Let the Games Begin

Yesterday was the official start to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Because our team is off at satellite cities and also has a game today, we were not able to attend the Opening Ceremonies. Instead, we had our own little celebration at the hotel while watching the ceremonies on TV. To start off the morning, I went with a few players to a nearby market to help pick out some snacks for the party. It was definitely a different experience than what you would normally think of at your home store. First off, the food was very different than you would find at home. So, our trip found us buying a lot of familiar things in chips, cookies, chocolates, popcorn, etc., because these were the things we could actually recognize and understand what it really was we were getting. One thing that caught us a bit off guard was the people with microphones, basically all ‘yelling’ to try and sell their products. At one point, I think all of us looked at each other and said, “Stop yelling at us.” It was a bit overwhelming and a bit too much sensory overload in such an unfamiliar environment. I think the most shocking thing to us, because it is extremely different than what we have at home, was the meat section. It was pretty much a large freezer area like you would see at the grocery store, but all the meat was just sitting out unwrapped for anyone to inspect before buying. To us, this was astonishing to see these giant slabs of meat and other parts just sitting out in the open like that.
So, when 8pm rolled around, we all piled into our meal room to watch the ceremonies on the big screen. Unfortunately, we did not understand a lot of what was going on, because it was all in Chinese, but there were many cheers as we enjoyed the splendid choreography and art that was displayed throughout. As soon as the athletes started entering, we became a little more attentive in anticipation of the USA walking out. Since it was not in alphabetical order, we really had no idea when we were going to be next. As more time passed, more and more people wandered off to bed to get some rest for the game today. Finally, several hours into the ceremonies, the few of us that remained yelled in excitement as we saw the US flag in the background. All of us stood and cheered and clapped and screamed as the US athletes paraded around the stadium. We made it our own little exciting ceremony, and then all ventured off to bed.