Over and Out

Figure Skating Medalists

The last shift of my Olympic journey is officially over. Bummer. It was really hard to leave the coliseum (PAC) Thursday night; it feels as though I just had my first shift yesterday! Luckily, I got to work inside for my last shift, which was the Ladies free skate. Seeing Joannie Rochette win that bronze medal was a great way to cap-off my time there, even though I had one of the most stressful shifts of this experience! I worked in the section with the $450 seats (translate: ‘elite’/demanding clientele), and there were some broadcast/press seats in my section as well.

The broadcasters and press are an interesting group – they will try and get away with just about anything and do a really good job of convincing you that they have the correct information and you don’t. It’s easy to fall for it here because rules/policies change every 2-3 minutes, and answers always seem to depend on who you ask! But, I stayed firm but polite and throughout this experience, I have learned to pick my battles. I even made friends with a few of the NBC broadcasters; this was the 14th Olympics that one of them had covered! Additionally, this means that I was standing right beside the NBC broadcast booth where I was about 2 feet away from Scott Hamilton – very cool.

Pacific Coliseum: on the ice!

At the end of the night, a few of us volunteers went down to the kiss & cry area, and I made my second attempt at getting my picture taken at centre ice – success!! Just in time before we got kicked off. Definitely one of the most memorable experiences here. AND, I’d like to think that perhaps my standing on the ice had a positive effect on the men’s short track team who skated on it tonight – WOO HOO! Gold, Gold AND Bronze!! Judy and I were at the Great Big Sea medal ceremony at BC Place tonight, which was AMAZING (those boys never fail to disappoint) – but – I did find myself wishing that I had gone down to the coliseum for the short-track events instead. However, as I’ve learned from this adventure – you cannot be in two places at once.

Judy and I walked down to Yaletown after the medal ceremony, which was the same time that the hockey game let out. I would like to think that I’m good with words but, really? There’s nothing I can write here that will capture or describe what the vibe in this city was like tonight. With four medals won today, a forthcoming gold-medal hockey game, AND securing the top-country spot for gold medals – people were in celebration mode! My tolerance for completely obnoxious/drunk people has sky-rocketed since I’ve been in Vancouver, to the point where I can’t imagine what it would be like here without them! Judy and I sat on a heated patio on one of Yaletown’s main streets (Yes – a patio in February : ) and just watched as people danced and partied in the streets, having a great time. We made friends, high-fived all over the place with strangers, and it wasn’t uncommon for chants of “Go Canada Go” to break out completely spontaneously all throughout the night. It even continued when we hopped on the sky train – this group of guys just blew bazooka horns and whistles and yelled “Go Canada!” at the top of their lungs during our entire 15-minute ride home – and no one told them to put a sock in it. Heck – I would have told them to put a sock in it under normal circumstances, but, I loved every minute of it and high-fived them all as we got off the train….these are the moments I will miss the most about being here.

Me and Aunt Judy celebrating Canada's medals on a patio in February!

As this trip winds down, I’m trying to get in a few ‘last’ visits to some places and say some ‘last’ goodbyes to friends, in addition to squeezing in a few of the sights I haven’t seen yet. I met an old high-school friend (Kurt) and his girlfriend today for breakfast at a great little breakfast/brunch spot called Provence Marianside. It was great to catch-up with an old friend out here in Vancouver. I still haven’t been able to get to Grouse Mountain OR the Canadian Mint to see the Olympic medals (lines have been about 5-7 hours long) but Heather and I did make the trek out to the Richmond Oval after breakfast to try and get scalper tickets to today’s team-pursuit event. No luck, as it doesn’t appear the scalpers like to make the long trek out to Richmond. Instead, we hopped back on the Canada Line and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Granville Market. I’d have to say that the market is at the top of my all-time favourite places that I’ve been to/discovered since I’ve been out here. Yet again, it was tough to leave not knowing when I’ll be back for all that fresh food once again…

I’m hoping to squeeze in a trip to the Mint early Sunday morning before the hockey game, and Judy and I are heading out to Victoria for the day. Looking forward to the ferry ride as I’ve heard it’s beautiful.

