How should Americans act upon arriving in Beijing for the Olympic games? Should they be like members of the U.S. cycling team (Reuters – U.S. cyclists fly into China with face masks):
Some members of the U.S. cycling squad arrived for the Olympic Games on Tuesday wearing black respiratory masks, apparently concerned over reports of unhealthy levels of air pollution in Beijing. About half a dozen members of the team, male and female, were pictured wearing close-fitting face masks covering nose and mouth as they went through Beijing airport. One was identified as Mike Friedman, a track cyclist who competes indoors.
Yes, air pollution has been in the news and Beijing's pollution problems are well known, but these athletes were wearings masks in the airport and as they loaded their luggage into their shuttles, not at an outdoor cycling venue. I think they did this more for show than for any legitimate health or sporting reasons. So, why go out of your way to be provocative and insulting to your hosts?
Should Americans in Beijing act like Eddie Romero who vandalized his hotel room in the name of protest and then left without paying ( AP – American protester paints Beijing hotel rooms):
An American pastor checked into upscale hotels in the Olympics host city this week, filmed himself painting two of his rooms with slogans like “Beijing 2008 Our world Our nightmare” and then disappeared. Without paying. […] the California-based pastor splashed the walls of his two hotel rooms with demands for the release of five Chinese activists. He slashed pillows and staged mock killings with stuffed people propped on the bed, red paint spattered like blood on the headboard.
I wonder if he would “protest” in the same way if he was back at home?
I’ve done a fair bit of traveling abroad and always with the attitude that you respect your host country, respect their laws, their traditions and their culture and you do this to be a good ambassador for the U.S. and not a stereotype of the “ugly American.” I hope the cycling team and Eddie Romero will prove to be the exceptions rather than the rule and that most Americans in Beijing will conduct themselves in a manner that would make us proud back home.
