What the world is waiting for

Well, it's finally here. And I don't know about the rest of the world, but over here this day has been about as hyped up as new millennium eve was. Jeez, was that really 8 years ago?

Security is ridiculously tight, we're being scanned and searched what seems like every 5 minutes, and most of Beijing is cordoned off, including Tiananmen Square and the Olympic arena (of course). Everyone is frantically trying to organize where they'll be at 8:08pm when the opening ceremony commences and the fireworks are set off, and people are speculating as to who will light the Olympic torch. There is endless gossiping about who managed to get tickets to the opening ceremony (practically nobody!), and slagging off those who managed to get a ticket at all (I did! Cycling in the Vendome, next weekend. Ahem.)

This really is China's big chance to show the world how great it is. And man, are they going for it. Yesterday I walked passed a street of Chinese people chanting "Come on China! Come on China!" for no particular reason. And I'm feeling quite left out that I haven't yet purchased my 'I heart China' t-shirt, since everybody else seems to have one and wear it religiously everyday. I do, however, have a Beijing 2008 sweatshirt, but if I wore that in this humidity, I'd probably die.

Expats in Beijing, I've found, are not getting as excited about the Olympics as the locals. In fact I was chatting to two Americans earlier that were saying how they hoped that things didn't go so perfect for China during the Games. One guy, having lived in China for more than three years, was quite bitter that Beijing had put on a big front, cleaning up the streets, planting flowers and reducing traffic. He said that the people that come during this time won't be met by the real China, just a pretty version of it. But hey, you can't blame a country for making an effort, can you? It's no different to you picking up your dirty undies off the floor and washing the dishes when you have a friend coming to visit.

I, on the other hand, have been dragged along with the hype, and will probably be the one that starts a "You can do it, China!" chant tonight after a few mojitos. However, my one little nitpick is that I seriously think that whoever coined the Beijing Olympics as the "Coming Out Party", should have reconsidered it before opening their mouth. To me, and maybe I stand alone on this one, it connotes that this is the day Beijing announces to the world that it thinks Judy Garland was "fabulous" and is in a serious relationship with a guy called Guo Dong.

Having just let an opening ceremony ticket slip through my fingers (my friend called me to offer me a ticket, but I was at work and missed the call. Doh!), today all comes down to organizing this evening. I'm sure a majority of Beijing will agree with me when I say that the best thing about this day is that we all got a day off work. London take note of that one. Going to stand outside the birds nest at any point today is no-no. I predict that there will be approximately 3.2 squillion people standing outside there tonight, all getting pushy and sweaty and screaming "One World, One Dream!" at the top of their lungs, whilst waving tiny China flags.

I've read that the opening ceremony is set to be the most lavish in history, the "greatest show on Earth." Damn, I still can't quite believe I missed out on that ticket..*curses*

Everybody is asking "what is with the weather?!" We somehow managed to survive July without committing suicide, after it practically rained every day. We were told that it was all so that the sky would be clear for the Olympics. Now, I don't know exactly how you make it rain, but some scientist people in the south of China have been, well, doing it. Is that even legal? Will I get extradited for telling you this?? I had better stop writing now.

Happy Olympics opening day, everybody!