Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

International??
February 18, 2004

I am surprised that Xiamen calls this an "International" marathon, and spends so much money on the pageantry side of it—but then does so little to help the international community sign up for it—or to promote it.

If this is an "international marathon," you would expect people from other nations to sign up. And, in fact, I've had foreigners from throughout China, and overseas as well, inquire about how to sign up. But does this mean they have to fly to Xiamen to sign up, personally, at the Southern gate of Xiamen Sports Center Stadium, weeks before the event?

It appears that this is an "international" marathon in name only, because people don't decide to join marathons at the last minute, and these so-called registration procedures are useless for foreigners (or Chinese) outside Xiamen. Frankly, it`s embarrassing to tell anyone this is how it's run!

I'm sorry I'm complaining, but I have hoped this would become a real international athletic event, and not just some "huodong" to show how international Xiamen is.

Maybe I should just tell inquirers that foreigners, particularly those outside of Xiamen, aren't expected to participate! But...

Thanks again for your help! I'll tell people to check on Common Talk for updates, and if you get any information on practical procedures, I'll keep them informed.

Dr. Bill Brown
Xiada MBA Centre

对国际马拉松赛的一点建议

对于本次比赛被冠以“国际马拉松赛”，我觉得很奇怪。因为主办者在奖金上花费不菲，却在对外宣传上做得很少，也没有告诉外国人如何报名比赛。

如果这确实是一场“国际马拉松赛”，就应该有外国选手报名。事实上，已经有一些住在中国的外国人，以及国外的朋友向我咨询如何报名。可根据现有的资 料，让他们在比赛前的几周内亲自飞到厦门报名是不可能的。

看起来这是一场名义上的“国际”马拉松赛。因为人们不会这么迟才决定是否参赛，这些报名程序对厦门之外的外国人和中国人来说是无用的。说实在的，我 都觉得难以启齿。

很抱歉我的抱怨，但我确实希望这次马拉松赛能成为一项真正国际性的体育赛事，而不是为展示厦门“国际化”的一项“活动”。 也许，我该告诉外国人，尤其是厦门之外的外国人，他们并不在受邀请之列，但是……

谢谢你们的帮助。我会告诉朋友们注意双语周刊上的最新消息，如果你们得知可行的报名办法，请告诉我。

潘威廉
厦大MBA中心