Day 4: Sunny

My memories about the Olympic Games are always connected to the summer holidays, those idyllic days in my hometown many years ago. I don’t remember much about the matches themselves. They seemed to be games for grown-ups.

Somehow I missed the Athens Games. That year I graduated and could no long return home and enjoy a long holiday. Perhaps a first job and a first summer in BJ were much more exciting than any sports event.

4 years later, the freshness is long gone. And since the Olympics are happening on our doorstep, I won’t miss them again.

This time I find most athletes are younger than I. Still, I marvel at their confidence and courage; share their joy and despair. All the pride and agony, laughter and tears, blood and sweat are written on their faces, more vivid than any Oscar winner, more impressive than any Hollywood fluff.

I kind of like BJ in this special period: smooth traffic, empty buses and streets (at least on the east third ring road). It’s a slack summer outside the gyms.