The Olympics are over and I am totally bummed. I always hated taking the Christmas tree down in early January, because it said the holidays were really over and it was time to get back to really life. After two weeks of soaking in several hours a day of coverage of amazing athletic feats, I now have to wait four years for the next Olympics Orgy.
There was a moment in the closing ceremonies that typified the cultural differences between East and West. The Chinese ceremonies were truly awe inspiring, as thousands of people moved in precision to create unforgettable images. By contrast, London highlighted Jimmy Paige of Led Zepplin doing a guitar solo. The contrasting images – one in which the individual is effaced in service of a larger goal, the other where the individual is glorified – in many ways sums up the difference between Chinese and Western notions of the role of the individual.
I gotta say, I like our values better. And I don’t even like Led Zepplin.