Winter Olympics: Best photos and highlights from Opening Ceremony

The Winter Olympics are officially underway with the Opening Ceremony kicking off the festivities in South Korea — but here’s everything you missed.

If you’re waking up to a Twitter feed full of national flags and greased up Tongans, don’t be confused. The Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics commenced this morning, which is actually Friday night in South Korea.

Get used to that weird time vortex, it’s going to be your life over the next few weeks.

Because South Korea is 15 hours ahead of Eastern Time, things are going to get weird as far as when Olympic events are held. For instance, the Opening Ceremony was a primetime event in South Korea, but it was broadcast live at 4 am in New York.

Don’t get down on yourself for not setting an alarm and getting up early to watch the festivities though. Not only will the Opening Ceremony be re-aired by NBC in American primetime on Friday night, we woke up early and collected the best photos and highlights so you can be all caught up for water cooler conversations.

Perhaps the unifying moment of the night was when North and South Korean athletes came out together, under the same flag. It was a truly historic moment and an image of healing that we never thought we’d ever see.

If you don’t know the context, North and South Korea do not like each other. That’s a statement stripped of hyperbole to save you from a history lesson that is far too detailed to fit in a simple post. Books have been written and college courses taught about the broken relationship between the two countries over the last 100 years. It can’t adequately articulate how powerful this moment was. To put it loosely, it’s like Donald Trump and Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the flag together during the national anthem of the Super Bowl.

All of Korea, under one flag. It’s a monumental deal.

As for what most Americans will care about from the Opening Ceremony, Team USA was met with a rousing ovation. Erin Hamlin led the Americans out, wearing outfits that we’re sure to be talking about all weekend long.

The entire infield of the track was lit up in American colors, with the flag being projected across the field. It was truly a patriotic moment, one that should hopefully set the tone for American dominance at this year’s Olympics.

Before we dive deeper into America’s part in the ceremony, we need to hit another highlight.

One of the biggest moments of the night, especially for #content, was when greased up Tonga guy came out as the flag bearer for his country. The Tongans were a hit back in Rio, but that was when the opening ceremony took place in South America. Spoiler alert: it was not as warm in South Korea as it was in Brazil two summers ago.

Of course, that didn’t stop Pita Taufatofua from flexing on the world, again.

For the record, it was roughly 29 degrees during the ceremony. Going shirtless and oiling yourself up to carry around your country’s flag is the new high bar for national pride.

Tonga may have the last Olympic viral sensation leading them out, but Team USA has the next, raising the world Bryce Bennett. He’s on the Olympic Ski Team but has already won gold for best mustache presentation.

Lindsey Vonn was flying high at the opening ceremony as well and should continue that as she attempts to bring home gold over the next few weeks. Whenever the Winter Olympics start, it’s hard to identify the American stars we want to root for. Obviously, we’re all pulling for Team USA, but the recognizable faces are few. Vonn is perhaps the most famous face there, which is a testament to how amazing her Olympic career has been up to this point.

One thing that caught the attention of everyone was the outfit for Team USA. Specifically, the gloves that were designed to go with the outfit. If you’re trying to place where you’ve seen them before, the first place my mind went was the gloves Jim Carrey wore in Dumb and Dumber.

If that’s the first place your mind went to as well, then congrats. If not, well now you can’t unsee it:

Unrelated to the events unfolding inside of the Olympic track, we had drama in the stands. Someone tried to crash the ceremony dressed as Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, but were promptly escorted from the stadium.

It looks like they both got pretty close to the action before security caught up to them and turned them away.

Of course, you can’t start the Olympics without lighting the torch. It’s a flame that has traveled the world to arrive in Pyeongchang, and now the games can begin.

The opening ceremony is always a fun time, as it’s the calm before the Olympic storm. There will be blood, sweat and tears shed over the next few weeks as the very best athletes in the world compete to try and bring home gold. There’s time for that down the line, however.

For now, it’s all about the pomp and circumstance of kicking the Winter Olympics off and if what we saw on Friday in South Korea was any indication, we’re in for a fantastic few weeks of action.