Less than 24 to go till you-know-what...

One good thing about the Olympics for me (there really aren't that many actually whether they be held in this country or any other country in the world) is that I can get off early from work tomorrow night. Instead of finishing at 2100 as we would usually do on a Friday night, we will finish at 1900 so we can all watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies which start at 2008.

I have been talking with the students all week about the ceremony. Some are excited but most are blase about the whole spectacle and a few have criticisms. One student wondered how the government could encourage people to not be superstitious and yet at the same time decide to follow the old Chinese superstitions about the number eight when scheduling the opening ceremonies. Another student said, according to another teacher, that China should host the Olympics four years later because they aren't ready for them now.

I asked many of the students what they were going to do Friday night, being extra cautious and using the exact words Friday night to see what answers I would get. An amazing number of them did not know Friday night would be when the Opening ceremonies would be so they told me that would be watching sports on television or watching a television story show. The students who knew what was happening Friday night sniggered at those who made such answers.

I was asked questions by a local newspaper about what I would be doing during the Olympics. I was asked about sports I cared about and was attracted to: two questions that sounded alike. Nobody, not even my wife, could tell me what the difference between the two questions, which were obviously different in Chinese, was. So I answered them the same. I would watch Football, Basketball and Track and Field. I told them I would watch the opening ceremonies with the King of Wuxi. I wanted to tell them that the Olympics would not change my schedule, it being determined by Tony, but my wife said that was like saying I didn't care for the Olympics so I finally said that I would watch more television.