Gold Medal City 2010

03/01 Departures Day

2010-03-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games have officially been closed. We had anticipated these games for 7 years, and now they’ve come and gone. I woke up to a city that was silent, in a communal hangover. People everywhere would be removing tattoos from their faces, cleaning up empties, and washing all their red laundry. You could almost hear the wind blowing through the condos downtown. And I wondered what it would be like at the airport today.

Messaged my co-workers, and surprisingly, everything was going well. Off-site check-in at the athlete’s village, and Whistler Village had taken care of most of the athletes the night before, so that they could go straight to their gates. The airport was busy, but everything was moving. We had prepared for this day for many months. The separate Sea Island Remote Terminal was ready to process an anticipated extra 10,000 passengers. We’d met with airport organizers from Salt Lake City and Torino and seen what had happened in Beijing. We were ready. Entertainment had been booked to keep waiting passengers happy, and to continue the festive mood. So…where were the passengers?

As I took the SkyTrain in to work my night shift, the train was busy but not packed. I could see the SIRT (Sea Island Remote Terminal) and there were no buses unloading passengers there. Baggage handlers stood outside, waiting for bags to move. As I got in, I expected to hear stories about extreme lines or situations…nothing. Everything had gone well. The volume of passengers we had expected did not turn out to be a mass exodus all at once, but metered out in more manageable waves. It was almost a non-event.

I walked around the terminal myself, to see any evidence of the masses that had passed through that day, and to review all the immediate changes we had to make, reverting things back to the pre-Olympic period. The terminal seemed pretty empty, all things considered. As I made my way post-security on the US departures side, I noticed someone posing for a photo, just past US Customs. Tall guy with a dark hat. OMG- it was Roberto Luongo!!! Our beloved Canadian gold medal-winning hockey goalie, (not to mention the captain of the Vancouver Canucks). I knew I wasn’t supposed to ask celebs for photos, but are you kidding me?!? I went right up to him to ask if I could have a photo with him. He was quiet and gracious, and allowed me to. I grabbed the next airline agent that passed by and commanded her to take my photo. And then I told him that he had made us all proud. And then I got out of his way. I knew he needed to get to his flight to Columbus, where the Canucks would be playing the Blue Jackets the next day.

Back at our Olympic coordination centre, I started to hear the stories from other employees of all the other celebrities and athletes who had come through (the womens’ hockey team) and the other people they had met, and saw their photos (Mike Babcock, Joannie Rochette, etc). We had a Finnish charter, and 3 Russian charters that night. Everything went without a hitch. As I did another tour of the terminal, a reporter with her camera man were rehearsing her piece before filming. “A successful games and a successful exit”, she said.

02/28 Last night to Party

2010-02-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

After the show, Esther had to rush home to her kids, and I went home exhausted for a nap. I imagined that the never-ending roar of exuberance out on the streets was for me. So this is what it feels like to be a gold medal winner…and fell asleep.

But not for long. This was the last night of the Olympics and like a true Olympian, you have to see it to the end. Texted my friends to see who was still out on a Sunday night and met up with Cheryl at the Keg patio bar. She was with some new-found friends from Alberta. We walked up Granville to soak in some more atmosphere, had a drink at Sanafir. I decided to use up the drink tickets I still had from the Irish House, on my first night there so that’s where I went. How fitting – the Irish House is where all my Olympic partying had started, and that was where I would end it. Went to the VIP line, and got in without a problem. Got my Guiness and joined the jumping, sweaty mush of craziness on the dance floor.

Cheers to a once in a lifetime unforgettable Winter Olympic Games!!!

02/28 Closing Ceremonies

2010-02-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

I had to leave right away from the hockey party because Esther was actually across the street at my condo. It was almost 3:00 and we were supposed to meet and head towards BC Place to see the closing ceremonies. (We were supposed to be in our seats by 4:30pm but with the 55,000 plus people going through security, we wanted to go early.)

By now, the streets were quickly becoming a red flood of hockey jerseys and Canada flag capes. A boisterously loud, red flood. We made our way to the stadium and got into our seats pretty early. On the big screens, the overtime period was being replayed so we could continue to revel in that glory.

The Olympic cauldron was still in the middle of the stadium floor, and then I noticed that it still only had 3 of its 4 planned supporting columns. “Why didn’t they fix it? They had 2 weeks to do it,” I asked my friend. It was embarrassing! Maybe they were going to pull down the whole thing before the ceremony, who knew?

Tamara Taggart and Ben Mulroney came on stage and explained to the audience that we would be integrally part of the whole show that night. Each of us had a box on our seats, that had different items in it. We all had to don our white capes, and then hold the boxes in our laps, so that we would, ourselves, form the backdrop for projections to be screened on us. And there were volunteers in all the aisles who would give us cues for the other props we would have to use, and the song we had to sing. This was a full-on interactive show we were part of.

Esther and I were just really surprised how great our seats were. We were on the lower level (section 200) and right next to the block of seats for the athletes!!! I had won the tickets through work, and they had a face value of $775 each, but the street price would probably be double that. We were excited!

The show started at 5:30pm and soon the mystery of the broken cauldron resolved itself with a funny little maintenance man, pulling it up seemingly with only his own grit and strength, alluding to the Olympic struggle to achieve perfection. And it was great to see it not brushed under the carpet, but boldly addressing the criticisms that many media had of the opening ceremonies. And Catrina Le May Doan was there to light it and complete unfinished business. Loved it.

The show was spectacular and it was exciting to see the athletes come in with their medals and come closer to us (we ended up sitting near athletes from Kazakhstan). The Canadians had a front row seat, although sadly, most of the entertainment was facing the other direction, where all the heads of state were in their VIP box.

We was almost too busy with trying to remember when to hold up our flash cards, and when to turn on our flashing Sochi snowglobes, or when to put on our foamy deer antlers with the flashing lights, to focus on everything that was happening around us. (If you watch the event again, you can see the chaos behind Eva Avila and Nickki Yanofsky’s performance with people trying to figure out the flash cards and the capes, particularly the athletes.)

Michael J. Fox got a standing ovation, just from him being there, and the show was really star-studded, so there was definitely the excitement, the awe, and the real glitz that had been missing in the opening ceremonies. I personally thought the whole “I am proud to be Canadian” speeches were a little much, and maybe not all that appropriate, and the big spectacle with the floating beavers and moose were great but seemed to have been produced by a non-Canadian’s view of what Canada is, with larger than life souvenir mementos (did he get inspiration from going to a tourist shop in Gastown, I wondered?), but the back and forth switching of top-lining rock stars from one stage to the other, to the middle stage was great. Michael Bublé dressed as a mountie and then rising up in the midst of all that Canadiana was hilariously kitschy. Definitely memories I won’t soon forget.

02/28 Canada vs USA - 14K Gold

2010-02-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

Worked the night shift on Saturday night. As my shift was ending on Sunday morning, the terminal was starting to buzz. Line ups were starting really early. I guess the public had heard about our warnings to get to the airport super early. Handed off to the morning shift and then left. Got home around 6am as the sky was getting light.

It was going to be a big day – the last day of the Olympics. On one hand I was really sad, but on the other, I was relieved. I went to bed with my ear plugs on, but was awoken at 10am from cheering coming from the Irish House. Looked outside and sure enough, there was a line up around the block already. I had originally thought I would watch the gold medal mens’ hockey game there at noon, but not if there was going to be a line that long. There was no point in trying to get back to sleep. I had to wash my red Canada t-shirt, and do a bit of cleaning. My condo was a disaster since I’d just been working and partying, so I couldn’t really invite anyone over to my place.

