From China to Rio: A Millennial's View of the Games

No doubt the Rio Olympics got a bad reputation for being disorganized before the Games even started, but not a lot of words have been spent on the amiable volunteers of Rio.

I'm leaving Rio, leaving the city where I learned and experienced so much. In my two short weeks, I’ve run into a lot of random problems I didn’t even know were possible to be problems. So much media attention has been devoted to revealing them that I’m not even going to bother retelling stories of bad traffic, illogical rules, and no food.

What I’ve really noticed that’s worth discussing is that the volunteers here are so friendly. Something you expect to happen might not work out, but they will cheerfully tell you it can’t work and offer you suggestions. The vast majority of volunteers I’ve met were so eager to help and just happy to chat, even if it’s in broken English.

I remember one fencing event I watched was on a rainy night and volunteers were nowhere to be found in the Olympic Park. After scouting around, eyes scanning the raincoats and umbrellas around me, I finally spot a lady in a yellow volunteer jacket. I run over.

"Sorry, do you know where this arena is?" I asked and showed her my ticket.

"Oh it’s behind this stadium. You go there and turn left and it’s over there," she said, pointing out the directions.

I squinted in confusion.

"Here, I’ll walk you over," she said with a laugh.

Yes, my savior! I thought. I thanked her and we started talking. Her name is Desiree Alves and she’s from Florida.

She’s been working by the entrance bars for four days from 4 p.m. to midnight and this was her first day off. Wow, I thought, she finally gets time away from directing people around and she’s still happy to walk me? I couldn’t help but smile.

"I heard that only a small portion of the volunteers who signed up actually came," I said to her, "Is that true?"

"I don’t know, but they only gave us our schedule one month in advance," she shrugged, "A lot of people had problems coming here with their flights. I almost couldn’t come, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true."

After standing by the entrance bars everyday until midnight, I thought she must be sick of it all.

"I love what I’m doing here," she said to my surprise, "It’s been tiring, but I’m having a good time. The people are the best part."

You have to have some real zest and tolerance to say that. I’m happy she’s enjoying her time here. But I wondered about the disorder everyone’s been talking about. That can’t make the job fun, right?

"I think it’s getting better and more organized from the beginning," she said, "If you asked me where the tennis arena is earlier, I wouldn’t have known. I only found out yesterday from other people."

As we parted ways, I breathe a small, happy sigh of relief. And it’s not because she thinks organization is improving. It’s because I realized at the Rio Olympics, I can meet people like her, so willing to help and fun to talk to.

I walked toward the fencing arena’s ticket scan.

"Fencing?" the lady there asked before I even get to her and I nod, "Okay, then you’re in the right place. We’ve been getting a lot of basketball people, but basketball is not here!"

She laughed at her own words and let me in.

"Have fun!" she shouted behind me.

"Thanks!" I shouted back and smiled.

At the end of the day, you shouldn’t forget the bright side. It’s hard to deny that the Rio Olympics are not very orderly, but it’s also hard to deny the people’s affability. Without the friendly volunteers and welcoming Brazilians, things could be much worse. While Rio’s missteps often stick out in your memory, don’t forget all the times you talked to smiling volunteers who wanted to help you the best they could. Don’t forget the hospitality of South Americans.

When my plane takes off back to Shanghai and I see the lights of Rio de Janeiro blinking, I know it’s the people I met at Rio that I’m really going to miss.

Written and reported in Rio de Janeiro by Emma Li.

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