Whenever I am abroad and someone asks where I am from, I always say, "Pittsburgh." It is my way of surveying how many people know of my hometown.

So far, the results in Greece are mixed.

The first person I tried this with was my taxi driver upon arrival. Not only did he have no idea, but he also commended me later in the conversation on having "very good English for an American."

Most usually just give a knowing nod. A college student said he had heard of it in geography class. Two others mentioned the Steelers, who are, without a doubt based on my experience, our city's preeminent ambassadors to the world. (Not sure what that says about us.)

The grand prize, though, went to Shengao Ma.

He is the head of Xinhua News' 80-member staff at these Games. Xinhua is China's equivalent of The Associated Press, and it is based in Beijing.

I was fortunate enough to be seated on a bus next to this important individual yesterday, and we engaged in a lively discussion of each of our native areas.

When I did the "Pittsburgh" thing with him, he not only nodded but also chimed in: "Yes, this is the great industrial city, the birthplace of trade unions. We read about your city in our studies of American history. We are very familiar with Pittsburgh."

To which I responded that I knew Beijing has a lot of people.