Called up my brother and he was having a hockey party with his friends, so I invited myself over. His condo was decked out with flags, red and white tulips, and caesars – red drinks to match. (My brother is gay, so watching hockey comes with cocktails and molé quesadillas, not beer and wings.) He’s got an awesome big HD flat screen though, so some things are just common to all men. I came with my mug of Tim Horton’s, since I was going to really need to wake up fast. We all put Canada tattoos on our faces, and got our cowbells ready. And then it started - Canada vs. USA mens’ hockey in probably the most anticipated match-up for the Olympic Games. There was so much pressure on Canada to win, and even phrases like “Hockey is Canada’s game” really putting a bold face out there for Canada, which was not what Canadians would do in the past. Canada scored first, which was a good sign. We rang our cowbells and shouted out the windows, and saw that everyone else in the condos around us were doing the same thing. We scored again, and celebrated with everyone else coming out of their balconies; we could hear the cheering everywhere, as well as the dull roar from the Irish House and other larger venues. We saw an aerial view of the Live City Yaletown celebration site on TV and it was just one massive sea of red.

So we were up 2-0 but there was still a large part of the game to go. I have to admit that for a lot of the game, the Canadian team seemed to be moving really slowly. I mean, they weren’t skating through Cypress Mountain fog, but it just seemed like slow going. They’d pass and get closer, and then it was like they were thinking too much about it, and miss the last pass for a shot. But after a powerplay or some big hit, they would gain some momentum. In the second period, Ryan Kesler (normally one of my favourite Canucks, but not in this game) scored, to make it 2-1.

The last 6 minutes of the third period seemed like an eternity. The suspense was almost too much to handle. Then it was 4 mins, 2 minutes, and then…with 24 seconds left, the US scored to tie it up at 2-2. NOOOOO!!!! The game would go into overtime. I was too afraid to say it out loud, but the commentator made the comment – would this turn out like the world junior hockey championship? Almost the same situation, except that the US won in overtime.

My brother made us all shooters. Maybe drinking harder liquor would quell the nerves. Not really. (But they were yummy vanilla-flavoured things, with a sugary lemon twist.) And then in overtime, as if it was scripted in a Disney movie, Sid the Kid (Sidney Crosby – only our biggest Canadian hockey star since Wayne Gretzky, whose star continues to rise) on a pass from Jerome Iginla ended the game with a zinger from the left wing past US goalie Ryan Miller and that was it – Canada won the gold!!!! I was on my cell phone with my friend Esther and just ended up screaming and yelling and hugging everyone and dropping the phone. It was mayhem!!! Not only was this our last gold medal of the games, but this pushed Canada to the top spot, truly owning the podium. With a total of 14 gold, we broke the record for most gold medals ever won by a country in the Winter Olympics!!!

I have to say that watching hockey with a bunch of gay men is hilarious. Once in a while you’d get a catty comment about the net shot of Luongo’s ass, or someone in the stands who was cute. And I had to school them on a couple of the finer details of hockey rules. But the most hilarious was the guy who didn’t know that Crosby's goal was the sudden death victory. “But it’s not over yet,” he said. And then he jumped up and down when we explained it to him. Too cute.

As an aside, after reading more about the final hockey game that Canada won, I found out that Team Canada had a motto that was in their locker room. And this is what it said:
• LEAVE NO DOUBT
• That this is our game.
• That this is our time.
• That 14 days in February will be 2 weeks for the ages.
• That every day counts.
• That every meeting matters.
• That every practice makes a difference.
• That each one of us will rise to every occasion.
• That this isn't about us, it's about our country.
• That we know 33 million Canadians will attend every game.
• That home ice is an advantage.
• That nothing can distract us.
• That nothing will stop us.
• That our determination will define us.
• That we are built to win.
• That we are a team of character.
• That we are a team of destiny.
• So let the world be warned on February 28, 2010, we will …
• LEAVE NO DOUBT

And they did!

02/26 Victory Ceremony Dilemma

2010-02-26T13:55:00.000-08:00

I had victory ceremony tickets for Friday. These are the nightly medal awards at BC Place (some are also done up in Whistler), which are followed by a live concert. What I didn’t realize is that the semi-final mens’ hockey game with Canada vs. Slovakia was at the same time. After the quarter final game, CTV had said the game would be at 4:30, but when I checked that morning, it had been moved to 6:30pm. What to do?!? I didn’t want to miss the game, but I’d already paid for the tickets. And no one I knew would probably want to buy them at this point.

Work was crazy busy for me – this is crunch time now, making last minute preparations for March 1st, but everything that needed to get done was done on my part. Apparently there was a news story that ran the night before about the Sea Island Remote Terminal, so there were some people poking around trying to get a sneak peek in. Some final training and familiarization was also going on. I didn’t leave Richmond until almost 6pm.

Earlier that day, USA had beat Finland 6 – 0. I figured that the Canada – Slovakia game would be a similar blow-out. In any case, I wanted to at least check out the medal ceremonies, and then maybe check out some of the concert. Canada’s favourite east coast band, Great Big Sea, would be performing. It was raining that day as I walked down to BC Place. Volunteers yelled out the current score of the hockey game as we walked past. I got in just after 7pm when the first medals were presented for mens’ aerials. Even though Canada has been doing so well with medals, unfortunately there were no Canadians being celebrated this night. My friend Christine was also late, but she had radio on her ipod, so we could both watch the ceremonies and listen to the game at the same time! Perfect!

Great Big Sea had a lot of people on their feet jumping around, or at least clapping their hands and tapping their feet to their infectious Newfie folksy beat. We ended up sticking around until the end, but I didn’t want to stay for the encore. On the radio, we heard the score was now 3-2 and the hockey game was almost over, so both BC Place and next door Canada Hockey Place would be emptying onto the streets at almost the same time. We made our way out and in search of a screen. The Bell Ice Cube and Alberta pavilions were the closest at Robson and Beatty. There was about 2 minutes left in the game. A big crowd gathered in front of the screens as we held our breath as Slovakia was making their late last chance onslaught on Luongo. We counted down the seconds and then the entire city erupted in cheers.

It was still raining and Christine thought she was really coming down with the flu so we weren’t going to be partying in the rain. I was also worried about getting sick, although the ColdFX I had taken was really working for me. But everyone I knew was now getting sick. I just want to get through the end of the Olympics and D Day without getting sick. Did a bit of a walk through Yaletown before heading home. From up in my condo, there was a constant dull roar of cheering that just continued to maintain itself all night. You could just hear it everywhere.

02/25 Canvas Lounge Party

2010-02-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

Canada’s women’s hockey team (yes, it’s “women’s hockey,” but “ladies’ figure skating”) won gold today!! Final score was 2-0 vs. USA. I had tickets that night for a party at Canvas Lounge, where a number of the athletes had been known to appear after winning their medals. Alexandre Bilodeau and Ashleigh McIvor had been there recently. There was a rumour that the women’s hockey team would also show up, and the presence of some local media - Chris Gailus, Sophie Lui, and Robin Stickley – seemed to make that theory likely. Restauranteur Vikram Vij was also there. But maybe after the USA team’s stupid complaint that Canada was celebrating on ice with champagne (despite some team members being under age) after their win, an appearance at a nightclub may not have been appropriate. In any event, it was still a fun time. It was supposed to be an “Italian Luxury” theme night, so there was a Ferrari parked in the reception area, and Italian wines featured. And a $2000 parmesan cheese wheel from Parmigiano Reggiano providing all the big chunks of free cheese you could eat. Love that Italian cheese! Met people from India, Australia, Japan, and Wales.

