I never really cared for the much ballyhooed and glorified sporting event called the Olympics and have continued to downplay this silly upcoming event when people ask me why I didn't stick around in Beijing for it. With all the trouble, pain, and agony we as expats and foreigners in China had faced with the strict visa restrictions, new regulations, heightened security presence, racism, and rising cost of living in the Jing just to name a handful of things gone wrong Because Of The Olympics™ (BOTO), I flew back home to Vancouver in disgust as I fully believed that it could only get worse during the sixteen days of the bloody fun & games. I told people how fortunate I was to have escaped from the capital while I still could.
But as I was filling up my huge shopping cart at Costco and loading up on jumbo-mega-family sized packs of frozen lasagna, pizza, maple syrup, pancake mix, Clamato™, honey roasted almond cereal, and an assortment of other things, I passed by the home electronics department where I stood in front of rows of plasma and LCD flat screen displays all tuned to CBC's coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. As I watched footage of the men's cycling event around Tian'anmen Square, seeing all the familiar streets and buildings to which I called my home away from home for two years, an overwhelming emotional response came over me.
I wanted to be there in person to experience the games.
I wanted to be with my friends.
I wanted to be there.
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