Tonight I watched the Olympics' Opening Ceremonies! Finally, it is here! The winter Olympics! National pride! (Can you tell I get excited about this event?)

The winter Olympics brings back great memories from my childhood. My whole family (heck--the whole nation of Norway!) took our lutefisk and lefse into the living room, donned our red and white stocking hats and bunad (look it up), and gathered around the TV and watched as many events as we possibly could. It was a time for all of us to watch our beloved nation's athletes take it to the rest of the world. Norway kicks some serious *ss in winter sports, eh?

One of the things I find difficult here in the US is to enjoy an event from start to finish—to see the winners and the losers. CBS, NBC, ESPN all think we do not have the patience to watch a complete event. I want to see the Germans, Americans, Norwegians…and the Jamaicans. All the countries are fun to watch.

(The top of the medal standings may be surprising to some with Norway, a country of about 4.5 million people, on top.)

Total all-time medal standings:

1. Norway --268
2. Russia -- 195
3. USA -- 194
4. Germany -- 154

Attached you will also find some interesting links to try out while you are watching the events:

• International Olympic Committee Web Site--the official site of the 2006 Olympics
• Official Visitor Site of the Torino Olympics--information about tickets, venues, and facts about the Torino Olympics
• Kids Village: Torino 2006--an interactive site for younger students to learn more about the Olympic games
• FactMonster: Winter Olympics--all kinds of interesting Olympic information may be found here
• Time for Kids: Getting Ready for the Winter Olympics--easy-to-read information and news about the upcoming Torino games
• History of the Olympics--a beautifully-done site covering the history of the Olympics through the 2000 Summer Games
• International Olympic Committee: History of the Olympics--this official site provides information, facts, and figures from the modern games as well as information about the scheduled future games
• Olympics Timeline from Infoplease--an overview of both the ancient and modern games (lots of ads here which are distracting)
• Factmonster: Winter Olympics Through the Years--a well-done timeline of Winter Games information

Enjoy the winter Olympics--I know I will.