Is Cincinnati ready for WCG?

CINCINNATI - When the World Choir Games open on July 4, Tri-Staters who can carry a tune won't be the only ambassadors representing Cincinnati to the world.

"It's not 'they,' said Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney at a news conference Monday. "It's all 'we.'"

Beyond the 5,000 volunteers who have signed up to make sure the  games run like a well oiled machine, city leaders say they need every citizen to do their part.

"We need you to smile," Dohoney said. "We need you to go out of your way, if necessary. So if someone is lost, and they're looking for a building, don't just point to it. Take them to it."

Jiechen "Joeseph" Chen is here from Shanghai, China on a student visa studying law at NKU.

He has joined the games to help organize volunteers to assist his fellow countrymen.

"We want to make Cincinnati feel warm, feel like home," he said. "To make them want to come back again."
   
Officials want everyone to understand what may seem obvious: Different cultures behave... differently.

 "Some of the countries have a tendency to speak very loud and very close to each other," explained Dan Lincoln, CEO of the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau. "They may use hand gestures. In our country it may look like they're arguing. In their country that's just normal course of conversation."

Lincoln advises us to watch for those cues, and remember: "At the end of the day, they all want to shake your hand. They all want to meet you and they all want to talk with you," he said.

That's what the games and international friendship are all about.