The Final Countdown -Europe

Well... I haven't written in quite some time. I've been busy as hell and loving it.

But I figured since the Olympics start tomorrow, now is as good a time as any to write an entry. The city has been changing in leaps and bounds over the past couple of months. With the exception of the pollution. It still sucks.
About 3 weeks ago the government reduced about 50% of the private traffic from the roads in the city. You would think that would have some impact. But it didn't. The air was just as horrible as ever, and the roads were just as congested. There are over 10,000 active construction sites and they closed over half of them. But - surprise, surprise - 5,000 construction sites is still a SHITLOAD. Then they closed all the factories in and around Beijing. I actually thought that one would make a difference, but it was just too little too late. The weather hasn't helped. There has been no rain for weeks and the air has been still and stale.

While the government has been taking drastic measures to reduce the pollution, their official stance seems to be that there is no pollution in Beijing to begin with. They have maintained that the reason you can't see the sky (or even 20 feet in front of you) is because of dust from the Gobi Desert and because of "fog." Even as outsiders stand next to the National Stadium and take damning smog readings, the government responds the way it does in all situations it doesn't care for: they just stick their fingers in their ears and say "la la la I can't hear you."

A while back they had a very simple solution to deal with the smog. They simply changed some words around in the system they use to report smog levels. So while the World Health Organization charts say that 50 parts per million of particulate pollution is "dangerous," the Chinese Government's charts say that the exact same reading is "not dangerous." Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective ones.

The scary thing is that most people here seem to believe whatever the government tells them. At first it was confusing to me how easily the masses seem pacified, but the longer I'm here, the more it makes sense. These are not stupid people. They do have limited access to outside news reports so the truth is out there for them to find. But why would you bother informing yourself with another viewpoint, if you could be punished for discussing it. The Chinese live in a system that is not only deceptive, but a system that also leaves no room whatsoever for dissent and so doesn't need to hide it's deception. Add to that the fact that most folks here speak little or no English and 99% of the news that is reported in Chinese comes from the state run papers, the state run radio, and the 10 state run TV channels, they never really hear any other opinion the the one they are supposed to.

But let's dish this hatred around evenly, shall we?

Before you think I am extolling the virtues of democracy on the locals here, I should make clear that my disappointment in my own country doesn't run any less deep. At least the Chinese people are trying. While the Chinese deny the problem and simultaneously try desperately to fix the problem, most people in the U.S. simply deny the existence of problems like global warming so they don't have to stop driving big trucks or reducing waste. Or worse yet are the pseudo-hippies I'm surrounded by in San Francisco who complain of global warming and at the same time drive alone in huge trucks and tell themselves things like "I need 4 wheel drive for when I go skiing in Tahoe." Or "I need a roomy vehicle because I have kids." Unless you are actually driving yourself up the side of the mountain ski slopes, your 4 wheel drive is overkill (or you could have bought yourself a fuel efficient and quite sporty Subaru.) And how many kids do you have and just what size are they? Unless you are schlepping around 6 mutant-giants with feet like couches and heads like beach balls a station wagon is by far the biggest car you need.

But let's move on. It's too early in the day for me to get my dander raised, and Heather hates having to calm me down when I get in one of my righteously indignant moods.

So later today (tomorrow for those of you back in the States) the opening ceremonies of the Olympics begin. Those of you who know me know that I think the Summer Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, so actually being in the same city with the games is more exciting than I can possibly explain. I have that tingly feeling in my fingers and toes just thinking about it. Like when you were a kid and you knew it was just a few hours until Santa brought you that new GI Joe figure with the realistic swivel-arm elbow articulation.

We have been lucky enough to find a guy here who has been trying to track down some tickets for us. Most events are sold out, but there is a pretty brisk underground ticket trade going on. The track and field tickets are pretty pricey so it looks as though we will only be going to one day if we can, but that's more than I ever dreamed I would be able to see, so I'm OK with it. Also, boxing and weightlifting are two of my favorite Olympic sports, and it has always been hard to get coverage of them from NBC. Neither of those sports are too terribly popular here so we might be able to afford to go to a couple of those nights. Here in China all the favorites to win medals in boxing or weightlifting are in the lightest weight classes, and the guys I want to go see are in the heavier weight classes.

Tickets for the opening ceremony were selling in the range of several thousands of dollars, so we will be going to a friend's house tonight to watch on TV with a few other expats. Our home is located only a few miles from the Bird's Nest so we may be able to see some of the fireworks from our window.

Well my excitement over the Olympics has soothed me after my earlier ideological rant so I should go before I find something else to get indignant about.

I'll blog more about the games as soon as I get the chance, but considering the content and given the fact I had to skirt a few of their security protocols to post this let's just hope I'm not arrested or deported by the Central Government before that. Also my friend Muxen is coming to visit next week and the two of us tend to get incredibly drunk and irresponsible together, so we may cause an international incident. (Muxen is his last name, but I already have a friend named Josh so I call him by his surname to avoid confusion.)

So barring an arrest I'll blog again within a week.