I’ve decided to reenact this Q & A with my OWN answers to the questions:

Q. So just how arduous can a day at the Games be?

I’ll give it to George on this one.  I had a similar experience to his in Vancouver. To get to the downhill skiing, Nordic combined, and bobsled events in Whistler, I left Vancouver when it was still dark outside. It must have been 4:30am in the morning and we arrived in Whistler by 7am. My Olympic partner in crime, Olympian Gary Morgan, and I walked up to the ticket counter and bought tickets to all three events. We started at 10am with downhill skiing, then booked it to the Nordic Combined (where I ran into baseball player Frank Thomas) and ended the day with the bobsled at 9pm. I must have arrived back in Vancouver close to midnight. It was by far the most memorable day of sport in my life. I never knew that I could do so much in one day! Conversely in Beijing… my day usually started around 5:00pm at the track and ended at 5:00am at the club…

But you don’t have to go hard if you don’t want to. But it IS the Olympics and Paralympics….

Q. Which events should people see in London?

First of all, if you have a favorite athlete or sport, you should see that first. Why spend all that money if you aren’t going to see what you want to see? In Vancouver I made sure that I had a good seat to see Shani Davis win the 1000meter in speed skating. After watching that, everything else was just icing on the cake. I didn’t care what I saw.

But here’s another strategy that you should use:

1) You MUST go to at least one Olympic event on the Olympic Green – the area that is really the center of the Games. It’s where Track, Swimming, Cycling, Handball and some other random sports will take place. This is the place where all the action takes place.  This is also the place where Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsors set up shop with elaborate activities and displays for visitors. There’ll be tons of stuff outside of the stadiums to do. It’s here where you will FEEL the joy, and exuberance of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2) Also, you MUST go inside of the Olympic Stadium once. So if you can’t afford a ticket to the opening or closing ceremonies, at least get a ticket to a morning session of track. If you haven’t been to the Olympic Stadium, you haven’t been to the Games.

3) THEN, you have to see at least one medal ceremony, whatever the sport. You get a special feeling when you hear the national anthem being played and it doesn’t even have to be that of your own country.

4) THEN, you have to see one sport in an intimate setting. I prefer boxing (about 5,000-7,000 spectators) but others will do.

If you follow this strategy, then you will have seen everything that you needed to see to say that you have experienced the Olympic Games.

The best part about the Games is all the international people you meet..

 Q. Are the tickets expensive?

YES. YES. YES.  My first Olympic Games was in Beijing and I got tickets for as cheap as $20 there. Even in Vancouver, my most expensive ticket was about $165. This isn’t happening in London. I paid $1200 for two tickets to the track and field finals. Well… my credit card paid for them…

 Q. Have you ever volunteered at the Games in order to attend?

No I haven’t and I’m  regretting that I didn’t sign up a year ago. I guess I thought I would have a 9 to 5 right now… NOT!

 Q. Is it possible to get last-minute tickets to events?

Anything is possible with money. Right now the best place to get tickets is through CoSport.com. I just checked the website and they still have tickets for boxing, football, gymnastics, wrestling, taekwondo and weightlifting. Those are some good intimate sports. The only problem is that only the most expensive tickets are left, which cost about $300-600 a ticket! I’m also a big believer in ticket scalping. I’ve never been to any event in my life and there weren’t ticket scalpers…

 Q. Do you use an agent to make your travel plans?

Not typically. I’m actually going to use an agent to book my plane ticket to London. I figure that I can maybe find a cheaper plane ticket through an agent. It looks like the London ticket will cost about $1000, which I actually find reasonable for the time and event.

 Q. How do you find housing?

Ha… ha. That’s a REALLY good question. All Olympic housing appears stupid expensive at first. All the corporations and Olympic Committees book up hotels at these stupid ridiculous prices. But since it’s London, which probably has more hotels/housing than any city in the world, I’m predicting that hotels and rentals will be stupid cheap two weeks before the Games because much of it will still be empty.  With that said, I’ve already found some good housing. Check out this link to housing in London for $100 a night. That’s a steal in London, and it’s 15 minutes from the Olympic Stadium!

 Q. What do you pack?

That’s a REALLY good question. For some people, the Olympics is a corporate event. Therefore they wear business clothes everywhere. For others it’s JUST vacation and fun. I’d advise you to pack a mixture of clothes to be ready for any event. Also pack flags and t-shirts from ANY country. It doesn’t matter from where!!

 Q. Can you bring in any of your own food or drinks?

I’ve never attempted to bring in my own food and drinks because the security is akin to airport security. They check your bags for everything. Though I don’t see how they can prevent people from bringing in food or water bottles.

