Well, I am home in New York now. Eddie and Suzanne watched the closing as well as the finals of Basketball while I was flying.
.
My last day we watched the 4 x 400 finals, Men and Women's and the women had to fly the last few meters to win! It was crazy.
.
Also Andreas Thorskilden (we all remember the Javelin Mascot) won the Gold Medal while we were there.
.
It was so so cool.
.
Iceland won the Silver in the Handball, equalling it's best Olympics ever :-).
.
China was wild crazy fun. And, it was so so so much more Western than I thought it would be. It is more western than Japan.
.
It strikes me as very Singapore-ian. It is a relatively well off group of people (towering above India at least in Shanghai and Beijing - and I have been to good Indian cities) and an authoritarian government that isn't overly concerned about what people do day to day - as long as they don't bitch about the government. I am not saying that is right or condoning it, but it was a surprise.
.
I expected a more "iron fist" mentality, but I didn't see it. I saw a lot of people following the basic rules and wondering what all the fuss was about (again - very much like Singapore).
.
In any event, the people were great to us. Not just around the Olympic sites, but throughout the city and on the subways and in Shanghai. Very different than I expected. And the dress... People looked like a typical day at the mall. Really.
.
I will post a picture guide for anyone later, but I wanted to say I was back and it is over. I had an amazing time that I will remember always.