A Fond Farewell

How do you sum up 20 of the most memorable days of one's life! I have never been so proud to be a Canadian as I have since the 9th of February. Not only did our athletes perform so admirably in so many ways, but our volunteers did a marvelous job and our citizens behaved themselves in oh such a Canadian way. Where else in the world would thousands of people line up for hours for a chance to touch the olympic medals and not only not complain but make the best of it by having a good time in the line! Yes, there were a few glitches, including an unfortunate, serious accident, but for the most part I think we did a wonderful job showing ourselves to the world. One incredible side effect of this is the fact that these olympics have brought us together as a country and hopefully some of that will continue to make us feel good for a long time to come.
The only thing that could have topped this is the incredible weekend we had in terms of accomplishments. It was so nice to see Charles Hamelin achieve the success he so deeply wanted and to see Kevin Martin feel fulfilled after his disappointment 8 years ago. And then the finale!!!
Could it not have been more appropriate than to have Sidney Crosby score the winning goal in overtime? His disappointment 4 years ago at not being chosen was also rewarded.
The closing ceremonies were so appropriate--as NBC said--very folksy, very Canadian! Our flag bearer was a perfect choice. I didn't know if Joannie would do it, thinking she might want to get home, but I am so glad she did. The other athletes were also glad she did and that is a testament to how they felt about her accomplishments. Being the humble person that she is, she said she didn't think she should carry the flag because she had not won a gold medal.
The moment that flame went out, a little flame went out in me as well. It is hard to believe it is over. In one way the time went by so quickly, but in another way it seems like months ago that Alex Bilodeau won our first gold medal ever at home!
We will all suffer from withdrawal now for the next little while, but it was a wonderful time that will never be repeated in my lifetime.

Day 13 of Competition

Well my marvellous adventure has nearly come to an end. I hve completed my last shift and said my goodbyes to a wonderful group of people who have been my social group for the past 2 weeks. We have laughed and cried together and worked very hard at times. Many of the friends and families dropped in today to watch the women's hockey game. Most of the athletes still have races so they were practising, but I got to say goodbye to many of the families I have gotten to know very well. Clara Hughes' family were all out in force because this is the last time they will see many of the families, since Clara is retiring after these Olympics--a reason why her medal yesterday was so special.
After the hockey game we started setting up for the HBC sponsored breakfast tomorrow morning. I will miss it, but many of the athletes, families and volunteers will be there.
Another emotional night at the Pacific Colliseum. Joannie did her mother and her nation proud. I have to admit that I could not watch it. I listened to the commentary but just couldn't look. I will watch it tonight on reruns.
Our women played a wonderful hockey game. They certainly deserved to win. I wasn't too thrilled with the American girls' attitude when they received their medals. A few of the younger ones acknowledged the crowd, but most of them just had sour faces. Too bad they feel that way.
I don't know what it has been like in the rest of the country but I have to tell you that Canadian pride has never been stronger than it has in this city for the past 2 weeks. The other day trhe Sky Train pulled into the station and when the doors opened all you could hear was CA NA DA, CA NA DA. It was wonderful. People were talking to other people all over the place and bursting with pride that we were hosting the Olympics. I wish we could bottle the feeling and hold onto it forever.
I want to thank all of you for encouraging me to continue this blog. I have really enjoyed doing it, but there were some nights when I came home tired and didn't really feel like doing it, but I knew you were expecting it, so I pushed on and then was glad when I had done it.
My flight tomorrow sahouldn't be too bad because Westjet has little tv's so I will be able to watch the coverage on the way home, which will help the time go much faster.
It has been the thrill of a lifetime!

Day 12 of Competition

Never in my life could I have imagined how I would feel watching a Canadian win a medal at home at the Olympics. I will treasure that feeling for the rest of my life, and the medal could not have gone to a nicer Canadian. Clara Hughes is the opitome of what you would want her to be. She always has a smile on her face, is kind, generous and always has time for you--no matter what the circumstances. When she did her victory lap in shoes after the flower ceremony, it was as if she was thanking every single one of us individually. It must have taken her 20 mins. to make the trip around. Not one person left the stadium before the ceremony was over.
I was sitting at the end of the last corner in a sea of orange. The Nederlanders certainly do love their speed skating! They were pretty obnoxious whenever a Dutch skater was skating, but they also cheered for any good skater. I was so shocked when I saw how fast they skated. I had read somewhere that at top speed they are going faster than the speed limit on city streets. That is 50km per hour, and when they are doing it right in front of you it is just phenomenal! Martina Sablikova, who won the race was incredibly smooth. Her upper body was motionless, even at the end. All the power was in the legs. My only disappointment was the venue. Inside it is an absolutely beautiful building, but all around the outside they have temporary tent-like structures which funnel people in only 2 gates which are open, and the washrooms are portapotties!!! I assume that is all for security reasons but it sure detracts from the building. I would love to come back and see these venues when they are no longer shrouded in all this security stuff!
I guess this has been Wonderful Wednesday! It sure beats Super Sunday which was a bust! Imagine coming 1st and 2nd in an event--4 medals altogether--and all of them from women!
Tomorrow is my last day at the Boathouse. I stopped in on my way back from the Oval to say goodbye to some of the girls I won't see again. I am going to be sad to leave. I will certainly miss the thrill and excitement, but I must admit that it has been tiring and I am looking forward to relaxing in Florida and spending time with my family.
I almost forgot to tell you that I went to the O Zone this morning before I went to the Oval. It was interesting but not exactly hopping! I guess I went too early, but I didn't want to be late for the race.

