Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
My Final Reflection on the Summer Course
The challenging part of this summer class was to make a lot of comparisons of the candidate cities. To read some of the documentations of the bids was really hard. On the other hand, the nicest things of the summer class were the movies and the field trip. Creating a blog with my team mates was also amazing. I learned some new English vocabularies and expressions from my team mates. Moreover, interacting with friends from other countries is always exciting and gives different experiences. Too bad, Asuka had to leave Chicago before the course finished. Furthermore, I always enjoyed to be in Lori's class. She is not only a teacher, but also a friend for her students. Friendship is an important part of learning a foreign language. Someone will learn a language much faster if he/she can make relationship with others, as language itself is a way to make connection with people. Overall, I enjoyed this summer course (and summer in Chicago too! So sad, Chicago's summer is so short, and it's almost over now.)
The Downsides of Olympics
We can always think the positive things about Olympics, i.e., friendship, honesty, fair competition, beautiful opening and closing ceremony. However, behind all of this glorious stuffs, there are some negative things that we should manage. Below are some of the downsides of the Olympics extravagance:
* The use of doping in effort of winning the race. The long list of doping cases shows that people sometimes use everything (good and bad) to achieve their goal. In the race between police and criminal, so many times the criminals have one step ahead from the polices. That can happen too in the Olympics. Although IOC always tries to catch cheating athletes/countries, I believe there are many cases which are not detected by IOC. Another cheating case was about age deception of China athletes. The prestige of the countries gives pressure to them to win whatever the price.
*There are two million people have lost their homes to Olympic-related development in the past two decades. Besides, when there are deficit in the budget, the host country/city needs to deal with it. This is the socio-economy disadvantages of the lavish Olympics. In order to avoid all of this sad stories, IOC also needs to control the development of the host city related to the Olympics. There should be some rule and standard.
IOC is the key to manage these downsides. There are hopes that the world can take the advantages from this big event, but not those negative effects.
* The use of doping in effort of winning the race. The long list of doping cases shows that people sometimes use everything (good and bad) to achieve their goal. In the race between police and criminal, so many times the criminals have one step ahead from the polices. That can happen too in the Olympics. Although IOC always tries to catch cheating athletes/countries, I believe there are many cases which are not detected by IOC. Another cheating case was about age deception of China athletes. The prestige of the countries gives pressure to them to win whatever the price.
*There are two million people have lost their homes to Olympic-related development in the past two decades. Besides, when there are deficit in the budget, the host country/city needs to deal with it. This is the socio-economy disadvantages of the lavish Olympics. In order to avoid all of this sad stories, IOC also needs to control the development of the host city related to the Olympics. There should be some rule and standard.
IOC is the key to manage these downsides. There are hopes that the world can take the advantages from this big event, but not those negative effects.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
BIR Summer Program about the 2016 Olympics
Do you like the Olympics? How much do you know about it?
Every time the Olympics take place around the world, I enjoy watching the Olympics and I am excited and impressed by athletes’ incredibly high physical abilities and a number of impressive unforgettable events achieved by gifted athletes. But I didn’t know about how the host city is chosen and didn’t even think about it before starting to attend BIR Summer Program about the 2016 Olympics. Luckily, I live in Chicago currently and had a great opportunity to visit some of prospective venues of the 2016 Olympics in the event that Chicago was chosen as a host city of the 2016 Olympics on our field trip. In our class room, I discussed various pros and cons on four candidate cities, Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro, including the infrastructure, the financial matter, and the environmental conditions with my group partner, Endi and Ravi. Also, by exchanging opinions with them, I learned more about many standout Olympic moments achieved by athletes from other countries except Japan. That was a wonderful experience to me.
It was a shame that I had to leave Chicago for work in the midst of the BIR Summer Program, but with my teacher Lori’s help I could be a member of BIR TITANS to keep posting from Japan every week and I am grateful to her for what she did for me. I have been busy with work since I went back to Japan for work, and frankly speaking, it was tough to make time to post a blog by the deadline every week. But, on the other hand, it was challenging to write my opinions about the 2016 Olympics to keep up my English writing skill and posing a blog and reading my group partners’ blogs on BIR TITANS made me feel as if I were still learning in my classroom in Chicago. Also, I was motivated by reading my partners’ opinions and how wonderful their blog work was. In my situation, I couldn’t join the group discussion and the group work, but instead of them, I took advantage of the media in Japan. I always tried to find news and articles about the 2016 Olympics from the newspaper and on TV, which were good sources to give me new information and help me put together my thoughts. This is how I could do my blog work from Japan.
To me, the Summer program about the 2016 Olympics was intriguing and challenging. Although I am originally from Tokyo, Japan, but I hope Chicago will be chosen as a host city of the 2016 Olympics finally and I can be one of the witnesses of the 2016 Chicago Olympics because I am very attracted by the Windy City and I love this city.
Lastly, I would like to thank my teacher Lori and the BIR administration to give me such a wonderful opportunity to join the Summer program after I left Chicago.
