Gold from China

We just watched the Gold Medal Pairs Ice Skating team, Chen and Zhao from China. Wow! Luci is proud of these folks from her home country, and I quote:

I like her, she wears sparkly clothes.

I guess when you are 5, that is what's important.

Why are they calling this "Olympic Shocker" ??

I think most of us knew ahead of time that my little He Kexin was really 2 years too young to be in the Olympics. Read article from Times Online--UK here. Kexin's still my favorite because I think she and Luci look an awfully lot alike. And to know that someone who is two years too young to be there can get the same scores, well, that's something, isn't it?

Photo from Fox News.com

Sure, It Was Beautiful...But.....

Oh, My Goodness. What a difference between Freedom and Not.

The opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics were spectacular, but the human cost! I'm not talking about the computer-added graphics of fireworks or lip-synching 9-year-olds. I'm talking heat stroke, many injuries including paralysis for one performer, and Depends.

Zhang Yimou, the director, said that "only North Korea could have done it better." Wow, there's company you want to keep, huh?

Here's what Zhang said, in an excerpt from this article from Associated Press:

In the most extreme case, Beijing organizers revealed last week that Liu Yan, a 26-year-old dancer, was seriously injured during a July rehearsal. Shanghai media reported that she fell from a 10-foot stage and may be permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

Zhang, the ceremony's director, visited Liu in the hospital and has told Chinese media that he deeply regrets what happened to her _ but he has also defended the training schedule his performers endured.

He told the popular Guangzhou weekly newspaper Southern Weekend that only communist North Korea could have done a better job getting thousands of performers to move in perfect unison.

"North Korea is No. 1 in the world when it comes to uniformity. They are uniform beyond belief! These kind of traditional synchronized movements result in a sense of beauty. We Chinese are able to achieve this as well. Through hard training and strict discipline," he said. Pyongyang's annual mass games feature 100,000 people moving in lockstep.

Performers in the West by contrast need frequent breaks and cannot withstand criticism, Zhang said, citing his experience working on an opera performance abroad. Though he didn't mention specific productions, Zhang directed Tan Dun's "The First Emperor," starring Placido Domingo, at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2006.

"In one week, we could only work four and a half days, we had to have coffee breaks twice a day, couldn't go into overtime and just a little discomfort was not allowed because of human rights," he said of the unidentified opera production.

"You could not criticize them either. They all belong to some organizations ... they have all kind of institutions, unions. We do not have that. We can work very hard, can withstand lots of bitterness. We can achieve in one week what they can achieve in two months."

Yes, I think that we, as Americans are quite often too soft and wimpy when it comes to our work ethic.

But, come on, Mr. Zhang, a little insertion of human rights would be a good thing.

Shame in the Eastern culture is a terrible thing. Well, here I sit, firmly in the West, and I am ashamed of my daughter's homeland.

And that's just what they show the public--the private, unseen injustices are so many. More on the orphanage system later.

Bryan's Mad at Me, and It Isn't Patriotic, but...

My girl won!

He Kexin

Karen R's probably mad at me, too....

I took this photo myself, with my camera pointed at the TV. Don't tell NBC.

Kexin and Luci

I think Luci will look a lot like Kexin when she grows up.

Inspiration for Olympic Prayer Band Arrested

I got this email this morning....

Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.

Learn More about the Olympic Prayer Band here

Pastor Asks for Prayer BandEarlier this year, Pastor Bike pleaded with VOM staff to ask Christians to pray for persecuted Christians in China during the Olympics. The pastor voluntarily preaches the gospel openly in China despite being persecuted. He has asked for his identity to be revealed to bring continued attention to the persecution of Christians in Communist China.

Thanks to Pastor Bike’s inspiration and the commitment of concerned Christians across the United States, more than 800,000 prayer bands have been circulated. On Aug. 6, Pastor Bike was arrested while trying to deliver medicine to his ailing wife. His wife and another pastor were also arrested. We have also learned this week that Chinese officials are opening a full investigation of the Olympic Prayer Bands that were distributed to house church members within China. Despite this increased pressure from Chinese authorities, Chinese Christians continue to ask for prayer and to make their plight known.

Order your Prayer Bands today!As the Olympics goes on, the harassment of Chinese evangelists continues to increase. Please help remind others to pray for persecuted Christians like Pastor Bike by ordering your prayer bands today!

More about Pastor BikePastor Bike, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, rode his bike more than 10,000 miles, visiting 24 Chinese provinces to introduce nonbelievers to Jesus Christ.

Looking for Something Familiar

I am always looking for a familiar face, someone to match Luci up to. I found a familiar face in the Olympics, on China's team, of course. He Kexin...an incredible gymnast. She looks a lot like Luci. If you follow the gymnastics world news, you might remember a controversy surrounding her--she was proclaimed to be too young to enter the Olympics this year. This source has her birthdate adjusted to 1992, making her legal. I found some more information about her here, including some discussion about the age question.

She was born in Beijing... I was hoping to find another Bouyei Baby. I guess not, but wow! what an exciting young lady.

Here's a slideshow of this young lady and her team on Zimbio. Did you see "my" girl win a gold medal?! :)

Olympics Grand Opening

Wow! Did you see the Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics Friday night? It was amazing. The announcers said that the man in charge of it had a free rein and open pocket-book. The big screen thing on the floor was an LCD screen! Amazing. And those blue rectangle-shoebox shaped things that kept popping up, making designs--I just knew they were computer-controlled, but no! It was all choreographed and done by people. AMAZING.

This is one ceremony that I would love to have the dvd to!

And in the middle of watching this, what does my sweet Mother-in-law do? She calls long-distance just to see if her Luci is watching the Olympics! I loved that. Just wanted to know if Luci was watching something from her homeland.

More fabulous photos here. (The photo above is from here)

A stupendous slide-show here.

Complete medal standings here.


No politics, please. China gave us Luci and for that I will always love that country, despite their failings in human rights. And, no matter what you think of their politics, that was an fantastic show!

PS--no, Luci was not watching...she fell asleep on the way home, at 5:30, from dropping John and the boys off at church-a sleep over there-and, except for two short times of waking up, she slept through the night.

Olympics Testing

Did you know that one of the tests some Olympic athletes must take is to determine their gender? Not really a problem, you say? There have been several in the past who failed! See article here from the UK Guardian.


And what about this gymnast?




That was Paul Hunt. He was a champion in the 1970's. There are several more videos of him on youtube.com. Thank you, Phisch, for letting me know about this tremendously funny and talented athlete!

2008 Olympics--Beijing!

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

The above was taken from this website.

The following video is of girls in Luci's province of Guizhou, training in gymnastics. It is 5:22 long--sort of long, but I chose it because it is from Guizhou. They train young and awfully long. I feel for the families, being separated the way they are. The families sacrifice to send them and the girls live at or near the center. Bryan and JT were on a gymnastics team (Bryan for three years, JT for one) and it is a very tough sport. The boys worked hard for their team, but nothing like these young girls.

Hmmm...I sure hope it was beef....

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing has asked hotels and restaurants in the city to take dog meat off the menu for the duration of next month's Olympics and September's Paralympics.

Dog is eaten not only by the large Korean community in China's capital but is also popular in Yunnan and Guizhou restaurants.
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Guizhou is Luci's province. oh, yuck! I guess it's too late to take the Maalox. And what about the rats? Remember that?