Previous postings have been modified “by request”.
So one year minus one day to go for the 2008 Olympics.
For me, Olympic fatigue.
I was lambasted for airing my “criticizing views on the preparation” on my blog. I thought I was neutral, certainly overall more positive than other (foreign) observers and experts. Also trying to convince local authorities to change their attitude in the interest of Beijing and China.
Well, seems Chinese don’t read well and don’t grasp the nuances of the English language; locals see some words in my blog and get unhappy.
In the past days I have been bugged by many journalists. Some come with tricky questions that I will not even print here. I try my best to defend Beijing and answer in a balanced way. Seems a rather futile exercise in trying to play the substitute PR agency of Beijing.
Then, journalists misquote me, like in part the SCMP.
More, what does it all bring to me? Headaches. Misunderstandings.
So, if one is looking for “insight” in the preparation here in this blog, sorry. Wrong address. Please read China Daily, look up BOCOG’s website (apparently efficient and impressive according to a “survey”) and watch CCTV and BTV.
Yes, we are all fully confident the 2008 Games will be the best ever in history and everybody will be in full admiration. If the IOC is happy, so be it.
Anybody who is still interested in my insights, I do discuss them – for a fee.
As for the journalists, well, the press and media centers, gracefully set up by the Beijing Government, will fully attend to your needs.
And I will be busy preparing for the next marathon and trying to finally improve my Chinese.