Every time the Olympics take place around the world, I enjoy watching the Olympics and I am excited and impressed by athletes’ incredibly high physical abilities and a number of impressive unforgettable events achieved by gifted athletes. But I didn’t know about how the host city is chosen and didn’t even think about it before starting to attend BIR Summer Program about the 2016 Olympics. Luckily, I live in Chicago currently and had a great opportunity to visit some of prospective venues of the 2016 Olympics in the event that Chicago was chosen as a host city of the 2016 Olympics on our field trip. In our class room, I discussed various pros and cons on four candidate cities, Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro, including the infrastructure, the financial matter, and the environmental conditions with my group partner, Endi and Ravi. Also, by exchanging opinions with them, I learned more about many standout Olympic moments achieved by athletes from other countries except Japan. That was a wonderful experience to me.
It was a shame that I had to leave Chicago for work in the midst of the BIR Summer Program, but with my teacher Lori’s help I could be a member of BIR TITANS to keep posting from Japan every week and I am grateful to her for what she did for me. I have been busy with work since I went back to Japan for work, and frankly speaking, it was tough to make time to post a blog by the deadline every week. But, on the other hand, it was challenging to write my opinions about the 2016 Olympics to keep up my English writing skill and posing a blog and reading my group partners’ blogs on BIR TITANS made me feel as if I were still learning in my classroom in Chicago. Also, I was motivated by reading my partners’ opinions and how wonderful their blog work was. In my situation, I couldn’t join the group discussion and the group work, but instead of them, I took advantage of the media in Japan. I always tried to find news and articles about the 2016 Olympics from the newspaper and on TV, which were good sources to give me new information and help me put together my thoughts. This is how I could do my blog work from Japan.
To me, the Summer program about the 2016 Olympics was intriguing and challenging. Although I am originally from Tokyo, Japan, but I hope Chicago will be chosen as a host city of the 2016 Olympics finally and I can be one of the witnesses of the 2016 Chicago Olympics because I am very attracted by the Windy City and I love this city.
Lastly, I would like to thank my teacher Lori and the BIR administration to give me such a wonderful opportunity to join the Summer program after I left Chicago.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Who is Going to Win the Olympics Bid?
In Olympics 2012 bid, London was ranked the third in the race by the IOC Working Group, behind Paris and Madrid. Currently, Chicago is also ranked the third behind Tokyo and Madrid. London could win the bid because the last presentation by Lord Coe could convince the voting members to choose the city. It can happen to the current bid too. The city that can give the best presentation (the most enthusiastic, inspiring, convincing, meaningful, magical, memorable yet feasible) has a bigger chance to win the bid. The best product in the world does not mean anything if you can't sell it!
My Random Favorite Sport Quote
God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure. - Eric Liddell.
I like this quote because every person has strengths and weaknesses. He should utilize his strengths at his best, try to eliminate/minimize his weaknesses and be grateful on both of them. Strengths and weaknesses make a person beautiful.
Favorite Quote.
I like the quote by Wayne Gretzky
'' A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. ''
Great hockey player imagines where the puck is going to be placed with his experience. The hold and the authority over the game makes the difference between a good hockey player and great hockey player. Great hockey player imagines and judges the passes made in the hockey game.
'' A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. ''
Great hockey player imagines where the puck is going to be placed with his experience. The hold and the authority over the game makes the difference between a good hockey player and great hockey player. Great hockey player imagines and judges the passes made in the hockey game.
Spirit of the Sport
I think all of the participants of the game are the winners in their own right. Its always good to be the winner and to be first but its more important to participate in the game. All the participants do their best to achieve. Though only one of the athletes will be the winner the effort of rest to the players is worthy. Important thing is one needs to do his best and keep the spirit of sport above all. When we look into the Olympic creed : '' The most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight ; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well. ''
To Do Your Best or To Win?
Again, from The First Olympics: Athens 1896 movie, there is a scene which expresses two different philosophy. The professor opened the training session by saying, "Do your best", but the coach gave stronger philosophy ,"Win. There are no medals for the second place." Although I adopt the 'Do my best' philosophy, I like the other one too because it generates more energy and motivation. I still can feel a bit of negative tone in the first philosophy.
Zhu Qinan celebrates his triumph at Athens, where he won gold in the 10m air rifle competition. Photo: Reuters
I think athletes in Olympics need to adopt the second philosophy, because, indeed, we can still call the second winner a loser. IMHO, athletes should take the second philosophy when they do the exercise and the game/competition but should take the first after the game/competition. It's like saying, " I must be the winner, however if I lose, I will not regret because I know I have done my best." Furthermore, 'to win' philosophy may include 'to do one's best' philosophy. When someone make the winning as his target, sometimes something extraordinary beyond 'the-best-that-he-can-think-he-can-do' can emerge from him.
Dreamers Shape the World
In The First Olympics: Athens 1896 movie, we heard this word "Dreamers shape the world". I completely agree with this word. Everything in this world comes first in the dreamer's mind. They dreamed about anything: fly, go to the moon, movie, peace etc. However, dreams are only the first step to shape the world. Dreamers need to plan and act in order to achieve their dreams. And dreams sometimes need a lot of resources and time. Thomas Alva Edison needed thousands of failed experiments before he invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Dreamers often face hard times to realize their dreams. But dreams are not dreams if they are easy to achieve. Every dream has price to pay.
Dreamers Shape the World
There are so many kinds of people in this world. Dreamers are one of the different kinds of people who love to dream. They are sturdy in chasing their dreams. I strongly believe that this world is shaped by this kind and breed of people called dreamers. If Wright brothers didnot dream to fly like a bird we wouldn't be flying today in an Aeroplane. We are flying today in a plane like birds and travelling from one corner of the world to the other corner. If Marconi didnt dream to communicate without a wire , could we communicate wireless today with a man far away from your home. I believe we are living in a world made so comfortable by the dreamers beacuse they pursued their dreams against all odds.
