Seven Wonders of the World

The Seven Wonders of the World

A group of students was asked to list what are, in their minds, the Seven Wonders of the World.  Naturally, the results weren't unanimous, but the following sites received the highest scores:

1.The Pyramids of Egypt
2.The Taj Mahal
3.The Grand Canyon
4.The Panama Canal
5.The Empire State Building
6.St. Peter's Chapel
7.The Great Wall of China

While the teacher collected everyone's votes, she noticed that one students was still busy putting together her list.  The teacher asked if assistance was necessary, and the student responded that she did.  “I couldn't make up my mind, she said, there are so many wonders”...

“If so”, said the teacher, “please tell us what you came up with, perhaps we can all help you”.

The girl hesitated for a short while, and then read what she wrote.  “I think that the Seven Wonders of the World are:

1.To see

2.To hear

3.To touch

4.To taste

5.To feel

6.To laugh

7.To love

Silence overtook the classroom, so much so, that it was almost possible to hear the heartbeats of the students and the teacher.

The things we ignore, the ones we take for granted, the ones that seem so simple and mundane, are indeed wondrous.

This is a short reminder to the fact that the most precious things in life, one can't build or buy.

Posted at 10:10PM Aug 29, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

We Have A Winner

Tim is correct.  The picture is a mirror image of the original one.  In the original one, the "Beijing 2008" was "wrong"... 

Posted at 07:33PM Aug 17, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

Track and Field - What a Blast!

So it wasn't men basketball, or phelpsing.  But it was absolutely fantastic.  We just came back from four full hours at the National Stadium, AKA Bird's Nest.  Four hours of running, jumping, walking, throwing.  It was four hours filled with young hope, to win, to become, to stand up there and be presented with a title: "The Best".  Because that's what it is.  The winners of gold medals are truly, completely, if only for a short time, the best in their disciplines.  What better recognition is there?  The Best.  Imagine that.

Yes indeed, genetics does a lot, but hard work, discipline and endurance, and in some cases teamwork, compares, and sometimes surpasses genetics.

The weather was the best by far.  Clear blue sky, not a shred of a cloud.  Hot but not scorching, humid, but not wet.  Probably the absolutely best Beijing can offer in mid-August.

Organization was outstanding.  From the time we left the car, to the time we got to our seat, was about twenty minutes.  But we were never lost.  Signs and ushers were all over the place, courteous, welcoming, and speaking English.  The competitions were extremely well organized as well.  Stands were brought in and out, hurdles placed and taken away.  All events started precisely on time.  It was an outstanding display of organization, order, planning and execution.  To all my friends, colleagues, direct and indirect reports - watching the Olympic Games can be considered as an Advanced Project Management class.  Watch for details, plans for contingencies, pay attention to progress and schedules, and execute diligently.  Do that and you will succeed.  Do that and you will delight your customers.

Drinks and snacks were extremely reasonably priced, and readily available.  The lines were long, but manageable.

It was an exceptional experience.  To attend an Olympic event was an experience we'll never forget.

One exception.  It was very apparent that the smart people were sitting on one side of the stadium, while the others were seated on the other side.  How so?  The sun rises on the east.  Smart people know that.  So if you sit on the western side of the stadium, what do you have?  You got it: the sun in your eyes, and on every other exposed part of your body.  Soon enough I started to turn around, to get evenly cooked on all sides.  When we left at 13:00 PM, I was ready to be served.  I was burned.

You guessed it, I was sitting on the other side.  Burnt or not, I had the time of my life.  So did Dorit and Guy.  We're looking forward to the two other events we have tickets for.  This time, however, the moon will be up.  What a relief.

One last thing.  In the picture I took, there's an error.  Can anyone figure it out?  Feel free to email or post a comment.  No prizes.  Recognition only - name or email...

Posted at 05:59PM Aug 16, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[1]

The Swimming Machines

I still remember years ago, during the Olympic Games, spectators would get to see multiple shows.  Particularly in the aquatic disciplines, in addition to the athletic show, a fashion show would be running in parallel.  Swimsuits of all styles, colors, and shapes.  All brands, materials and shades.  Nowadays, we gather next to the TV, with some snacks and drinks, we set to the right channel, and we see a line-up of aliens about to jump to the pool.  Did I say aliens?  Yes, aliens, for the lack of a better word for the goggled, breast-to-ankle suited, all black, capped, large humanoids.

But boy, do they perform.  I overheard (yes, me and a billion others...) a dialog between two commentators.  Here is how it went:

Commentator one: Look at this guy/girl, sliding lazily in at a time of 2:00 (that was 200 meters backstroke I think).
Commentator two: Don't forget, just a couple of years ago, this was the world record...

Obviously, the winners came in much earlier...  And lets not talk about Michael Phelps.  Why?  He isn't a swimmer, he's a super-swimmer.  Looks to me like he found a way to install an under-the-skin warp drive or something.

