olympics this, olympics that

in the last few days ive been watching olympic coverage non stop. it always amazes me that events that youd normally never take a look at (ie: the luge, men in tights using a sled down a ice tube, or the biathalon, combining cross country skiing with, of all things, target shooting) become the sport of the hour. you cheer for canadians youd never heard of and are happy when they end up in 43rd place.

i must say that the japanese coverage is much better than, say, nbc. on nbc you get to see all the americans go, a big sappy human interest story on how that athlete overcame all odds or battled through all types of adversity in his/her life, see them finish in 16th place in alpine skiing, and then get a glimpse of the norwegian, german, and austrian skiiers who take the gold, siver, and bronze. on nhk they actually show the entire event, from the person who finished 60th to the gold medalist. very little bias is given to the japanese athletes (or maybe there is, i dont know, i cant understand the japanese commentary).

and speaking of the japanese commentary, it always amuses me how the japanese show each other theyre listening to what each other is saying. in order to make sure youre paying attention, you respond with a "hai" or an "ehh" or an "umh" every five seconds when someone else is rattling on about something important. you could very well pass off as a japanese speaker by just uttering those phrases every time somebody is talking, and when its your chance to speak, just say that youre very quiet and have nothing to say at that moment in time.