Home >> My Olympic Story (June 8-June 27)

Xu Jianfu: My Olympics is not a dream

My name is Xu Jianfu. I'm 22-years-old and I have been studying in the US since autumn, 2006.

I saw the news about recruiting overseas volunteers for the 2008 Olympic Games through its official website on January 1, 2007. I was so excited at the news that I was sleepless that night. Overwhelmed by the fact that I might be able to serve the Olympic Games from here in the States, I phoned the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Chinese embassy to ask about it. From then on, I started getting ready to be a volunteer, hoping that I could help build a platform for overseas volunteers to better serve the Olympic Games and promote the Olympic spirit.

I decided to build an online platform to bring more attention to the Beijing Olympic Games from overseas Chinese citizens and foreigners. Everyday before I went to school and even during breaks between classes, I updated the information about the Beijing Olympic Games on my Facebook information group and answered related questions from overseas students and foreign friends. Also I passed on information about the Games to my friends on a daily basis. Some asked me why I was making all these efforts. They thought it was a complete waste of time. But I think it is everyone's responsibility to help promote the Beijing Olympic Games and to encourage more and more people to work for it. "'A single spark can light a prairie fire," I told them.

Through the Facebook group, I got to know lots of Chinese overseas students. The Games brought us together. We fought to realize our dream. In autumn of 2007, we staged a campaign for the Beijing Games at Purdue University where we handed out brochures, gathered signatures, hand prints and wishes. We also united universities in Canada, Great Britain and Asia together to join in our efforts to support the Olympic Games.

"My Olympics is not a dream" is the sentence I wrote on my Facebook, my MSN and my QQ. I want to tell people that we overseas students are doing our part to support the Games. Our "Overseas Wishes" campaign in May 2008 won worldwide support from Chinese students. Students from over 70 high schools and universities held similar activities at their own campuses to show their support for Beijing. Our campaign was reported by Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television (CCTV), and a number of other media. The spark lit by us has already spread throughout the globe, and fired the enthusiasm of overseas Chinese for the Games. More importantly, it promoted communication between different cultures. Through our work, we sent out the sincere, positive wishes of overseas Chinese citizens as well as foreign friends to the Beijing Olympic Games and those that are hard at work in China.