Blogging to you from the Hotel Giotto, Assisi, Italy. It's half past five here and I'm doing what I never do: sitting in my room on a beautiful day, watching tv. I just finished teaching the first session in my workshop -- which has a totally different flavor from last year's, as is to be expected -- and normally I'd go out for a walk. I've already done three long walks since I got here yesterday afternoon. Some things have changed, some things haven't, and I'll tell you much more about Assisi over the next two weeks. But right now I'm watching the Olympic opening ceremonies from Beijing. I missed most of it, of course, but I was in time to see the Chinese athletes come in, led by Yao Ming, whose whole life has been choreographed for this moment. The Chinese speeches are right now being translated into Italian, and since I speak neither language I'm free to watch the crowd and write to you.

I think this Olympics is a great thing. I love the Olympics anyway, for all the bs that goes on every year; on balance, it's still astounding to me to see athletes on this level. And with all its faults I have a soft spot for China, too, as I'm sure you all know. What I think this Olympics will accomplish -- is already accomplishing -- is to demonstrate to the Chinese government that it absolutely can't keep the iron grip on news, the web, behavior, life in general, that it wishes it could. And, more important, that that's all right. Journalists will find ways to the websites they want; people will protest things; China will win some events and lose others; there'll be controversy and trouble. At the end of it all China will still be a great power, with the world's respect, at least to the same extent it had that before the games. So the Chinese government may see that a little loosening up is both inevitable and, in fact, valuable.

That's my fantasy and I'm sticking to it. We'll see whether, unusually for me, I'm right. Meanwhile, enjoy the games.