02/24 Wonderful Wednesday

2010-02-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

CTV is calling this day “Wonderful Wednesday” since Super Sunday was a bust. I would agree – Canada earned 4 medals today – a Gold and Silver finish for the womens’ two-person bobsleigh, a Bronze for speed skater Clara Hughes (this is her last Olympics), and a Silver for the womens’ 3000m speed skating relay. And Canada beat Russia in the mens’ hockey quarter finals by a whopping 7-3. That was such an exciting game to watch. It was a grey, rainy day, so I stayed home. Plus, I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, so I was all bundled up with my Cold FX (an official Olympic supplier – hey, if it works for Olympic athletes…) and the Favorites button on my remote control, which was programmed for the Olympics channels. I couch surfed all day, and did a bit of work from home. At 8pm, a guy I’d met at the Sochi House called to ask if I wanted to go watch the Sweden – Slovakia game, which was starting at 9pm. I had to call him back after confirming something with another friend, but by 8:05pm, he said the ticket was mine. Now what happened next should be somewhat of an Olympic sport, or feat of some sort. A category I would call – fastest commute. I got off the phone with Corey at 8:05pm, jumped in the shower, changed, blow-dried my hair, put on make-up, got ready and was on the elevator down at 8:27pm. Ok, definitely not my fastest start, but made up some time because the bus on Seymour was just pulling up to my stop. Ran across the street and caught the #16, despite it being a pretty busy night on the streets with revellers all happy from the Canadian hockey win. It was 8:32pm. Texted Corey I was running a little late. Jumped off the bus, and ran across the street, past the crowded sidewalk, half of which was taken up by the line for the Olympic Superstore, dodged people to get down the stairs to the SkyTrain. Big points for jumping onto the awaiting train, just moments before the door closed. Took the train one stop, was out the door, and down the stairs at 8:40 when I got the text from Corey that he was at the Tinseltown Starbucks. Met up with him and then made our way to Canada Hockey Place and the line up for security screening. That took the longest but we got inside and up to our section level as they dropped the puck at 9pm.

The game itself was kind of slow. Since Canada Hockey Place is much larger than the Thunderbird Arena, it had a different feel. People were quieter, and not cheering as much. Could also be because most of the revellers were for the Canada – Russia game which had just finished and they were out on the streets partying. Sweden was favoured to win this one. I was excited to watch the Sedins play with one of my favourite ex-Canucks Mattias Ohlund. But Slovakia was always on the attack, and in the end, they won over the Swedes 4 – 3.

02/23 Mens Hockey Qualifying Round

2010-02-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

So since Canada lost to the US on Sunday (final score 5-3), they had to play Germany today in the qualifying round. I had tickets for qualifying round but as luck would have it, my tickets were not for the 4:30pm game, but for the 7pm game, which ended up being the Czech Republic and Latvia. And the game was out at the new UBC Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, not downtown at Canada Hockey Place (normally known as GM Place).

The Czechs were expected to win this game. I don’t think Latvia had won any of their previous hockey games. Even with my limited hockey knowledge, I knew the popular players on the Czech team (Jagr, Caberle, Havlat) but didn’t know anyone from the Latvian team. As the first period started, the Czech team clearly looked more organized and peppier than the Latvians. You could almost sense that the Latvians were intimidated, and they looked like a young, tentative team playing against the confident Czechs. The Czechs opened up the scoring and soon it was 2-0 and it was still just the first period. I think half the Czech Olympic team were in the stands cheering for them, and in the beginning, mostly everyone was cheering for them. I had my cowbell going too.

But then the Latvian goalie looked like he may have strained his neck on one of the saves he made. One of the trainers came out to look at him. And maybe because it is the Canadian way to root for the underdog, but a cheer started in the crowd – “LAT-VI-A, LAT-VI-A”. I knew there weren’t very many Latvian fans in the stands, so you knew it was the general public making the call. And from that point on, we were cheering for Latvia and lending them the support they needed. The cheers for Latvia started to drown out all the cheers for the Czechs, and it seemed to work. The Latvians started to play more confidently, and the game got more exciting. They scored, and we continued our cheering for them. Jagr got a couple of penalties, and maybe that’s why his coach benched him for most of the second and third periods. Finally, surprise of surprises, Latvia ended up matching the score. It was 2-2 at the end of the third period, so the game went into overtime! Latvia wasn’t going to go down without a fight. But the Czechs knew it was time to turn on the heat and in the 10-minute, four-on-four overtime, they scored and would move on to the quarter-finals to play Finland. On the last goal, everyone cheered and celebrated (except the Latvians).

Maybe this was not the main hockey game that would be aired widely in most places but in Czech and Latvia, but it was great to see the Canadian spectators showing the Olympic spirit to really support the athletes there.

02/22 Figure Skating Gold

2010-02-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Christine and I were going to watch the figure skating ice dance finals at the Pacific Coliseum. The event was supposed to run from 16:45 – 20:55. I’m sure I like figure skating as much as the next person, but a 4 hour event seemed pretty long to me. In reality, it actually went pretty fast. The pairs performed in reverse order – from lowest rank to the highest rank, and there were 23 of them. Crone and Poirier were Canada’s second ice dance couple. I thought they were pretty good, but what do I know? There was a brother/sister couple from Great Britain who skated to Linkin Park’s “Crawling”, which was pretty original. And in part of their performance, the woman does a lift of the man, which garnered lots of cheers. Flashiest costume award goes to the Russian couple who looked like Elvis dancing with a wild phoenix bird. I was surprised by the number of Russians in the crowd; there seemed to be almost as many Russian fans with flags as Americans.

The most exciting moments came as the top five couples skated. First the Italians, then the Americans’ best shot – Davis and White. But the crowd went wild with cheers when Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue took the ice. They look so cute together. Their performance was flawless and spectacular to watch. Everyone cheered and clapped louder for each twizzle and turn they did. They were so graceful. Watching their performance, you were sort of holding your breath for every move and hoping they wouldn’t screw up. And then clapping when they got through each section ok. When their score went up and they were ranked first, they seemed happy and we all cheered, but there were still two couples left to perform. The first were French, but they didn’t score too well, and then the reigning Russian champions. Russians have owned this podium since 1976. We all watched for any miniscule mistakes that I’m sure none of us were qualified to judge for, and then the Russian fans went wild when they finished. Lots of stuffed animals were thrown on the ice, keeping the little girl skater attendants busy picking them up. When they sat down and awaited their score, the whole coliseum went silent. The anticipation just hung heavy in the air. “The scores for the pairs ice dance please,” the announcer asked sternly. I think everyone was holding their breath. No one moved for what seemed an eternity. We were all watching the score board which said the score that was needed for the Russians to win. When the score was announced, and we knew they had fallen short, the coliseum went wild. Everyone was on their feet yelling and clapping and cheering. WE WON!!!! Scott and Tessa had made figure skating history, and were the youngest pair to ever win the pairs competition in their Olympic debut. Wow! And we were all there to witness it!