Winding down…

Well,  the Canadian women are rocking the podium here in Vancouver. I only learned of our gold AND silver bobsleigh wins when I got home from work last night, and heard about Clara Hughes’ medal win during my break. Women’s hockey goes today too and I’m watching the Canadian women’s curling as I write this as well. There’s been a lot of talk here about how much pressure has been on our athletes and although some have faltered under the pressure, it doesn’t take away from the amazing moments of those who have ended up on the podium.

I also got to witness first-hand, our silver medal win at the Coliseum short track last night, as well as Joannie Rochette’s short program skate on Tuesday night. I’m trying to remember how great those kinds of perks are, since I’ve been stationed outside AGAIN for those last two shifts. Now that the rain and cold have returned to Vancouver, it’s been especially miserable to be stuck outside and not getting to see anything happening in the arena. I timed my 15-minute break on Tuesday so I could go in to watch Joannie skate, and yesterday, I all but begged my team leader to put me inside for the last hour of my shift since my ratio of working outside: inside is about 8:2. It’s unfortunate too, because they had supposedly developed a system to have the outside/inside shifts balanced but volunteers have figured out the system and some are not pulling their weight when deployed to outside posts. I’ve heard some people complain about working 50/50 and I want to tell them to just put a sock in it! And, I’ve talked to some volunteers who have worked inside more than 85% of their shifts! It’s particularly hard too because a significant number of volunteers have dropped off now that we are at the tail-end of things. That’s to be expected I guess since we’re all volunteers and there’s really no consequences to not showing up for shifts (except that the rest of us have to pull the extra weight).

Additionally, a challenging but interesting part of this experience has been that volunteers here come from all different work backgrounds with varying experiences; everyone has some other kind of ‘day job’ that 99% of the time, is unrelated to the volunteer job they’re performing here. Unfortunately, this means that many of our volunteers do not have extensive (or ANY) customer service experience and that has created for some cringe-worthy moments. I underestimated how important my customer service background would be during the games, and I wish they had screened for that a bit better when they were accepting volunteers – it’s made for some interesting shifts, that’s for sure!

To keep volunteers motivated, they’ve been giving us little gifts for every three shifts we work. Last night for my 9th shift, I got a beautiful Vancouver 2010 pendant from Birk’s jewelers. Anyway, I’m hoping I can pull the “It’s my last shift today” card and they’ll assign me to a post inside. There are a lot of inside duties that I haven’t performed yet (ticket-taking, mixed press zone etc.) that I’d like a chance to try. Not to mention that I’d love to watch Joannie’s final skate tonight. I’m sure it will be just as emotional as Tuesday – the crowd was unbelievable and you could just feel their support for her; she seemed so genuinely grateful and appreciative of it too. Myself and the fellow volunteer beside me were just streaming tears when she was finished. Really keeping my fingers crossed for her tonight….

With Elizabeth Manley, 1988 Olympic Silver Medalist

It is so hard for me to believe that today is my last shift!! It feels like I just started this adventure yesterday and I’m not sure I’m ready for it to be over yet. The greatest thing has been waking up every day and having absolutely no idea what the day will bring; it will be difficult going back to work and knowing exactly what to expect every day. When I was posted outside on Tuesday, I worked the media/VIP screening area again and got to see so many famous figure skaters come through the gates: Elizabeth Manley, Jennifer Robinson, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski – the list goes on. It has been very cool getting to see/interact with some of the skaters that I followed so thoroughly in my teens (when I went through an ‘obsessed with figure skating’ phase). Apolo Ohno also strolled right by me the other day, as did the silver medalists from the women’s 3,000 metre relay.  I would never say that it’s starting to get old, but seeing these accomplished athletes just walking right be me every day HAS become somewhat normal!

