Sydneysiders bracing for the onslaught of visitors

SYDNEY — Jeff Collins can explain why Sydneysiders don't seem very excited about the start of the 2000 Summer Games in just nine days.

"Sydney's infamous for this, just being very blasé," said Collins, who lives in nearby Bondi Beach. "It comes from being the first truly cosmopolitan city in Australia."

Like many residents of the city's closest beach, Collins opposed the construction of a beach volleyball arena for the Games on the sand visible from his home.

"I'm sure Bondi is going to look nice on TV. But it's not nice for the locals," he said. Collins, a 44-year-old contractor, will be away from his home during the Games.

That's because he has had to move closer to a downtown hospital, where he's awaiting a heart transplant. Not that he feels he's missing out on much.

"It's just a big circus, anyway," Collins said while sitting in the warm sunshine Wednesday in Sydney's Hyde Park. "It's about business, not athletes."

David Lazarevic, 18, was in the park Wednesday on a field trip with his university art class. His family will spend the next few weeks on their cattle station, or ranch, located four hours from Sydney.

"It's just going to be too busy, I think," Lazarevic said of Sydney during the Games. "There's just going to be too many people in the city. I'm not a fan of huge crowds."

The city is already crowded with locals, ranging from business people walking briskly while talking on cell phones to young hipsters racing along even faster on shiny scooters.

Brightly colored banners scattered along some streets are the only sign in much of the city that the Games are so close. Most feature the names of corporate sponsors, like IBM.

A few volunteers dressed in the same bright colors as the banners can be spotted on city streets. They're friendly but have been told not to talk to the news media.

Other changes for the Games include street-corner warnings about which direction to look for oncoming traffic since Australians drive on what Americans would consider the wrong side of the road.

To see any real Olympic-related activity requires nearly an hourlong trip to the western suburb of Homebush Bay, where a massive park has been built for the majority of the competitions.

Commuters who rely on the same trains that Olympic visitors will use to get to the park say they'll expect to spend two to three times as long getting into the city.