The victory ceremony was held right after, and the RCMP in their red serge came out and put up the flags. Scott and Tessa were great – they were singing the anthem proudly and then all three couples did a victory lap around the rink. People gave them flags and they wrapped themselves in them. I was surprised no one gave a flag to the Russians (since there were so many fans), but you could tell the Russian couple were clearly disappointed with their finish. The Americans were quite happy too, and probably happy for the Canadians, since they train together. It was definitely a great day to be Canadian.

02/22 Northern House

2010-02-22T01:21:00.000-08:00

Monday I woke up to another sunny day and wanted to make the most of it. Apparently, so did thousands of other people checking out the Olympics. The line-ups were already pretty much in place at all the pavilions and Live City Downtown before it opened at 11:00am. Like a good Canadian, I had stopped on my way to get my Tim’s coffee and breakfast sandwich, and reviewed which sports were being shown today. Decided to bite the bullet and join a queue. There had been a news story about how some line ups were 6 hours long, prompting some pavilions to consider remaining open after the Olympics, and for the Olympic Superstore to be open 24 hours. The Northern House was supposed to be interesting, and you could win a NWT diamond or a big chunk of gold, so I decided to check it out. The line went down the block and around the corner, but I had my Blackberry so I could actually do work while in line. And the line went pretty quickly so it wasn’t too bad. The Northern House was representing the Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut Territories. You were greeted by a stuffed moose and an inukshuk on entering. In fact, there were quite a few stuffed animals, and I’m not talking about Miga or Quatchi. Muskox, wolf, and polar bear…this is the true north, harsh and wild. They had a big stack of dry goods groceries stacked up to the ceiling and showed that this was what a family had to store up for 6 months since they were not close to regular grocery stores. There were many beautiful carvings, including those made of whale bone, particularly the horn? of the narwhal whale (I didn’t even know these whales existed – they’re like a big unicorn fish).

There was a band that played some pretty good jazz, and an area where you could film yourself in an “Arctic experience” (another line). Downstairs, you could meet a diamond cutter, who explained the whole process for cutting and polishing diamonds. A lot of diamonds are now being mined, cut, and officially certified by the government as a “Canadian diamond” in the Northwest Territories. Another interesting area was the furrier’s table. The woman there was from Nunavut and actually made the fur mitts (selling for $300), and golf club covers out of seal fur. She explained how they stretch the furs out. People asked what the weather was like in Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut where she lived.

“It’s warm,” she said. “It’s 9 degrees.”
“Plus or minus.”
“Minus…but that’s warm. You guys have to stop driving, and using air conditioning….” She seemed sad. “There are lots of polar bears now. It’s dangerous. They’re everywhere in our community.” I think some people didn’t understand that with the growing loss of ice, polar bears are being displaced. It really hit home to hear that from someone who was actually living it and seeing it in her front yard, the impact of global warming.
“Well, I guess you just have to be a fast runner,” someone tried to joke about it.

The Cauldron
After the Northern House, I went next door to the Birks store, which was the home of Omega, the official watch and timer for the Olympics. There was a private event happening on the mezzanine, but it was finishing up. Was hoping maybe some Omega celebrities would be around (George Clooney, Cindy Crawford, Michael Phelps) but no luck. I did see that Jen Heil already has her own line of jewelry named after her. And appropriately, it’s all in silver.

Walked down to the waterfront to Canada Place to see the outdoor cauldron. On the way there, the street seemed to be lined with pin traders. They say pin trading is another unofficial sport of the Olympics. The cauldron has quite a perimeter surrounding it – part of it with a tacky metal fence. VANOC has started replacing parts of it with plexiglass as people complained about it. There is a viewing platform, but again, another line. I took my photos and then walked for a bit on the seawall, enjoying the sunny day. As usual, the float planes were lined up on their pier, ready to take people to the west coast islands. Not as usual, the RCMP boats monitoring the waters in this area were the only other vessels around.

02/21 Super Sunday

2010-02-21T04:31:00.000-08:00

Super Sunday was another sunny, warm day in Vancouver. It was going to be a full day of hockey. There was already a line up at the Irish House going around the block at 11am. The Russia – Czech game would start at noon. The big game was Canada – US at 4:30. And then traditional rivals Sweden vs Finland at 9pm. So the big strategy to plan was – where would you be to watch the big game??? The celebration sites are free, and have big screens but they are outside, and don’t have seating. Or alcohol. So I opted for Earl’s, which is a favourite local restaurant and close by. At 2pm, the line up was already around the block. We waited for about half an hour but it wasn’t looking good. Irish House was out of the question. Moda Hotel had standing room only. We ended up at White Spot, which was really a family restaurant, but hey, at this point, I wasn’t picky. We got seats at the bar by 3:15pm and got ready for the game. The rest, as you know, is history. The game was disappointing, and after, I think we were just tired and sad. Went home and watched the Sweden-Finland game on the comfort of my couch. The hooting and hollering on the streets were much less subdued tonight. After Friday night’s craziness (nothing major went down, but lots of open drinking in the streets was occurring), all downtown liquor stores must close at 7pm now. A lot of businesses have been staying open later during the Olympics – and apparently the Olympic Superstore at HBC is now open 24 hours to sell the popular red mittens and hoodies – but liquor stores won’t be one of them.

02/20 Day 9

2010-02-20T04:28:00.000-08:00

Worked my Olympic shift. There were a couple hundred media hounding the Japanese athletes. There was a suspicious fire in one of the restaurants (which was supposed to be closed because the workers are on strike and picketing outside) on the departures level. At the same time, the new city-airport SkyTrain shut down due to some technical problems, delaying a large number of passengers and employees so we had to get some shuttle buses deployed. But it was all done within about an hour and things got back to normal. There was a very intoxicated Russian who apparently caused a stir and ended up missing his charter flight back to his homeland. Woohoo Russians!

02/19 Craziness

2010-02-19T04:18:00.000-08:00

More work helping fine-tune our D Day plans. I had been planning to check out Deadmau5 at Live City Yaletown but the David Lam web cam was already showing long line-ups at noon - http://www.davidlamcam.com/. On the way home, got a free facial as part of a promo that Skoah was hosting in Yaletown (I love all the free stuff I’ve been getting at the Olympics.) Overhead someone say that Live City had reached capacity around 5pm and they weren’t letting anyone else in. Decided to opt for plan B.

Went down to check out Ontario House, where there was big line. Ended up at Quebec House, which I should just call Quebec Box (or boite du Quebec) because it looks great outside, but doesn’t have a roof. People were cheering watching curling. I have never understood that sport. I was more into watching the Finland - Germany hockey game that was also playing. Periodically, the “Seven Fingers” circus would perform. They were not Cirque du Soleil but still pretty impressive. We tried some sort of apple cider wine which I really didn’t like.

Headed into the heart of downtown. It was super crowded everywhere. Streets were packed with people just partying, hooting, and hollering. I have never seen the streets of Vancouver as packed as they were. There were police monitoring and walking around, but they were greatly outnumbered. There was definitely an air of exuberance everywhere, but also this electric air of potential chaos – at any moment, something would happen and all chaos would break loose. It was actually kind of scary.