About BIR Summer Class
Summer class in BIR is fun. Like I posted previously, we had a lot of fun with the classes, the field trip and the movies. Through this class, I know more about not only about Chicago but also a little more about Tokyo, Madrid and Rio.
The movies are also very interesting. So far we have seen 3 movies. The first is Secrets of the Dead, Doping for Gold, a PBS documentary about East Germany's doping program to win the golds in Olympics in the 1970s. The East German give the doping without the athletes' permission. Even the athletes did not know that they consumed a high dosage of doping. The side effect is pretty scary, in the movie, we can see one of the athletes changed in her appearance from a woman to a man. The second movie is The Wrestler, a Mickey Rourke's movie. Although, this movie actually has nothing to do with the Olympics, I found that this one is the most entertaining. The last one is about the history of the first Olympics. The title is The First Olympics: Athens 1896 I never know that the athletes of the first Olympics from the US came from the ivy league universities. I thought those universities only contain nerds (no offense :D). But my thought was definitely wrong.
Overall the summer class is really interesting. I like it especially because it is relaxing, entertaining yet informative (especially the movies and the blogging things).
The movies are also very interesting. So far we have seen 3 movies. The first is Secrets of the Dead, Doping for Gold, a PBS documentary about East Germany's doping program to win the golds in Olympics in the 1970s. The East German give the doping without the athletes' permission. Even the athletes did not know that they consumed a high dosage of doping. The side effect is pretty scary, in the movie, we can see one of the athletes changed in her appearance from a woman to a man. The second movie is The Wrestler, a Mickey Rourke's movie. Although, this movie actually has nothing to do with the Olympics, I found that this one is the most entertaining. The last one is about the history of the first Olympics. The title is The First Olympics: Athens 1896 I never know that the athletes of the first Olympics from the US came from the ivy league universities. I thought those universities only contain nerds (no offense :D). But my thought was definitely wrong.
Overall the summer class is really interesting. I like it especially because it is relaxing, entertaining yet informative (especially the movies and the blogging things).
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Week 6 Reflections
Today is the 6 th week of our class '' The 2016 Olympics ''. There are many things i would to say about our summer class but to be brief it was fun and informative. It was really nice to dig into plethora of information regarding Olympics and to learn more about blogging. We had one of the best field trips to Northerly Island. Personally every class was a learning experience for me in this summer session. I learnt about the history of the Olympic games. Their influence on the people, culture and the politics of different regions. I also learned how the games bring the athletes from every corner of the world into one huge platform and how it nourishes the spirit of friendship among them. One of the amazing things in the summer session was watching the videos related to Olympics. They were so good and provided a lot of information about the games. Thanks to Lori for all her dedication and efforts she has put in this summer class. The movies we watched were amazing. I thank BIR for bringing forward such a beautiful and informative summer session '' The 2016 Olympics ''
Friday, August 7, 2009
Comparisons of the four candidate cities
Sport Venues :
Despite the current lack of an Olympic stadium, Chicago has dozens of existing sport venues and also several universities located in the city are available and has been mentioned as possibilities. Judging from hosting three football teams and two basketball teams and having hosted the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Madrid has a strong sports culture and several existing sporting facilities. In spite of its publicity as a biggest football kingdom, Rio de Janeiro seems to be behind the other candidate cities in sporting facilities. Tokyo has dozens of existing sport venues as well as Chicago and seems to be the most potential host city of the four candidate cities.
General Infrastructure :
All of the candidate cities are well-known as a metropolis and it is considered that each city’s infrastructure is already good enough to operate the Olympics in a well-organized and competent way. As a Japanese woman from Tokyo, I believe that Tokyo would be the best host city for the 2016 Olympics in my point’s of view about a variety of transportation system and its’ high standard, but it is also considered that other cities’ transportation infrastructure is ready for the Olympics and almost equal to Tokyo.
Accommodation :
The four candidate cities are also well-known as a popular touristic place and the accommodation in each city is considered ready enough for the Olympics. When I think about not only the availability but also the cost and the security in the areas where accommodation facilities are located, it seems that each city has pros and cons and needs improvements.
Each city would be a very attractive host city for the 2016 Olympics, but in my opinion, I would like Chicago to be chosen as a host city because I have been attracted by the city since I moved there and I think that would be exciting and wonderful if I could be one of the witnesses of the 2016 Olympics, although Tokyo is my hometown. I am currently so interested in which city will be chosen that I can’t help but keep my eye on the 2016 Olympic bid.
Despite the current lack of an Olympic stadium, Chicago has dozens of existing sport venues and also several universities located in the city are available and has been mentioned as possibilities. Judging from hosting three football teams and two basketball teams and having hosted the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Madrid has a strong sports culture and several existing sporting facilities. In spite of its publicity as a biggest football kingdom, Rio de Janeiro seems to be behind the other candidate cities in sporting facilities. Tokyo has dozens of existing sport venues as well as Chicago and seems to be the most potential host city of the four candidate cities.
