btw, the day of the opening ceremonies i was going insane trying to find gifts for my teachers, so i was trying to get back to my room after shops closed (all the shops closed an hour or two before the ceremonies began), but in shanghai (which, sidenote, isn't exactly a place full of love for beijing) there are a few big screens downtown, and so tons of people went to people's park and a few other places to all sit out on the grass and watch it played on the building. a few of the other students went and met bobo there, so i got to hear about it. there were little kids cheering and chinese people laughing at ben cheering for canada. it sounded sweet, everyone outside together like that. the sunset that night was gorgeous, too. myself, i had to make it home on the bus and all the buses were PACKED with people heading home to watch it, holy crap. i was squished btwn. people and the door. it's funny, i've lived in the US for both a summer and winter olympics, but i never paid it much attention, but i couldn't not notice it there, even though i was more than 20 hours by train from where it was being held.