The Flame

Today I was on a mission--to get a picture of the torch. I'll spare you the details of my quest save telling you that I left home at the unrighteous hour of 8:30am. And lo, the torch was long gone. But I did come away with a cool Beijing 2008 flag. Ella likes it, except that she can't say her "L's" and so she calls it a, well, you know.

Last night we were walking home, and seriously, there were about 10 busloads of college freshmen leaving campus to be in position along the relay route. Anything here that involves a TV camera is never ever spur-of-the-moment. Scripts and cues are rehearsed for hours, even days. I caught the end of today's celebration on TV and saw some old ladies doing some choreographed flag waving for what seemed like an hour. Their arms must have been tired. A few of them had stopped smiling.

For most, however, the mood is tentative excitement. At exactly 8:08:08pm on 08-08-08, the games will begin. Except of course for the preliminary soccer match between the USA and Japan that I'm attending the day before. Jia you mei guo! (加油美国!)

It's a fun time to ask people what they're really thinking about big issues, since there seems to be a lot of introspection going on these days. One world, one dream, say the signs. If only we could be taught to dream of the world the way it was supposed to be, and the way it will be again one day. Most of us have forgotten that we're the problem and not the solution. I guess you could call that the audacity of faith.