 Q. Do you ever hire a car to take you to the different venues?

Only if you are balling like that. The key to any city  hosting the Olympic Games is having a public transportation system that can handle all the people. I do know of several people in Beijing who hired private drivers. But that’s because it was affordable at $60 a day. And catching a taxi will be nearly impossible. Imagine walking outside of the Olympic Stadium and trying to catch a cab with 5,000 other people. In London, hiring a private driver will be quite expensive. But if you can afford it, it might be worth it just for the relaxed ride.

Q. Is it a good trip for families?

YES. YES! The Olympics might be the best learning, fun vacation for a family. Imagine taking your kid to an event where the whole world is there! This is the only place where that will happen. The Olympic and Paralympic Games also teach kids about respect, excellence and athleticism. These are values aren’t on display as much in the Super Bowl, World Cup or NBA Championships.

 Q. How do you meet the athletes you “collect”?

Athletes literally ARE everywhere and they tend to congregate together. They  roam the city en masse during the second week of the Games, which is actually my favorite time at the Games. During this time all you have to do is go to a key tourist attraction and there will be tons of Olympic Athletes there. In Beijing, there was one particular club that all the cool athletes went to after competing. I met so many athletes there. I even met a Dutch Judo player who became my Beijing crush. He’ll be competing in the London Games but he has since married *sigh*.

Q. Which games have been the most memorable for you?

It was the Beijing Olympic Games. For me, these Games were the best combination of unique culture, great athletes and incredible sport. It was my first time to Asia so everything from the language to the food was entirely new for me.  I remember walking from the Beijing train stop and toward the Bird Nest Olympic Stadium, which was illuminated in red. I whispered to myself, “I’m here… I’m here! I’m at the Olympic Games.” During that moment I realized that a dream had come true. I then attended the Vancouver Games and while I enjoyed them, I really felt like I was in America. There was no mystery about Canadian culture! Plus… the diversity of the Winter Games is pretty non-existent (though that does mean that I stand out A LOT more).

And damn good is Baye McNeil’s Loco in Yokohama blog. Baye McNeil is an NYC native who has been teaching English for some time in Yokohama, Japan, a city right outside of Tokyo. McNeil has eschewed the modern times of blogging where people, especially travel writers, throw shit up just to keep a blog fresh. Well McNeil keeps his blog fresh AND writes masterpieces. Now TAKE that… I remember crying myself with laughter as McNeil described his attempt to connect with a Japanese student, who obviously had some black in him. Or better yet, his introduction to Japan, when he was thrown in an apartment with two people who obviously had minimal contact with blacks before.

McNeil’s writing and stores are now gloriously packaged in his new book, Hi My Name is Loco and I am a Racist. Catch the title huh…

The Book Cover

He took some time out of his busy schedule to do an interview with me below..

I absolutely love your writing. I remember several times when I would read your series blog posts and get sucked into another world, as if I was reading a book! What is your writing process when you write a blog post?

Thanks Kiratiana! I can’t say I have a definitive process. Once I get an idea for a post, I set aside some time – usually after work – go to an internet café with a cup of Starbucks, a fresh box of Black & Milds and a some junk food, tacoyaki, Mcdonald’s etc,  and I buy a six hour pack at the café. I spend the first hour eating and watching a basketball game or something. Then I spend the other five writing–caffeine-ing and nicotin-ing myself the death in the process. Usually by the time 4 hours rolls around, I have the rough draft of something I can stand behind. I spend the last hour revising and polishing it up. That’s about it.

 How many hours do you invest into a blog post?

It varies. Depends on the subject matter or how long it takes me to find the muse. I’d say the range is anywhere from a a couple of hours to a couple of days.

 Have you always been a “writer”? Or is this something that developed as you became a prolific blogger?

I’ve always been a writer. But I didn’t always have the discipline to do it every day or almost every day. Blogging helped develop the discipline needed to write a book.

 Why did you give your book this “prolific” title?

There’s a story that really inspires me. Maybe you know it. It’s the story of Bill Wilson – the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He wasn’t just the founder, he was a member as well. I realized that there were a number of parallels between alcohol addiction and racism. For example, both destroy families and relationships, and erode human decency. And I actually see parallels between the treatments as well. The famous 12-step program that Bill Wilson put together, and has since been adapted to many other “anonymous” groups focusing on dealing with addiction, has a number of steps that I think could be effectively adapted to deserve the purposes of racist trying to deal with their own racism. For example, step 2 of the 12-step is a belief that a power stronger than us can help restore us to sanity and I think step number 4 or 5 was to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. And there are others steps that correlate. I really admire Bill Wilson. Oh, and of course, each attendee of the meeting, before they gave their testimony, would say, Hi! My name is whatever and I’m an alcoholic.

