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Is the Olympic Spirit there?

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It's 100 days to go until the Olympics – apart from ticketing fiascos and a lot of interesting Channel 4 documentaries – my main reflection on the build-up to the Olympics is that it has been very very British.

Moving back to the UK a year ago I was very excited about a few things -the massive culinary options available in London, going to wonderful museums, and the Olympics being the top of the list. The move to London (after 6 years living overseas) was eased by the amazing multi-culturalism of the city and the melting pot feeling you get when walking around, eating out or going out to the shops. However, the build-up to the Olympics has so far, highlighted all of the less open characteristics of the Olympics and Britain.

Over the past few months, the government, the Royal family and all of the advertising around the Olympics have been pushing Britain, Pride in Britain, British flags, get behind ‘our’ guys and the wonders of Britain. We will show the world all that is great about British culture. For me, this is the wrong way of thinking.

Surely the main benefit of hosting athletes from over 100 countries is not in the promotion of our culture to those visitors, but the massive opportunity we have to learn about the other 100+ countries. The way this should be promoted is that this is London’s and the UK’s chance to learn about other cultures, being bought to us, rather than our chance to teach them.

The summer of 2012 – where open mindedness should happen.