Overseas staff stealing the show at international regatta

QINGDAO: An interesting cast of foreigners has followed the world's best sailors to Qingdao to help out with media operations during the Olympic test event.

The Sailing Committee started recruiting foreign volunteers earlier this year, selecting just nine from nearly 150 overseas applicants.

American Lynn Fitzpatrick said she felt privileged to work for the 2007 Sinopec Qingdao International Regatta.

"I am a very unique person to this regatta," she said.

"I have also had the fortune of working with the venue manager, of meeting with the mayor and some IOC officials, of communicating directly to ISAF (International Sailing Federation) and the athletes, so I feel that I'm in a very privileged position."

Fitzpatrick was recommended by ISAF and invited to Qingdao as a sports information specialist because of her experience in sailing and freelance writing.

The MIT graduate, who specializes in waterfront development, won a US sailing championship in 1989.

"I'm here to provide official information about what's happening here everyday and preview for daily happenings," Fitzpatrick told China Daily last week at Qingdao's Beer City during the annual Beer Festival, where officials bid "ganbei" to her efforts.

Unlike Fitzpatrick, Jared Psigoda from the US and Canadian Alyson Woolfrey came to Qingdao as volunteers.

The two quote reporters are often seen interviewing athletes and noting highlights at press conferences.

"It is a great joy for me to help Qingdao and China in the Olympic test event," Jared said in fluent Chinese.

"Through my work I can also accumulate more experience, which will be helpful for my future job hunting."

Psigoda majors in Chinese at Ohio State University and came to Qingdao to do research on Chinese culture and media under a supervisor from China's Ocean University.

"It is my third time coming to Qingdao," he said.

"The longer I stay here, the more I am Sinoized.

"Under my influence, my relatives and friends have become interested in Qingdao and China - my parents now drink Tsingtao Beer at home."

Woolfrey knows almost nothing about Chinese.

"I was coming to Qingdao to study some Chinese," she explained.

"I'm here with my boyfriend who works with a company here, so I took the opportunity to do what I could to make a contribution to Qingdao.

"It's an excellent experience. There are many Chinese in Canada. For me, I can teach my family about China, about where everybody comes from and the homeland of a lot of people that live near me in Canada."

Woolfrey and Psigoda attend press conferences, interview athletes and take notes.

They pick out daily highlights in English and Chinese from the materials they collect and issue them to the media.

Sun Huahong, also known as Julia, is a Chinese American whose parents hail from Taiwan.

Persuaded by her Qingdao aunt, Sun registered to be a volunteer in the media department.

"I can experience something different and precious here," Sun said.

"Besides, I can make progress in speaking Chinese so as to communicate with my grandma back in Taiwan."

(China Daily 08/22/2007 page24)