2010 Olympics

i admit it...i wasn't in favour of the 2010 olympics when we won them back in 2003 (?). leading up to the olympics, all i could think about was the dreaded 1-2 hour waits at skytrain stations. turns out i didn't need to hate the olympics after all. granted, skytrain was crowded no matter what time of day travelled, but it just added to the olympic buzz. at the end of a workday i put on my best irritated-to-hell face, but tourists obviously knew i was a local and sympathized for the commuters. then they'd strike up a conversation with me and i'd give in to their excitement about being in vancouver and loving our great city :-)

and as an original pessimist, i'm not sure how anyone couldn't get lost in the spirit and just embrace what was happening to our city. and once the gold medals started pouring in, and the men's hockey team defied the odds against russia...it was magic. chris and i even managed to get out on 2 saturday nights with our friends to take in the downtown chaos. the first night we had no plan and just wandered around...but the 2nd saturday we had a plan and managed to check out the (gold!) olympic rings, the cauldren and we spent some time at germany house.

when olympic tickets went on sale in 2008, chris got in on the action and bought men's hockey (quarterfinal & semifinal) and men's & women's curling (both bronze medal games). unfortunately none of our hockey tickets were for canada, both times we saw the united states (vs. switzerland - "hop suisse!" and vs. finland). he had to sell the women's curling bronze medal game due a conflict with the hockey game (conveniently enough i know a lot of curling fans), and i managed to get out of the men's curling game and geoff went instead :-) we had hoped to take gabe to an olympic event, but the hassle of a stroller, going thru a "carry-me-everywhere" phase, security, and working around naptime, it just was too much to fathom.

a week after the olympics have ended, the blue volunteer jackets, the "canada" sweatshirts, the flags, the neighbourhood houses, the foot traffic outside my office on thurlow street...it's all becoming a distant memory. i definitely feel sad that the buzz has worn off already, but we're hoping to get out this weekend and do some paralympic activities. one more hoorah in our red hoodies :-)