The 2008 summer Olympics really hit home with my EatingLifeUp philosophy. I turned on the TV to RDI aka French CBC to watch the opening ceremonies this morning and was completely engulfed in the emotions of the athletes and the host country China.
I love travel, languages, and cultures so much and this was all three of those presented together with so much excitement surrounding the games. The fact that I was watching the games in French made it that much more enjoyable.
As I watched the athletes march out one country at a time I observed so much and certain countries triggered fantastic memories of travel. I was very excited to see the Czech Republic team because I was just in their wonderful country in May. Then I saw Estonia and that made me think of all the countries that are reading this blog including Ago from Estonia. I longed to be back in Italy when I saw the Italians march out. Italy is currently my favorite country in the world to visit and they had such an energetic group of athletes. The funniest thing happened when Monaco marched out. Monaco up until my many adventures in Italy was my favorite country in the world so it too triggered deep emotions. Then the camera panned to Prince Albert of Monaco waving to the athletes and I waved back at my TV. I realized I was really wrapped up in the excitement at this point. They didn’t even have to tell me in French who I was looking at, I recognized him right away.
That brings me to another thought. What a security nightmare the Olympics must be! In the short time frame I watched I saw the Presidents of the US, Italy, France, Russia, Prince Albert of Monaco, and numerous other heads of state. Almost one for every country in attendance. It was awesome to see the way the athletes reacted when they spotted their countries leader waving at them.
Whether they were proud, happy, stoic, wistful, or just so excited that they couldn’t even walk straight all the athlete’s were on overload being there and you could read in in their eyes. One thing they had in common is for the most part they were all VERY ATTRACTIVE! I thought no wonder they say that sex is a big problem in the camps at the Olympics. All these energy charged perfect specimens of human nature cooped up together you are bound to have some chemistry happening.
I will end this post with a huge wish to all the countries participating. Good Luck! Safety! Prosper! (The Chinese word for eight sounds similar to that meaning “prosper”. Hence why 8 is such a lucky number for them and why the games kicked off at 8:08 and 8 seconds on the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008)
Beijing 2008
I want to go to the Czech Republic and Italy both before I die. Have you done any travel writing for publication? I wonder how difficult it is to break into the field.
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admin Reply:
August 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I recommend them both highly! As for the writing I have previously blogged my trips to Czech and Italy on travelpod but haven’t written under publication yet. That is something I look forward to in about 6 or so years time. Building up to a big adventure then. As for the field, I was actually on a 3 hour bus ride in Czech talking with a guy that writes for Lonely Planet. I was so interested talking with him believe it or not I didn’t think till after to ask him how he got started. Oh well I can always write to him someday.
Thanks for the comment and P.S. I think that I will re-write some of my Italy and Czech stories on this site soon.
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