Kiss & Cry

I’ve had some pretty incredible moments here. Last night was probably one of the most memorable – Luc stopped by work after my shift, as we had planned a little goodbye dinner before he was scheduled to fly out this morning. We went down to the lower concourse of the arena and snuck into the “Kiss & Cry” area where the skaters sit after their performance. It was so neat to sit there and look around at that huge empty arena. Then, I walked out to the centre of the ice and stood on the Vancouver 2010 logo. I took a few long seconds to just take it all in. What an overwhelming moment – it sounds cliche, but you could almost feel the pressure, frustration and pure bliss of the athletes who compete on that ice. I looked up and around for a few seconds but before Luc could snap a picture of it, we got called off the ice. Nevertheless, it’s a moment I will never forget.

So, I get ready to head off for my last shift today and to say goodbye to more friends before I enjoy some of the events lined up over the next few days. I have tickets to the Great Big Sea medal ceremony tomorrow night, which should be a blast, and  I can’t wait for the men’s gold medal game on Sunday. Also keeping fingers crossed for Charles Hamelin again tomorrow night – wish I could go to see that too (short track) but it’s the same time as the medal ceremony; there’s just too much happening all at once here!!! Judy and I have also booked a trip to Victoria on Saturday which I’m really looking forward to. We even booked ‘High Tea’ at the Empress Hotel (which was not cheap!) but as I mentioned in my last post – everything here can be justified with “It’s once in a lifetime!” Heather and I might rent a car and do some more sightseeing tomorrow, or – we might try and get tickets for the hockey game. Once again, you never know what the day might bring….

Good Days Start With Champagne

A day off – yay! I was so excited to have a wee break from work yesterday to go out and do some more exploring. The most amazing thing I have found about being here in Vancouver is that whether I’m working or not, I never know what the day is going to bring….

I met Heather in the morning and we headed out to catch the bus to Stanley Park (because the sun was yet again, shining). On our way, we walked around Granville Street where there have been lots of cool attractions set up. LONG line-ups for all attractions are now then norm here, but Heather and I saw a somewhat shorter line leading up to the jewelery store, Birk’s, so we decided to see what was going on. We went in to find that some of the Apollo 11 astronauts were there with Omega (official timekeeper of the Olympics) having a private party and were chatting with people, signing autographs etc. Apparently Buzz Aldrin was around but we didn’t see him, and we weren’t familiar with the other astronauts. But, we were offered champagne there and that was enough for us to have a good time!

View from seawall at Stanley Park

We left the fancy, shmancy party to try and catch our bus again but came across some cool street performers/dancers and stopped to watch. That’s another thing, entertainment is around every single corner here! So many streets are blocked off and people are just having a good time. After watching for a bit, we DID finally catch our bus to Stanley Park. Heather and I spent an hour or two walking around the sea wall and taking in the beautiful day and beautiful views. Heather lived in Vancouver for awhile so it was great to have her there to point out some highlights. Stanley Park is HUGE and we just didn’t have time to see everything, but it was a great way to spend our morning.

While we were finishing up our walk in the park, my friend Jenni called about making plans to meet up in the afternoon; she was here for a couple of days as well. We met up in Stanley Park and her friend Lindsay dropped us off downtown where we walked down Robson Street (jam-packed with people on a sunny day!) and enjoyed some crepes for lunch at a little creperie. It was so great to catch up with a friend from back home and yes – we did talk about work a bit as well (Jenni and I are also co-workers). I have to say that although I have been checking my work email somewhat regularly, I’ve hardly been thinking about work at all since I’ve been here. It will be a rude awakening when I get back!

After lunch, we started heading down towards Canada Hockey Place as we were going to try and find a spot where we could catch the game. Although they’d been to some Olympic events, Jenni and Heather had yet to witness a Canadian hockey game on home ice, and started debating whether or not they should try and get tickets for the 5:0opm Women’s game against Finland. There are TONS of scalpers down by the arena and lucky for Heather and Jenni, they were able to get a good deal on some tickets that were only 4 rows behind the Canada bench! Yes, you take a bit of a risk here with scalpers but, we have learned to justify everything around here with “It’s once in a lifetime!” so the girls took the chance and were not disappointed! Having already seen a game, I left my old friend and my new friend together (the Olympics has been all about enjoying time with strangers!) and headed out to do some more sightseeing and relaxing on my own. I stopped in at a restaurant by waterfront, got myself some tea (yes tea – I had partied hard enough with the champagne the night before!) and watched the game. I even saw Jenni and Heather wave on TV! LOL.

