| Olympic volunteers | |
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| Jul 19, 2008 07:49 |   |
 | Last year I spent five weeks in China. During my encounters with young people I encouraged them to sign up as a volunteer at the Olympic games. Food and lodging would be provided and they would have a wonderful time working on an important event in China's history. The memories would last a lifetime. All of them had not heard of the call for volunteers and I showed some the website. Are there any volunteers out there in this forum? Do any of you have friends who are working as a volunteer? |
| Jul 20, 2008 01:05 | #1 |
| I encouraged my students NOT to volunteer unless they could see a clear benefit for themselves. The Olympics is BIG BIG business. Look at the amounts the multinationals are spending on sponsorship - they are not making giffts out of the goodness of their hearts, they will make MASSIVE profits from it. It is the rich who travel overseas to see the Games. But we ask the poorer sector of society to volunteer - great scam if you can get aaway with it. |
| Jul 20, 2008 08:12 | #2 |
| I encouraged young people to volunteer especially because I believe they WILL benefit. There are several ways they could benefit: 1. It would look good on job resumes. 2.A chance to see the Beijing. Many Chinese have not had the opportunity to see their own Capitol. 3. A chance to interact with others from various parts of China. 4. A chance to interact personally with foreign visitors. 5. A chance to make connections with influential people from both home and abroad. ( can you imagine the potential of being translator for Bill Gates?) 6. For the rest of their lives, they would be able to say " I was there." I could go on but the volunteers have been chosen are probably already in place. I wish them well. these next few weeks will be the time of their lives! |
| Jul 20, 2008 09:46 | #3 |
| Have got to agree with Paul on this one. It's sort of like" those that profit from the gains of war or conflict send the minions or peons who gain nothing but supposed honor or glory to do their bidding" |
| Jul 21, 2008 01:43 | #4 |
| I understand Paul’s view on this one to a point but without doubt the Sydney Limpics would not have been the success that they where without thousands of volunteers giving their time and in some cases their cars to help visitors. I gave a talk to a group of Beijing volunteers about six weeks ago. Made up entirely of students. No one knew anything about the history of the games at all. No one new much about the events. No one knew the names of the cultural sites in and around Beijing in English. No one knew any emergency numbers, ambulance, hospitals etc. No one played any sport. When I asked this question the reply was “we’re Students, not athletes” I’ve met better informed 10 year olds. I wish them luck. Dodger. |
| Jul 21, 2008 22:01 | #5 |
| GUEST8494 | Dodger, if that is true, I am very sad about it. My sister is in Tianjin. She once took part in the Olympic volunteer try-out competition held by her college. The competition was very fierce and the rules were very strict. In the competition, the judge asked her if she learned second language. She said "Yes, I am learning Japanese." Then the judge asked her to do a short self-introduction. She couldn't because she had been learning Japanese just for 3 months independently. Finally, she was eliminated. Forgot to say, her major was English. "No one knew any emergency numbers, ambulance, hospitals etc.” I guess they are not Olympic volunteers. How can't they know any emergency numbers?? Even a student should know these numbers. |
| Jul 21, 2008 23:34 | #6 |
| Guest8494, There were about 300 present and all Volunteers. I haven’t made this up. I had to cover even the smallest detail like carry a pen and paper with you. Have a map of the City. How to recognize a visitor who needs help. What to do if you see a visitor in need of medical attention. To demonstrate this point I took a volunteer from the audience and threw my self to the ground. Apart from getting a laugh the poor Bloke did not have a clue. I just hope they remember some of the things that we spoke about. I was really surprised that no one appeared to have done any prep at all. Dodger. |
| Jul 22, 2008 18:59 | #7 |
| Can I serve as a volunteer in London Olympics in 2012? LOL |
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