Anticipation filled my body, from the tip of my head to the extreme bottom of my toes. The winter wonderland and holiday atmosphere still filled the quaint and immaculate little city. Glowing, twinkling lights covered every single tree as if it was being invaded by a giant army of fireflies. I, along with the rest of the town, was impatiently waiting for the Olympic torch to arrive.
Standing on Main Street with my dad and sister, I could feel the frigid air engulf my petite body as the sun disappeared behind the world, as I knew it. The torch was due to arrive in Vail at five o'clock p.m., but it was nearly seven o'clock and still no sign of it. Along with my overwhelming impatience grew even more coldness. I made a great number of trips to the mountain gear and clothing shops across the narrow, people-filled street hoping to regain my warmth. Although it was incredibly warmer inside, my anxiousness seemed to continue to attract me out into the sub-zero icebox like a firefly drawn to the light.
After waiting two of the longest hours of my life, in the far distance I could make out an unusual fiery glow moving in our direction. The thousands of people packed into the congested dreamlike town began to get antsy. With the torch growing closer and closer, it would arrive and make its début at any given moment.
Within a few minutes, the first vehicles, having precautionary yellowish orange construction type lights swirling on their tops, had made their way into town. A huge Coca-Cola truck was the first through, handing out twenty ounce plastic bottles of half frozen Coke-- not exactly what I wanted at the time, being that my hands, feet and nose were tiptoeing on an edge, almost to fall off. Not far behind was what we'd so...
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...rble Vail City Building. I was lucky enough to be shoved up against a man holding a very expensive video camera. Through the lens, I saw everything. Fireworks in the shape and color of the Olympic rings boomed above us in the coal black sky, elementary kids with smiles from ear to ear were expressing their excitement through songs, and the local school bands accompanied the well known singer, Dan Fogelberg. The festivities continued into the night for hours.
Thinking back to the events as we were strolling away, a sense of bittersweet thoughts filled my body. Guided back to our car by pearly white Christmas lights and the crisp moonlight reflecting off the snow, the winter wonderland and holiday atmosphere was still present. Just as we were driving away, the army of fireflies finished their long day of work and flew off to bed leaving Vail calm, quiet and dark.
The traveler is advised not to make this trip with the lack of his inexperience in the Yukon due to the weather, the incoming storm, and its advisories. With the subzero freezing cold temperatures that came with the storm. “Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear flaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks.”(561)
I stepped into the middle of the road and just stood there, the lights stretching in either direction, glowing in the deep chilly air. I could see my own breath, could feel my own warmth as it formed right there in front of me. Behind me, our house looked dark, faint lingering of I'd walk a million miles, and I wasn't even sure if it was really playing or if I was imagining the familiar, the same way a bright light remain when you close your eyelids, the way I imagine that the sight of an eclipse would burn its image into your eyes forever(pg.
The 1936 Olympics in Berlin, also known as the “Nazi Olympics”, was a milestone in the history of the world. All of the attention of the Olympics that year was focused on Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. In 1933, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler became leader of Germany and quickly turned the nation's democracy into a one-party dictatorship. He took thousands of political opponents, holding them without trial in concentration camps. The Nazis also set up a program to strengthen the Germanic Aryan population. They began to exclude all one-half million Jews from the population, and German life. As part of the drive to "purify" and strengthen the German population, a 1933 law permitted physicians to perform forced sterilizations of psychiatric patients and congenitally handicapped persons, Gypsies, and Blacks (Encarta Encyclopedia 1996 [CD-ROM]). The 1936 Olympics in Berlin caused many worries, problems, and questions for America and other countries throughout the world.
The first female character that influences a man is the prostitute. She is left at the spring by the hunter so that she can sleep with Enkidu and make the other animals abandon him. According to the tale, Enkidu acts like an animal. Nonetheless he is drawn to the prostitute. She is wise and knows the nature of man. She tells Enkidu he is no longer an animal, he is like a god, like Gilgemesh. She uses her influence to get him to go to Uruk. One could say the prostitute plays a maternal role. She clothes him, with her robe and takes him to a house where he is taught how to live like a human being. After she teaches him all he needs to know, she sends him to Uruk to confront Gilgamesh. She does not lead him, she follows behind him signifying his readiness to be a man. The prostitute is an independent person. Besides being led to the spring where Enkidu rests, she does not have to be told what to do or how to influence him. She has her own agenda and successfully accomplishes her mission.