Canadian Gold Medalists!

Just before the game was over, I started making my way down to the Coliseum so I could catch Virtue & Moir and the last group of skaters. With the accreditation I have, I can get into the coliseum with no problems whether in uniform or not. Technically, we’re not supposed to be in the venue when we’re not working but it’s not something they can really monitor too closely so I decided just to risk it. I got there just in time for the last group of skaters and grabbed an inconspicuous standing spot in the section that Luc was monitoring. I think everyone in the stadium found it absolutely nail-biting to watch this last group of skaters. The roof just about blew off the place when Virtue & Moir came out, and I honestly don’t think they could have skated any better. They were so smooth and graceful – flawless. When their marks came up, the place went absolutely bananas – but then came the waiting for the last two couples. Everybody in the stadium knew that we should take the gold, but with the politics and drama of figure skating judging there are really no guarantees. When the marks for the last pair went up, the place absolutely exploded – I was jumping up and down screaming, as were all the other volunteers around me. I tried to video it but nothing will really capture the moment. Witnessing Canada win a gold medal at the Olympics was an absolute dream and this couple so deserved it. Seeing their excitement and enthusiasm when they found out they won was just priceless – PRICELESS. They shared a long hug and you could just tell that years of preparation and hard work had paid off in this moment for them. Lucky for us, figure skating is one of the only sports where the medals are presented directly after the event. So there we were, watching the Canadian flag go up and hearing the coliseum break into Oh Canada – such an absolutely amazing moment. Indescribable. After seeing that, I can honestly say that my Olympic dream is complete : )

Just Nicole & Keith : )

And as a side note, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban happened to be hanging out at our venue tonight and were sitting in the section right above where I was standing! My friend Jodi gave me the ‘signal’ when they were leaving (before the end) and I was able to jump ahead and snap a quick pic. Even though they left before the crowds, it was hard for them to stay inconspicuous and there was a group of paparazzi following them around, not to mention lots of spectators snapping pics. Very cool.

To celebrate our gold medal win, I met up with Heather again (who had just finished at the game and dinner with Jenni) and we went to meet my Aunt Judy and a co-worker of hers, Taryn, at Canada House. Taryn’s friends were playing in a band there and I’d yet to visit any of the pavilions so it was nice to get out there. We also passed Molson Canadian Hockey House – VERY exclusive and expensive to get in there, but there are big screens outside and supposedly lots of people gather to just stand and watch the games outside there. There wasn’t much to see in the Ontario pavilion but we listened to the band, had a quick snack and a drink. On our way out, we passed the Sochi/Russia house which is probably one of the hottest tickets in town right now. It’s very exclusive to get into and there is a HUGE Russian presence at these Olympics (since Sochi is hosting in 2014). They already have a countdown clock out there that is counting down to 2014 – only 1445 more days to go!

Well – off to work I go, without Luc this time The ladies figure skating starts today and after the tragedy of Joannie Rochette’s mother, I can only imagine how supportive today’s crowd is going to be. Once again, an amazing example of the mental toughness of sport….

Everyone is in the spirit of red mittens!

Oh Canada!

Sochi House - 1445 Days until 2014 Olympics!

Spills

Well, the figure skaters and short trackers have not been the only ones taking nasty spills this week. Just after finishing my last blog on Saturday night, yours truly was heading to bed in the dark and took a wrong turn, which had me flying down the stairs instead of tiptoeing to my room. Very, very lucky for me, I suffered only a very bloody (and now bruised) nose as well as a damaged ego. My little MacBook took the spill with me as well unfortunately, and while it’s still functioning, I’m currently leaning the monitor on my knees to keep it up : ) Needless to say, having a cold AND a bloody nose has  not made breathing too easy the last few days but I’m so lucky things were not worse. Trooper that I am, I was off to work again yesterday having to explain why my nose was black and blue : )

It was another outside day for me yesterday at the same old, same old PSA tents. However, we had a really great and fun security team working with us yesterday and Luc and I tried to make things more interesting by, when asking spectators to show us their tickets, telling them that they had brought the tickets for the day before’s event. Got a couple of scared looks from lots of people but they seemed to appreciate our humour after the fact – have to do something to keep things fun and interesting when screening through over 700 spectators (that’s how many came through our tent yesterday)! Lucky for us, the sun was shining once again and I’d say it was about 13 or 14 degrees.  Don’t mind working outside in that!