First we watched the nightly light and pyrotechnics show at Robson Square, which was pretty impressive. Then, Said the Whale performed on stage. (They have a song called “Goodnight Moon” which I really like. It was one of those free Starbucks tunes.) I think they are actually from Vancouver too. They performed in front of the GE Plaza ice rink. The majority of the audience was maybe a college crowd, younger. It was so packed, people were body surfing.

After the performance, we went into the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver to find a quieter place to hang out, somewhere out of the crush of people outside. In the hotel, there were a number of accredited people, possibly athletes, sponsors, media. There was a private Olympics party going on in one of the ballrooms. We went to the lounge and had drinks. When we left around 1:30am, the streets were still packed with people. The streets were littered with garbage everywhere. As much as I am enjoying the whole celebration of the Games, it was starting to become a bit tiring. The opening ceremonies seem like a month ago. And if I have to hear “Raise a Little Hell” one more time…it seems they play that song everywhere.

02/18 Test Day

2010-02-18T01:09:00.000-08:00

Today we had a test exercise for a temporary facility we will be implementing for Departures Day at YVR. On March 1st (the day after the Olympic closing ceremonies), YVR is set to handle the largest number of departures in one day in the airport’s history. Departures Day has been a big issue for many of the past airports in host Olympic cities since everyone wants to leave as soon as the Olympics are over – athletes, spectators, sponsors, coaches, etc - and so there is a lot of planning that’s been involved to make sure the process is as seamless as possible. One of the ways this is being handled is by building a temporary “mini-airport” extension in one of the airport parking lots, and to regulate the flow of ground transportation to it. So we actually brought in a few hundred “acting passengers” complete with luggage, and went through a few exercises with 3 airlines. It was really cool to see everything in action, so we could know what to expect on the actual day.

Thursday evening, I was originally planning to go check out the Heineken House (which has been getting rave reviews) in Richmond, but didn’t realize the mens’ hockey game had a 4:30pm start. The house would probably be already full by the time I went after work, so I decided against it. Keshia Chante was performing at Live City Yaletown, so that was my next plan. Live City Yaletown is one of a few free celebration sites, so all the concerts there are free. The line up was actually not too bad. I wondered if it was because 2 nights previously, masses of Alexisonfire fans had charged the stage, breaking the front barriers and injuring about 19 people. They ended up cancelling the show and sending people to hospital. (Or maybe it was because people were still just hanging out where they’d just seen Canada squeak by a hockey win over Switzerland in a shoot out.) On this evening, the line up moved really quickly, even though it was about 2 blocks long. We got in just as Keshia was coming on stage. She was pretty good, and sang her 2 radio hits. Her other songs were kinda slow r’n’b and unfortunately didn’t really get the crowd moving. They were hungry for something to bounce around to. Coke reps were wandering through the crowd, handing out the glowing Coke bottles (limited edition). They’re pretty cool…I may sell mine on ebay. It was getting cold so we went in to the Samsung pavilion, where there was a live dj spinning, above their “showroom” of mobile phones. Apart from the touch screen technology, nothing spectacular you hadn’t seen before.

The victory ceremonies were shown on the big screens flanking the Yaletown stage. We didn’t stay much longer. On my walk through the streets back home, I came across a rap group performing on one block, and then a jazz band on the next block, performing outside Capone’s. I wandered into the Yahoo Fancouver pavilion, where I sat and watched 3 different Olympic events on 3 different screens, while still being able to listen to the jazz outside. Everyone else around was using the laptops to Yahoo their friends on Facebook, or whatever.

02/17 Soaking it in

2010-02-17T01:04:00.000-08:00

Went into the office to my regular desk job (not my Olympic role) and felt like I’d been gone a long time. I had a pile of bills waiting to be approved for payment. Our lunch room and a lot of the screens in the airport were showing live Olympic coverage. Still lots of media around as Korean, Japanese, and Russian athletes and other VIPs arrive. Heard the military fighter jets take off. They are apparently constantly flying over our airspace and patrolling as part of the increased security measures. You can really hear them when they take off. And I found out what their refuelling aircraft looks like. They can actually do refuelling in the air, although I’ve never actually seen it yet.

After work, I headed to the bar at the Keg in Yaletown for drinks with a friend. The rooftop patio bar was open. The view from there is spectacular. And they had their heat lamps on full blast, so the women would feel comfortable in their skimpy tank tops. We sat at the bar, which also had a big screen showing live Olympic coverage. I ended up talking to a guy from San Francisco and one from Dublin, among others. Everyone seems to be really having a great time, either cheering on their team, or poking fun at how Canadians are certain our mens’ hockey team will go all the way for gold.

02/16 Sochi House

2010-02-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

Woke up after having slept on the couch in the living room in front of the tv. Had breakfast and then wandered out to Robson Square, where the zip-trekking attraction had about a 4.5 hour line-up. There were aboriginal dancers on stage 1 and another band setting up for stage 2. The ice rink, which was normally open to the public for free skating, was being zamboni’ed before the Mascot Show. There was a large screen also showing current live Olympic coverage. It was a sunny day, about 13 degrees, so I was ok just walking around in my fleece jacket.

Everyone was walking around in their red hockey jerseys, as Canada’s mens’ hockey team would have its first game today vs. Norway. I went down to the pavilions by Pacific Blvd (near Canada Hockey Place). Bought a large flag to hang off my balcony (which everyone is doing) for $10 from a guy on the street. There was a large line-up for the Molson Canadian Hockey House. Skipped the Saskatchewan House, and thought I would try to get into the Russky Dome (Sochi House). Sochi will be hosting the next Winter Olympics in 2014, and they took over Science World for the Olympics. There have already been rumours that the Russians have some pretty late parties there, and after-hours somewhere else close by. The line-up to get in was not that bad; I had heard that you needed to have accreditation or get a day pass, or that it was closed to the public, but this was all not true. So I joined the line. Russian pop music was being piped outside the entrance, and the gift shop was pretty visible, selling the Russian Olympic uniform. Near the door, the security guard let me bypass the metal detector (as I guess I don’t fit the profile of a terrorist) so I went in.

There were plastic cut-outs that had video projections of a man and woman. The projections had sound so they welcomed you into the Sochi House. On the ground floor, there was a small stage where Russian performers sang and danced. There was a relief map of the planned Sochi Olympic venues and airport, and then information on the different regions in Russia. On the second floor were Russian company sponsor areas and the main lounge (which looked like a nightclub…those rumours were probably true) with a bar and lots of screens showing Olympic events, but with no commentary. The women hostesses working at Sochi all looked like supermodels – they were gorgeous. In one area, the women’s hockey game was being shown. It was USA 5, Russia 0. I guess Russian women aren’t so much into joining the men in playing hockey. In another room, the womens’ snowboard cross was being shown. And that was where I was when I saw Maelle Ricker win our second gold medal for Canada. Again, there was no commentary, but everyone in the room was cheering for Canada. And when we won, projections all over the walls erupted with fireworks. Really cool!

I walked up the circular ramp to the imax theatre, which takes up the whole curved roof of the building. There were Russian films that were being shown there, but I didn’t really have any interest in that so I headed home to get ready to watch the mens’ hockey game.

02/15 Switzerland House

2010-02-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

Watched snowboard cross, which was super exciting. Mike Robertson won silver, which was heart-breaking because he had won all his heats up to the finals, and was just edged out of gold by the American Seth Westcott (defending Olympic champion).

