The China Syndrome

Were you one of the 15% of the world (~1 billion) who watched the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics? If not, then I feel for you, for nothing I say can do it justice. Roughly 15,000 performers, a quarter of a mile long LCD screen, and thousands of fireworks were all orchestrated into a four hour long spectacle of China's history, it's future, and it's potential by famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Held in the newly constructed and acclaimed "Bird's Nest", the ceremony was seemingly less an Olympic opening as it was a country's welcoming into the global arena. As Napoleon once said, "Let China sleep. For when China wakes, it will shake the world." 8.08.08 will perhaps go down as the day when the world took notice that it had indeed begun to shake. So if you missed the opening ceremony (and odds are you did) then you should definitely check out this highlight video.

America currently leads the total medal count (China leads the gold medal count), but if Michael Phelps has anything to say about it we will soon possess the most Gold medals as well. Case in point, Sunday night Phelps and the American 4x100 freestyle relay team held an exercise in something that America always loves to do... dominate the French.


Andrew Polk (unofficial US ambassador to China and Karaoke artist extraordinaire) was recently tapped to provide commentary on his experiences at the 2008 Olympics to the illustrious Amarillo.com. For continual updates be sure to check back to the Schop, but as for now, here is his commentary on how the opening ceremonies played out on the streets of Beijing. Enjoy.