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just got back from lunch during which my boss and i watched some of the opening ceremony.

how's everyone feeling about these games?

i must be honest and say i feel like these are the most conflicted olympics of memory, but perhaps that's because i am more socially and politically astute than i was 4 or 8 or 12 years ago.

it just seems so surreal that here china is displaying an extraordinary show of unity and togetherness and meanwhile tibet still suffers.

*edit: i do not wish to take anything away from the effort that millions of chinese people must have put into the preparation for these games and the overwhelming show of volunteer spirit and patriotism because it's nothing short of amazing. i'm talking about political contradictions and positioning here.

i don't even think that tibet is their biggest problem tbh. i was speaking with a chinese person here and he was telling me that their country is so massive that there's huge differences in how different regions view each other. for example the people from big cities don't trust each other because they don't speak the same language or share the same customs.

on top of that, there is a world of difference between those living in the big cities from those living in rural areas, that the 3rd world poverty of these rural areas makes tibet a bit of a joke. they wish the world would pay as much attention to them as they do to tibet.

he told me honestly, the only thing that unifies china is money in the pocket (that was his exact expression, i laughed when he said it). i don't much care about the games nor the fact that china is hosting them. i dont much care about them generally anyway.

another interesting aspect of these games is how the chinese government has had to work very hard with international journalists and media outlets to open up the internet so that journos have full access to research and broadcast while they are based in beijing.

The spotlight is on China now. So I guess it is a good thing that it is taking place.

Im waiting for the hockey

Mr Hyde wrote:.......this ceremony is so dull...but there was a bloke called shite and the venuatu national anthom is called 'yumi yumi yumi' and a ghanaian boxer called prince octopus!

2008 people doing tai chi form in unison is dull??? danm, i usually hate opening ceremonies but that shit was sick.

on the subject of olympics, not bothered by them in the slightest. there's the odd sport that can be fun to watch for 10 mins here n there but athletics do not make for good tv imo. dread the 2012 olympics. hope to be out of the country when they take place.

what about the magna-doodle-esque floor mat of epic proportions that the dancers drew on with their limbs. that was some mad choreography right there

heard about some funny new laws china has introduced.

Think they have told their populace they need to smile more

and that no one can where more than 3 colours.

tho not really more and a bit

we will all be speaking chinese in 200 years

hold tight all the china man dem

Yea how do we follow an opening ceremony like that!! it will be epic SMH!

Forgot about this. Literally only ever watch TV once a week (if not less) when I'm in Leeds. More interesting things to do.

I'll probably keep up with the games once I've gone back to London.

Really excited about the b-ball!

boy_arena wrote:Yea how do we follow an opening ceremony like that!! it will be epic SMH!

atomic kitten will pull out all the stops

Piston wrote:we will all be speaking chinese in 200 years

doublepost

nesslei wrote:another interesting aspect of these games is how the chinese government has had to work very hard with international journalists and media outlets to open up the internet so that journos have full access to research and broadcast while they are based in beijing.

Yeah access in Beijing but when they head out of town and try to speak to people they're too afraid to talk. The police follow the journo's everywhere and put on a happy smiley front but when they've gone it's back to normal.

I was in China last month and it's not right to see people kicking around on the street with no jobs & no life while the government is spending millions creating facilities for the olympics and making a false portrayal that everything has changed.

Start : Stop wrote:

nesslei wrote:another interesting aspect of these games is how the chinese government has had to work very hard with international journalists and media outlets to open up the internet so that journos have full access to research and broadcast while they are based in beijing.

Yeah access in Beijing but when they head out of town and try to speak to people they're too afraid to talk. The police follow the journo's everywhere and put on a happy smiley front but when they've gone it's back to normal.

I was in China last month and it's not right to see people kicking around on the street with no jobs & no life while the government is spending millions creating facilities for the olympics and making a false portrayal that everything has changed.

i was just discussing this with my flatmate tonight

i actually felt emotional watching the opening ceremony because of all the contradictions it symbolised. the whole thing was such an extraordinary display of the force and ability of mankind, and the sheer power of patriotism. however it is disturbing to think of how many millions of dollars/yuan the chinese govt must have sunk into the games, while millions of people remain in need of aid post-earthquake. there are just so many issues. i didn't realise i even felt this way until today.