After watching the gold medal ceremony for Bilodeau on tv, I decided to go to Granville Island to check out the Switzerland House. There was also a pavilion for the Francophones, and Atlantic Canada there. I took the water taxi from Marinaside Quay, which is about a 10 minute walk from my place. I love the little water taxis we have that take you to points along False Creek. While on the taxi, I was talking to a woman from Venice, who said it was like the Grand Canal with all our little boats. Met up with Mira, who said that there was a humongous line-up for Atlantic House, since Sloan was playing a concert there. I was in front of the Switzerland House (which is normally the Bridges restaurant). Even though we were at the front of the line, we had to wait for about 45 minutes to get in. Line-ups everywhere are pretty much the norm now, which is why I had tried to get into the different houses before the opening ceremonies. On the door was a notice that the Rachel Ray show was filming in the building. It had started to rain, so we couldn’t wait to get inside.

Once inside, I ordered the Swiss macaroni with bacon, cheese, onions and apple sauce. Interesting. There were large screens (which just seem to be everywhere now) showing the current live Olympic competitions. Here the commentary was in Swiss German. We saw the pairs figure skating. And then there were highlights of how the Swiss athletes had done that day. Lots of Swiss fans also in the house, and Swiss athletes in their uniforms. But no Rachel Ray. After dinner, we walked around. The Francophone stage and beer gardens were completely empty. I guessed that concert was cancelled due to the rain, but people were still lining up in the rain, hoping to get in to see Sloan. We headed back on the water taxi and went towards Live City Yaletown to watch the nightly fireworks before we were soaked and went home.

02/13 Wandering

2010-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

It was raining Saturday (Feb 13) but I still wanted to check out all the other pavilions. Met up with Luke and we went to the Bell Ice Cube, where they were giving out free headsets. But the pavilion, again, was pretty boring. The line up for the Alberta House across the street was pretty long. Went to the Cheerios booth and wrote a ‘cheerful’ postcard for the athletes, before they would give you the free Cheerios and granola bar. Then we went to the Live City Downtown location, and the Aboriginal Pavilion. Again, really long line ups so we went down to Yaletown. Lots of people walking around, even though it was raining. Street performers had people gathered around.

Had a quick lunch and then went to work. Glad I drove because there was apparently a 1 hour wait for the SkyTrain (although it was probably to go into downtown, not out). As part of the purchase of Olympic tickets, all transportation is included to the Olympic venues, and that is primarily through the public transit system.

At the airport, Hockey Canada was welcoming the athletes, friends and family of Team Canada, who were starting to arrive. We had a few concerns with rabid media and autograph-seeking vultures (Jermone Iginla and Chris Pronger were among those arriving), but RCMP were present and no big incidents occurred. The Swiss president also had a meet and greet at the Haida Gwaii before she left. Other than that, there were no incidents.

More hockey players arrived Valentine’s Day. Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first gold medal on Canadian soil!!! We were all crowded around the TV in our JOCC office and cheering. So amazing!

02/12 Live City Yaletown

2010-02-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

(This will be short as I’ve had about 6 hrs of sleep in the past 48 hours doing night shift now.)

After my morning torch run with Walter Gretzky, I checked out Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park, one of the free celebration sites earlier in the day. Sponsor pavilions were fun to go to, although, really, they are just glorified sales centres to promote their products. The Acer pavilion had some cool video games where you get to be the athletes in the actual games, and the surroundings are exactly like how you would see them on Whistler or Cypress Mountain. That was pretty cool to see the course from the actual perspectives of the athletes. And the video games were pretty much as hard the real sports to master.

Weather called for rain though, so Mira and I went to the Ontario House (since it’s indoors and it has 7 large screens all around so there is no bad viewpoint) to watch the Opening Ceremonies. We stopped by the Quebec House (which looked formidable on the outside, but then you walk through the door and realize there is no roof!! ) Had some quiches and watched a great French band, but it was raining, so we headed back to Ontario House.

It was really moving to be with so many other people there to share the excitement and the experience. There was lots of hooting, hollering, and chanting “Go Canada go”, and we weren’t even watching any competitions yet! News anchor Kevin Newman was also in the crowd, taking photos and soaking up the atmosphere (and the beer). After the ceremonies, Bedouin Soundclash took the stage at Ontario House – they were an hour late. My theory is that they were next door at the Molson Canadian Hockey House, where all the celebrities were hanging out. Anyway, a great time was had.

02/12 Morning Torch Run

2010-02-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to cheering I could hear outside, and someone on a loudspeaker. Went out on the balcony and saw a small parade. OMG, is the torch relay coming down my way? Turned on the tv and sure enough, it was on Davie St. My dad called me at the same time. I couldn't decide if I should just watch it on tv or run downstairs. Left the tv and lights on, grabbed my jeans and coat, and headed outside. Morning traffic was still in full force on Seymour St. Ran past and met up with the torch on Granville St. To my delight, it was proudly being hoisted by Walter Gretzky, the colourful father of Wayne Gretzky. People were running with the torch, myself included. People were singing "O Canada" and just trying to get a good photos.

02/11 - Cdn Mint Robson Yaletown Torch

2010-02-12T03:48:00.000-08:00

One day left and more venues coming online. Checked out the Royal Canadian Mint after I heard on the radio that Trevor Linden was there at the ceremony to open it. But by the time I got there, he was gone. Off to get to his portion of the torch relay. But I did get a few of the brand new loonies with the Olympic Inukshuk. Checked out the BC Hydro Powersmart Pavilion, but it was starting to drizzle and I was busy eating a hot dog I bought from an Aussie who had just moved to Vancouver a week ago, so I didn’t stick around too long. They did have a cool dancefloor that you can dance on, and the energy you generate is somehow converted to electricity.

I was going to check out the display of all the international team uniforms at HBC, but the line-up for the official Olympic store was out the door and down the block. Everyone is stocking up on official Olympic gear. So I decided to go down Robson St. to the Lululemon store, to get my free yoga pass. I generally do not like Lululemon because of its cult-like following, but Y Yoga has teamed up with Lululemon to provide free yoga classes for the duration of the Olympics, and free is good. Robson St. was ironically pretty empty given the number of tourists who are in the city. They all seem to be concentrated at HBC or the official Olympic venues. So then I took the opportunity to take photos of all the Robson St. storefronts. Most of them had Olympic themes, a small amount were more focused on Valentine’s Day, and only one - Armani Exchange - had a nod to the Chinese New Year holiday. I have to say that BCBG takes the cake with the cheesiest Olympic window, featuring mannequins in evening gowns on skis.

I ended up going to A&N to get a red “Canada” baseball hat for $3.99. It’s the cheapest place in town for Canadian memorabilia. Got my dad a red fleece “Canada” jacket for $14.99. They were all out of the red scarves though.

On the bus, Christine called. She was going to watch the torch relay from a place on the west side. She said that there was already a line-up at Live City Yaletown. It was 5:40pm and the torch wasn’t supposed to arrive downtown until 8pm. I thought that was a little too early. Went home, had dinner. Turned on the tv. They were featuring the torch relay on the news. I guess it was a little bold of me to think that since I live 5 minutes away, I could still get in. I left after 7:15pm. Me and lots of other people. Crowds of people were making their way to David Lam park. I was pretty much stopped at Pacific and Drake by a humongous crowd. There was nothing I could do. I hadn’t thought that there would be a big line as the Live City Yaletown venue is outdoor, but I guess there were security checks which were creating the impossibly long lineups. There was no way that line was all going to get in, so instead I found a place on Pacific, where I could see the large screen and see the torch route. Sound was not an issue. We could all hear everything that was happening inside Live City on the big screen (even though we were all outside its fences). So that’s where I was when the last torch bearer ran past and into the park to light the cauldron. He came and went in a flash. After that, there was a fireworks display. It was pretty cool because there were fans of water spurting up, and then fireworks higher up in the sky. The smoke and the mist provided an aerial “surface” for projections to be displayed.

