Today Greece celebrated its independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century with fantastic fanfare and pomp. To mark the occasion, a military parade was held merely a couple blocks from our hotel, which gave me an eerie impression of what a Soviet May Day celebration must've been like. I mean they had the whole gang there, the tanks, missiles, Humvees with bazookas on top, multiple fly overs by jets, bombers, and helicopters of all sorts. It literally must have been the entire Greek army. Soldiers even marched in full regalia with a disciplined coordination up and down the lines, especially with the whole arms swinging thing they had going on. It was quite impressive, but hardly the ticker-tate, floats, and candy throwing that mark our Memorial Day parades. An ill-placed spark would've had the whole parade route in trouble here in Athens. It was still a fun event nonetheless seeing all the Greeks lining the streets waving their flags in the shadow of Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Zeus. We even got to strike a pose in front of one of the tanks (is that not Michael Dukakis in the tank?) with some diplomats from Cameroon that thought it would be cool to get in our picture.
It was also a special day for what was going on half way around the world... and no, not in America. I'm talking about the events in Tokyo, Japan that took place this afternoon (or night or morning depending on where you are). Major League Baseball's Opening Day was today with my Boston Red Sox squaring off against the Oakland A's in the Tokyo Dome. This was the earliest Opening Day in Major League Baseball history, but the start of the title defense couldn't come soon enough, especially now that my bracket is on life support. The Sox won, albeit in sloppy fashion, as Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched in front of his native countrymen, though the win went to fellow Japanese native son Hideki Okajima. I braved the especially slow internet service to try and watch as much of the game as possible on my MLB.TV subscription and was fortunate enough to catch some of the best moments. In fact, the coverage of the NCAA tournament and now baseball season on MLB.TV are serving as my windows back into United States culture. I forgot how much I disliked American commercials, though now I have a new appreciation for hearing something being sold to me in English. Now, excuse me while I head back to studying. With one midterm finished this morning, I still have a final to go tomorrow. I guess today can't all be one big celebration!
Today Greece celebrated its independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century with fantastic fanfare and pomp. To mark the occasion, a military parade was held merely a couple blocks from our hotel, which gave me an eerie impression of what a Soviet May Day celebration must've been like. I mean they had the whole gang there, the tanks, missiles, Humvees with bazookas on top, multiple fly overs by jets, bombers, and helicopters of all sorts. It literally must have been the entire Greek army. Soldiers even marched in full regalia with a disciplined coordination up and down the lines, especially with the whole arms swinging thing they had going on. It was quite impressive, but hardly the ticker-tate, floats, and candy throwing that mark our Memorial Day parades. An ill-placed spark would've had the whole parade route in trouble here in Athens. It was still a fun event nonetheless seeing all the Greeks lining the streets waving their flags in the shadow of Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Zeus. We even got to strike a pose in front of one of the tanks (is that not Michael Dukakis in the tank?) with some diplomats from Cameroon that thought it would be cool to get in our picture.
It was also a special day for what was going on half way around the world... and no, not in America. I'm talking about the events in Tokyo, Japan that took place this afternoon (or night or morning depending on where you are). Major League Baseball's Opening Day was today with my Boston Red Sox squaring off against the Oakland A's in the Tokyo Dome. This was the earliest Opening Day in Major League Baseball history, but the start of the title defense couldn't come soon enough, especially now that my bracket is on life support. The Sox won, albeit in sloppy fashion, as Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched in front of his native countrymen, though the win went to fellow Japanese native son Hideki Okajima. I braved the especially slow internet service to try and watch as much of the game as possible on my MLB.TV subscription and was fortunate enough to catch some of the best moments. In fact, the coverage of the NCAA tournament and now baseball season on MLB.TV are serving as my windows back into United States culture. I forgot how much I disliked American commercials, though now I have a new appreciation for hearing something being sold to me in English. Now, excuse me while I head back to studying. With one midterm finished this morning, I still have a final to go tomorrow. I guess today can't all be one big celebration!
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