ZHANG Jichao, a senior college student at Tsinghua University, went to Athens to serve at the Olympic Games in the summer of 2004. She was one of the six student volunteers selected from Tsinghua University. Pride, excitement, inspiration and a spiritual harvest describe her unforgettable memories, recalling the 16 days and nights ZHANG Jichao spent in Athens.
In April of 2004, Tsinghua University Redbud Volunteers General Team initiated sign-ups1) for voluntary services at the Athens Olympic Games. Without hesitating, ZHANG Jichao filled out a form. As a member of this Team, she started to provide many voluntary services when she was a freshman. This time the opportunity was one she had longed for. To seize this opportunity, she started to learn Greek and fully prepare herself. In July of 2004, after many selections and tests, she finally made it.
When ZHANG Jichao filled out the forms, she chose to provide services in the Sports sites because this is a service closest to the athletics2). After her arrival in Athens, she was assigned to work in the internet bar in the Olympic Village. Though a little different from what she anticipated, she was not disappointed.When she stepped into the Olympic Village, she got excited at the mere sight of numerous athletes and volunteers busy at their jobs. Suddenly she realized that no matter what job they do, every volunteer is very important to the Olympics.
ZHANG Jichao worked at the network center located in the international area, where athletes go to use the internet. At the beginning her job was very simple: to show athletes how to surf3) the Internet and keep the network center in order. Soon she got very busy. In the Olympic Village, her college major, English, greatly helped her but also added extra work for her. She helped send messages, transferred posts and interpreted for Chinese athletes. Each day she did many small jobs, but still she felt excited.
In Athens, ZHANG Jichao communicated with foreign volunteers and learned about their voluntary experiences. She was most touched by an old couple in their 70s from Europe. They had been participating in Olympic volunteering for the fifth time in a row. Their job in Athens was to check ID cards at the entrance of Olympic Village. This is an exhausting job because they had nowhere to sit and no chance to visit sports sites or look inside the Olympic village. But they did it without complaint. ZHANG Jichao was deeply moved by them as she experienced the essence of the volunteering spirit.
Though daily work was so tiring that ZHANG Jizhao fell asleep on the subway, during working hours she and her colleagues always enjoyed their jobs and one another. Once one of her schoolmates rested against the wall while taking a break, and a foreign volunteer came up and said, \"We are volunteers, no matter how tired we are, we have to keep a high spirit during work. This is the basics of volunteering.\" Her schoolmate told her and other volunteers about it and whenever she felt tired, she would recall these words to inspire herself.
\"Every time I recall my experience in volunteering, I remember a precious memory. We worked hard together and we shared happiness together, too.\" Her next goal was to be an outstanding volunteer for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
清華大學(xué)大四學(xué)生張躋朝,作為清華大學(xué)選出的六名學(xué)生志愿者之一,于2004年夏天赴希臘雅典為第28屆奧運會做志愿服務(wù)。 驕傲、興奮、感動、收獲……在雅典的16個日夜成為張躋朝永遠(yuǎn)難忘的一段經(jīng)歷。
2004年4月,清華大學(xué)紫荊志愿者總隊發(fā)起了赴雅典奧運會志愿服務(wù)的報名工作。張躋朝毫不猶豫地填了一份報名表。作為紫荊志愿者總隊成員之一,她從大一就開始從事各種志愿服務(wù),而這次的機會更是她所一直渴望的。為了得到這個機會,張躋朝開始學(xué)習(xí)希臘語并做好了充分的準(zhǔn)備。2004年7月,在經(jīng)過層層選拔和測試之后,她最終獲得了這個機會。
填寫申請表時,張躋朝選擇的是場地內(nèi)服務(wù),因為這是最接近賽事的服務(wù)。到了雅典以后,張躋朝被分配在奧運村的網(wǎng)吧里工作。雖然和最初的設(shè)想有些距離,但她并沒有失望。當(dāng)她踏進奧運村的一瞬間,僅僅是看到那么多運動員和各國志愿者忙碌的身影,她就變得興奮起來。她突然明白,無論做什么樣的工作,每一個志愿者對奧運會都起著非常重要的作用。
張躋朝的工作地點是奧運村國際區(qū)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)中心,是運動員上網(wǎng)的地方。剛開始,她的工作非常簡單:就是引導(dǎo)運動員上網(wǎng)和維持網(wǎng)絡(luò)中心的秩序。但后來她做的事就越來越多了。在奧運村里,她在大學(xué)所學(xué)的英語專業(yè)幫了她很多的忙,但也為她增加了很多額外的工作:幫助中國代表隊的運動員發(fā)送消息、郵寄信件、做日常翻譯。每一天,她都要處理很多各種各樣的瑣事,但她卻仍然感覺很興奮。
在雅典,張躋朝和外國志愿者進行交流,了解他們做志愿服務(wù)的經(jīng)歷。最讓她感動的是一對來自歐洲的70多歲的老夫婦。他們已經(jīng)連續(xù)參加了五屆奧運會的志愿服務(wù)。這一次在雅典,他們的工作是在奧運村入口處檢查證件。這項工作很累,沒地方坐,而且也沒有機會進比賽場地或者看看奧運村里的面貌。但是他們卻毫無怨言地做著這項工作。他們的經(jīng)歷深深感動了張躋朝,也使她深切體會到了志愿精神的實質(zhì)。
盡管白天的工作都特別累,以至于張躋朝在地鐵里都會睡著,但是在工作時,她和同事們都始終投入地工作,享受共同相處的時光。有一次,張躋朝的一位校友在工作間隙靠著墻壁休息,一位外國志愿者過來對這位同學(xué)說:“我們是志愿者,無論自己多么累,工作時一定要保持飽滿的精神。這是起碼的志愿服務(wù)精神。”后來,這位同學(xué)將這件事告訴了張躋朝和其他志愿者,每當(dāng)覺得疲勞時,張躋朝就會想起這些話,以此激勵自己。
“每次回憶當(dāng)志愿者的經(jīng)歷,都是一份珍貴的記憶。我們付出了辛勤的工作,也分享了幸福。”她下一步的夢想是成為一名出色的2008年北京奧運會志愿者。
Women at the Olympic Games
女性與奧運
奧運會不僅見證了世界人民對體育運動的熱愛,也見證了婦女地位的逐步提高。
Participation in the ancient Olympic Games was limited to male athletes only.
At the first modern Olympic Games in Athens 1896, no women competed, as de Coubertin felt that their inclusion would be \"impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic (缺乏美感的), and incorrect.\"
●Women first competed at the 1900 Paris Games. Eleven women were allowed to compete in lawn tennis and golf. The first woman to win an Olympic event was England's Charlotte Cooper, who won the tennis singles in 1900.
●Women competed in swimming events for the first time in 1912, but none of them were from America, which did not allow its female athletes to compete in events without long skirts. The first women's swimming gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah \"Fanny\" Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912.
●In 1928, women competed in track and field events for the first time; however, so many collapsed (虛脫) at the end of the 800-meter race that the event was banned until 1960.
●Women's shooting events were first included in the Olympics in 1984. There were three events, three position rifle, air rifle and sport pistol.
●The 2000 Olympics was the first time that women were allowed to compete in the Olympics in weightlifting.
●There are only two Olympic sports where men and women compete against each other, sailing and equestrian (馬術(shù))events.