So far so good

It's been more than a week since I arrived in Beijing. Time flies and it will go on flying.

The Games have started in more places than just the various venues around town. The Media Press Center is a hive of activity now as frantic reporters and photographers are running around frequently to get their stories and photos out to an expectant public.

Food prices in the MPC have been cut at least 50 percent, which put a smile back on my face. I treated myself to sliced Peking duck wrapped in a thin flour patty yesterday. It was only 15 yuan for 3 pieces and it tasted alright.

The two TV sets in the Wenxin working space are fixed at different channels and it’s just not enough to catch all the action. Chinese athletes can be seen in so many sports that journalists are having a hard time giving them the coverage they deserve.

It's Sunday, so I decided to take a half-day break and meet my former roommate, who now works in Beijing, from college for lunch. There was a long queue of vehicles on the road in front of the restaurant as we went out – traffic was held for a while to make way for the women’s road race in cycling.

The Olympics have inevitably disturbed the life of residents around the city. However, few complaints have been voiced as most residents feel proud to live in the host city. Taxi drivers seem especially proud.

Most are also more than willing to chat with customers. Different from in Shanghai, Beijing people prefer bills to coins for some reason. "Do you mind if I give you coins?" I asked one taxi driver. "No, no problem at all," he replied quickly. "Welcome to Beijing, keep it in mind!"

"What I'm worried about is that journalists will write too much about the not-very-blue sky in Beijing." That's what I heard from one of the volunteers working in the MPC massage center. The 20-square-meter massage room has become one of the most popular places in the MPC as it’s fully booked for the next two days.

The masseuses said it’s quite funny how popular they’ve become.

"Some newly arrived journalists don’t know about the reservation procedure and begged us for a massage if they see an empty seat. Some bribe us with souvenirs while a few men even begged us in sissy voices,” one masseuse said with a smile. "We do our best to please our customers even though we're tired ourselves."

To have such a sense of responsibility well ingrained in the minds of so many regular people, that’s impressive. It’s what has impressed me a lot here.

China added four more golds today and more glory is on the way. These will be memorable moments for so many families. Let's work hard and keep counting the gold medals for China.