Me and Jeff Buttle

We did get inside arena duty for about 2 hours or so while the event was taking place. Unfortunately, I got stuck at an access monitoring point (which simply means that I had to check the credentials of staff, media etc. before I let them through an authorized area) so I didn’t get to see much of the skating. But, as I was standing there I spotted Jeff Buttle, former Canadian Figure Skating champion and a very good friend of my old neighbors the Collyer’s (shout out C’s!) So, I got coverage for my post and went over to say hi (with my camera of course : ) Jeff was super nice and we chatted for a minute about our connection to the C’s – he sends his best to you guys! I was also getting minute-by-minute updates from a fellow volunteer who was keeping tabs on the score of the Canada vs US hockey game. Not so good – let’s hope our boys step it up in the finals!

After completing egress (fancy word for “spectator exit) – where I stood in the cold just directing people to the buses (not as fun without my buddy Sara!), Luc and I met up with Heather and her friend Kelly at a bar near Waterfront to try and catch some ‘highlights’ of the Canada vs. US game. Well, we all got a little silly with a few drinks and had a great time. Luc hadn’t seen the Olympic cauldron yet so we also headed down there afterwards – it looks absolutely amazing at night and believe it or not, there were still crowds there! We also stopped by the International Broadcasting Centre where we snapped this pic, a feat in itself since we were both a little tipsy!

One step closer to world domination! (at the IBC)

So, needless to say that last night was much more memorable than my painful Saturday night! I am off work today (YAY!) and hoping to meet Heather, and maybe my friend Jenni from back home from some more sightseeing. I also might attempt to get into the coliseum to catch Virtue & Moir skate tonight in hopes that I’ll get to witness a Canadian gold medal LIVE. It’s not hard to get in the venue if you’re not working, but it’s finding an inconspicuous place to stand that’s tough! Wish me luck…

Family time in Vancouver

Granville Public Market

I’ve been off work for two days now, but I’ve been no less busy – believe me! Since Erin and Tye, and Jonathan and Terri have arrived, we’ve been packing in as much touristy stuff as we can. The problem is, there is SO much going in in Vancouver right now that no matter what, we’re going to miss something! Every day we hear about five or six more attractions, Olympics-geared or otherwise, that we want to see or do and there’s just no time to so it all. It’s overwhelming, but we’re doing to the best we can to pack our days full of good stuff…

Yesterday I met Erin and Tye at the Olympic Line so we could head over to the Kids Market at Granville Island. I’ve been over to Granville a few times since I’ve arrived here, and absolutely love the vibe there. The public market there is amazing; not only is it gigantic, but I’ve never seen so much fresh food in my whole life. It’s such a quaint little spot with a beautiful harbor view and cute boutique shops. Tye loved the market geared for kids, and we got an awesome window seat in the market on the top floor for lunch, overlooking the dock.

