Hope you had a Happy Easter

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter break. Save an easter egg for me. Isn’t technology amazing. Not only can we send e-mails instantaneously but we can also have a live conversation through the internet. For over an hour I was talking and video conferencing with my family. Everyone was over at my house for Easter dinner so I was able to talk with everyone or make faces to my cousin. I was in the middle of the room being included in the conversation.

Otherwise I had a great weekend of sightseeing and shopping. As the Beijing Olympics are approaching next summer the advertisement is starting to get into full swing. These 5 little characters are starting to pop up all over the place. I couldn’t help but buy this key chain set with all the characters on it.

This is the story behind them from the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games website.

“Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world.
Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.
Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.
When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.
Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature -- the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky -- all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.”

www.en.beijing2008.com/80/05/article211990580.shtml