It’s taken the country by storm and has infiltrated thousands of televisions and computer screens across the nation – the Olympics are here! So crazy! I am definitely proud to be Canadian and proud that Vancouver is doing such a great job at hosting it. Yes, there are problems, but what event doesn’t have its problems? The overall feeling though is one of happiness and excitement – everyone has the fever!
I went to Vancouver the day after the opening ceremonies and already there were massive amounts of people on the ferry – it was so difficult to find a seat! They weren’t very smart and scheduled a smaller ferry for a 9AM sailing. The Olympics + reading break for UVic made the ferry so so full.
Driving through Richmond I was so surprised with all the Canadian flags on cars, windows of houses and on people’s lawns. The Canadian spirit was alive. It was like I had entered another world. Never had I see so much national pride displayed so publicly. Every time I go to the US, I’m always shocked at the number of massive flags flying everywhere, even on private property, so seeing this in Canada was really weird. And that was only the beginning.
Downtown everyone was so patriotic. Everyone was wearing red and so many people were walking around with those red mittens! I loved it! It was like one crazy party fueled by the successes of our athletes as they battled for gold. The energy was just amazing – almost like an AIESEC Conference, but not quite. I was in Vancouver for about a week…
Flash Mob
There was an invite floating around Facebook and the resulting crowd was massive. Everyone knew what was going on which took away from the surprise factor. There were so many people on that crowded street both watching and dancing. It wasn’t as cool and fun as I thought it would be =\
Livecity Yaletown
Came here 3 times in hopes of getting a light up Coke bottle from the Coke display. First time didn’t even bother lining up to get in because the line was so long. Second time, got into Livecity, but people were not allowed to form a line outside the designated queue area due to “safety concerns” from the city so it was difficult to even get into the line. I was so pissed off. Third and final time, we managed to get in line for the coke place (and it was no different from the day before – we were still outside the queue area). I was so disappointed by the Coke place. There were no light up coke bottles anymore GRAWR I was so mad! All that effort for nothing. Wandered around the Vancouver house – nothing special.
BC Pavilion
Probably my favourite pavilion I visited. They had tons of interactive displays sharing with the world what BC is about. In one room, they had these touch screen computer screens where you could control the weather by making it snow in the winter or have thunderstorms in the summer. I went crazy, pressing everything.
Oldest Hockey Stick
This was so random. It is in the Harry Rosen store in Pacific Centre. I felt so awkward walking into there – all these guys in suits starting at you as you made your way across the sales floor filled with suits, dress shirts and ties. The stick itself looks pretty rough, but that is to be expected right?
Robson Square
Free skating anyone? Free zip line across Robson? Its all there … if you want to stand in line for hours. So many people – its great.
Ozone
I really really really wanted to go to the Holland House, but man the lines were crazy! A couple of hours at least. I wanted food too but I guess I should have made a reservation earlier. With a reservation you can jump the line. You can also jump the line if you are a Dutch citizen – I wonder if my expired Dutch study card would have worked… hmmm. Other than that, there wasn’t too much to see at the Ozone. There is a stage and an outdoor skating rink.
Colbert Report
I went because I could. AND I SAW MICHAEL BUBLE!!! So cooool! Not super keen on Colbert, but the crowd was pretty cool. There were so many people there! He showed up late too and I got annoyed standing in the mud. Thankfully it didn’t rain, but it was still pretty cold. The breeze coming off of False Creek was pretty chilly. I left half way through. (click for bigger photos)
Sochi World
Science World was transformed into Sochi World for the Olympics. Sochi is hosting the next Winter Olympics in 2014. The coolest thing I found out was that Sochi has an interesting climate. Where the athletes village and other indoor venues (ie. speed skating, figure skating, hockey) are being held has a somewhat Mediterrean climate, but then you go up into the mountains where the alpine events will be held and then there is snow and its cold. Blew my mind. So cool. The photos made it look so pretty – I almost want to go and see it. Upstairs they had the most amazing couches ever. I didn’t want to get up, especially after standing in line for so long. Otherwise, the whole display was just okay. Nothing too interesting.
Women’s Super Combined
I didn’t buy any tickets to any Olympic events, but I got lucky and managed to go see the Women’s Super Combined up at Whistler Creekside. It meant waking up ridiculously early – we had to be at Langara College by 5:45 for the bus to take us up to Whistler. The event started at 9:30 and we arrived around 8:30. Our tickets were for the standing area and already the best places were taken.
We had a couple Canadian’s in the event, but they weren’t expected to make it to the podium. The super combined has two events: the regular downhill race and then a slalom race and the two times are combined. The crowd was pretty into it too and you could feel the high energy. There were so many Americans – there probably to cheer on Lindsey Vonn. The first run was done in an hour. When I first saw there were 30 people to go down I thought it would have taken awhile, but really, it was really fast. The second event started at 12:30. In the end a German took the gold. The highlight? Seeing Lindsey Vonn ski past – she is really the only person I recognize. The boy in front of me asked her to sign his hat, but she said she would do it on her second run. She didn’t come back, but if she did, I was going to ask her to sign my ticket.
My Olympic Highlight
The best moment of my Olympic experience wasn’t something that was planned or organized by anyone affiliated with the Olympics. The best moment came as a result of being at the right place at the right time. Any earlier and I would have missed it, any later and I wouldn’t have known something life changing had just happened where I was standing. Life changing not necessarily for me, but for those involved. I was at Robson Square looking around, watching people go across on the zipline when I saw a sign.
Someone was wanting to propose! The girl was going down the zipline the wrong way so she didn’t see the sign, but a bunch of people under the zipline saw the sign and started yelling her name, telling her to look over at the sign. She finally saw the sign and the guy that was going down the zipline with her got down on one knee. At first we didn’t know her answer, so the crowd started pestering her and she finally yelled yes. It was so adorable and I loved how the crowd came together to made sure it happened. Definitely my favourite moment of the Olympics.
Today is the closing ceremonies. As I sit writing this, the men’s hockey gold game is happening between Canada and the US. Go Canada Go! We win this medal and we break the record for most gold medals won in a single Winter Olympic games ever (last was Norway in 2002 with 13 goals). We already have 13 right now – the most any host nation has gotten in a games so we already broke that record.
After these games, I definitely am proud to be Canadian. The world came and the world saw. Vancouver you did an amazing job. Go Canada!
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