Olympic Memories - Part 1

WOW.WOW...WOW

You know that piercing feeling you get when walking into the glaring sun after spending what seems like an eternity at a matinee where you had just experienced all the sensations of life in an orderly yet chaotic stream of consciousness. This is how I would currently describe my state of being as my body, mind and soul recovers from what has been the most unruly month in my post-college years characterized by an unrelenting flow of hearty house guests, all night merrymakings, and of course, Olympic madness. (Lack of articulation seems to be a side effect so bare with me today.)

Because I have not written anything in over a month, I believe it would be more appropriate to run through a few select highlights of the Olympic Season. But before I do that, I would like to thank all the visitors who shared these experiences with me in Beijing, namely by brother, Dan, Chris, Jessica, Scott, Clara, Ben, and Ray. And of course, I would like to thank Beijing, despite all the mafan (trouble) it throws at me, for giving me the opportunity to experience the only Olympics I will probably ever be part of. The following are some Olympic memories and afterthoughts:

The Opening Ceremony: On the eve of the Olympics the city was anything but relaxed. There had been warning signs that terrorists were ready to strike, dissidents were being thrown into dark vans, rainstorms were brewing, and one simple question seemed to be on everybody’s mind: will Beijing really be able to pull this off?

Although most Chinese stayed at home to watch the ceremony on their televisions, my friends and I had decided to celebrate this festive occasion and citywide holiday (no work that Friday) at one of the city’s 18 big-screen outdoor TVs. The plan to watch on the big-screen inside Chaoyang Park was thwarted when we learnt that there were technical difficulties in getting the image to appear – this only made me more skeptical of China’s ability to hold the world’s biggest party. Finally, we decided to relocate to the big-screen outside the Worker’s Stadium near Sanlitun. By the time the countdown began at 8 pm, the pavement outside was covered with curious locals and jubilant foreigners. “Curious” because their eyes were fixed on the screen. “Jubilant” because we were making toasts, dancing, singing, and inviting all around us to join us in drinking games. Flags of various nations began to appear throughout the crowd and at first I, along with my Chinese counterparts, were taken back by this unprecedented loud show of foreign nationalism on Chinese soil. Foreign flags do not set well with a society that was plagues by wars and foreign invaders for over a century. Naturally, this was non-issue once the Olympics started.

To be honest, I only saw bits and pieces of the opening ceremony. I spent most of my time running amuck. The climax of my night came when the American Olympians finally entered the stadium – the order of teams this year was determined by the number of strokes in the first character of each country’s Chinese name, rather then using the trusty old Roman alphabet. At the sight of the American delegation, a boisterous guy with a large American flag emerged in front of me, and in my semi-intoxicated state I ran up to him to hold up the other end. Overflowing with utter excitement and the sheer pleasure of fulfilling our patriotic duties, we ran around the square waving the grand old red, white and blue high above the crowd. When we returned, we found ourselves being surrounded by dozens of young Chinese with digital cameras and a few real photographers (I was hoping to see a pic in the newspaper the next day). At this point, my brother also posed in front of the flag as the three of us began to sing the National Anthem. It was a glorious moment for all Americans everywhere.

After that, the program seemed to lag on and on. Hungry as a bear, most of us skipped across the street to dine in a small but scrumptious hole-in-the-wall Xinjiang restaurant, and on their TV, we were able to watch the lighting of the torch. The Olympics had officially begun, the fanfare was breath-taking, the performances were beautiful, the government had prevented rainstorms, terrorists, and any major screw-up… and the whole country exhaled that night as billions all over the world watched in awe – this night will be remembered by generations as China’s (much anticipated) coming out party.

(to be continued...)