I’ve now been on the ground for 24 hours and I’ve been impressed by two things. First, that this event is extremely well organized, and secondly, that everyone in China is eager to help anyone in town with a yellow badge around their neck.

On the organization side, BOCOG has impressed media with the efficient process for checking credentials. For the first time at an Olympics, media are able to have their credentials processed at their hotels before they board the shuttle to go to the Main Press Center. That means no lines upon arrival. You just climb off the bus, go inside and start working. I’ve heard at least three journalists talk about how much of a difference that makes.

As for everyone’s eagerness to help out, the perfect example was last night when I stopped to grab a bite to eat in the hotel restaurant following a 24 Hour Fitness press conference. I walked into an entirely empty restaurant, ordered some fried rice and pulled out a map. I showed it to my waitress, pulled out the card for the hotel and asked her to pinpoint it on the map.

She gave me a puzzled look, pulled the map out of my hands and called over the rest of the staff. Seven other waitresses circled the map and scanned it for where the hotel was located. They apparently couldn’t reach a consensus, so she took it to two bartenders to look and see.

Eventually, everyone agreed on something and she brought it back and circled a small quadrant on the map. While it seemed kind of like a “how many does it take to screw in a light bulb moment,” I was pretty impressed by how much everyone pitched in on my request.