Day 11 of Competition

Another wonderful day! One of the reasons I love the Olympics so much is the "people stories". Not the number of medals; not the IOC members who sit in their ivory towers and make rules; but the heartache and triumph and behind the scene stories of everyday people. I met the "host" family for the Morrisons today(Denny Morrison is a speed skater). This down to earth family lives in a substantial house in Richmond and they have three empty bedrooms now that children have moved away from home. When they were building the Oval, less than a kilometre from their home, they asked people in the area to consider being "host families" whenever there were races at the Oval--including World Championships and Olympics. So Dan and Ruth (I didn't catch their last names) said they would and ended up with the Morrison family at the first race and they have been staying there ever since and have become lifelong friends. Dan and Ruth knew virtually nothing about Speed Skating when they started, but are experts now!
Speaking of people stories, can you believe what Joannie did tonight? I watched the whole thing with tears streaming down my face. There were several big brawny men in the room who were pretty misty-eyed as well. As a coach I was trying to imagine what I would say or do with an athlete of mine who was going through something like that. The most touching moment for me was when the camera shot to Brian Orser who saluted her courage with a bow.
And Ashleigh McIvor(I keep wanting to say McIsaac!) was terrific.
Tonight we had a sponsor night at the Boathouse. Wrigley's Gum is a major sponsor for Speed Skating and Denny Morrison. His picture is on the package of Excel gum so there were many free samples being passed around. He had to endure almost an hour of interviews before he could join the party, but then came in and was available for pictures. He was so cute when he came in. Everyone applauded and he went beet red in the face! I took a picture of him with Dan and Ruth. His mother was there but his dad was at the hockey game!!! I can see where this sponsor thing could become very cumbersome.
Tomorrow I am off and that is the day I get to go to the Oval to watch the women's 3000m. It will be Clara Hughes' last race as an olympian so I hope she skates a satisfying race. Kristina Groves will also racing. If it is not raining I am going to go out early so I can go to the "O Zone" where lots of activities are going on. That is also where Heineken House is. I bet there wasn,t too much celebrating going on there today unless they were crying in their beers!

Day 10 of Competition

Wow! What an Ice Dance performance. That routine gives me goose bumps every time I see it. They are such a wonderful pair and so mature for their age.
I had a surprising day off today. There were no races at the Oval so they decided to give everyone an extra shift off. It was going to be a short shift for me today, but I didn`t mind having extra time to do some of the chores I need to do to get ready to leave. I went to the bank for hopefully the last time before I go home and did a laundry so I won`t have to do that again. The family I stayed with the first week invited me over for dinner, which was very nice. Paula had been to 2 figure skating events with her daughter so we all sat down together after dinner to watch the Ice Dance. It is so much more fun to watch an event with a group of people who all have the same goal in mind.
I also watched the XCountry Team Sprint this morning for both the men and women. We did extremely well--particularly the men. Alex Harvey is so young in a sport where many of the best are in their 30s. I remember his father Pierre Harvey who skied for Canada at the Calgary Olympics. He was the best we had at the time and I think he was about 25th in his races.
There was a really nice article in the Vancouver Sun this morning on the Morrison family, talking about how they were there together supporting each other. They must spend most of their time at the rink. They have 3 children-all elite skaters.
That is all the news for today. Sorry it wasn`t very interesting. Back to the Boathouse tomorrow so I should have more interesting things to talk about then.