General Infrastructure :
All of the candidate cities are well-known as a metropolis and it is considered that each city’s infrastructure is already good enough to operate the Olympics in a well-organized and competent way. As a Japanese woman from Tokyo, I believe that Tokyo would be the best host city for the 2016 Olympics in my point’s of view about a variety of transportation system and its’ high standard, but it is also considered that other cities’ transportation infrastructure is ready for the Olympics and almost equal to Tokyo.
Accommodation :
The four candidate cities are also well-known as a popular touristic place and the accommodation in each city is considered ready enough for the Olympics. When I think about not only the availability but also the cost and the security in the areas where accommodation facilities are located, it seems that each city has pros and cons and needs improvements.
Each city would be a very attractive host city for the 2016 Olympics, but in my opinion, I would like Chicago to be chosen as a host city because I have been attracted by the city since I moved there and I think that would be exciting and wonderful if I could be one of the witnesses of the 2016 Olympics, although Tokyo is my hometown. I am currently so interested in which city will be chosen that I can’t help but keep my eye on the 2016 Olympic bid.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Reactions to Our Field Trip
I liked our field trip to Northerly Island last week. Chicago always looks very beautiful from Adler Planetarium. This is my most favorite place in Chicago. I went to this place so many times (even in the winter, crazy huh?). A lot of locations in the lake shore (and the lake itself) will play important roles if Chicago win the bid: the Soldier Field, the beaches and the parks along the shores. 
Reactions to our Field Trip
Last week on July 30th we departed from our school 'BIR' on our most awaited field trip to Northerly Island. We had good lunch at KFC before our departure. We left exactly at 1:30pm.
We walked from S Wabash ave to Northerly Island which was a great experience. We passed Soldier Field on our way. It was nice going out with all the class mates and with our beloved instructor Lori. The view of the majestic Soldier Field was great. We stopped for sometime at Adler planetarium. It was great taking few snaps with our class members. View of Chicago from Adler planetarium was awesome. As i enjoyed the spell bound view of Chicago from Adler planetarium I felt deep down in my heart that Chicago is always the best city to host Olympics 2016 games. The blue waters of Michigan lake reflect the ambience of Chicago sky line. Michigan lake is perfect to host the water sports that are part of Olympic games. I felt the Field trip was worthy.
Working Group Report on Candidate Cities (Assignment #2, p 44)
I am going to make comparison of the 4 cities based on the IOC Working Group’s big weighting criterion: general infrastructure (5), sport venues (4) and accommodation (5). The numbers in the parentheses show the weighting in 1-5 scale with 5 being the highest. The data in this writing is adapted from Games of the XXXI Olympiad – 2016 Working Group Report.
Sport Venues:
Based on the figure presented on the website, for the sport venues, Rio is the weakest one. Tokyo and Madrid are competing very tightly. Although there are a lot of works to do, they have enough time and fund to do the job. On the other hand, Chicago has the least work to do, however the city has limited fund and it has not found a source of funding for one of the planned venue (at least until the report is written in March 2009). The Working Group gave feasibility grade of 0.85 to Rio, 0.9 to Chicago and 0.95 to both Tokyo and Madrid.
General Infrastructure:
All of the candidate cities have ready airports to support the Olympics. The transportation systems for Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago are also ready. Rio still has a lot of works to do, for example, the city needs to build 100 km of Bus Rapid Transits to support this big event. In term of infrastructure investment, Chicago boasts its investment plan of 27 billion USD, however the city should prove it because the actual planned budget for the investment is only 2.7 billion USD. Tokyo and Madrid have reasonable budget of 9.2 Billion USD and 8.7 Billion USD consecutively. Tokyo and Madrid have the most ready infrastructure with 0.9 in feasibility grade compared to Chicago with 0.8.
Accommodation:
Rio is behind in this criterion. Tokyo and Chicago largely exceed the benchmark. Madrid also exceeds the benchmark. The plus for Chicago is: the city has lower cost accommodation of 1,550 university campus rooms.
Based on these three criterion, Chicago is advanced in accommodation, however we must admit that Chicago is behind from Tokyo and Madrid in the other two criterion. Chicago has a lot of things to do to win the bid. However, with the hard work, Chicago still has a big chance to win.
Sport Venues:
Based on the figure presented on the website, for the sport venues, Rio is the weakest one. Tokyo and Madrid are competing very tightly. Although there are a lot of works to do, they have enough time and fund to do the job. On the other hand, Chicago has the least work to do, however the city has limited fund and it has not found a source of funding for one of the planned venue (at least until the report is written in March 2009). The Working Group gave feasibility grade of 0.85 to Rio, 0.9 to Chicago and 0.95 to both Tokyo and Madrid.
General Infrastructure:
All of the candidate cities have ready airports to support the Olympics. The transportation systems for Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago are also ready. Rio still has a lot of works to do, for example, the city needs to build 100 km of Bus Rapid Transits to support this big event. In term of infrastructure investment, Chicago boasts its investment plan of 27 billion USD, however the city should prove it because the actual planned budget for the investment is only 2.7 billion USD. Tokyo and Madrid have reasonable budget of 9.2 Billion USD and 8.7 Billion USD consecutively. Tokyo and Madrid have the most ready infrastructure with 0.9 in feasibility grade compared to Chicago with 0.8.
Accommodation:
Rio is behind in this criterion. Tokyo and Chicago largely exceed the benchmark. Madrid also exceeds the benchmark. The plus for Chicago is: the city has lower cost accommodation of 1,550 university campus rooms.