But the bottom line is, while I clearly remember the mustached face of Mark Spitz, and while I'll be able to recognize him if we passed each other on the street, I doubt I'd be able to recognize any of today's swimmers.  With the black swimsuit, the goggles and the cap, they hardly seem like people to me, but rather like swimming machines.

Trying to project twenty years into the future, I can see men and women with scales, gills and fins, wearing real shark-skin suits, with the teeth and all, enhanced lateral muscles and of course webbed.  No body hair, no protruding parts, all streamlined and hydrodynamic.  A new species - real waterpersons...

Anyway, I still like to watch swimming.  And soccer, and athletics, and track, and sailing, and weight-lifting.  All of course on one condition - that I don't have to do any of the swimming, running, jumping or lifting myself.

Posted at 06:15PM Aug 14, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony - Out of Words

I've been living in Beijing for two and a half years.  The Beijing 2008 logo, the rise of the National Stadium (AKA Bird's Nest), the building of Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3, the subways, the highways, the airlines, the people, all those were a part of our lives here for the last two and half years.  The buildup, the excitement, the preparations all were amazing.  I while we were all taking a passive part in it, by standing in traffic and paying higher prices for almost everything, we were all part of it.  We were waiting like everyone else for the Opening Ceremony.  It was scheduled for August 8, 2008 at 8:00 PM.  The date and the time was not coincidental.  The number eight (Ba in Mandarin) is considered to be a lucky number.  License plates and even phone numbers with plenty of eights in them are more expensive...

We planned the day, which turned out to be a mandatory day off for all Beijingers, so that no matter what, at 8:00 PM we would be sitting in front of the TV, watching the most watched event in human history (I don't think the numbers are out yet, but I'm willing to bet this will be a record).

Let me see if I can line up enough superlatives for what we've been watching: spectacular, colorful, outstanding, amazing, thrilling, exhilarating, compelling, exciting, absolutely wonderful.  I know, it's not enough, but rather than spend the time looking up words in the thesaurus, I'd rather write a few words on our impressions.  The glory of China in thousands of years of existence came to light.  And what a beautiful show it was.  Starting with an outstanding show of human coordination and synchronization, with the drums which literally never missed a beat.  Hundreds if not more of drummers beating as if they were one.  It really did feel like a large beating heart.  The five circles Olympic logo rising up and into the air, was again, spectacular.

Fifty six children, representing fifty six ethnic groups, all dressed up in their ethnic clothes, marched through the stadium with the audience cheering excitedly.  It was a real nice show of unity and representation.  When it cam to the scroll, the rolling scroll, depicting inventions the Chinese are credited for - paper and print, compass and seismographs, sails, fireworks and more.  Calligraphy shown in the grandest way.  Again spectacular.

I have to admit that living in Beijing for so long, I have seen already a show or two of fireworks.  None like last night.  Computer synchronized, amazingly colorful, perfectly shaped.  Another show of attention to the smallest details.  Outstanding.  The Olympic delegations strolling in, I must admit, took way too long, in my opinion.  For the London designers of the opening ceremony I would suggest to have the delegations of athletes coming in from at least four gates rather than one, and cut the length of this phase to a quarter.  It's nice to watch two hundred and four delegations, many from countries I am not familiar with (some of which are brand new).  But two hours was a little too much for me.  I loved seeing the Israeli, the American, and the Chinese delegations, and I wish them all the best of luck in their attempts to get as many medals as possible.

The Olympic Torch coming in to the stadium was, again, spectacular.  Li Ning, pulled up into the air, running in the air to light the Olympic Flame, was another show of absolutely outstanding choreography, and source of pride for everyone.

As for me, if I had to point out one thing that really got to me in a big way, literally, I would have no problem doing that.  Yao Ming, the 2.26 meters (7"4') star basketball player from the Houston Rockets, marching along with Lin Hao, the nine year old child, who not only survived the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, but also managed to have saved two of his classmates, would be it.  To see this giant of a man, the realization of a dream for many Chinese, walking hand in hand with a small child, with an already larger than life story, was touching to all of us watching the ceremony together.

Lastly, from the comfort of my air-conditioned living room, and the 42" TV, let me wish everyone a peaceful Olympiad, multitude of medals, plenty of pride to all.  May the best men and women win!  Let the games begin!

Posted at 11:25AM Aug 09, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

Pslams 121 - My Favorite Poem - Ever

I'm not a religious person.  Far from it in fact.  I've gone through phases in my life.  There was the phase when I stopped believing altogether.  The other was believing that a superior being does in fact exist, but there's no way he would demand his flock to go through hoops in order to avoid his wrath.  Then there was the phase of I want nothing to do with it (the divorce has something to do with the divorce), and there's now, the phase of not practicing, not affiliating, but watching and learning and picking just a couple of really ancient practices and the belonging part.  I belong, but I don't practice.  I can live with that.