Day 9 of Competition

I was so conflicted today. I had a ticket to see the medal ceremony, but I really wanted to see the girls race the 1500 and I only saw the first half because I knew I should leave early for the stadium because of the hockey game. So I went and am I ever glad I did. The buses and Sky train were very busy and I wasn't looking forward to going downtown but I did. I got off the Sky Train and asked for directions to B.C.Place. They have volunteers at the exit of all Sky Train stops. I was told it was straight down Georgia St.--about a 10 min. walk. Well I think that is on days when there isn't a Canada-US hockey game! The street was wall to wall people and I get a little worried in those instances because I am so short that I can't tell where I am and what is up ahead. However, 35 mins later I got to the frontof B.C. Place, but I still had some time, so I went over to Downtown Live at David Lam Park. That is where the Canada Pavilion and the Manitoba Pavilion are. I was told that people started lining up at 8:30 this morning to get in to watch the hockey game there on the big screen. I went on to the Ontario Pavilion where thousands were standing outside watching the game-- the same at Molson Hockey House.
I went through security for B.C. Place and because it is such a large venue(for Opening & Closing ceremonies) the security is about 1 km from the entrance to the venue. There are smaller crowds for the medal ceremonies but the security remains the same.
We started off with a warm-up from Ben Mulroney and Tamara someone or other doing a trivia thing which wasn't great, but then at 6:30 the show began. There were many empty seats because many people were out in the hallways watching the hockey game on the big screens. Each night, one of the provinces is highlighted for its culture and tonight it was Nunavut. We were treated to a 1/2 hour presentation of story-telling, song, art and games. It was fabulous. They did a large section on the significance of the Inukshuk and even formed a human one!
Unfortunately I was really high up so I was not able to take any pictures. I tried several times but my camera is just not good enough to get a decent picture from that far away.
After the Nunavut show, we all stood for the Olympic hymn while the Olympic flag was raised, carried in by 4 mounties.
Then the ceremony started. As the mounties marched in carrying the flags of the winning countries, we were shown video on the massive screen of the winning performances. The athletes then marched in, followed by the 3 girls with medals and flowers on trays and the 2 IOC members who were to present the medals--and it is different for each event. As the flags are raised, we are asked to stand for the anthem. The athletes then parade around for a few moments, stopping briefly for Kodak moments. As they exit, the announcer says :your medallists! and confetti is shot out of two cylinders. We then switched to a live feed from Whistler to see a medal ceremony from there--standing again for the anthem! In all we saw 4 ceremonies from Vancouver and 4 from Whistler. That is 8 anthems we stood for and they were all different. When the Stars and Stripes played for Bode Miller I sang along because I didn't get a chance to sing O Canada! That was the only disappointment, but Shani Davis is practically Canadian. We adopted him for awhile because he didn't feel comfortable on the American team. And my husband is from the Netherlands and they were represented as well.
After the ceremonies there was a concert by Trouper. They opened with "We're here for a good time, not a long time". How appropriate was that! They were very good, but very loud! I must be getting old. There was another concert after that with Loverboy, but it was already 9:30 and I was afraid if I waited much longer I was going to get caught heading back with the hockey crowd and it would take me forever. After the last game they were lined up for 2 hours to get on the Sky Train. Besides, I was getting a headache.
Congratulations to Kristina on a great race and to Scott and Tessa for a spectacular Original Dance. I can't wait for tomorrow night. I feel so badly for Joannie I can't imagine where she will find the strength to compete. For those of you who don't know, she lost her mother overnight. She had just arrived in Vancouver hours earlier and died of a sudden heart attack. The Chef de Mission for Canada, Nathalie Lambert, was having trouble composing herself while she told the media.

Day 8 of competition

Another beautiful day in Vancouver, so I ventured downtown this morning to see the flame. I passed the line to get into the Superstore which was 4 blocks long, then I passed the line for the mint where you can go and touch the medals--it was 6 blocks long and the lineup at Birks where you can buy replicas of the torch or olympic jewellery was 4 blocks long. The lineup for the unobstructed view of the flame was 1 hour long so I took my picture through the fence! I could not believe the chills I felt when I got to the flame. It was so special to be that close to the real Olympic flame!
I went to my shift today with great anticipation, knowing that the men were skating the 1500 long track and short track. Apparently the whole Morrison family spent some time at the Boathouse this morning with a sport psychologist. They were in seclusion for quite awhile. It is so interesting to be with people who know the sport and the athletes so well. When they don't have their best race on game day they are sad, but not because they didn't medal, but because they know that athlete is going to be so disappointed, knowing what they are capable of. No one feels more badly about today than Denny. His parents were terrific! They weren't disappointed, they just felt bad because they knew he felt bad and they couldn't get anywhere close to him to tell him how they felt.
At the short track today it was all "agony and ecstacy"! The roars when things went well and the ahhhhs when they didn't. Did you see Marianne in tears when Charles came 4th? She was so cute!
You will notice that I finally got a picture with Catriona. We talked for a few minutes before the picture and she actually remembered our chance encounter before the games began.
Check out my pictures for today at picasa and you will see another one of me with Jeremy Wotherspoon. I was shocked at how quiet and shy he was!
I have been meaning to tell you this for awhile now, but the next time you Ontarians complain about the price of gas, think about B.C. where it has averaged $1.10 since I got here. I asked someone if that was inflated for the Olympics and they said no.
By the way, thanks for all the comments and emails yesterday(or today for some of you!) I have such a great blog family! All I had to do was ask!
By the way, I only have 3 shifts left but I am here until Friday the 26th. I am off tomorrow and I am going to the medal ceremony tomorrow night. The concert afterward is with Trouper and Loverboy! Tell you all about it then!