In case you didn’t know – the new terminal is supposed to look like a dragon. Which, I have to admit; I would never have recognized if someone hadn’t told me that little factoid. However, once you know the “secret”; from a distance it really does look like a dragon lying on the ground. Those big pointy things sticking up from the roof you see on TV are the dragon’s scales. I am really off track here, but thought you needed some education.
Anyway, the airport was a ghost town. Very few people there and I was very surprised since I was expecting a much larger crowd with the Olympics only 1.5 weeks away. Not that I am complaining though. The small crowds meant we actually got a gate close to the customs area and we were the only plane clearing customs.
No crowds. No lines. No complaints.
After getting “stamped”, I noticed that the Athletes have their own special lane for customs and that after they clear the customs area, there is a small roped off area setup as a welcome station. I saw a small group of American women milling around these tables filling out forms and such (in China, there is always some form to be completed!). I wasn’t sure what the security rules were, but the customs official said it was OK to take photographs as long as I did not photograph the actual customs area. I spoke to the ladies and discovered they were the USA Women’s Water Polo Team (better known as the Tall Blonde Women's Water Polo Team)! Pretty cool I thought (since I come from a swimming family, I felt it was perfect to meet water sports athletes). I asked if I could take their picture and some of them gave me the old “please go away eye roll” (now, … I know they were tired – I just finished a 13 hour flight myself, but come on, help me out here). I casually mentioned that “Hey, you guys are now ambassadors to the world!”
At which point one of them snapped to and regained her senses and called out to her friends and they all then lined up smiling and actually seemed to enjoy the moment and the attention. As I took my photo, several other people began grabbing their cameras and doing the same and that is when I realized I probably just started something these ladies really weren’t ready for. Fortunately, they had more paperwork to do, so they had to return to that. But at least I got my picture (click the picture to enlarge)! So Good Luck to the USA Women Water Polo Team … hope I can watch them on the local TV!
3 comments:
You never know, YOU may have just made their day, "Hey, Mom, we just flew in to Beijing and you'll never guess who I got my picture taken by, Mitchell Mercer, yeah, with Hillbrook, I hear he's here with Timken, is that cool, or what?!"
Just a thought,
Dan N.
Dan, What's with the Hillbrook part??? We are Fernwood, thank you very much
...SMM
i watched them on tv this morning against italy. they tied which im pretty sure was bad cuz there supposedd to be really good
Sam
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