Letter From An Olympic Volunteer, Beijing 2008

It is now 2 o’clock in the morning. The lobby of Swissotel is getting quiet, I have time to write something. I’m an Olympic volunteer for the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing. My job is to provide transport, translation and information services to the media guests visiting the games. In the hotel I’m in charge of media people from the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), mainly employees of ARD and ZDF. I was surprised at how many media people came to Beijing: ARD and ZDF together sent more than 700(!) reporters, moderators, technical staff, editors, cameramen and managers to Beijing. This is much more than all the German athletes taking part in the games (439).

It is not easy to be selected as a volunteer. I was told that only one in seven will be given the chance. Why was I chosen? I think it is very simple: on the one hand the organisers believe that with my background I can give professional services to the guests, and on the other hand due the reason I gave them for why I want to be an Olympic volunteer.

Why I want to be an volunteer? Very simple: I lived in Germany for more than 16 years and got lots of help from my German professors, friends, and colleages. I want to give back something to the German guests and help where I can, especially in this special moment. And I’m proud of my country and I’m proud to show our guests the changes that my country has undergone over the past 30 years.

You may think the daily work of a volunteer is very interesting. Yes, sometimes. We saw people like IOC Chairman Mr. Rogge who hold an IOC party the day before the opening in our hotel, for instance, or the Chairman of Hong Kong Special Zone, Mr. Zheng Yingquan who came to Beijing (like the other 80-90 leaders of the world) to see the opening ceremony.

But most of the time we have to deal with less exciting questions like: How can I get to the IBC (the working place of journalists)? How can I get to Houhai (the famous night bar street)? How can I get to Xiusui (the famous shopping street)? or How can I visit the Great Wall? On the other hand, I’m a volunteer – we are here to help and not (only) to have fun. We’ll do our best even if it’s not challenging.

A guest is coming and I have to finish my writing. A last word. The most asked question is not any of the above mentioned ones. It is the following: Where can I buy the T-shirt that the volunteers wear? The answer is no-where: the clothes we wear are sponsored by Adidas, and they have only been made for the 100,000 volunteers.