After that, I wanted to check out the Bell Ice Cube, which, according to their bus shelter ads was ‘the place to be’. The Barenaked Ladies were supposedly performing there tonight, and Steve Nash was hosting. When I got there, it was closed, but the adjoining “Bell Blue Lounge” was open. I was at the door getting rejected by the door man, who was telling me it was a private party for the grand opening, when CBC funny man Shaun Majumder came waltzing in. He was greeted with “Hey Shaun”, and “here he is.” And “Shaun’s now in the house.” And then the door was closed. Ok, so it was the place to be, if you could get in. I went home and watched the rest of Grey’s Anatomy, and was fine to rest up early. Opening ceremonies in less than a day and counting down!!

02/09 Ontario House Part 2

2010-02-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

After we checked out Ontario House, we walked around and saw the Molson House being set up, as was Quebec House. Took some photos and headed back home. The Opus Hotel was hosting a party sponsored by Skyy vodka, but it looked like a dressy affair and we were not suitably dressed. On the sidewalk, Emanuel Sandhu passed me by. He was perfectly coiffed and in a sharp suit, I didn’t recognize him until some moments after he had already passed. I wondered how he was feeling about the Olympics. Despite being really talented at ice-skating, he had stopped ice skating to pursue dancing (2 seasons on “So You Think You Can Dance Canada”) and singing.

I had actually met Emanuel many years ago. I was living in Toronto at the time, as a manager at a popular nightclub there. I had come back to Vancouver to visit, and met him at a party. At the time, he had gone AWOL from his training. He had already qualified for Olympics in the past and was the strong contender for top spot in the national championships, but he was at a point where he felt trapped in this life that had been chosen for him by parents and coaches from a really young age, and it wasn’t what he wanted. He was supposed to be somewhere in Ontario training, and his coach had no idea he was hiding out in Vancouver. We ended up dancing together on top of the stage pedestals at Celebrities nightclub. That was a fun memory. We kept in contact for a brief time because we were both in party mode, but you know how things go...our paths converged, split, and then passed in the night once more many years later.

Christine and I opted to have some warm bevies at the Starbuck’s across the street, and then called it a night.

02/09 Ontario House

2010-02-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

Did another 12 hour shift at YVR. Lots of media coming in today. Edmonton flights were being delayed. As the severe snowstorms out east continue to pelt that side of the continent, it’s ironic that Vancouver hosting the Winter Olympics is the only place in Canada that doesn’t have temperature in the minus 0 zone. It’s 8 degrees (Celsius) out here, and the only foul forecasts we have are for rain later this week.

Anyway, after work, Christine wanted to hang out so we decided to check out the Ontario House, which was open for a sneak peek. It’s situated between BC Place and the Sochi House (aka Science World) on the old Expo ’86 grounds, so it was a little nostalgic going back to that area and seeing tents set up there. Of course, all these new temporary structures are behind major fencing and no cars are allowed in that area now, so we had to walk. The path led us to the False Creek seawall, past the Edgewater Casino, to an open gate in the high fencing. We could see a large LED screen taking up most of the wall of one of the buildings, and the unmistakable pounding of drums and music. On screen was the band performing that we figured were actually performing inside.

The entire Ontario House building looks like it’s covered in white vertical elastic bands. I have no idea what that’s supposed to signify. Anyway, they have a cool 4D mini theatre. We went in with our 3D glasses and were wondering why the seats were a little wet…hmmmm…. The movie started with kids going tobogganing and soon, we realized, that we could also feel the little bumps of the hill they were on. Out of the corner of the theatre, spurts of snowflakes came rushing at us. Then we were on a rollercoaster ride at Canada’s Wonderland and wind was rushing under our seats. The movie was pretty much a Tourism Ontario montage of different areas of Ontario. (There’s a part where the corner of Yonge and Dundas St. in Toronto becomes the epicentre of a series of radiating, earthquake-like sonic booms – count on Ontario to reference the centre of the universe.) The added fourth dimension allowed you to be jolted, prodded, splashed and spurted, and you kinda wonder what else they’re going to do to you next. But it lasts just long enough to be fun.

After that, we headed into the main room, with the big stage. The band on stage reminded me of a younger version of the Beastie Boys, mixed with some kind of rock. Not bad. But a shame that there were hardly any people there to really appreciate them. Most in attendance looked like they were probably more corporately associated with the Ontario House, and not so much there for the partying. There were super large LCD screens on 3 of the four walls. The fourth wall had a rotating menu of wines (including a couple of celebrity labels like Wayne Gretzsky and Dan Ackroyd), and after hour desserts (note to self – go back for the Dufflet brownies). Christine and I had the 2006 Commemorative Ice Wine, which was delicious.

One wall had what looked like a glowing crystal art sculpture, climbing up and looming overhead. When you went closer, it became apparent that these were all empty water bottles. An art installation by an Ontario artist. After the band was done, the screens started to show the upcoming bands. Jully Black and Great Lake Swimmers were the ones that I would like to see.

To see full-size photos, click on the photos in the slideshow.

02/08 Irish House

2010-02-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Lots of stuff has been happening at Robson Square, site of the International Media Centre. Two days ago, Premier Campbell unveiled the free zip-lining attraction. It’s a free thing where you get to “zip” along, high above Robson Street, suspended by a harness. But it doesn’t start until Feb 12th. Then, yesterday, Katarina Witt and Elizabeth Manley took a few spins on the ice rink there. I was planning to go ice skating before the rink got super crowded (after the official start) as it’s free. But I didn’t really want to go on my own.

Luke called me in the late afternoon and so we went on a walk. Went to check out Robson Square. There was a line-up of people waiting to get on the rink. I think they’ve broken up the groups into 45-minute sessions so everyone gets a chance on the rink. Media were sitting on the sidelines and doing their live broadcasts on-site. The live performance stage was empty for now. We headed back out onto Robson St. A CTV stage was being set up right on the street, adjacent to CTV’s main office on Burrard. We turned the corner and headed back towards the Art Gallery. The watch company (whose name I’ve already forgotten…is it Omega?) had an exhibit right by the countdown clock, showcasing posters from past Olympic events. We kept on going and ended up at Beard Papa’s for some awesome cream puffs. Then I left Luke and got ready to go to yoga class.

The only thing more pervasive than cafes on every corner in Yaletown are yoga studios. I think you could go to a different yoga studio every day of the week, and only have to travel within a 4 block radius. I did a yin hatha class at Exhale, which was very soothing. Went home, and then noticed the loud music I could hear from my condo. Was it from Granville? I headed back downstairs to check it out. My suspicion was that the Irish House had finally opened. On the way down the elevator, I ran into a neighbour who was doing the same thing, so we decided to check it out together. Sure enough, the doors to the Irish House were flung open and security stood outside in black. People were tentatively peeking inside, and after we found out that we could enter as long as we either had an invitation, or were willing to pay the $15 cover, we decided to venture in.

