To the southeast of the “Ice Ribbon” (National Speed Skating Oval) and north of the National Indoor Stadium and the Ice Cube (National Aquatics Centre), there is an inconspicuous building. Every day, many shuttle buses run between this building and the various venues of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Not any single event is held here, yet myriad excellent reports and videos are sent from here to the rest of the world. This is the Main Media Centre of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
Li Xia and her fellow volunteers work at the IOC news service desk on the second basement floor of the Main Media Centre for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. They provide media consulting and other services, including interview reservations, venue information, live broadcast of the event, food and dinning, etc.
Li Xia speaks mandarin so perfectly that anyone can confuse her with a native speaker. As a matter of fact, Li Xia is a Ukrainian girl whose English name is Veronica. She is currently studying for a master's degree in arts management at Communication University of China and is the only volunteer with a foreign nationality in the Main Media Center.
Li Xia is in a team of six volunteers working in groups of three for morning and afternoon shifts. In her opinion, however, the work of volunteers does not end at the moment they leave their positions. In fact, there is no distinction between working and non-working hours, since they must provide help to people in need at all times.
Li Xia is mainly responsible for coordinating the media and the IOC, but often she has to deal with other problems in reality, such as how to get to a certain venue, where to get the documents, how to get information on the official website, etc. “Less than 20% of the problems are actually related to interview coordination,” she said.
“Whenever someone asks a question that I am not responsible for or do not know the answer to, I try not to say something like ‘I don't know’. Instead, I try to help them by elling them which window or what place they can consult.” She does not want these people in need to feel lost and helpless.
In Li Xia’s opinion, communication is an extremely important skill for any volunteer in the Beijing Winter Olympics. Every day, dozens of people are here to consult, among whom foreign journalists account for about 70%. She has to deal with English in various accents every day, some easy to comprehend, while others very difficult, but according to Li Xia, every accent “has its own charm”; interestingly enough, she is also faced with various accents of Mandarin, “it’s fascinating to listen to reporters from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who speak Mandarin.”
“I'm not bothered by any accent, though.” Li Xia says that she has been to more than 40 countries, “I’ve been to basically all the countries in Europe and Asia.” She speaks fluent Chinese, English, Russian and Ukrainian, as well as basic French. She can even understand Sichuanese, because she used to live in Chengdu for seven years. Li Xia said that many Chinese volunteers speak good English, but there can be times when they are confused, “That is when I come to help.”
Being a volunteer also gives Li Xia the opportunity to observe Chinese and foreign journalists. According to her observation, journalists and volunteers of all nationalities abide by the COVID prevention rules consciously. Every foreign journalist wears a mask and disinfects their hands everynow and then, “I haven't seen anyone take off their masks in public except for when drinking and eating.
She noted that the average age of foreign journalists here is older, with the majority being “gray-haired”; Chinese media reporters are generally younger, mostly in their 20s or 30s by the look. Outfits of foreign journalists are more often decorated with their country's identifications, such as the national flag or the color of the flag. “When they are covering or broadcasting the event, these identifications may bring them a sense of pride”, says Li Xia.
In Li Xia’s opinion, there is another difference between Chinese and foreign journalists - foreign journalists are more interested in reading newspapers. “We have an official journal for the Beijing Winter Olympics. At first there was only a Chinese version, but few people asked for it. Later on, we were asked many times if there was an English version, so we launched the English version, and it was often run out soon after publication.”
In addition, the personalities of journalists from different countries also vary a lot. For example, while waiting for the interviews, a Japanese or Korean journalist may stand quietly and wait, while a US journalist will look for topics to chat with her. Li Xia says that some older foreign journalists will come over to say hello when they pass by her window, “Usually, British and US journalists are more likely to come and say hello”.
Through her volunteering work, Li Xia also got to know more about China. In her opinion, foreigners have always had the impression that the celebration of Chinese festivals should be “grand” and “red”, “I didn't expect that the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics would be in white and blue. It was simple and exquisite, which surprised me a lot and really hit me with the charm of ‘simplicity’. I believe many foreigners may feel the same way as I do.”
While watching the opening ceremony in the hotel with other volunteers, Li Xia noticed that at the sound of China’s national anthem, dozens of thevolunteers all stood up at the same time and gazed at therising national flag on the screen. “At that moment, I was moved deeply by the unity of Chinese people,” said Li Xia.
Li Xia said that there are three meanings of her name Xia: the first isdistance, because she comes from Ukraine, far away from China; the second is reverie, as she enjoys thinking and imagining; and the third is fame, since she hopes to participate in some major events of world attention, which isalso one of the reasons she came to volunteer for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
This volunteer experience has given her some insights into how such large events are managed. “This experience will help me a lot in my future career, whether it’s campaigning or planning.” She hopes that what she does can really help others, “Most volunteer work is routine and trivial, but I still hope I can make a significant contribution to the Beijing Winter Olympics. That is my dream.”
Translator: Huang Qianting
Proofreader: Lu Xiang Ma Jianli Liu Ying
Editor:Cao Yangqianqian
Advisor:Zhang XU
