Light The Cauldron

The Olympics are the main goal of my trip to Tokyo in less than six months. (!!!!) Last weekend, I spent some time filling my calendar with all the stuff I've already accomplished for the trip, including airline reservations, hotel reservations, and sporting events. After I filled it out, I realized I have a few holes! I have two nights near the beginning of my trip that I still need to find a place to stay...plus the entire third week. (Surprisingly, I don't have holes in my Olympic events. Tell my 2018 self that fact and she'd be shocked!) When I booked my airline reservations, I spent a lot of time trying out a bunch of combinations of times to travel as well as places from which to commute. In the end, I went with a three week itinerary because it was the cheapest way to maximize my time but still be in Japan for the entire two weeks of the Olympics. That means that after my final event (which is on Day 16), I need to find something to do! I'm guessing tha

The weather might be cold outside for those of us in the northern hemisphere, but the preparation for the Olympic Games are heating up! (Get it? Heat? Tokyo will be hot? All the news media is talking about it? Never mind.) This week brought up a few Tokyo 2020 items for which we can get excited! First of all, the design for the Olympic and Paralympic tickets were unveiled. The pictogram for the specific event is at the front, and the background colors are based on the Japanese color scheme kasane no irome , which was used for fabrication of kimonos  in the eighth through twelfth centuries.  I personally really like the color scheme, and appreciate that the pictograms are found on there. After all, pictograms didn’t exist at the Olympics until Tokyo 1964! Yesterday, the large Olympic rings (famous for highlight reels) were floated to their resting spot in Odaiba, a man-made island in Tokyo. Next Friday Tokyo plans to do a fireworks show to celebrate the rings and als

In my "Spotlight" series during 2020, I will be taking a look at sports that I will be watching LIVE and IN PERSON when I travel to Tokyo for the Olympics! I have to admit that a lot of this series is meant for my benefit! While I am well versed in the wide world of athletics (track and field), many other Olympic sports' rules and athletes are pretty unfamiliar. So as I research, I can take that information with me as I sit in the stands. This week, we are taking look at 3x3 basketball. Many of you might be confused as to exactly why  3x3 basketball is an Olympic sport. Keep in mind that there are approximately eight billion different swimming events in a single Olympics (give or take), so why not pbarovide another opportunity to enjoy some basketball? This is the first year that it will be played at the Olympic Games, though it has made a presence in the Youth Olympic Games since 2010 and has grown in popularity all over the globe. We'll be covering FIBA

When I rebranded this blog in March of 2018, I had a hard time coming up with a name. What name would simultaneously make people think of the Olympics, but also be something that hasn't been used before?  It didn't take quite as long as I anticipated, but what helped me choose was thinking about some of my favorite Olympic moments. The best part of any Olympics is the lighting of the cauldron which signifies the beginning of the Games. So I went with that, and "Light the Cauldron" was born. It's only natural, therefore, that I talk about memorable cauldron lightings of the past as we get closer to the Tokyo 2020 Games. Each month I'll highlight three summer Games and talk about the uniqueness of each torch and cauldron lighting. Amsterdam 1928/ Los Angeles 1932: Baby steps While people will point to 1936 as the start of the torch relay, the actual cauldron lighting began 92 years ago in Amsterdam. The cauldron lighting doesn't have a direct co

Well well well! It's 2020! I am very excited for this year. Way back in 2016 I started talking publicly about attending the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and that year is actually here . Unbelievable. My preparations are nearing completion, and now I just have to make sure I don't get too indulgent and buy more tickets than I can afford! (A big swath of tickets dropped yesterday, but by the time I saw what was available there wasn't anything I was dying to get.) Some news dropped last week that Japan Airlines was offering 50,000 free flights for domestic flights from Tokyo to other locations in Japan. I am very, very interested in this; though my vacation is a bit limited, I could stretch it if necessary! The offer begins in February. I'll keep everyone posted! But this is all planning for stuff that's still seven months away. What am I going to do before then? I'm going to start a new series of blog posts dedicated to the name of this blog: Light the Cauldr