Based on these three criterion, Chicago is advanced in accommodation, however we must admit that Chicago is behind from Tokyo and Madrid in the other two criterion. Chicago has a lot of things to do to win the bid. However, with the hard work, Chicago still has a big chance to win.
Assignment no : 2 , Page # 44
My Pick of the 2016 Olympics Host City........
The international Olympics committee shortlisted four candidate cities for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. They are Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio De Janeiro. Decision on who will host the 2016 Games will be announced in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October
I would like to check into the pros, cons and overall view of the four shortlisted candidate cities. In the end I would like to select a perfect host from the four candidate cities which is purely my own personal opinion. I wish this posting will be informative and fun for all the viewers of this blog and every comment is welcome regarding the corrections, additions and changes to be made.
Madrid, Spain
Madrid is the largest city and the capital city of Spain with a modern infrastructure.Madrid is one of the few European capitals yet to host the Olympic games. It hopes to follow in the foot steps of Barcelona which brought the Olympics to Spain in 1992. It is one of the European capitals yet to host the Olympic games.
Pros:- Madrid has 85% of the venues already built and in place. It has a history of hosting Olympic qualifying events. It has bid for the 2012 Olympic games and stood second in overall technical evaluation. In the 2012 bidding process, Madrid was actually placed first in the third round ahead of London and Paris, before being third in the final round.
Cons : The 2012 summer Games are scheduled in London and the 2014 winter Games are due to take place in Sochi, Russia. Staging three consecutive Olympic Games in Europe appears quite unlikely.
Chicago, USA
Chicago is the third largest city in USA and one of the centres of business and finance with a second busiest airport in the world.Chicago has a heritage for hosting major international, national, regional, and local events that include commerce, culture, entertainment, politics, and sports.
Pros :- Chicago has Lake Michigan, a perfect spot for rowing, triathalon and beach volleyball events. The lake front also has miles of paved roadway which could be used for the marathon events and minimize road closures in the city. The United Center would be perfect for the volleyball and basketball events. The city plans to build five new permanent venues and 11 temporary ones. They will be in four clusters within 15km of the Olympic Village, which will be based south of McCormick Place and itself house 11 events. The new venues will compliment existing structures such as Soldier Field, United Center, Sears Center and Wrigley Field. The private sector will finance the bid costs, while infrastructure costs will be financed by the US government.
Cons :- The transport system especially elevated train system in Chicago is aged which has to be renovated. The other con is the amount of new construction that would have to be built.
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Rio De Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil and third largest metroploitan area in South America. It is the first time the city has proceeded to the candidature stage after failed attempts for the 1936, 1940, 2004 and 2012 Games.
Pros :-Rio De Janeiro is the host city for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will add to the city's experience. Pan-American Games in 2007 - labelled the "best in history" was hosted in Rio De Janeiro. Rio is a popular tourist destination, and a vibrant exotic city. It would be the first South American city to ever host an Olympics. IOC President Jacque Rogge’s wish to get the Olympics into South America is a big lift.
Cons :- City is plagued by crime. Public transportation in Rio De Janeiro needs tremendous improvement.
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo is the capital of japan. It is the world's most populous metropolitan area with 35 million people and the world's largest metropolitan economy with GDP of US $1.191 trillion. One of the leading cities in the world in terms of culture and commerce.
Pros :- One big asset for Tokyo is, it is the most experienced city of the four candidate cities as it has already hosted 2002 Football World Cup, 1964 Summer Olympics and 1972 and 1998 Winter Olympics. It has one of the best public transportation facilities and other good thing is, it has ample accommodation for the visitors.
Cons :- It is most unlikely for the Olympics to be held in Asia again in eight years as Beijing has already hosted 2008 Olympics. If it happens it would be the 1st time for the Olympics to be held in the same continent in 8 years.
I wish and hope Chicago will win the bid to host the 2016 summer Olympics.
Reference:-
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Field Trip
Summer in Chicago is the best season to hang out outside and enjoy the sun and outside sports activities. I am excited about today’s field trip because I expect to see many interesting sites related to 2016 Olympics – Northery Island Park and Soldier Field. I haven’t been to both of the sites before but I imagine the area where both sites are located should be a wide open area and well-organized with sidewalks beautifully decorated by flowers and trees. I imagine Northery Island Park might look like Shedd Aquarium. I think I would realize it again that Soldier Field would be one of the good Olympic stadiums if Chicago would be chosen as 2016 Olympics host city. I’m so excited about leaving our class now for the field trip.
Before Our Field Trip
Today is our class field trip day. We will visit Northerly Island of Chicago. It is a man-made peninsula. I have been there before; however, I don’t know the name of the place. I expect to see something left from the Meigs Field Airport. From the news here, I find that the city of Chicago plans to make this area as a focal point of a 2016 Olympics. There will be tennis court and volley ball field with 15,000 seats. Adjacent to this Northerly Island, there is a giant and famous Soldier Field. Although this is a stadium for American Football, Soldier Field was used as one of the venues for the FIFA World Cup in 1994. It might hold the soccer matches of the 2016 Olympics if Chicago wins the bid. It has 100,000 seats. It's big enough to hold Olympics' soccer games. Among the biggest soccer stadium in the world are the Saltlake in Calcutta (120,000), the Azteca in Mexico (106,000) and the Azadi in Tehran (100,000), the Nou Camp in Barcelona (98,600) and The Maracana (95,095 seats).