I think I lost the belief when I was around nine.  Later on in life, I fell in love with a religious girl, and I was ready to put on the show for her, but she saw through the charade, it didn't work.  I ended up marrying a religious woman (Mrs. Hayardeny the 1st), but we split up, mainly, but not exclusively based on our religious differences (or my lack thereof).  I accepted myself as a secular person.  But I do have these idiosyncrasies about religion that I can't, and I don't want to shake.  On every door in my house I have a "Mezuzah", a shell of either wood, metal or ceramics that is put on the right side of the door, and contains a small piece of parchment with some special verses from the bible.  As I said, I'm not a believer, but somehow I feel that this little shelled parchment adds some special protection to the house and to the family residing in it.

And I love the bible.  I know, you might think that love of the bible must go with belief.  Well, I hate to break it to you, it doesn't.  If you're a Hebrew speaker who is still connected to the language of the bible, you'd know what I mean.  Whoever wrote the bible had language skills which are not in existence today.  Describing stories in a delightful way, putting together abstract concepts using few words, is a skill I don't see in today's writers (maybe a very selected few).  Most certainly I don't own it.  But I can read it, and I enjoy it.  Think about it: I can read a two to three thousand year old document freely, without hesitation, without running back and forth to some dusty old dictionary or to the local university archaeological department.  It's very cool.  Speaking a language that was spoken for five thousand years in one form or another, is very cool as well.  Hebrew is a beautiful language.  Biblical Hebrew is a hundred times more beautiful.

And there's King David.  The king of Israel and Judea, and yes, of course, the King of Poets.  King David wrote the book of Psalms, and the Song of Songs.  His only serious competition was King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and King David's own son.  King Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, and the book of Ecclesiastics, and more.  I have a special love for Ecclesiastics because it presents doubt, it presents a dilemma, and although at the very end of it, it also presents a solution a resolution and a recommendation, many, myself included, don't believe that the last part was actually written by King Solomon.  It's much more likely that the end of the book was written by the Bible's editors, making their best effort to avoid dealing with the question whether or not King Solomon had lost his belief in his old days.

The Psalms, poems or songs, were actually part of thousands of years of Jewish rituals in Jerusalem.  The Levites, the tribe of priests, were singing and chanting these poems on certain occasions when they were doing their holy work at the House of God in Jerusalem.  Even today, when Jews congregate at the synagogue every day (I personally am a non-congregational Jew), they read,, sing, chant, and recite these Psalms.  I doubt that there are any songs in the history of mankind, that were sung more consistently, continuously, without change for such a long time.

And there's the "Song of Ascents".  My personal favorite.  It's short, yet it's full of trust, belief, and optimism.  It's just beautiful.  The name "Song of Ascents", comes from the fact that the Levites were chanting it on their way up the stairs to do their holy work.  The Hebrew is just beautiful.  The translation isn't so great.  I decided to present to you the Hebrew version, a couple of translations I found on the web, and my own shot at translating this masterpiece.  Here it is.

תהילים קכא

Posted at 12:30PM Aug 08, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

The Weather in Beijing

Just a few days ago I wrote here that the weather was smoggy, humid and hot.  In the last few days, though, there was no evidence of pollution, no cloud in the sky, just infinite blue.  The athletes are here already and the reports suggest that they're happy with the Olympic Village.  The Olympic Committee promised to the press that there will be no restrictions on internet access throughout the cities participating in this event.

Lets hope for a happy and peaceful Olympic Games....

Posted at 05:28PM Aug 03, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

Beijing 2008 - Are We Clear Here?

Watching a magician at work, one develops some kind of strange trust.  You know you're being fooled, yet you're confident that the sleeve will produce the queen of spades, and the turtledove will come out of the hat.  That's the way it's always been.  Living in China for the last two and a half years, I always believed that no matter what, on August 8, 2008, the sky will somehow clear, the smog will disappear, the air will be fresh, and a light breeze will move the treetops ever so slightly.

Last night I was watching BBC News.  In a newscast opener on the Beijing Olympics, the reporter measured three times the safe amount of particles in the air, the camera could hardly see the stadium behind him despite his proximity, and some "Greenpeace China" representative claimed that "Plan B", including some severe measures to clear the pollution, will be deployed.  One of those "severe measures" is to take 90% of the vehicles off the roads for the foreseeable future.

This was when it hit me.  The sleeve was empty, and the turtledove suffocated inside the hat.  That guy was no magician.  I'm starting to realize, as millions of others around the world do, cleaning pollution is many times more difficult than creating it, pollution is the inevitable outcome of double digit industrial growth, rebuilding a city for so many years, with little attention to environmental issues isn't something one can simply blow on, in hopes it will disappear overnight.

