No, I REALLY love the Olympics!

Wow. That pretty much sums it up... I'm so glad we have the Olympics, I actually think they are inspired by God. It's amazing how the world can even get together to plan this historic event every two years, it's awesome! Watching the events, highlights, opening ceremomy, and the closing ceremony really gives me hope for the future. Yes there are a ton of problems out there in the world, but there is a ton of good...

It all reminds me of my days living in Singapore, especially the opening and closing ceremonies, seeing what the chinese put on show for us to see. There are a lot of Chinese people living in Singapore, and we had some Chinese members of the church in our branch. They are such a kind, gracious people. Mandarin chinese was one of the four national languages in Singapore. Anyway, it was a very good life experience for me to live in Singapore, even being as young as I was. (9-12) In our school, we had kids from a lot of different nationalities, so race really wasn't much of an issue. I had friends from India, Australia, Korea, New Zealand, USA, and more... The whole world congregates in Singapore, just like at the Olympics, it's pretty amazing! I loved seeing all the people from different nationalities gather together at the bird's nest.

Another thing that I love about the Olympics is that it shows us that we are not alone in this world. I know, weird, eh? There are actually people living on the other side of the ocean... A lot of times it seems like the US is the only country, or even that UT is the only state. Because we are stuck in our own little lives, living everyday life, not paying attention to global events. But there are people just like us, with the same problems and the same joys living all over the world! And even more amazing, the church is all over the world, with the Book of Mormon in all kinds of languages. It just boggles my mind, but it's awesome!

And of course, who can forget the competive spirit in all of us all over the world at the Olympics. Phelps got his 8 medals! Awesome! I cried with Nastia Liukin as she won the all around gold. I got emotional when I saw some of the Visa Go World commercials. I laughed and cheered at Usain Bolt when he won 3 gold medals and 3 world records. I watched in amazement as Dara Torres won a silver at 50m freestlye at 41 years old! I watched in umbelief (and sheer excitement) as Lezak swam past the French swimmer to win gold in a swimming relay. I watched in wonder as the chinese athlete flew around the bird's nest and then lit the torch. I also watched in sadness as the torch went out at the closing ceremonies. After the closing ceremony, I teared up as I saw the slide show of all the highlights and emotional moments of the games.

There were many more events that were just as enjoyable to watch, and of course many more very cool parts to the opening and closing ceremonies. I look forward to the next Olympics, but I am glad that I'll be able to get more sleep now...