Living for two months in Beijing, including working at the Olympic Games for two weeks, has resulted in too many brilliant experiences to recall.
When I enrolled to study a Bachelor of Communications at the University of Newcastle in 2006, I anticipated learning about the chaotic, exciting world of the media. Never did I imagine that, at the age of 19, this would involve travelling to Beijing to work at the Olympic Games.
On July 9, 2008, the university sponsored 40 communications students, including myself, to work for the Olympic News Service as flash quote reporters in Beijing.
My role was to interview athletes after they had competed and record any newsworthy quotes into INFO, an intranet system where journalists working at the Games could access them to include in their stories.
For the two weeks of the games I covered Judo and Taekwondo. Throughout this time I was able to interview and watch some of the world’s greatest athletes compete for Olympic glory. In particular, it was thrilling to watch Australia’s Maria Pekli contest the bronze medal in Judo.
One of the benefits of working behind the scenes was that I was able to experience all the thrills of the competition the rest of the world did not see. After Cuban Taekwondo athlete Angel Matos kicked Judge Chakir Chelbat in the head when he was disqualified in the bronze medal match, I was the one he nearly trampled while storming from the arena and into the training room. It was here that he proceeded to yell and tear down posters from the walls.
I also reported on many of the complaints athletes had regarding the inconsistency in decisions made by Taekwondo judges and the poor standard of the competition mat which, according to Canadian athlete Sebastian Michaud, was “the worst I have ever competed on in my life”.
Outside of my busy work hours I met a number of athletes, some of whom were Australians. These included gold medallists Stephanie Rice and David Crawshay, along with track and field star John Steffensen, who told me he could not understand why he had competed poorly at the games.
Throughout my two months in China I was fortunate enough to see nearly all of the country’s wonders. I walked along the Great Wall in torrential rain, – which was quite terrifying – visited Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Drum and Bell Towers.
I also experienced Beijing’s Hard Rock Cafe, zoo and aquarium. These were real eye-openers for an Australian, particularly Beijing Zoo, which displayed a rooster as an exotic animal.
Despite the beauty of places such as Ho Hai, where we dined by the lake and received treatments at the day spas, the place where my friends and I spent most of our free time was Silk Street Markets.
Notorious for its sales assistants who demand your attention by yelling “do you want to buy something pretty lady?” and grabbing onto you a little too aggressively, I have to question why we kept going back.
But then I remember my final night in Beijing, where I sat on my suitcase in an attempt to shut it because of all of the bags, shoes, scarves, and jewellery I had bought, and the scratch marks on my arms from the assistants seem worthwhile.
While I had an unforgettable time experiencing the beauty of Chinese culture and retail opportunities, I also witnessed the dire conditions some Chinese live in.
One night I was approached by a woman on the street begging for money and a young girl who sold roses for her mother so they could buy their next meal. It was incidents such as these that really made my trip worthwhile, as I gained an even deeper appreciation for my life in Australia.
To have worked at the Olympic Games as a 19-year-old is a dream come true. From this opportunity I gained valuable experience, memories and friends for life.
And for these, I am very grateful.