With the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics only a few days away, I’m beginning to get that China buzz.I’ve never really thought about visiting the world’s most populous country — except, maybe, to walk along the Great Wall of China (which can’t be seen from the moon, by the way). There have always been so many other countries — Italy, France, New Zealand, Japan, Iceland — higher on my list of Places To Visit Before I Die.
But with all this media coverage of China — from news segments to magazine covers — I’m getting something along the lines of “Idol Fever.” Except about China.
China, so shrouded in its mysterious history, is something of an enigma for Americans. It’s not a culture most of us aren’t familiar with, a language so foreign and complex it’s daunting. It boasts a long and rich history. It stretches across about 3.7 million square miles. And it’s home to about 1.3 billion people.
It can’t help but be fascinating!
Here are some other interesting facts about China and its role in the upcoming Summer Games:
• China stretches more than 3,100 miles across its mainland territory. For the first half of the 20th century, it was divided into five time zones. But after the Communist takeover in 1949, government leaders decided that China should have just one time zone to promote national unity. So when the opening ceremony kicks off the Beijing Olympics on 8-8-08, it will be 8 p.m. across the country.
• Chinese officials expect 6 million people to visit the panda exhibit at the Beijing Zoo between now and the fall. There’s so much interest in the Olympic mascot that eight more bears are being moved from wildlife reserves in western China to the city.
• In preparation for the games, Chinese officials are encouraging locals to study English. Cab drivers and policemen have been ordered to learn 100 common English phrases, and officials hope that as many as 1.5 million Olympic volunteers will pick up some English. The leader of the effort is motivational speaker Li Yang, who claims to have helped at least 50 million Chinese people through his program “Crazy English.”
• There are five colorful Olympic mascots for the Beijing Games, each representing a different Chinese blessing and symbolizing one of five elements of nature: a fish, representing prosperity and the sea; a panda, symbolizing happiness and the forest; a flame for passion and fire; a Tibetan antelope representing health and earth; and a swallow symbolizing good luck and the sky.Source: NBC
But here’s my favorite:The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee recently issued an official guide to cheering:
Step one: Clap twice while shouting, “Olympics!”
Step two: Extend your arms forward, make fists with your thumbs up, and shout, “go!”
Step three: Clap twice while shouting the name of your favored country.
Step four: Extend your arms upwards, fists clenched, while shouting, “go!”
There are those times when those without kids count our blessings — and those with kids want to reconsider.
And often times it’s because of other people’s children.
Case in point: I went to see a movie with my family — a foreign-language drama, mind you — at Dole Cannery. For nearly the entire first half of the film, a child, maybe around six years old, kept running up and down the aisle, yelling, laughing, yapping. His parents didn’t stop him. And that — in addition to the disruptive child — annoyed someone enough that she yelled out, “Control your child!”
On the whole, most kids are well behaved. They sit quietly, play nicely, act appropriately. But then there are those times — and we’ve all been there! — when a child’s bad behavior makes you wonder why God made it so easy for humans to reproduce.
On yesterday’s “Today,” clinical psychologist Dr. Ruth Peters highlighted the places where kids tend to misbehave the most:
* At restaurants, children who are fussing, talking too loudly or running around and their parents don’t do anything about it.
* Children on public transportation (subway, planes, trains, buses) who are four years old and up who are allowed to stand up in their seats and bother the folks in the row behind them.
* Children at the movie theater who constantly are asking questions and the parents don’t answer or ignore them.
* Children at the park who hog the slide, are rough, or nasty to your own kids.
* Kids at school who tease your child, disrupt the classroom and make it difficult for the teacher to teach and the children to listen.
Some familiar?
So what are parents supposed to do?
This isn’t an easy question to answer, and I don’t envy any parent who has to find a way to deal with a misbehaving (and maybe sugared-up) kid.
According to Peters, these are ways parents enable their children:
* Parents sometimes ignore bad behavior and do not try to remove the child from the situation, or persuade them to stop.
* Some parents are defensive: They might say, “It’s your kid who is too sensitive and can’t handle my child’s precociousness” (i.e.. teasing and bullying).
* Other parents insist on not “breaking their child’s spirit.” These parents are afraid to give consequences for behavior, hoping that the child will just “get it” and grow up to be a caring, sensitive human being.
* Parents also sometimes bring a child into an obviously adult situation, such as a fancy restaurant, inappropriate or boring movie, or a plane ride without bringing toys, coloring books, or snacks to entertain him or her.
So I’m putting it out there: What irks you about other people’s kids? What do you think parents should do about their misbehaving children? And as an outsider, do you think it’s your place to say something? (Read what “Today” readers had to say here.)
Thousands of screaming, lip-syncing people — some of whom were in line for 48 hours — turned out to see the first live performance of New Kids on the Block in 15 years on NBC’s “Today” on Friday.
Yes, THAT boy band. The one that had teenage girls back in the ’80s wearing oversize NKOTB T-shirts and neon scrunchies. It brought back memories of eighth grade dances and Cavariccis.
Check out NKOTB’s performance.
So it got me thinking: What other bands deserve a second shot?
Here’s a list of my picks for bands I’d like to see reunite: (And no, Menudo isn’t on it!)
• Jane’s Addiction
• Fugazi (Best live shows — and always underpriced)
• The original Smashing Pumpkins
• The Police
• Genesis
• Book of Love
• Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam
• Pink Floyd
(Whatever happened to The Jets?)
So what are your picks?
***
Special shout-out to TEAM RAINBOW, a group of dawn-patrollers who decided — on a whim and with hardly any training — to compete in the Honolulu Sprint Triathlon yesterday.
The six of us who competed yesterday. It was fun — when it was over!
Kudos to musician Steve Mai’i, who left his teammates in the dust, posting a finish time of 1 hour, 30 minutes and placing third in his age group.
Steve and me, happy at the finish line.
And of course, special thank you to our support crew who cheered us on and, more importantly, brought donuts at the start of the race.
Here’s the team and our supah-awesome support crew. You guys are the best!
