Trudging through China

Monday we scored big with some tickets to beach volleyball given to us as a “thank-you” from BOCOG. We saw the Aussie men defeat Angola and the Chinese women squeak by Belgium. On the way out, I purchased a very large American flag… best ¥100 I’ve ever spent.

Tuesday was the first competition day for softball, and it happened to be my last day off for the trip. I was dead set on getting to a USA Olympic softball game. By subway then by bus we traveled to Fengtai Stadium in hopes of scalping tickets and seeing some USA domination.

In two hours of wandering around the field, we ran in to ONE scalper. His name was Ali, and all he had were two tickets to the morning game, NOT the USA game. There were so few people around the stadium that you could literally have been walking down the street next to the outfield fence and not had a clue it was going on. Ali offered to give us the tickets for the Chinese Taipei game (in the morning) and called his boss to ask about USA tickets.

To our surprise, the boss man affirmed that there were some tickets, but they were with him at his hotel a few kilometers away from the field. Ali insisted that we grab a cab with him and go to pick up the tickets. On the way to the hotel, I asked him about his English name and how it came to be. He smiled and announced proudly, “I am a Muslim; my name comes from my faith.”

I was so excited to finally meet a Chinese person who 1) had some kind of faith in some kind of god, and 2) wasn’t afraid to tell anyone about it. I told him that he was the first Chinese person we’ve met who was religious in any kind of way. His response shocked me; “I think most Chinese people say they want to live in reality, so they have no God. But I think they do not live in reality; their lives are driven by the law.” Keep in mind that this kid did not pass the Chinese college entrance exam, so he was deemed “not suitable” for education beyond high school.

His English was better than anyone we’ve met so far, including Chinese university student volunteers who were hired for their English skills. He was also more forward thinking and rational than anyone we’ve come in contact with, yet he was not eligible for any sort of higher education? Something seems fishy here. He will be spending the next two weeks illegally scalping tickets for a Norwegian businessman at a rate of ¥250 per successful day and then find a job to occupy the next stage of his life. “Maybe at Pizza Hut or Kentucky (Fried Chicken),” he told us.

In the end, the Norseman lied about the USA tickets. After some time spent in the lobby of the hotel, Ali came downstairs looking completely dejected. “My boss was not true, but he wants me to sell you tickets to badminton,” he said. I explained that all we really wanted was to see USA softball and thanked him for the offer. His eyes welled up as he apologized again for ruining our day. He offered to take us to lunch - his treat – because he felt so bad. He pulled out ¥200 and tried to hand it to me. He wanted me to find more softball tickets and pay for it with his money.

We rejected all offers, as it was becoming quite apparent that Ali was genuinely sorry and ashamed for what his boss had done to us. “My boss, I do not like him. He is not nice. He is no happy. He does not have a good heart. All he care about is money,” Ali said, “I am scared of him.” We asked Ali to call us if he ever got tickets to more USA softball games, as we would definitely by interested. He replied, “I will call you if I know, but you should not buy them from me because my boss is too expensive. Buy them from a Chinese.”

After a long day, the highlight of my USA softball experience was seeing the team from outside the gates warming up. A couple of the players saw us with our huge flag. They hollered and waved to us, but I didn’t think fast enough to inquire about tickets. I just didn’t figure we’d have an issue!

XOXO

PS- If anyone out there knows anyone who might have or know where I can buy some USA softball tickets, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know!! It’s making me totally sick to see empty stands in the highlights on the news after having shown up to the stadium wrapped in my flag and getting shafted. I know I’m asking for a miracle, but when it boils down to it… you simply don’t get anywhere without asking. Thanks, friends!