Now that the Olympics are over, I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

First of all, I didn't realize I could enjoy watching the Olympics so much even without understanding a word the announcers are saying.  I didn't have to listen to the announcers on N.B.C. blathering on about stuff I don't care about.  It was kind of nice.

And it was interesting to see that the U.S. isn't the only country to have a massive increase in "patriotic" commercials during the Olympics.  Lots of companies created commercials relating to Thailand's efforts in the Olympics.  One of my favorite commercials (although not directly related to the Olympics) is a Double A Paper commercial where a character acts like a bad photocopy, then he gets "jammed."  Quite funny.

While going out for dinner last week, we walked by a huge throng of Thais watching T.V. in a storefront.  Turns out they were gathered watching one of the Thai boxers compete for a gold medal.  (Which he won.)  It's a romanticized notion in so many commercials...but this was real.  Definitely cool to see.

So how did my country do?  Not bad.  Four medals.  Two gold, two silver.  And the U.S. did as expected, except for a few baton drops in Track and Field.  Truthfully it's nice to be able to cheer for two countries. 

Next Olympics:  2010 in Vancouver, B.C.  Since there aren't a lot of winter sports in Thailand I'm not guessing it will be as important.  I'll let you know.  Check back in 18 months.  (Wait...check back more often than that.  Just wait 18 months for an Olympic update.)