As I write this it is almost time for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics to come to a close. I don’t know about all of you but I admire and cherish every moment of the Olympics. Whether it’s gymnastics in the summer or ice hockey in the winter. I just find sports so exciting. However this is not just about sports. It’s about pride, redemption (for a few) and for most it’s about finally showcasing your talent and shining in the spotlight. What I love most about the Olympics is how, though we root for our respective country (for a lot of us me included countries) we all come together to celebrate and witness an amazing showcase of athleticism. In the end it’s not really about the rivalry between Japan and Korea (which I don’t really take a part of personally because I honestly think it’s way out of control) or which nation earned the most medals (Congrats to the good ol US of A! What wonderful athletes we have!) it’s a celebration! A celebration of life, of liberty and just a celebration of our world. If that makes any sense at all. Times are rough and we need the Olympics. Cheering for someone or something brings us together even in the darkest of times. What’s great (yet horrible) is that it only comes every 4 years. For athletes, there’s rarely any second chances let alone third. (Which is why I hate seeing an Olympian fall!). Like that Whitney Houston song One Moment In Time. It is what it is. That one moment in time

I don’t know if everyone knows or not but as I have written on my little bio there I am Korean American. My ethnicity is Korean while I was born in the States. I’ll be honest and say that I had years of conflicting feelings about which country to root for when it came to events regarding countries. I’m Korean and mind you I like being Korean I like who I am (though I’ve been through my own uphill battles with identity and continue to have little mishaps now and then) but I always felt this natural clinging to the country I was born in (USA). For the longest time I felt like I had to choose (not just in the Olympics but in life) or I wouldn’t be accepted in either society. 

One side or the other

which one is it going to be?

 There is so much pressure especially when your parents and grandparents are passionately rooting for Korea which is perfectly understandable. And when your Korean friends who were also born in America are solely rooting for South Korea as well. However I realized that I don’t have to feel bad for not choosing a side. In fact I don’t have to! I can root for both! I can be both Korean and American. It doesn’t matter what people think of you right?! So that is what I did and continue to do though I admit I do, like I said, have a natural clinging to the USA.

So I’d kind of like to wrap up or provide my own comments on this year’s Olympics if you don’t mind

1. Vancouver is the bomb if you haven’t gone then go go go! Oh Canada~ What gracious hosts they were, despite the whole hockey phenomenon.. it’s been about 2 hours since the hockey game and i’m still a bit bummed so excuse me. Did I mention I became OBSESSED with the Canadian national anthem? I think it’s beautiful! Yes my family does think i’m weird….

2. OHHHHH DANNNG OHNO~ Apolo Ohno and Koreans have been butting heads since the beginning of time (2002 ). Long story short, there were many controversies that surrounded Ohno and Koreans which led to a greater one-sided (mostly Koreans hating Ohno) rivalry. I’m not going into this. I hate drama. The past is the past and this is the present! So I congratulate him on his 8 medals! You can have your own opinion about Ohno and I know he’s caused some controversy regarding his aggressive skating or what not but he’s a wonderful skater! I admire his relationship with his father and how it was the two of them ever since his mother left when Apolo was only 1 years old. I hope he doesn’t retire and if he does best of luck to him!

3. Speed skating/short track These two are my favorite events in Winter Olympics right next to ice hockey! I love how fast it is and I love the competitiveness of it!!! Koreans absolutely DOMINATE the sport and they have been for many years which is why so many take pride. I’m glad that the Korean athletes did well despite the whole drama that came to surface with Ohno. I have an immense admiration for Mr Shani Davis who got a gold and a silver this year. I am also a HUGE HUGE fan of the 19 year old JR Celski. If you have time check out his story it’s incredible. He battled back from an absolutely horrible injury and got two bronze medals this year. Lastly, it was good to see the 17 year old Simon Cho on the ice. Watching young people who are the same age as me (or younger!) gives me hope that anything is possible as long as you have passion and diligence! Give it up for the young people! And GIVE IT UP for the US men’s relay team for capturing the bronze medal!

4. Figure Skating  Congrats to Miss Yuna Kim for winning the gold medal! She is absolutely stunning! I love the figure skating competition because the ladies are impeccable! Mao Asada, Mirai Nagasu (who lives 30 minutes away from me!) and Joannie Rochette are just absolutely beautiful and elegant! Their performances were fantastic! I have to add how remarkably strong Miss Rochette was to continue on. She’s incredible! What a trooper!

5. Ice Hockey I love ice hockey and I especially love OLYMPIC ice hockey. I wasn’t born in 1980 but I saw this movie called Miracle when I was about 9 years old. I became obsessed with that particular moment in sports history which to this day I find absolutely incredible! This year’s US team was a fairly young team and I think went into the competition as the underdog, Canada being the superior team. USA beat Canada in the preliminary round and I went absolutely crazy! Well it was the preliminary round but still! What a game it was! USA didn’t win the gold but the gold medal game was amazing. It was one of the BEST hockey games I’ve ever seen! It was tight and it was close and it was so intense! I think this did a lot for the sport of hockey. Watching the disappointment on their faces afterwards was hard to take in. They should know that we are proud of them no matter what! A silver medal is wonderful! Congrats to Canada!

6. Nodar Kumaritashvili I know I’ve mentioned this before on another post but I think it’s important to remember his life as a young 21 year old who wanted nothing but to make his country and nation proud. It’s shocking to me because the Luge competition was only a day away when he died. He was so close. May he rest in peace <3

 

Lastly, I’m hoping Closing Ceremonies is good and memorable. I’m sorry this wasn’t a baseball related post but I think it was worth writing up. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics as much as I did! 

Welcome Baseball. I have missed thee

~mimi

p.s. What was YOUR favorite 2010 Olympic moment?

“It’s a beautiful day! Let’s play two!” ~Ernie Banks