2,008 Drummers for 2008
The ceremony began with 2,008 drummer putting on an incredibly rhythmic light and sound show. Haunting, exhilarating beats were accompanied by almost scary chants.
It's incredible to
get a peak into Chinese culture; something that we don't see a whole lot of in North America, with the exception of a lot of political criticisms from our leaders. We heard on NBC that these drummers were told to "smile" a little more, to take a little bit of the intimidation factor off of the presentation. It's a subtle reminder of just how huge and powerful China really is.
A 213 Foot Big Screen TV?
After the raising of the flag, it was incredible to see more modern dancers moving to a mellow tune, while simultaneously painting a picture atop of what we learned was a 213 foot long LED screen. An incredible contrast to the drummers, and an incredible display of the technology that many of us don't realize that Chine possesses.
Timing is Everything
In some of these presentations, it's almost as if you mind rejects things that you see. People can't really be creating that can they? Indeed they are. But you can bet it's not 
with months and months of practice. The timing that each of these performers has to adhere to is truly mind blowing.
Watching hundreds of performers simply moving long, rectangular blocks up and down doesn't sound that exciting. But when those movements are timed to the point where they are made to look like wind, and they great wall of China, it really is incredible. So incredible that those who thought that each one of those blocks was controlled by a machine, were incredibly shocked to see hundreds of happy Chinese nationals pop their heads out and wave afterwords.
Surround Sound...and Picture!
Yet another display of incredible technology at the opening ceremonies. During a dance revolving around sea travel of ancient Chinese, a motion picture of the ocean was displayed on screens encompassing the entire stadium, all the way round the top. Whether the images were projected there or if they were actual screens, I'm not sure. I would guess that they would be projected simply due to the cost. However, it does seem as though the ceremonies were given an unlimited budget, so you never know!
Modern China
As the LED screen on the floor of the stadium grew to over 300 feet, China symbolically advanced hundreds of years. With incredibly lit up costumes, 2,008 more performers created visually stunning images on the floor, while a 9 year old girl flew with a kite above them. This portion of the show represented China's move to a return to glory, as the country changed in the late 70s towards modernism.
The March of Nations
This is always my favorite part of the opening ceremonies. Seeing all the people who are going to make the magic happen throughout the next 2 and a half weeks.
As is custom in all Olympics, the Greeks, as the games' founders have the privileged of leading the march. It's interesting to note that in the 2004 Athens games, Grease filled both the role of the founding nation, (first) and the role of the host nation (last).
Canada
As the athletes from my home country marched onto the field, they NBC announcers brought up the fact that the 2010 winter games will be hosted in Vancouver. Something that I didn't know is that Canada has apparently never won a gold medal on home turf. In both the 1976 summer games in Montreal and the 1988 winter games in Calgary, no golds. Weird!
They also brought up the "own the podium" campaign, aimed at putting more of an emphasis on winning Olympic medals and offering financial incentives for doing so. I must say, it's about time! Canadian amateur sports have long been underfunded and ignored in Canada, which has translated to under performance in the games.
Team USA
Sometimes I forget just how many athletes the USA sends to the summer games. 647 has got to easily be the most out of any other country. Ok, so maybe China is pretty close. It seemed as if the lines of athletes just went on and on and on! Other than all of the NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, the biggest celebrities on the USA definitely seem to be Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, the beach volleyball superstars who seem to win absolutely everything!!
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