My Prediction of today's Olympics 2016 Field Trip
I am pretty excited about the field trip we will be taking today. I am sure this field trip is going to be informative, fun filled and amazing. Its because the theme of the field trip is Olympics 2016. Anything related to sports adds fun and spice to life :) We are planning to go to Soldier Field which is my favorite venue in Chicago. It is located on the perfect location, lake shore drive. It is the current home for the chicago bears.
Another venue which we are planning to visit is Northerly Island. It's a man made peninsula along Chicago's lakefront. It juts into Lake Michigan at the heart of the Museum Campus. It is located just south of the Adler Planetarium and east of Soldier Field. The Northerly Island features beautiful strolling paths, casual play areas and a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline. It is also home to some of the best fishing in Chicago. It would be really exciting to visit the Northerly Island.
Our final stop will be at millenium park. It is a 24.5 acre park located in downtown Chicago on Michigan Avenue between Randolph and Monroe Streets. It is a center for world-class art, music, architecture and landscape design, where one can experience everything from interactive public art to free classical music presentations by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. Among the park’s prominent features is the dazzling Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which is most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States.
I am looking forward for the exciting field trip today which will be a great pleasure going on a field trip with all my class-mates.
Another venue which we are planning to visit is Northerly Island. It's a man made peninsula along Chicago's lakefront. It juts into Lake Michigan at the heart of the Museum Campus. It is located just south of the Adler Planetarium and east of Soldier Field. The Northerly Island features beautiful strolling paths, casual play areas and a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline. It is also home to some of the best fishing in Chicago. It would be really exciting to visit the Northerly Island.
Our final stop will be at millenium park. It is a 24.5 acre park located in downtown Chicago on Michigan Avenue between Randolph and Monroe Streets. It is a center for world-class art, music, architecture and landscape design, where one can experience everything from interactive public art to free classical music presentations by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. Among the park’s prominent features is the dazzling Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which is most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States.I am looking forward for the exciting field trip today which will be a great pleasure going on a field trip with all my class-mates.
Most Inspiring Olympics' Moment for Endi
There are at least two moments which give inspirations to me. The first one is Abebe Bikila, a track-and-field athlete from Ethiopia, who won two Olympic gold medals in the marathon in 1960 in Rome Italy. There are two reasons why this moment is really interesting for me. First, he won the marathon without wearing shoes and he broke the time record. I don’t know why he did not wear shoes at that time, but his feet should be really strong to bear the harsh friction with the surface of the road without bleeding. It means he exercised so hard that his feet became callous. Second, he was not a professional athlete at the first time. Some athletes are prepared to participate in the Olympics when they are teenagers/pre-teenagers, but Bikila was a member of the imperial bodyguard of Haile Selassie I, the Ethiopian emperor. It means he did not do sport as his profession and he still won.
The second most inspiring moment in Olympics is when Carl Lewis finally won gold medal in 1988 after the IOC found that Ben Johnson, his main competitor, had tested positive for steroids. Sometimes, in our life, a lot of things are unfair. When we try to be honest, some other people are cheating to win competition. However, some cheating cases don’t get disclosed and the most hardworking people don’t get their rewards for what they sacrifice.
In conclusion, I believe that hardworking attitude and integrity is important not only in sport but also in our daily life. For me the two stories above are really moving and inspiring.
Great Olympic moments
When I think of the greatest Olympic moments, the female figure skating in2006 Winter Olympics crosses my mind because that was one of the most glorious unforgettable Olympic moments to Japan – Shizuka Arakawa, a Japanese figure skater, won the Olympics and brought a Gold medal to the country as the first Olympic champion of figure skating.
How she won the Olympics was dramatic. After the short program, she was in the third place behind tow competitors from America and Russia, Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya. Less than a point separated the top three skaters. Although Cohen and Slutskaya were the heavy favorites for the gold medal, both fell during the long program. However, Arakawa skated a clean free-skate program with no falls and earned the highest 191.34 points. Finally, she became a gold medalist with a round of applause by the audiences. Arakawa's Olympic win was the first in the event for a Japanese skater. Her gold medal gave Japan its first and only medal of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
It is often said that Asian athletes are inferior to Western athletes in the field of sports, but this glorious event achieved by a Japanese skater proved that the belief was wrong. As I am Japanese, I’m proud of her achievement and this is the biggest reason why 2006 Winter Olympics is one of the greatest Olympic moments to me.
How she won the Olympics was dramatic. After the short program, she was in the third place behind tow competitors from America and Russia, Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya. Less than a point separated the top three skaters. Although Cohen and Slutskaya were the heavy favorites for the gold medal, both fell during the long program. However, Arakawa skated a clean free-skate program with no falls and earned the highest 191.34 points. Finally, she became a gold medalist with a round of applause by the audiences. Arakawa's Olympic win was the first in the event for a Japanese skater. Her gold medal gave Japan its first and only medal of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
It is often said that Asian athletes are inferior to Western athletes in the field of sports, but this glorious event achieved by a Japanese skater proved that the belief was wrong. As I am Japanese, I’m proud of her achievement and this is the biggest reason why 2006 Winter Olympics is one of the greatest Olympic moments to me.
Great Olympic Moments.
