The Olympic Closing That Was A Blast

All celebrations indicate victory and change. A graduation party celebrates the end of one type of learning and the beginning of another. The wedding party welcomes two singles now joined as one. And last night the Olympics Closing Ceremony was a celebration for Beijing, and all of China, for a job well done as it handed over the Olympic flame (and burden!) to London, England. And boy, was it FUN!

Everyone showing up for the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics at the Bird's Nest was ready to cheer and be entertained. And we were entertained, except for those obligatory speeches, of course. Light displays, acrobatics, fireworks, song & dance, strange space-age creatures climbing, jumping, diving in the air - that and more. We weren't sure what language Placido Domingo was singing in, but we enjoyed it all the same. The cheerleaders we met beforehand outside the Bird's Nest still gallantly and endlessly cheered - and kept atheletes more or less in their areas. Jimmy Page grinding his electric guitar while Leona Lewis belted out Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" set the whole audience (and that's a lotta people - more than 90,000 according to Xinhua!) grooving in their seats, waving their plastic torches and just enjoying the wild scene. David Beckham appeared for another photo op and unsurprisingly kicked a soccer ball into the stadium audience. Jackie Chan found yet another Olympic opportunity (in addition to airport ads re: counterfeit goods) and sang onstage with other Chinese stars. In the end, fireworks blasting around the Bird's Nest and throughout targeted Beijing areas were felt even in the Beijing suburbs.

After the ceremony, we and friends went off to Mare, a Spanish restaurant, for a late night snack and stumbled into the Spanish Basketball team's celebration of their silver finish against the American Dream Team. (I refuse to call the Americans the Redeem Team - they played like a dream together!) A friend from the Spanish Embassy spied us, welcomed us, and we stayed enthralled with the scene. Anna for her first (and perhaps, only?) time got to wear a silver medal courtesy of Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trailblazers, and I, tall for a woman, felt diminutive for the first time in my life next to 7'1" Pau Gasol of the LA Lakers! All the young men were gallant, humble guys, bless them, even to remembering the victims of Spanair's recent air crash tragedy when giving comments to TVE, the Spanish television network. Friends, family, team players from both men's and women's teams, journalists, a few fans, dumbstruck wait staff from the restaurant - we all celebrated being alive and being lucky enough to witness the Beijing Olympics and the achievements of so many. So, good luck, London - we all look forward to another great party in 2012!