The tent was cavernous, but broken up by different platforms levels to divide up the lounge area, from the bar, from the food ordering area, and from the look-out balconies. In the corner was the stage and a pretty good cover band called The Bulge. There were a few people walking around in green. Mark (not my neighbor’s real name) and I got our pints of Guiness and food (I had the pulled pork sandwich and he had the Irish stew). We looked around at the screens and projections around us. Soon these would likely be showing live Olympic events. Right now, one of the big screens was a display for Olympic interactive video games. The audience ranged in age from barely legal to balding bare. This was going to be interesting, I thought. Every place we go to will likely have this wide age gap.

Mark and I finished our meals, got a second round of Guiness draft, and then headed for the dance floor. The crowd was a casual, happy bunch. Jumping around and just generally having fun. I soon found out that Mark was a happy dance freak, which suited me just fine. From Prince to the Beatles to songs we didn’t know, the band had us rocking around with strangers with smiles on every face. If the atmosphere the Irish had wanted to represent was a great fun time, a friendly spirit, and good beer, then the Irish House had done its job.

02/06 YVR

2010-02-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Completed my first 12 hour shift at YVR. No sweat. There were too many of us eager to volunteer and make things right. All hands on deck and not too crazy for the number of people we had. The big thing was the Sochi delegate flight that was coming in. An Aeroflot charter, it was said to have people from the 2014 Sochi Olympic committee (they will be hosting the next Winter Olympics). There was a small group of Russians that came out to welcome them, with large Russian banners. I have no idea what they said. A press conference was planned for that evening, but I didn’t stick around long enough (after 12 hours, I just wanted to sleep). There were also Canadian Olympic freestyle skiers who arrived. The “press conference” they had turned out to be a one camera interview. There were also some Italian and German athletes that came in from a London flight.

02/05 Olympic Village & Downtown

2010-02-05T03:39:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to have the day off but my Blackberry kept going off with requests – some of the Korean signs were wrong and the Korean consulate was requesting we fix them before some other Korean big wigs show up. Oops.

I went down to the Olympic Village. I do have accreditation and was excited about being able to get in there and was hoping I could take a look around. I went to the first security checkpoint. I had to get out of my car and my whole car was searched before I could enter. Unfortunately, my accreditation is really limited and I was only permitted in the area outside the second security perimeter which was set up with more fences, and surveillance cameras, and security patrol around the Athletes’ Village. (I was too paranoid to take any photos, with the police watching.) I could see whole teams of volunteers being toured around, as well as security teams. The village had just opened up yesterday, so people were being orientated, athletes were moving in. You could tell who had already arrived because their flags were proudly hanging from their balconies. Irish flags, German, Czech, Canadian, and the first controversy of the Games – the boxing kangaroo flag from the Australians. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had requested that the Australians remove it because it is a branded flag, and not their own country flag, but the Aussies are having none of it. Everyone else thinks it’s a lot of fuss over nothing, and hopefully won’t turn into anything bigger.

From the Olympic Village, there is now an electric train that can take people directly to Granville Island, a big tourist spot that features the fresh, Granville Island market, unique artist studios, and theatres. I was going to hang out there for the afternoon, but the normally free parking has been replaced with pay parking signs everywhere, and some of the parking spots have been removed to make room for public gathering areas. I looked around but then decided to go back downtown and do some errands.

Walking to London Drugs at the popular corner of Granville and Georgia, I felt like it was a summer day. Not so much for the weather (although it was a balmy 13 degrees) but because of the number of tourists walking around and taking photos. Granville St. has become the major pedestrian thoroughfare, with art installations for photo ops and the stores dressing up their storefronts (I should do a photo slideshow of just all the cheesy Olympic store front themes.) Street performers every block seemed to gather little crowds of onlookers. City workers were still installing new metal chairs and benches on the street, which will easily become obstacles to the growing number of pedestrians. For the past couple of weeks, every day you go out and there’s something new you didn’t see before. A tent will have come up overnight where there was a parking lot before – the Irish House is a prime example of that. It has taken over the parking lot next to the Doolin’s Irish Pub.

02/04 YVR

2010-02-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

Lots of athletes are arriving now. I think I had my dates wrong, but the Athletes’ Village has just opened up (Jan 25th was when accreditation started) and so everyone is coming now. Lots of Russians, Japanese, Germans came in today. There was a lot of Asian media crowding around the exits to take photos of the popular Japanese speed skaters, along with a few fans. The Japanese were very smartly dressed in tan blazers, white shirts, and dark pants, so they looked to me like many of the school groups that arrive at the airport. As with many Asian travellers, there were some in their group wearing the flu masks, to prevent risks of catching the dreaded H1N1 virus. The Russians were in their winter sports gear – red and white. The Ukrainian team were also in their blue and yellow winter gear. They had a small contingent of well-wishers who came out in full costume to welcome them (see photos).

01/24 Whistler

2010-01-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

Today I went up to Whistler with Mira to go snowboarding. We left before the sun came up. There was hardly any traffic going up there. The digital traffic signs have been put up now reminding us that the checkpoint will start Feb 11th. If you don’t have a pass, you won’t be able to drive up to Whistler. At Whistler, our normal lot was fenced in and inaccessible. Lots 7 and 8 were also closed, so they had us parking diagonally on the street at Base 2 on the Blackcomb side. There weren’t very many people there for a weekend. I think all the Olympics talk has scared away a lot of locals. So there were hardly any waits for the lifts. We stayed on the Seventh Heaven chair all day. It turned out to be a sunny day. There was no fresh snow, but it was groomed and hard packed. Perfect conditions for me. Going up the chair lift, Mira said, “Do you hear the whistling? It’s from the three peaks.” I don’t think anyone had ever told me that (or maybe they did, but it was the type of useless trivia you typically forget). The reason Whistler got its name was because when the wind blows through certain peaks, you can hear the whistling. The peaks have been named Flute, Piccolo and Oboe because of how they sound. It was pretty cool to hear, and yes, they did sound very much like woodwind instruments.

01/23 It's really happening....

2010-01-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

Here we are, on the precipice of the biggest spectacle to land on Vancouver – the Winter Olympics. The Swedish women’s hockey team just arrived yesterday and more athletes will come this weekend, and more on Monday, Jan 25th, when the Athletes’ Village opens in False Creek. I almost can’t believe it’s actually happening, even though preparations are all that I have been working on for the last half of 2009. Working at YVR has to be one of the most exciting places connected to the Olympics since this is where almost everyone has to land and enter our city, and where everyone will all try to leave on Mar 1st.

Living downtown also affords me many privileges, being close to the action where the events will take place. I am walking distance to BC Place where the opening, closing, and nightly award ceremonies will take place, right next to Canada Hockey Place, where the hockey medals will also be decided. There will be a team of VIPs right in my neighbourhood. Instead of being across False Creek with the rest of the athletes, they are positioned close to Granville St., party central for the younger crowd, and Yaletown, the place to be for the slightly more sophisticated crowd.

I should really be learning Russian, since there will be such a large contingent coming from Russia. They have a large delegation who will be scrutinizing the games since Sochi will be hosting the Games in 2014. They’ve taken over Science World (the structure that looks like a big golf ball, which had been the recognizable icon for Expo ’86).