Sorry, that's the best picture I could find. (The skirts by themselves probably are actually quite nice--as far as flowered skirts go.) None of the outfits were really great--I think opening ceremony outfits are like bridesmaid outfits: someone thinks there wonderful, and probably will tell you that they picked them so that you could wear them again, but those forced into them are groaning in embarrassment and can't wait to get them off. By the time we got done with the parade of nations I was pretty much spent and annoyed when the lighting of the cauldron took so dang long--but in the end that was pretty cool as well. Mirroring Science Teacher Mommy's comment below about the logistics of eating food from each country when they come in so quickly, I would have to say that if you were to do the Olympic party mentioned below you would have to pick just a sampling of the countries, do finger foods, and know the order the countries are coming in (not an easy task for this Olympics). See here for MBC's rundown of the event.
So now on to Saturday and the first day of competition. I thought it was a pretty slow day of competition, but that actually worked out really well for me because I had Nemesis' bridal shower to attend which was marvelous. (I pretty much knew it was going to be marvelous since Cicada was the one throwing it.) The food was wonderful (think chilled zucchini soup, amazing breads and cheeses, fresh fruit, and an amazing lemon chiffon tart) and the company terrific (there was an appreciative cheer when Cicada announced that we would be playing no games). Nemesis got some amazing and fun gifts and we all got quite the education on things such as the difference between American and European condoms and honey dust. Fun for all!
Saturday night I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the USA Men's indoor volleyball team play Venezuela. If you are a long-time reader you will know that I am a huge BYU men's volleyball fan and the USA has 7 individuals connected to BYU working for the team or playing on the team--of course this connection made the tragic news about Coach Hugh's parents-in-law who were stabbed in Beijing all the more tragic (Hugh played and coached at BYU). While watching I got to reconnect with an old crush that I had with one of the players from 10 years ago when he was playing for BYU: Rich Lambourne.
Sorry again, it's the best pic I could find with very little searching. Rich is the one in the center in white (he is the libero which means he has to wear a color that contrasts with the rest of the team). If memory serves, my crush on him when he was at BYU centered on his nice legs. Now I think my crush will be centering on his nice arms. (Both he and Ryan Millar are LDS if you are looking for LDS players).
Sunday was the first real day of exciting competition with women's gymnastics and a few swimming events, but the real highlight was the men's 4x100m free relay. The French had been trash talking the US so it was all the sweeter when we stole the gold away from the right at the end. Everyone at my house let out a huge cheer (that frightened the 2 year old). So much fun. Visit nbcolympics.com to watch the race.
Can't wait for more--my crush will be on again in the wee hours tonight/tomorrow.
4 comments:
Have to agree about the Hungarian team outfits. I kept thinking that the women looked like they'd been shot. Their flowers look like blood to me.
Oh, and for keeping track of the food at the party, my friend had all the food labeled with the country it was from and then it was organized on our table by continent. She's an organizer.
I loved the men's 4 x 100m race! That was awesome! I wish it didn't go into the middle of the night. The men's gymnastics was pretty awesome last night. Man do those guys have some arms!
O,h check out my friend Audrey's site for a medal counter.
I stayed up late to watch volleyball as well. I don't know if you remember, but Ryan Millar and Neil were roommates so it makes it pretty cool to cheer on someone you know well.
P.S. Check out my blog sometime in the next week. We finally have pictures to update our progress.
P.P.S I have a present sitting on my counter for you but I can't find the email with your address. Can you email it to me again?
MBC--I thought the same thing about them looking as though they had been shot.
Jen--thanks for send me over to Audrey's page I now have my own medal counter.
Kimberly--will get right on it.
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