Muriel Demarcus Jacques describes her feelings about the London Olympics.

Bio:

Muriel Demarcus Jacques is a French engineer and a lawyer by training. Born and bred in France, she discovered at 32 years that life outside of France was possible and -shock horror!- even enjoyable when her husband found a job in London and all the family joined him.

However, even after a few years, she struggles to understand the Brits: what do they really mean? How do you speak proper English? How do you know whether your children's school is good?

She decided to write about her journey to understand this whole new world on her blog: www.FrenchYummyMummy.com and on Twitter @FrenchYumMummy. Do not forget to like her page on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/40blogSpot. She belongs to a group of bloggers called PBAU (Personal Bloggers Are Us), you can check out their blogs here: http://jahangiri.us/new/pbau-personal-bloggers-are-us/

In An Olympic Mood

muriel-jacquesWhere to begin? I am in an Olympic sort of mood. It all started with the Opening Ceremony. I didn’t know at all what to expect. Well, to cut a long story short, it blew my mind away…

The stadium represented the British countryside. There was some Morris dancing (traditional dance) involved.

And as for once it wasn't raining they even brought some clouds!

There was a huge bell too...

It all started with a blue piece of silk above our heads...I was a bit worried that we might have to keep it for the rest of the ceremony but my fears proved unfounded. Phew...

The ceremony was great, touching and mind-blowing at the same time. You could appreciate it at many different levels. Chimneys popped out of the stadium to represent the industrial revolution. There were also nurses and children dancing on beds, pop songs, Voldemort and Mary Poppins, and of course the suffragettes.

Then the athletes arrived and I found out about countries that I never knew could exist. Some delegations were massive; others only consisted of a few persons. Some athletes didn't have a country and had to compete under the Olympic flag (They were from the Dutch Antilles or from South Sudan). I was also surprised to see a delegation from Palestine. Eritrea followed Ethiopia -the joy of the alphabetical order, eh?

My seven-year old daughter didn’t sleep despite the fact that we came home at 2 am, exhausted.

Since then, we are glued to the BBC and are watching the games. We cheer for France when they win and for team GB when they have the advantage. I have never felt more European.

We are going to see the athletics, fencing and beach volleyball in a couple of days. I can't wait! My husband got the wrong tickets for beach volley and we are seeing the men. YAY! My daughters are obviously delighted...My husband, well... less so.

That said, don’t you think that the coverage of the London Olympic Games can be a bit condescending?

It started with Mitt Romney's visit to London. He criticised London's organisation of the events, saying that "it is hard to tell just how well it will turn out". He also questioned whether the British people would support the Games. It is fair to say that the comments stunned the Brits and earned Mitt Romney the nickname "Mitt The Twit". The French media were also fast to criticise the so-called " British materialism", writing that, in order to enter the Olympic Park, you had to walk through a commercial centre, which is simply inaccurate...Why am I not surprised?

But anyway, we are going to enjoy the games despite all the noise… I will never understand why some people always stay locked in their condescension bubble. Why do they feel the urge to score points and put others down? Why can't they accept that there is a lot to love in the Olympic spirit and even if things will never be perfect, there is nothing wrong with a little enthusiasm?