average girls; they were the fittest, most athletically talented women on the planet. There were also people swimming laps, but they were not doing so recreationally. These were the finest swimmers in the world, gracefully pulling themselves through the water. I was interested in the prospect of getting to know some of the foreign beauties, and wondered how I could make that happen. But, I also knew I needed to remain focused on the job I was here to do, and tried to put girls out of my mind for the time being.

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