Beijing Olympic Ghosts
Things are starting to come together for the Olympics: The air has cleared up, the venues and their surrounds have been spruced up, the outdoor decking at Q-Bar has been closed (glad they fixed that in time), volunteers are manning booths and the footpaths in front of hotels and the weather is summery.
The last two of these have coalesced to create a new phenomenon: the Olympic Ghost. To say the volunteer program for the Olympics is extensive is to misunderstand how overdone things can be. There are booths, with maps, helpful staff to direct you (the level of foreign languages here seems to be sufficient to help overseas visitors make better sense of Beijing…), brochures and advice on the buses and subway. Members of local committees and some staff at restaurants are now wearing red armbands with English and Chinese text letting people know that they are there to provide general assistance. In addition in front of all of the business and better hotels in the area around my office there is a line of volunteers - all wearing white Yan Jing beer sponsors shirts - spaced along the street front of the hotel. These volunteers work long shifts, now in direct summer sun, without moving, and with nary a person to assist.
The end result of this is an even spaced cordon of glazed eyed uniformed ‘helpers’ some falling asleep on their feet, some trying to text in conspicuously and all giving the city an extremely bizarre and unnerving felling. For many foreigners this scene is somewhere from strange to mildly disturbing. I am not sure what domestic visitors make of it.
Share This
Josh responds:
Posted: August 3rd, 2008 at 8:18 am →
Nothing eases a visitor’s concerns about a totalitarian regime quite like arm bands.
mei responds:
Posted: August 4th, 2008 at 10:51 pm →
Yes, Volunteers reflect on the social responsibility of China. and we wish to impress guests by our enthusiasm .. but such limited support can only make a feeling that the official organizer are neglecting their dutie not just being unthoughtful. it’s not volunteers’ fault.
MAC responds:
Posted: August 5th, 2008 at 4:48 am →
So glad I’m not there; between being irritated with people trying too hard to help and my pity for poor volunteers with nothing to do, my mood would be pretty bad. I’m hardly above snickering at government screwups, but I get no pleasure from this at all. Can’t believe the position the organizers have put these well-intentioned youth in.
Monica responds:
Posted: August 5th, 2008 at 8:54 am →
Just one feeling:
How stupid and hypocritic our government is!
nanheyangrouchuan responds:
Posted: August 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm →
“How to Serve Olympic Visitors” must be the sequel to “How to Serve Man”.
I don’t want to be doused in vinegar.