It's always nice to hear a familiar voice, or at least an accent.

When I reached the highest point of the Great Wall on Monday, I was talking to my buddy Wolfgang when someone said, "I can't believe I'm at the top of the Great Wall, and I'm hearing an American. Based on the accent, you're from Boston.''

Close.

Anyway, he was from New York, so we hit it off immediately.

Where am I leading with this?

Well, it's much better to actually run into some Mainers.

Introducing: Jenna Lebel and Randy Visser.

Lebel is a 23-year-old Biddeford High graduate (2003) who works at the Main Press Center here in Beijing. She is a grad student at Emerson College in Boston -- she'll get her Master's degree in Marketing in December -- who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get her summer job at the Summer Olympics.

"Every Olympic year they pick five U.S. schools to send volunteers to the games,'' said Lebel, who has a communications degree from Stonehill College. "Emerson happened to be one. I applied on a whim.''

Lebel, who played softball and soccer at Biddeford, went through two rounds of interviews, then was one of 30 students selected to come to Beijing. She's been here for about six weeks, working at the Help Desk in the Photo Lab in the basement of the MPC.

Her job is to help the photographers in any way she can, setting up transportation, helping secure lockers. Many of her fellow volunteers are working at National Stadium getting "flash quotes'' from athletes after they finish their event.

"I'm really fine,'' she said. "I'm not homesick at all, which is surprising. And there really hasn't been much culture shock either.

"I think the fact that I can speak a little Mandarin helps. The people here appreciate it when you try to learn their culture.''

She saw Michael Phelps swim, she's been to beach volleyball and rowing, she watched Jamaica's Usain Bolt set a 100-meter dash record. She's also gone to the Beijing Opera and to the Summer Palace.

"It's been great,'' she said. "The whole atmosphere is pretty cool.''

Visser is a Southern Maine Community College professor of communications and new media. He's working for NBC and has been in Beijing for about six weeks as well.

He was brought on to help set up NBC's HD-IPTV system for NBC's clients -- the folks who bought ad time in the Olympics -- at the St. Regis Hotel.

Here he is, sitting in front of some of the TV screens he helped set up:

HD-IPTV is, essentially, HD-TV over the internet. It's crystal clear, especially when broadcast on high-quality HD televisions.

"You can stream the video on your computer,'' he said. "But this is taking it to the next level.''

He helped set the system up and is now a trouble-shooter, being contacted when something goes wrong. Most of the time, he is on his own, and Visser has had plenty of time to explore the city.

"I'm a lone wolf doing my thing,'' he said. "A lot of it is just staying out of the way.''

He rented a bike at one point and rode into its various neighborhoods, seeing first-hand how most Beijingers live.

He also had a thrill on the night of the U.S.-China basketball game. Visser used his pass to get a spot next to NBC's camera platform high above center court. Little did he know that President Bush and his entourage would be sitting in front of him.

It's an experience he won't soon forget. But the 49-year-old Visser, who lives in Gray with his wife Janis, is looking forward to going home on Aug. 28.

"I'm dying to get back to some fresh air and a dip in a lake,'' he said.

And finally, today was a day to do a little exploring of my hotel's neighborhood. I found it had a nice park nearby and that the Olympic wrestling venue was within a 15-minute walk.

I also found this:

It was tucked into a corner, behind a Starbucks and a Subway. Yes, I had lunch there. I had to. You understand, don't you? Just a chicken breast, potatoes and gravy and an ear of corn.

The chicken was pure nectar. The potatoes were OK. The corn was delicious.

There's something about homecooking, even if it's fast food and it's half a world away.

Later

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