My Games: Beijing diaries

 My Games: Beijing diaries

ROBERT SCALES, MONTREAL, CANADA

Since Autumn 2007, I have been living in China in preparation for the upcoming Summer Games.

I can honestly say that I have been an Olympic fan, or a "fen zhi" as the Chinese say, since I was a little boy!

I remember watching the 1976 summer games in Montreal on the TV, and that has always stayed with me. In 2006, I had the opportunity to go to the Winter games in Torino, Italy. This lit a flame in my heart and since then I have been working on securing new opportunities to attend future games such as Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing my Beijing experience with you. I like to shoot low quality, single take, unedited videos.

I am also travelling with my friend and business partner, Kris, who is a photographer extraordinaire, so there will be no shortage of pictures to share with you folks.

Some of my goals over the next 16 days are to attend the Olympic fencing, which I have several tickets for on 15 August. I also plan to visit some of the nation houses around the city to make new international friends and meet athletes.

Other goals are to enjoy some of the local food and culture, and to have a great time.

Now, I must make myself ready to go and venture out into the Beijing wild, in hope of finding the perfect spot to watch the opening ceremony, since I have not been blessed with a ticket.

Cross posted from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/olympics/7541563.stm#robert