My friend Shira arrived on Monday night. Danny and I took the new Airport Express to pick her up. The three of us used to work together at the UCLA Athletic Department. I meant to make a UCLA sign and hold that in the Meet-and-Greet area. Shira was pleasantly surprised to see Danny!!!! It was a UCLA reunion.

 

On Tuesday night, I wanted to show them Beijing. Of course I went to the ultimate tourist spot, Tiananmen Square!!! I was surprised it was still open to the public after 9:00pm. Last time I was there, it closed at 8:00pm. The square is fully decorated with floral displays. They are the size and the scale of Rose Parade floats but not on wheels.

 

People say they wanted to decorate Tiananmen Square so it wouldn't look anything like it normally does. They don't want people (international TV audience) to have the same image of what happened there nearly 20 years ago. Now Tiananmen Square looks like Disneyland mixed with the Rose Parade. All the lights and all the flowers.

 

The Chinese are oozing with national pride. People are waving flags. They are wearing “I (heart) China” tshirts. I think the Chinese are normally subdued when it comes to national pride so this type of display of nationalism is very new for them.

 

The display of national pride all started after the May 12^th earthquake when the whole country rallied around in support of the quake victims. 5/12 resonates with the Chinese as 9/11 resonates with Americans.

 

We were checking out the Countdown Clock at the National Museum when Danny was approached by a cameraman and reporter. They were from a small station in Sichuan Province. The reporter asked me to translate and ask Danny what are his thoughts of Beijing and the atmosphere of the evening. They wanted a foreigner’s perspective. Actually, I wasn't entirely sure of the question but got the gist of what he was saying. Danny responded in English.

 

Danny is used to setting up interviews for UCLA athletes so it was kinda nice to see him on the other side of the microphone for a change. He handled himself very well. Then it gets tricky. The reporter asked me to translate in Chinese what Danny said. And I had to do it on camera!!!! Speaking into a microphone in English is nerve wracking as it is, let alone to have done it in Chinese. I really struggled. I probably sounded like a total idiot. My Chinese vocabulary doesn’t include “national pride” and “proud”.

 

I embrace the role of playing tour guide. Danny and Shira were very glad to see Tiananmen Square. They will be so busy during the Games so they're not sure when they would have the time to visit Tiananmen Square again.

 

It was fun to see Beijing through their fresh eyes. They noticed the people spitting, the crazy manner in which cabbies weave through crowds of pedestrians, the kids with the split bottom pants, the big belly men pulling up their shirts to reveal their belly. All these things were my first impressions of Beijing. Now everything is just normal to me. I’ve come a long way from a year ago.