I rate Jesse Owens winning four gold medals in 1936 Olympics at berlin as one of the Great Olympic Moments. I was not born then and i couldn't watch any of its video, but from what I read in internet and books moved me and inspired me a lot. Jesse Owens was the first American to win four Olympic gold medals in track and field. He was affectionately called "Buckeye Bullet". What really inspired me was Jesse Owens performing the feat in Berlin at the height of Hitler's aryan supremacy propaganda, which was a superhuman effort. He won a medal each in 100 meters, 200 meters, the long jump, and 4 x 100 meters relay. He was born in a poor family and at times didnt have enough food available. He was a hero who endured and overcame all major challenges to achieve greatness.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
My Favorite Olympic Moment.
I'm from India. Rajyavardhan Singh, Sushil Kumar, Abhinav Bindra, Leander Paes, Karnam Malleswari are some of the famous Olympians from my country. Abhinav Bindra winning the gold for the men's 10m air rifle event at 2008 Beijing Olympics stands out as my favorite Olympic moment. I like the shooting event a lot and Abhinav Bindra's performance was far superior when compared to the rest of the competitors at 2008 Beijing Olympics. His final score was 700.5 which was his career best. He out scored all other shooters in the final with a round of 104.5. His highest single shot score was 10.8 while his nearest competitor Henri Hakkinen came up with 9.7. His amazing score accompanied with his flexibility and coordination made it my favorite Olympic moment
Thursday, July 23, 2009
President Obama Welcomes The IOC
President Barack Obama welcomed the IOC (International Olympic Commite) who visited Chicago sometime ago. The video is interesting primarily because Barack Obama greeted the IOC people not only as the president of the US, but also as a Chicagoan. He gave a personal touch in his message. He mentioned that his wife is native Chicagoan and his daughters grew up in one neighborhood a block away from one sport venue in Chicago. He also said that Chicago is the most America in America, in other words, you can feel very American culture in Chicago. The city can represent America's values. In conclussion, by choosing Chicago as one of the candidate of Olympic cities, IOC has done a good job.
Chicago will definitely make a good host for Olympics 2016
Would Chicago make a good Olympic host city? Here are some facts about the competing cities for Olympics 2016. I will only compare cities with 3 highest bids in some factors: sport venues, transportation and green areas. We will discuss other factors later in this blog.
Sport venues:
Chicago has at least 27 sport venues. The most popular ones are US Cellular field (White Sox, baseball), Soldier field (Chicago Bear, Football), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs, baseball), Allstate arena (hockey, basket ball, football), andUnited Center (Chicago Bulls, basketball) and Toyota Park (Soccer). Tokyo at least has 24 sport venues. The famous ones are Tokyo Dome (Tokyo Giant, baseball), Ajinomoto Stadium, and Olympics stadium (soccer). Madrid has at least 2 UEFA standards stadiums belong to Real Madrid (Estadio Santiago Bernabeu) and Atletico Madrid, two famous soccer teams in Spain. It also has two basketball venues, Palacio Vistalegre and Madrid Arena. In term of sport venues, the three cities face a very tough competition, however, Chicago is ready enough to be the host of Olympics.
Transportation :
Chicago has one of the best public transportation systems in North America. It has CTA bus and train system and Metra rail too. People in Chicago can travel to any places in the city easily. However from all of these three cities, Tokyo has the best public transportation system. The city has an efficient high speed train system. People who want to travel need to wait the train for only 1 or 2 minutes every time. Madrid has similar public transportation system to that of Chicago. Although, Chicago’s transportation system is not as good as that of Tokyo, but with some improvements it will be ready for the event by 2016. Another thing to consider is, although the transportation system in Tokyo is really advanced, the city population is really dense, therefore, in our opinion, it is not convenient for the visitors to travel around the city.
Green Areas and Public Spaces :
Chicago definitely is one of the most green cities in the world. It has more than 7300 acres of parkland, 552 parks, 33 beaches, nine museums, two world-class conservatories and 16 historic lagoons which is really outstanding. They are seen both in the downtown and the suburbs. The most prominent parks in the downtown of Chicago are Grant Park and Millennium Park. Tokyo has many parks too; however, the parks in Tokyo are usually small. One of the big parks in Tokyo is Ueno Park. Madrid has a lot of green areas too. The famous one is Parque del Retiro. It’s a really beautiful park with a lot of statues in it, however the parks in Chicago are the best for all kinds of activities.
We strongly favor Chicago as the Host City for the 2016 Olympics because of its transportion, sport venues and greenery. We truly think chicago is the most competent city to host the Olympics 2016.
Sport venues:
Chicago has at least 27 sport venues. The most popular ones are US Cellular field (White Sox, baseball), Soldier field (Chicago Bear, Football), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs, baseball), Allstate arena (hockey, basket ball, football), andUnited Center (Chicago Bulls, basketball) and Toyota Park (Soccer). Tokyo at least has 24 sport venues. The famous ones are Tokyo Dome (Tokyo Giant, baseball), Ajinomoto Stadium, and Olympics stadium (soccer). Madrid has at least 2 UEFA standards stadiums belong to Real Madrid (Estadio Santiago Bernabeu) and Atletico Madrid, two famous soccer teams in Spain. It also has two basketball venues, Palacio Vistalegre and Madrid Arena. In term of sport venues, the three cities face a very tough competition, however, Chicago is ready enough to be the host of Olympics.
