Olympics

Thanks to the timing of our Karuizawa ski trip this year, our family have been watching the Winter Olympics much more often than before.

This also gives me a great chance to teach my daughter how the Olympic ceremony director Konstantin Ernst owned up to his mistake four years ago. The Russians faced international mockery after a technical glitch during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, when one of the five snowflake-like figures of the Olympic ring failed to unfold. For illustration purpose, YouTube watching is the best way for replay of that embarrassing moment.

Imagine that you're Konstantin Ernst. And, hey, Vladimir Putin is looking over your shoulder. Even my eight-year-old daughter (without an iota of idea about Putin) knows what I mean. She was amazed when I told her how the ceremony director reclaimed or reappropriated the blot. Come what may, Konstantin Ernst decided not to let his ego stand in his way.

Here is what Konstantin Ernst did. In the closing ceremony, a group of dancers stayed tightly packed together when the rest of them recreated the Olympic rings. This joke, in effect, replicated the four-out-of-five Olympic ring motif of the faulty snowflake from the opening ceremonies. The audience loved it. They laughed, and my daughter applauded.