As I inched my way toward the cliff, my legs were shaking uncontrollably. I could feel the coldness of the rock beneath my feet when my toes curled around the edge in one last futile attempt at survival. My heart was racing like a trapped bird, desperate to escape. Gazing down the sheer drop, I nearly fainted; my entire life flashed before my eyes. I could hear stones breaking free and fiercely tumbling down the hillside, plummeting into the dark abyss of the forbidding black water. The trees began to rapidly close in around me in a suffocating clench, and the piercing screams from my friends did little to ease the pain. The cool breeze felt like needles upon my bare skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps. The threatening mountains surrounding me seemed to grow more sinister with each passing moment, I felt myself fighting for air. The hot summer sun began to blacken while misty clouds loomed overhead. Trembling with anxiety, I shut my eyes, murmuring one last pathetic prayer. I gathered my last breath, hoping it would last a lifetime, took a step back and plun...
We continued down the infinitely long interstate towards our destination. Thunder clouds continued to rumble in, like an ocean tide rolling closer and closer to the beach front. Within minutes the entire landscape was calm and dark. It looked like a total eclipse of the sun, and the once ...
Standing on the balcony, I gazed at the darkened and starry sky above. Silence surrounded me as I took a glimpse at the deserted park before me. Memories bombarded my mind. As a young girl, the park was my favourite place to go. One cold winter’s night just like tonight as I looked upon the dark sky, I had decided to go for a walk. Wrapped up in my elegant scarlet red winter coat with gleaming black buttons descending down the front keeping away the winter chill. Wearing thick leggings as black as coal, leather boots lined with fur which kept my feet cozy.
Every two years the Olympic Games take place on the world’s stage. People are mesmerized as they cheer on their home team. Whether it be the summer or winter games, for two weeks, biannually, people are inundated with the games. But, many may fail to realize the competition and game behind the Games. This is the never ceasing game of the bidding process and subsequent creation and construction of new Olympic venues as newly selected host cities prepare for their opportunity to host the Olympics. But this little known game has only a few select winners, and their prize is not a medal, rather it is huge financial gains. The losers are many, and they are the most vulnerable inhabitants of the city, the poor; they are not simply losing out on a medal, they are losing their homes.
The ruckus from the bottom of the truck is unbearable, because of the noise and excessive shaking. As we slowly climbed the mountain road to reach our lovely cabin, it seemed almost impossible to reach the top, but every time we reached it safely. The rocks and deep potholes shook the truck and the people in it, like a paint mixer. Every window in the truck was rolled down so we could have some leverage to hold on and not loose our grip we needed so greatly. The fresh clean mountain air entered the truck; it smelt as if we were lost: nowhere close to home. It was a feeling of relief to get away from all the problems at home. The road was deeply covered with huge pines and baby aspen trees. Closely examining the surrounding, it looks as if it did the last time we were up here.
The greatest athletes of all time have their names set in stone. Every year a new star comes out of the shadows and becomes the focus of global interest. Nations back their athletes financially to ensure they receive a medal. Winning gold in the Olympics Games is seen as the highest honor an athlete can achieve because of its prestigious image. The Olympics have not always been about the athletes. Nations competing have been victims of political scandals. When one country goes against another country, some people do not only view it as a fight for gold, but as a war amongst nations. Soccer fields have become battlegrounds and players, soldiers. Swimming pools turn into bloodbaths, and tennis court nets as do territorial partitions. Since the early 1900s, governments have used the Olympics to prove that their nation is superior by spending more on athletic ability, more on Olympic stadiums, and more on defeating their rivals. At times, athletes can be pushed so far that they collapse under the pressure of chasing for gold. All of the above will be discoursed from a financial, political, and historical point of view.
I brush my eyes awake, feeling the cold seeping in from my window. It’s 9 AM and it’s winter in Minnesota. Feeling sleepy, I stand up and go outside. I love the winter air. It always refreshes my mind and there’s just a cold bite to it that I enjoy. Coming back inside, I boot up my computer, hoping to enjoy it a little before heading out. The winter days swim together, phasing throughout my mind, and I fall asleep again, or I have woken up.
Bottaro, Visser and Nigel Worden. 2009. In Search of History Grade 12. South Africa Oxford University Press.
The Olympic Games has changed dramatically throughout time, being the biggest games of known to the world. It dates back to the year 776 BC which was held in Olympia thus giving it the name the Olympic Games. Compared to the modern day Olympics their was not as many sports as their was in the ancient Olympics. Also the athlete who participated in the ancient Olympics had different roles than we do now. Overall the Olympic games give the chance for the best of the best to be seen and to be captured in the spotlight.
Michael, Levenson H. A Genealogy of Modernism: A study of English literary doctrine 1908-1922. 28 Feb. 2005 http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/wasteland.htm.
As I walked I let my eyes close and my feet feel the groove in the gravel. My mind, still asleep, dreamt of breathing. The lining of my father's old coat escaped inside the pockets and caught my fingers, which were numb from the cold. I would have worn gloves but the sun would be unbearable later in the day. The clouds would rise over the mountains and disappear and the birds would slowly become silent as the heat settled in. But for now it was just cold. I tried to warm my neck by breathing down the collar. It smelled like diesel and sweat.