Plain sight
Posted: Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:51 PM by Barbara Raab
Filed Under:
Brian Williams, Beijing Olympics
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
For all the blessings we have to count (being here to witness these games, having occasional access to tickets and history-making feats of athleticism), the one thing we miss all too often is NBC primetime coverage. Due to logistics, electronics and timing, we often have to find out results and story lines from the folks back home.
Last night, I was fortunate enough to see the swimming events -- followed by a classic Beijing downpour that soaked us to the skin during a run of 200 yards. We had some ferocious thunderstorms last evening -- light rain during the middle-of-the-night walk to work -- but we're hoping for a good day ahead.
The often-mentioned air pollution has mostly manifested itself in a constant state of eye irritation, and the occasional rain does clean the air and increase visibility between showers.
On a one-to-one level, the Chinese people have been wonderful; kind and accomodating and hard-working. I do not know of a single negative encounter with a single member of our traveling party on this trip. Two of our staffers had an interesting outing to a local restaurant last night -- a menu featuring donkey meat (in a pot), braised bullfrog, hog hoof, and turtle. Our pals went with the Kung Pao chicken.