Do you feel like you became more aware of your blackness in Japan because of the lack of black people there?

It wasn’t just a matter of my being a minority, I don’t think. It was the Japanese response to me, which was invariably one of fear and loathing. That made me more aware than I was when I arrived here. It wasn’t like I wasn’t aware before I got here. As I describe in the book, my elementary school made me well aware of skin color and how great and beautiful it was.

 What do you love about Tokyo and Japan?

I love the food. And the cleanliness, and the customer service. I love hot springs and ramen. And I love trains. And some of the people…

 What are your goals for the book? How long have you been writing it?

My goals for the book is for it to reach as many people as possible and perhaps have an impact on race relations and reduce the amount of racism in the world by increasing the amount of awareness of how one’s behavior is being interpreted, and the source from which that behavior is derived.

 Why should people buy your book? Who will it appeal to?

People should buy my book because it’s a helluvah read, and a heckuvah ride. It will appeal to people who like to escape into books and live vicariously through an intriguing and scintillating character that made it through the turbulent 70s , 80s and 90s. I mean this is the era that essentially killed Whitney Houston and so many other great hearts, minds and talents. An era where the life expectancy for a black man was about 30 years old. What was it like growing up in this type of environment? Check out the book! It’s not just a Japan story…it’s a human story.

BUY THE BOOK HERE!!! 

GET THE EBOOK HERE!!! 

I immediately thought, now this is a cause that I can get behind.

As someone who has traveled across Africa, Asia and Europe, I’m sensitive to issues that unnecessarily affect youth around the world.  I found out from Elise that 75% of unvaccinated children live in just 10 countries – India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, China, Uganda, Chad and Kenya.  Although I’ve only visited China, many of these countries are on my “to visit” list.

So, I decided to use this space on this blog to spread the word about this movement. Check out the interview below with Devi Thomas, the campaign’s director.

Why did you name the campaign Shot @ Life?

The messaging around the campaign focuses on those everyday childcare moments. We are trying to give those kids is a shot of the everyday. A shot at having temper tantrums. A shot a being a picky eater. At the end of the day we want to give them a shot at childhood.

Children are dying everyday that we don’t see or hear from in the United States. Mothers are still grieving and losing children from preventable deaths. They are cheap preventable deaths.

Why are there still children in the world without access to the proper vaccinations?

Typically it comes down to lack of access. Vaccination rates are lower in rural areas. For vaccines to be administered to a child, you need a health care worker (except for polio). Additionally, vaccines have to be stored and refrigerated that keep them safe and keep them live. So when we go to small towns, we set up a table under a tree with a small refrigerator and mothers will walk for miles with their children.

Who do you think that this campaign resonates with the most?

Mothers are a very important target audience in this campaign. We’ve understood that from a survey of 2000 mothers, Shot @LIfe is the type of campaign that is necessary and it resonates with them. There is a lot of momentum building around this around American women and American mothers.

Many of the countries affected by the lack of access to vaccines come from countries within the African Diaspora. Are you looking to further connect with the African Diaspora community in the United States?

There is an interest in looking at the Diaspora community because the diseases are far more recognizable in the Diaspora community. The black community in the United States donates a larger percentage of income than white women do but they get asked to give less often. So we are hoping to get into dialogue more with African-American communities.

What are the five things that people can do to support this cause?

1.       Sign Up  - Learn more about vaccines and sign up to get our emails at http://www.shotatlife.org.

2.       Donate – Go to our web site. Just $20 can provide a child immunity for  a lifetime from four serious diseases.

3.       Advocate – Talk to or write to your congressmen and the local media about how important this issue is and why you care.

4.       Host at home – Use Shot@Life-in-a-bag tools to hold fundraising, advocacy and awareness parties in your own living room as part of your regular activities like book clubs, baby showers etc. Email  info@shotatlife.org for more information about how you can host at home.

5.       Talk to the Community – Connect us with national, regional and local associations who want to get involved.

What are you looking for in a Super Volunteer?

We are actually in the process and looking for our super volunteers. These are people who want to advocate and take this issue on in the next year. We work through our partners. We want to connect with the women in the communities who are making a difference. We are looking for people who want to advocate for this issue. Use this cause. We are building toolkits of these kits. If they are interested in hosting their own shot at life event, then contact us.

How will you measure the success of this campaign?

First of all it will be simple measurement. Two million children are dying a year from these deaths. It will not be us alone. Making sure that we are contributing to the millennium development goals. One of our metrics of success is how many Americans we engage with. So far we have 60,000 supporters.

Will you do me a favor and help out with this campaign?

If you want highlights of the panel, then check out the Storify below.