Transportation :
Chicago has one of the best public transportation systems in North America. It has CTA bus and train system and Metra rail too. People in Chicago can travel to any places in the city easily. However from all of these three cities, Tokyo has the best public transportation system. The city has an efficient high speed train system. People who want to travel need to wait the train for only 1 or 2 minutes every time. Madrid has similar public transportation system to that of Chicago. Although, Chicago’s transportation system is not as good as that of Tokyo, but with some improvements it will be ready for the event by 2016. Another thing to consider is, although the transportation system in Tokyo is really advanced, the city population is really dense, therefore, in our opinion, it is not convenient for the visitors to travel around the city.
Green Areas and Public Spaces :
Chicago definitely is one of the most green cities in the world. It has more than 7300 acres of parkland, 552 parks, 33 beaches, nine museums, two world-class conservatories and 16 historic lagoons which is really outstanding. They are seen both in the downtown and the suburbs. The most prominent parks in the downtown of Chicago are Grant Park and Millennium Park. Tokyo has many parks too; however, the parks in Tokyo are usually small. One of the big parks in Tokyo is Ueno Park. Madrid has a lot of green areas too. The famous one is Parque del Retiro. It’s a really beautiful park with a lot of statues in it, however the parks in Chicago are the best for all kinds of activities.
We strongly favor Chicago as the Host City for the 2016 Olympics because of its transportion, sport venues and greenery. We truly think chicago is the most competent city to host the Olympics 2016.
Hello my friend...........
I am Ravi Koppolu, one of the members of the Bir Titans. I am from Vijayawada which is located in the southern part of India. Vijayawada is a beautiful place with a huge river, hills and ample greenery.My dream to pursue my higher education in the United States has led me to Chicago on Aug 12th,2008.
Before coming to USA I completed my graduation in medicine in India. I am looking forward to join in the residency in a good reputed hospital in Chicago. When it comes to Chicago, I am truly short of words to describe its beauty.Right now I am a student in BIR , which is my favorite institute and is one of the coolest schools in downtown Chicago. I am in the Bridge/Olympics 2016 summer class and Lori is our instructor. She is one of the best teachers and very sweet as a person. Endi and Asuka are the other two members in Bir Titans. Endi is from Indonesia. He is a very nice and charming guy. Asuka is from Japan. She is good friendly girl. The blog project in our class helped us to know more about each other.
I welcome all my friends, classmates , visitors and well wishes to the blog '' BIR-TITANS ''.
Hello!!
My name Is Endi. I am student at BIR. This is my 3rd term in BIR (a wonderful language school in Chicago). Chicago is a really beautiful city and it is one of the candidate cities for Olympics 2016. It will be really exciting to see Chicago becomes the host of Olympics in 2016. I don’t know whether I will still be in Chicago in 2016. If I am, then I hope I can participate in something during the event, but if I am not, then I am really grateful that now I can see the city is preparing for winning the bid for becoming the host of Olympics in 2016. I hope Chicago will be the winner!! Together with Ravi and Asuka, we will write this blog. If you happen to come to this blog, I hope you enjoy it :).
Hi there!
Hi, my name is Asuka. I am a Japanese woman living in Chicago.
I had been working as an accountant for 8 years in Tokyo before moving to America, but now I am learning English in BIR to be a good English speaker. I am happy to live in Chicago because living abroad is one of my wildest dreams I've ever had for many years. Chicago is definitely my second home town to me.
Also, I’m currently learning nail tech at a cosmetic school and I want to be a licensed nail technician in the near future. This is one of my dreams I want to achieve in America. Hopefully, I want to own my nail salon to be a successful nail technicial!
I had been working as an accountant for 8 years in Tokyo before moving to America, but now I am learning English in BIR to be a good English speaker. I am happy to live in Chicago because living abroad is one of my wildest dreams I've ever had for many years. Chicago is definitely my second home town to me.
Also, I’m currently learning nail tech at a cosmetic school and I want to be a licensed nail technician in the near future. This is one of my dreams I want to achieve in America. Hopefully, I want to own my nail salon to be a successful nail technicial!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
THE ORIGIN OF THE OLYMPICS
The most widely accepted date for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC. This is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, of the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC. The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, and equestrian events. Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.The winners of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues. The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. There is no consensus on when the Games officially ended, the most common-held date is 393 AD.They were resumed again from the late 19th century.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Chicago 2016 Logo – Six Point Star
It’s a six-point star like the one in Chicago's flag, surrounded by a banner of colours. The Chicago’s logo for its 2016 Summer Olympic Games bid was unveiled by Olympic gold medallists Jackie Joyner Kersee and Rowdy Gaines.The logo is described as a compass pointing in all directions reaching out to the world. The bands of colour radiating up and down from the star reflect both the dynamic architecture of our city and the beautiful character of our parks and lakes.They also symbolize our desire to reach out to the world and offer many paths to the Games. According to the bid committee the six-point design of the Chicago Star is unique and each point on the star represents values and ideals that the Olympic Movement and Chicago share.The points on the star represent Hope, Respect, Harmony, Friendship, Excellence and Celebration.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said that he hopes it will become a symbol of hope for the city of Chicago.Chicago 2016’s bid committee said that it hopes the logo will become a great symbol of hope for the city and the nation – as we humbly seek the right to host the Olympic Games and welcome the world to Chicago in 2016.
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