New Event in 2008 Olympics - Hosting

A new and much anticipated event in this year's Olympics is an event called Hosting. In this competition, an athlete from each of the participating countries is tasked to host a visiting couple for five fun-filled consecutive days. They are then scored by a team of judges in the categories of timing, transportation, entertainment, dining, and best use of the time. Chris Hanson from Germany is the favorite to take the gold; this prediction is based on his preliminary results from last year's exhibitional national competition for this event. The athlete representing the United State for this primary Olympic event is Nathan Cardin. Nathan's competition began last Saturday night with the arrival of his guests, Pete and Chris Bowler. We would like to be able to run the tape of the visit, but NBC wouldn't authorize us to show it, so we’ll describe the sequential events that were scored through photos and descriptions.

Let's meet the athlete representing the U.S. - Nathan B. Cardin.

Being a military brat, he's not from anywhere specific, but he can’t take the cold. He's one of four children and has a very supportive and wonderful set of parents, especially his Dad. Presently, Nathan is working on his PhD in chemistry at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At this writing he's actually homeless, between two apartments. He isn't new to this event; he has competed as a host on a number of occasions in the past, but none at this level. Let's just hope he's up for the task. In this competition, he is to plan and execute a five day touring vacation for two people, and be ready to improvise when things don't go as planned.

The following is a narration submitting by Nathan's guest.

He picked us up at the airport and took us to our first place to eat, and then off to the hotel. We ate at In and Out Burger. We knew right off that he had done some research as he was able to order our burgers with a special sauce by using the secret code word "animal". We were at the hotel at around 10:00. He told us that he would be back at 9:00, which is 5 hours before his normal wake-up.

The next day we visited and made purchases at the local farmer’s market.

From there we got about a 90 minute tour of Stanford University. We viewed the oval area and went up the tower.

We then got a tour of the chem lab where he spends most of his living hours. While there, he mixed a few hydrogens and oxygens molecules for us,

and then he had a sip of his water.

Then he showed us where he has taught some classes in chemistry.

Later we had supper at a restaurant that served India style food, interesting.

The next day, he took us to Sonoma to go wine tasting. To get there we had to go over the Golden Gate Bridge. When we got to the bridge, it was difficult to see due to the fog, we hope he doesn’t lose any points for this.

We saw a Grandma Bowler’s bug at the winery.

Nathan described to us the chemical process for which the grapes go through to become wine. We spent $10 on tasting 8 different wines, red - white - and some other color, then bought a whole bottle. We spent a good part of the day stopping every 100 yards to do some antique shopping, including a side trip to a number of small shops in Petaluma.

On the way back, we got a much better view of the bridge. After another siesta, we had supper at a Thai restaurant, interesting.

The next day we spent the morning at the mall, after a good breakfast, so he could sign his lease for a new apartment. We ate lunch at a "build your own" burger joint. Later, we went to an old movie theater and watched Jimmy Stuart in a movie called Harvey. The theater was authentic, completed with an organist on a lowering stage in front of the screen, and a large popcorn was $3.

Wednesday, we took off for a day in San Francisco. We stopped, shopped, and ate on Pier 39 - Fishermans Wharf.

Seals are also known to visit Pier 39 too.

Nathan surprised us with a boat ride and tour of the Alcatraz.

At the prison, we took a personal audio tour. The narrator gave us directions on where to go and what to look at, while former guards and inmates describe daily life and specific altercations while they were they.

In fact, we found one inmate still there.

View of San Francisco and

the Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz

On the way out of the city, we travel down what’s known as the curviest street, which it was.

Here's Nathan driving down this steep and curvy hill.

And we made a stop on the beach to the Pacific, didn’t even know they had a beach there.

On the last day, we checked out from the hotel, had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, then headed to San Jose, where we would be taking off later on that day. Doing some research to find places of interest, Nathan took us to a quilt and art show, then off to a science museum. There, we watched an I-Max theater movie on the Louis and Clark expedition and then played with the hands on learning activities. After a quick supper, we were off to the airport.

All and all, we think Nathan did a great job. We couldn't provide input, good or bad, to the judges; therefore, we had no influence their scoring. Nathan was a bit late picking us up at the airport, due to traffic as he said. Our stay at the mall was a bit over the 2 hour IOC limit, and he couldn’t remember where he had parked the car in San Jose on Thursday. But, I think the trip to the Alcatraz was a big plus on his part, as he could have just gotten us a boat tour around the Island for a few bucks cheaper.

We wish him the best of luck as the judges scores should be out soon. (Scroll down)

Congratulations goes to Nathan for winning the gold.

This picture depicts Nathan showing off his gold medallion as he dropped his guest off at the airport.

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