VolaciousNet

Well, it’s finally over!
My stint here at the Olympics has now finished, and after an eventless (hence successful) broadcast, I’m helping pack all the equipment up in boxes so we can get the hell out of here.

It’s not that I didn’t have a good time… far from it! An Olympics of this magnitude, I don’t think we’ll ever see it again for quite some time. I just want to get back to the Aussie way of life… I don’t think I could really settle into Chinese culture unless I was paid a HELL of a lot for the convenience!

I think what really irked me about the Chinese as a whole was how rude they are, compared to what I am used to. Forget about the dog-eat-dog queues, cars that run you down or incessant street vendors that don’t take no for an answer, what really irked me was how they treated their Olympic athletes. Whilst watching Matty Mitcham’s dive, as you know I was watching the direct venue feed from the stadium, as soon as Matty dived that amazing dive scores of Chinese people got up and left the stadium. I mean… WTF? They got silver, and bronze, and witnessed the highest scoring dive in Olympic History, yet the stadium was half empty by the time the victory ceremony was taking place!

I’m sorry… I can value other’s culture to a point, but in my books that is the ultimate sign of disrespect, and no athlete should ever be disrespected if they are competing a the Olympics (without drugs, of course!). That, combined with other things I’ve noticed, just makes me think that whilst the Chinese are developing fast as a nation, they still have some things to learn.

In reality though, I can’t wait to get home because despite a month of trying, I still haven’t found one place that can cook a decent steak!

Y’know, I thought I’d be updating this every day whilst I was here in China. After all, I’m not exactly doing a lot over here, despite being here for work. For those that don’t know what I’m doing at the Olympics, I’m here babysitting broadcast systems in the International Broadcast Centre, in case something breaks. So far, (**touch wood**) everything has been mind-numbingly quiet. And for those who are watching Channel 7 for their Olympics coverage… I feel for you. I hear their coverage has been terrible. One consolation of working here is that I can see all the feeds from every venue, without any annoying commentary and extra closeups of male divers

Anyway, I thought I might take the soapbox here and make some commentary about China and Beijing. Interestingly enough, my website (volacious.net.au) is not blocked by the Great Firewall of China, however Livejournal is. I can get around it easily however.

The main point I think I have to say about Chinese is that they have certainly realised their major market power and market advantage… that of human capital. That they spent 40 billion US dollars on hosting the Olympics should really say it all… they have rebuilt half the city! The Chinese have also shown that they are the true avatars of capitalism… corporate sponsor logos are EVERYWHERE and every Chinese person you meet wants to sell you something. I’ve done two trips to the markets, and boy do you have to haggle hard. The prices they start at would make your nose bleed, they are that high. Olympic rates indeed! That being said, I’ve acquired myself two pairs of “Diesel” shoes, two pairs of “Levi Strauss” jeans and some other kit for a fairly low price, but only after walking away and having the vendor chase me down the corridor.

The other thing I’ve noticed over here is just how proud the Chinese are about hosting the games. 80 year old grandmothers have learnt English just for this event. There are so many Chinese flags around it is insane. I don’t think it’s corny either… I remember how proud I was to be Australian when we hosted the Sydney 2000 Olympics. I still reckon our Opening Ceremony was better, but then again I’m biased

I think when it comes to the Chinese Government… as long as you don’t steal, cheat, harm others or undermine the Government, you can do what the hell you want. Hell, you can drive a car the wrong way down a highway and across 3 lines without the cop even bothering to bat an eyelid (as seen today! My god they are terrible drivers here). Just don’t hoist a “Free Tibet” banner. You know the rules.

That being said, the good news is: I come home next Thursday! YAY! I am missing my boy like you wouldn’t believe. A lot more than when I went to Europe earlier this year. Poor Adam has had to cop at least 2 phone calls from me every day, just because I want to hear the sound of his voice. It’s really quite embarrassing how much of a sook I’ve been!

Anyway, I must get some rest… I’m meant to be running a training course tomorrow morning, which should be interesting to say the least

toodles!

… I know how they’re going to light it.
I’m not going to tell you… let’s just see if I’m right.

There appears to be two camps of thought in relation to the iPhone. You either love them or despise them.
Whilst I would still never get a Mac as a computer, for me I think an iPhone will do the job quite nicely.

So, I’m going to go in tomorrow and get the black 16GB for myself and everyone else in the office.

So on Tuesday, I fly out to China. I’m still in several minds about how the trip will pan out. I will either be very bored, or very overworked. Either way, it will be a great experience! I wonder if I will be able to get to my own website through the Great Firewall of China? I bet I won’t be able to get to half my blogroll though… dirty perverts, all of you!! **jokes**

Folks, I’ve got a bit of a problem, and I need your help!

I’ve managed to talk my company into changing our phone plans, and on the new phone plan I can basically get any phone I want. Naturally, we all want iPhones.

SO, the question to you is:

Should I get the:

White iPhone 16GB?	Black iPhone 16GB	HTC Touch Diamond

Any other handset suggestions will be noted but not listened to

Which one should I get????