Erin and Tye

After doing some exploring and picking up a few souvenirs for peeps back home, I separated from Erin and Tye so I could head over to Pacific Coliseum (my venue) for the Pairs Figure skating final. With the proper credentials, I had the advantage of going through the work force entry instead of having to wait in line at the spectator gate. Since Jonathan and Terri had upgraded my ticket as a Christmas present, I had an absolutely fantastic seat, only about a dozen rows from the ice in the corner. It was amazing to see this event live and up close. The speed of the skaters and the height and difficulty of their lifts does not translate on TV as well as it appears in person. There were a lot of flawed performances – Ihave to wonder about the condition of the ice, given that so many pairs were falling. It was unfortunate that the Canadian skaters didn’t fare better, but despite Dube & Davison’s flaws, they were certainly the crowd favourite and we went wild for them both before and after their performance. If it wasn’t going to be a Canadian pair getting the gold, I was happy to see the Chinese pairs take home gold and silver. Shen and Zhao have been on the scene for awhile and have always skated beautifully. It was great to finally see them recognized as top competitors in this sport. Several of us agreed that the French skaters should have scored better as they were another crowd favourite and skated beautifully. They were one of the only standing ovations of the night and when the pair joined the spectators in the crowd later in the night, that section gave them another standing ovation as well. I enjoyed the event sitting next to a very nice couple from Richmond, who turned out to be the parents of Darcy Marquardt, a Canadian Olympian in rowing. Yet again, I never cease to be amazed by the friendliness of the people here….

Beluga Whale

This morning started bright and early meeting Erin and Tye at the Sky Train to head over to the Vancouver Aquarium. The aquarium is in Stanley Park, yet another attraction that I need more time to discover. What a beautiful place. It could just be my imagination, but the forestry here is much more beautiful and lush than back home. Erin and I didn’t even bother taking many pictures there because there’s no way a picture would do it justice. We had a blast at the aquarium with Tye – his favourite part was seeing the sharks, and we watched a very cool dolphin show (which was my favourite) – also got up close and personal with some beluga whales. Although the aquarium is adult-friendly and I enjoyed it immensely, it’s 100 times more fun going with a five-year old and seeing him enjoy it.

Bannon/Michienzi clan!

While you could certainly spend a whole day at the Vancouver Aquarium, we ended up seeing everything in just a couple of hours so that we left ourselves lots of time to get over to Canada Hockey Place for the Canada vs. Norway game! We met up with Jonathan and Terri and got some ‘family pics’ of us in all of our Canada hockey gear; I can’t even tell you how awesome it feels for all of us to be here together. The energy in the crowd/line-up even before we got into the stadium was absolutely electric. And, you were hard pressed to find a single soul who was not wearing red and white. We got fully into the hockey spirit by painting our faces too (Jonathan and Terri went ALL out with this!). Oh, and did I mention that we were just a mere ten rows from the ice, right behind the Norway net?? I have never in my life enjoyed a hockey game as much as I enjoyed this one; the crowd was charged and electric, our seats were amazing, and you could just feel the Canadian pride in your bones every time the arena erupted in cheers and chants. I was also able to meet up with my friend Jess, from back home, for a beer during the intermission, as she’s volunteering as a photo assistant at the venue. I’m not sure I’ll ever go to another hockey game that will top this one! If tonight’s game was any indication, Canada will be bringing home the gold on home ice….

Great seats!

Of course, we celebrated the game as well as Canada’s second gold medal today (whoo hoo!), with some drinks and snacks at Steam Works Brewery downtown. But, I made it a somewhat early night as I’m absolutely drained from the activities and early mornings of the last few days. Since the moment I got to Vancouver, it feels like I haven’t stopped and I’m wondering if I’m ever going to be able to fit in some downtime somewhere! But, as Jess keeps reminding me – “You can sleep in March!” Additionally, I hope that I can squeeze in some more time to actually WATCH some coverage of the Olympics. Although I’m having this absolutely incredible experience here that’s very different than the Olympic experience I’d be having back home, it does come with some sacrifice. I’m still DYING to witness a medal win for Canada LIVE instead of hearing about it second hand, and I’ve still yet to see the replay of Bilodeau getting his gold medal, or the replays of our silver and bronze medal wins. During the very little time I have off (after tomorrow, I only have one more day off), I like to take in as much of Vancouver as I can, but it doesn’t leave much time for just hanging at home or at a bar and watching the events….

On that note, another early morning and busy day tomorrow with Erin, Tye, Jonathan and Terri at Capilano bridge, followed by our last event tickets of this trip – Short Track Speed Skating. We’ll be in the second row, so if you’re watching – be sure to look for us!

Face-painted fans, Jonathan & Terri

Syd the Kid

Game on!