Preparing for the Olympics

Article: On Friday, the Winter Olympics will kick off in Sochi, Central Russia. However, Sochi is still not ready: hotels, stores and a mall are still unfinished; in the mall, only one store is open. Yet there is also much new construction, fancy new trains and shiny new buses. Olympic Park, where much of the sporting venues will occur, is ready. Thus, Sochi is an odd place right now: certain parts ready for the Olympics yet much that is not. An example: the hotels. The hotels are more like upscale apartments, Soviet style. The exteriors are all identical except for different colors of paint. Elevators don't work. None of the "hotels" have names; instead they have numbers, often affixed to the building with a piece of paper and tape. If you want to find a restaurant at one of the buildings, you have to walk around it a few times, look through windows, until you find a woman in an apron. There is no hot water yet. When workers, still setting up, were asked why nothing was ready yet, the ubiquitous answer was, "It's Russia." The reporter's biggest surprise was when he woke up in the middle of the night to find a Scandinavian man in his room. The stranger had been given the key and told the room was empty! Click here for pictures.

Discussion:

• Why is it a problem if hotels are not finished by the time Olympic guests start showing up? 
• Why is Russia so behind schedule (talk about impact of Soviet culture, even though USSR no longer exists)
• What is your favorite Olympic sport? What are you looking forward to watching on TV?