The descriptions on the web about Beijing pollution are interesting.  "Under a Cloud", "Shroud of Haze", are just a few of the terms used.  In all honesty, these are not understatements.  The city is extremely gray, hot and humid.  It's been weeks if not months since blue sky has been seen here.  We're only ten days away from the opening ceremony.  Am I expecting a miracle?  No.  I'm expecting a wonderful Olympic Games event, a little on the grayish side...

Posted at 09:58PM Jul 30, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[1]

The "Away" Team

Some context.  Keren (17) and Tamary (12) are my older daughters who live with their mother in New Jersey.  We've been living in two different continents for most of their lives.   Frequent phone calls, Skype, Instant Messaging, and the yearly visit takes the edge of the pain of separation, nonetheless, it's always there.  Karen just graduated from a New Jersey high school and chose to spend the year in Israel.  Tamary, like previous years is going to sleep-away camp.  When I think of my two older girls, I always think of them as being away.  Truth is, it is me who is away.  When we moved to Beijing, I felt that the "away" changed a little.  Before, they were in the US and we were in Israel.  They were with my ex-wife and her family, and we were in Israel, with my extended family.  In Beijing, we are away, but "once removed".  We are away from our usual "away" location.  Now, that Karen is going to spend the year in Israel, and Tamary is going to sleep-away camp, I feel that we are away "twice removed".  Indeed, the global village provides many opportunities for convoluted relationships...

I sent the following email to Tamary's camp.  I hope she sees it.  Just in case she doesn't, I decided to post it as well:

Tamary,

Thinking that you are not only away (as you always are), you are really really away, even away from your usual away, is making me miss you twice the usual.  And I miss you quite a lot usually....  I hope that you're having the time of your life, making new friends and seeing old ones, having fun, being happy, being careful.  I love you and I miss you so much, you have no idea.  Everyone here says hi.  Guy is sending his cutest smile, Shiri her curious look, and Dorit is sending her regards.  From me you get a big hug and two kisses...

Be well.  I love you and miss you...

Posted at 01:09PM Jul 30, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]

An Unusual High Altitude Experience

It was just another flight for me.  Or so I thought.  I flew from Tel Aviv to Beijing a couple of days ago.  As I boarded the Boeing 767 I expected the usual bore, the occasional shuteye, the discomfort.  But at the other end, Dorit and the kids were waiting for me, and for that I was ready to experience infinite amounts of inconvenience...

A few years back I had a very strange observation about myself.  I was a Pavlovian Dog.  The thought of an airplane would put me to sleep right away.  As soon as I get myself seated, my seatbelt fastened, and the airplane leaves the gate - I fall asleep.  It's truly amazing, but I doubt I experienced takeoff while being awake in quite a few years.

But this flight was different.  As the purser introduced herself, I realized that she must be the mother of a former employee of mine.  A pretty as well as clever employee.  I went over to the purser and introduced myself.  I told her that her daughter and I worked together, that I could see her daughter in her.  I then went back to my seat.  Being the traveler that I am, I quickly went to sleep, forfeiting an airline dinner for for a dream one.  The purser stopped by a few times, but I really didn't need anything, plus I don't like to be given preferential treatment, and the flight was progressing nicely.

But then she came over and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  Not in a million years.  She offered me to spend some time at the cockpit.  I enthusiastically accepted.  Mind you, it isn't very easy to get into the cockpit.  There are two doors between the cabin and the cockpit, and they can't be both open at the same time.  But the space between them is too small for the two of us to stand, so one of us had to go to the bathroom.  Needless to say, it was me.  But a short minute after that, I was in the cockpit, where the sun was shining, and the captain and the first officer were all smiles.

I must have been too excited to say anything of significance, and I believe I mumbled something.  The two men, obviously comfortable with the monster they were in control of, showed no surprise.  They were nice and welcoming, and shortly after I came in, a conversation developed.  We spoke about flying airplanes (I took flying lessons a decade ago, but were too scared to pursue the hobby), developing software, the computing power of the airplane and the automation.  Indeed, they informed me, an untrained person can land the aircraft with instructions from the ground.  I was relieved.

During my stay at the cockpit, we changed altitude from 37,100 ft to 39,100 ft.  We also changed course (was part of the original flight plan), were alerted of nearby aircraft, which we later saw, and had some conversations with several control towers somewhere in China.  I have no idea how long I spent in the cockpit, but I'm pretty sure it was well over an hour.  It was an outstanding, exhilarating experience.  I would like to use this opportunity to thank Captain Avi, and his First Office for an unforgettable experience.  Also, I would like to thank the purser for giving me this opportunity.

Flying in the cockpit of a Boeing 767 from Tel Aviv to Beijing - Outstanding!

Posted at 12:36PM Jul 21, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]