The Olympics is an international stage for the world’s greatest athletes. There are two types of Olympic games: the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. Every two years the Summer and Winter Olympics alternate, each taking place once every four years. There are some key factors that make watching the Winter Olympics very different from watching the Summer Olympics like the seemingly greater risk-taking of the winter games.

The 2018 Winter Olympics is taking place in PyeongChang, South Korea right now, and everyone watching the games on their television back home on their couch are thinking very similar things.

1. Wait… how old were they again?

Half of these athletes are years younger than me or my age, and they have already accomplished much more than me. It is disconcerting. It makes me feel like I should go be more productive in life because if 17-year-old Red Gerard and Chloe Kim can win gold for the USA in snowboarding, I can at least get up off the couch.

2. These athletes are all beautiful.

Olympic athletes have bodies that are the epitome of body goals. They are all extremely fit, and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to look like that. I just can’t figure out if I want to look like them or date them more.

3. I can do that… in a video game.

I mean, SSX3 anyone? Or Wii Sports? I promise you that part of my brain is thinking of how I can pull off that trick in some kind of video game because that is where all those insane tricks and flips belong—in a video game where no one actually gets hurt.

4. How are any of them even alive?

Winter Sports seem to take injury-risk to a whole new level. Figure skaters do flips and jumps on ICE with sharp blades on their feet, and snowboarders fly high into the air to land on hard, packed snow that feels like the equivalent of CONCRETE if you fall.Then, of course, you’ve got all the speed-sports where athletes go WAY TOO FAST on mountains or ice. They all risk serious injury every time they compete (or practice). And yeah, I’m pretty sure those snowboarders have all broken their necks at least once.

5. I know they practice and prepare for this exact moment their entire lives, but they’ve got to be superhuman right?

Okay, we have already gone over how they are all risking their lives and yet continue doing crazy stunts. Now let us talk about the actual stunts they do. None of that seems real, right? I can’t be the only one who thinks that the way these athletes can pull of these insane moves seems superhuman, and it is more than just tricks, it is the fact that they can do those tricks under immense pressure.

6. It’s not fair how easy they make it look.

Not only do these Olympic athletes pull off insane moves under immense pressure, they make it look easy. They make it look like they somehow haven’t been just defied all the rules of gravity. I know it is not easy, but they are so talented that they make it look like they just took a regular walk in the park.

7. I’m so anxious! I can’t watch!

I can get so caught up in cheering on the athletes that I get nervous for them. I think it is near impossible to not get nervous when Shaun White jumps near 20 feet in the air or when Mikaela Shiffrin zooms down a mountain at ridiculous speeds or even when Chris Knierim throws his wife and figure-skating partner, Alexa Scimeca-Knierim, into the air - all I can think during those moments is “Don’t fall! Don’t fall!”

8. Man, that spandex looks really uncomfortable.

I don’t know if those uniforms and costumes are actually uncomfortable, but they certainly look like it. The athletes look like they should be cold too; it does not look like they are wearing enough layers most of the time with the exception of snowboarders.

9. Bless their families!

I cannot imagine how hard it is for the families of these athletes. Families of any athlete sacrifice a lot. I know because my family is full of athletes, but none of us are Olympic level athletes. It makes me wonder how much more families of Olympic athletes sacrifice. I doubt there would be as many athletes in the Olympics if it were not for such supporting families willing to make it happen.

10. Do the athletes get to have any kind of social life?

I wonder what kind of social life these Olympic athletes get to have and how they manage to balance all of that with the intense training that comes with being an Olympian. I mean how much free time do they get in between being superhuman?

11. Speechless.

Sometimes while watching the Winter Olympics, I become utterly speechless. I just have no words. There are some moves these athletes execute that I cannot react to more than to look on with wide-eyes and open-mouth. The Winter Olympics is filled with heart-stopping, jaw-dropping moments where simple words cannot do justice.

12. I’d love to actually go to these someday.

Going to the Winter Olympics is on my bucket list, and it should be on everyone’s list if it isn’t already. To be able to see these events alive would be amazing, and I imagine that the excitement level would be even bigger than it is now while I sit on my couch.

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All that being said, the Winter Olympics are special, and the athletes, no matter which country they are from, are even more special to everyone watching. It is moving to watch the athletes succeed at reaching their dreams and goals and to feel like we are a part of the moment. Thank you, Olympians, for all of your hard work and sacrifices; it is a joy to watch you beat the odds and do the impossible.