Helping foreign athletes solve their day-to-day problems is the basic job of an assistant volunteer for the National Olympic Committee (NOC). But the way I see it, we also help them achieve their Olympic goals.
I was a volunteer during the nine-day goalball tournament, a Paralympic test event attended mainly by athletes with visual impairments, at Beijing Institute of Technology last September.
I was told that my job was to escort the Japanese athletes as they moved between Beijing's airport, their hotel and the stadium. I was chosen because Japanese is my third foreign language besides Czech and English.
But the task turned out to be much more interesting, and challenging, than I had imagined.
I began to get involved in their training and also photographed the team's performance, as well as translating for the Japanese coach.
At first, I was afraid I would make a mistake. But the team constantly encouraged me. They even included me in their post-match meetings. Before long, they considered me a trusted member of their team.
One day when I took the team to shop for souvenirs in Wangfujing, we were caught up in a heavy shower with only one umbrella. It was rush hour and no empty taxis on Chang'an Avenue were in sight. The only choice left was the crowded buses in Beijing, and we had to switch buses twice. To tell the truth, I was so afraid I would lose one of them and create something of a diplomatic incident.
When the Japanese team left, they held a special party in my honor at my favorite restaurant. We had a great time and no one mentioned their departure the next day. But I knew I would miss them. The nine days I spent with the team helped me discover some strengths that I did not know I had. It also made me more courageous and more confident in my ability to solve life's problems.
Gan Li is a 19-year-old student from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. He majored in Czech Language and Culture at Beijing Foreign Studies University, but also speaks Japanese and English. He lists his main hobby as studying as many languages as he can in his free time.
