Last year I was in Beijing, China, as preparations were starting for hosting the Summer Olympics. Many years ago, I worked as an interpreter for the Pan American Games, a regional event to cull the top athletes from the Americas. Some of the athletes gave away their country or sport pins to the interpreters, as gratitude, and this started me on the path to collecting Olympic memorabilia.
My interest in watching the Olympics has grown over the years. I was excited to see the changes taking place all over Beijing, with cleaning, building, the placing of colorful Olympic logo banners all around the city. I find the concept of the Olympic mascots to be fascinating. The symbolism is multi-faceted. Learn more.
Now, come full circle. Unbeknown to me, the Olympic flame's journey would take it through St. Petersburg, Russia, exactly when I was there on business for Sun Tech Days. So, on Saturday, April 5, while visiting the Hermitage Museum, the torch passed right in front of me and I was able to see the flame being passed from one athlete to the other.
Thanks to my colleague Jeremie for capturing this photo.
My not-too-realistic dream is that we could rise above politics and come together as peoples and not political entities to celebrate our commonalities and not our differences. I'm kind of a Pollyanna, I guess, or maybe just too naive.
