Seven of us 'FIS' folks got tickets to go to the Opening Ceremonies. The bus picked us up at 6:15 pm and drove us into town. The trip to the stadium took an hour where there were probably 500 other buses doing the same thing. The atmosphere was pretty cool. Waiting in line to go through security was not a problem as everyone was wearing their nation's colours - so conversations were easy to start. I had my Canada mitts and scarf.
They had warned everyone that it would be cold but the forecast improved and it was a beautiful night and everyone was excited.
The exterior of the ~ $100 MM 'temporary' stadium...
The white tiger kicked off the show along with 5 children that were party of the evening story line.
There were a number other mystical figures included in the show..
We had awesome seats - second row very close to the athletes entrance. Behind us was the VVIP viewing box....
Cultural dancers covered the stage/infield...
The South Korean flag was paraded into the stadium...
Then the athletes paraded in. After Greece, they came in order based on the Korean alphabet so it was a mystery as to who was coming into the stadium next. I am really glad that I have watched several episodes of Sheldon Cooper's Fun with Flags because there are a lot of flags out there that we didn't recognize. There were 92 nations represented.
A few notables - Bermuda shorts...
Of course, the Canadians...
By far, the loudest cheer was for the Koreans marching together under/behind the Korean Unification Flag...
The athletes filled one end of the stadium....
The show was great. I know there was a story line that threaded everything together but there wasn't an announcer describing it like on TV. Just as well - being there was better.
There were very few speeches...
...many local performers...
...and lots of lights including LED panels at each seat that broadcast colors, flags and words around the stadium...
The Olympic Flag was then carried in and raised in the stadium..
And then the moment many have waited for - after months of passing it across the entire country - the Olympic Torch arrived in the stadium...
Two torch bearers, ran it up the steps to the cauldron...and handed it off to the final torch bearer, Olympic Gold Medal figure skater (Vancouver 2010) Kim Yuna...
...who after a small skating demonstration, lit the cauldron...
And then there were lots (more) fireworks - both inside and outside of the stadium.
The finale, had so much fire AND fireworks inside the stadium - it looked like the place was blowing up...
The show ended with the stadium screens flashing the Games slogan...
The only lumpy bit was that one of our FIS gang grabbed the wrong cellphone after going through security and despite several attempts to get his back - no luck.
Otherwise, it was awesome to be there and we were back at the hotel by midnight - plenty of time to get ready for the next day's training run.
B.
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