Watched, I did, the Olympic Games. Cheered, I did for Canadian competitors, both those that did well and tried their hardest. Even from the limited CBC Olympic coverage you can easily see the pain and anguish on all athletes, irregardless of country. The Olympics, to them, is the pinnacle of their existence, and to not win is a life changing event.
It has been a long time since I have talked to him, but I still clearly recall going to school with Mark Rowswell. In China he is much more commonly known as “Da Shan”, or Big Mountain. Mark is not only Canadian, like myself, but also comes from Toronto, my home town.
I met Mark while attending classes at Beijing University. As fellow Canadians in a place with many more Americans and other foreigners, we, of course, got to know each other. It turns out that his parents lived near lived near my parents, in the quiet suburb of North York, around Don Mills and Finch.
