Beijing, China: August 8, 2008

Opening Ceremony was today! Can I just say that the opening ceremony was fantastic and if you missed it you should try to catch it on reruns somewhere? Youtube maybe. I’m a little disappointed that there wasn’t any big flaming dragon, but someone reminded me that there’s still the closing ceremony to look forward to. In case anyone was wondering why there was a giant spoon going across the stage about halfway through, it’s because the first Chinese compass was actually a magnetized spoon that pointed south. I had no idea what that was about until several days later. I thought maybe they were alluding to their love of food!

Did anyone else know that George W. Bush is the first president to attend a foreign Opening Ceremony? I didn’t and it seems strange considering people were throwing fits over the fact that there was a possibility he might not go.

The official motto of the Games is “One World, One Dream”. What I want to know is, where is this one world and what is this one dream? It seems like that’s still a long way off if we have wars breaking out during something that’s supposed to unite countries. I suppose sports can only take us so far.

I’ve decided that part of the reason the world has so many problems is that the Earth is too small. I compare it to our program as it neared the end. It became almost like a soap opera drama; not because we didn’t like each other anymore, but because there were so few of us and we saw each other all the time. People need alone time to stay sane and keep from killing each other (literally and figuratively). Hence, I think the world is too small and that’s where most, if not all, our problems with each other come from.

We were shocked when we got back to Beijing after being gone for several weeks. There’s so little trash on the streets and there’s space on the road to actually see the road. The taxi drivers all have to wear state issued uniforms and they drive like normal people, not Beijing taxi drivers. It was a monumental moment in our taxi when we realized that our driver had….used a turn signal! And there wasn’t even any cars too close to warrant it being necessary.

I don’t like it. It’s creepy. I feel unexcited in a safe-driving Beijing taxi. Where's the adrenaline? Where’s the near death thrills? Hm…maybe I should ride roller coasters instead. They at least have safety precautions and are supposed to elicit that sort of response in a person. Riding in a car…probably not so much.