Yesterday, the Olympic torch relay came through Nanjing. The Chinese roommates began prepping the day before, spreading hats and small flags between them. The morning of my roommate went with the Chinese department to stake out a spot on the route at 7 a.m. The relay was set to start in south Nanjing at the aptly named Olympic Stadium and go to the Drum tower, which is only about 15 minutes down the road. My impression was it started at 8 and was supposed to arrive at the end at 10:30.
My preparations involved deciding to skip class. I woke up at 8:06, just after my classes were supposed to start. I texted my classmate Kelly, and she said after only two of six students came class was canceled. The same happened with all the other classes as well. I woke up, threw on the clothes from the day before, and got some noodles for breakfast on the street as the wontons I normally get were sold out because of the crowds.
I found my roommate and classmates on the street. Despite a million people probably being along the torch route, it was long enough that I didn't have a problem fitting in, especially since my height enabled me to see over most everyone's head. As we waited, people yelled the chant 中国(Zhongguo, China)，and the crowd would reply 加油 (Jiayou, Hurray!). Popular variations included 奥运 （Olympics)，加油！，南京 (Nanjing), 加油！，北京，加油！The Chinese department students sang a couple national songs. Pictures were taken with all kinds of China and Beijing accouterments. This is when I photojournalist must have taken my picture, above, which appeared on QQ.com along with pictures of a couple of my classmates.
At about 10:15, the torch got to us. We were right at a hand off point in the relay. A huge media and police entourage came, then the torch runner. Anything that came by got big cheers from the crowd. The middle age woman lit the bald middle age man's torch, and he ran off. Everyone involved is thrilled.
We milled about after, went and ate baozi/jiaozi, and I went to 40 minutes of my second class, which most people went to from 11 to 12. Everyone was still decked out in Zhongguo gear, my professor just talked about the torch and went off on tangents like he usually does. The whole day gave me the vibe of a festival or the excitement associated with anticipating Northwestern's Dillo Day.
Last day of class tomorrow, finals next week! Maybe an internship confirmed too!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment