Well track is part of those things. This weekend I went out to watch the Olympics with the hope that the final track events would be broadcast in Taiwan live. Well I found out about a cool bar here that is pretty close to me and I was able to ride the subway there. I had a good time watching the track events but an even better time talking to the waitresses. It was actually really funny. Most foreigners here cannot speak Chinese worth shit. So the waitresses were amazed that I spoke pretty well and could have conversations with them, the surprise when people realize I speak Chinese will never get old.
The track is going to wait since there are two other things that have happened in recent days that deserve mentioning. The ND club dinner was sweet. I got to meet some movers and shakers and got invited to some cool lectures (we'll see if I can fit them in around work). But more interesting was talking to an old prof completely outside of an academic setting. The dinner was also great since someone else paid, so no complaints here.
That was the good thing. The bad thing is a trend. For some reason we have a lot of German machines here. So every day as I'm about to get off work the Germans bombard me with emails that require my attention urgently (since they are still waiting for lunch). Well this combines two things I don't like: staying late and invoices. Hopefully, the number of emails with them will only decrease.
The track is going to wait since there are two other things that have happened in recent days that deserve mentioning. The ND club dinner was sweet. I got to meet some movers and shakers and got invited to some cool lectures (we'll see if I can fit them in around work). But more interesting was talking to an old prof completely outside of an academic setting. The dinner was also great since someone else paid, so no complaints here.
That was the good thing. The bad thing is a trend. For some reason we have a lot of German machines here. So every day as I'm about to get off work the Germans bombard me with emails that require my attention urgently (since they are still waiting for lunch). Well this combines two things I don't like: staying late and invoices. Hopefully, the number of emails with them will only decrease.
Ok, for the final track stuff let me say that the results weren't as bad as I thought when things were done. I must say that, although few people know him, decathlon winner Brian Clay is one of the greatest athletes in America. While Usain Bolt and Phelps rightly got a lot of attention the everyone forgot about Kenenisa Bekele who won the 10k and 5k. I watched him win the 5k. It wasn't just a win, it was pure domination, I have never seen anyone control a race like that then start knocking off 60 second splits for the last three laps at the end (4min mile pace). Unbelievable. It was sad to see how much Bernard Lagat was broken in the race (three laps to go) but he was fighting injuries and sickness, which has happened to me in big meets so I give him a pass. The US 4x400 was great to watch. The women, led by Sanya Richards, came from behind to win and the men just dominated. Wariner ran a 43.18 split, which is insane. That shows he was in shape and makes his poor 400m final even more of a mystery. The final event, the men's marathon, was also crazy. It was super hot and super humid (read the worst conditions to run a marathon in) and the winner still goes 2:06!
One funny thing this last week happened with a language partner. Her pronunciation of beach sounds exactly like bitch. The more she said it the funnier it got.
Obamamania baby!
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