Preparations for the games continue. The International Broadcast Center is open and serving. The Media Press Center will open next week, or at least it is scheduled to open next week; that all depends on the completion of a few minor construction projects.

The construction that has gone on and continues for these Olympic Games is impressive and almost unbelievable. State-of-the-art high-rise apartments have been built for athletes and trainers and construction continues, with only a few weeks before athletes start arriving. The Chinese are working literally around the clock to get everything finished. They are working at a record-setting pace to prepare for an event that will set records.

The food for the games is very good. As one would imagine, it all has a Chinese flare, though food from all over the world is featured. We are offering traditional Chinese, Mediterranian, Western, Italian, French, and Latin, to name a few.

The food is being prepared by an army of Chinese culinary students and their teachers, with a team of international managers leading the crew. They are eager to learn and have a strong work ethic. They are very professional and do everything asked of them.

The language barrier is evident but managable. Those who have been here for a while (a month or so) have picked up enough Chinese to give directions to cab drivers and basic instructions to their Chinese student cooks. I look forward to at least that amount of language proficiency and hope it happens soon.