Maese et al.,

Subject: 8/8/08 baby!

Since you're still a little groggy from your trip to Dujianyan to write about Sichuan earthquake victims, I'll go ahead and blog again, much to the chagrin of commenter Jon G, who thinks I'm boring. (I break wind in your general direction, sir!) The opening ceremony last night was wild, maybe one of the most impressive in Olympic history, although I'd be remiss if I didn't admit it was somewhat scary too. It's always weird to see cute singing children contrasted with a country subtly showing off its military might. China had lots of both to kick things off. Lot of drum pounding, young Chinese men marching in unison looking menacing, and stuff blowing up in the background. My friend Scott Goldblatt of Swimnetwork actually though the city was under siege, getting bombarded with artillery fire back at his hotel. It was an opening ceremony that felt like Darth Vadar had been asked to collaborate with the producers from Yo Gabba Gabba. Crazy.

I watched most of it with beer in hand, which, I must add, is surprisingly good here, and it's nice to be able to walk around drinking beer without fear of getting a ticket. I was kind of glad that I didn't have to hear the NBC commentators mumble through the delicate juggling act that is celebrating the glory of a billion dollar spectacle and peppering in a few comments about human rights just to seem objective. I think putting these next few weeks into context is going to be almost impossible for journalists.  I'm not naive. I know China tends to lock up journalists for writing the truth when it makes the Party look bad, and as someone who believes that freedom of speech is the foundation all countries should be built upon, China's long record of silencing dissenters disgusts me. On the other hand, I feel like these Olympics are ultimately going to be a good thing in the long run. Our translator and guide, Stephen, made the point the other day that Americans can't expect China to change overnight from a communist country that limits people's freedoms to one that says it's OK for Brittney Spears to parade around in a diamond bikini with a snake around her neck. It's going to happen eventually, but it's going to be a 50-year process. In Russia, they tried to change things overnight and the only "winner" was chaos. (And the mob.) We're learning more about China, and the Chinese are learning more about us. They're being exposed to the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. China may be using these Olympics to showcase its way of life, but you can't open your entire country to two million people without the seeds of free speech being planted. 

"Remember, it's easy to change your shirt," Stephen said the other day as we drove to the Great Wall. "But it takes time to change what's underneath."  

I know it's cheesy, but I always enjoy watching the parade of nations. It's always fun to watch NBA players walk shoulder to shoulder with athletes who earn less than you could find in the cushions of Kobe Bryant's couch. (Not to mention his wife's jewelry box.) But what was up with those hats the U.S. athletes were wearing? It's like they raided the late Payne Stewart's closet. Carmelo Anthony looked like he'd misplaced his yacht.

I wish Michael Phelps could have walked last night. He's now missed three OC's because he's always supposed to swim the next day, and doesn't want to stand around for three hours. Maybe if he's only swimming two or three events, he'll get a chance to walk in London in 2012. Dirk Novitzki looked pretty cool with the Olympic rings shaved into his head. Rafael Nadal walking with his fellow Spaniards was awesome as well. Also, this just in: Brazilian women are still gorgeous.

For a brief moment, the group of journalists I was hanging with wondered if Chinese television was going to avoid showing a close-up of Lopez Lomong, the U.S. flag bearer. Lomong, as you may have heard, was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, and as a member of Team Darfur, he was seen as a less-than-subtle message to China that it needs to back away from its support of the Sudanese government, which has sponsored militias that have murdered more than 200,000 people.

In many ways, Lomong represents everything I love about America. As he told reporters a few days ago, he'd never even heard of the Olympics until 2000. He was living in a refugee camp in Kenya when "his friends talked him into running 5 miles and paying 5 shillings to watch Michael Johnson on a black-and-white TV set with a fuzzy screen" according to the Associated Press. Having escaped violence in the place of his birth, he not only now calls America home, he's helping send the world a message: As a nation we may not be perfect, but we still open our arms to meek and embrace them as our own.

We're all immigrants like Lomong, on some level. And if our jumbled, messy, beautiful melting pot of culture and race can live together in relative peace, we can still serve as an example for the rest of the world to follow. Maudlin as that sounds, it's something I believe in.

One last point, then I'll kick it back to you: I have to confess, it's hard to avoid eating McDonald's at the Olympics. It's just a fact all journalists face. You're always in a hurry, running from one event to the next, you don't have time for a real meal, and in the press center, there is always a McDonald's there, taunting you. I don't eat it when I'm home -- like you, I'm a Taco Bell guy when I'm bitten by the fast food bug -- but there is something disgustingly comfortable about Mickey D's when you're 6,000 miles away from home. My friend, Barry, told me that he is trying to go the entire Olympics without eating McDonalds, but he's already had a few weak moments when he almost faltered. His quest might be tougher than the one Phelps is undertaking.

(Photos: Getty Images)