May The Torch Be With You!

John Davidson brings the Olymnpic torch into Victoria Park

Ok – so it’s a cheesy title for a blog post. But, having now experienced the massive sense of excitement and anticipation as the torch came through my hometown of London, Ontario, you can’t help but feel that it is a a pretty great force. Just thinking about the same flame making it’s way across the world (in many creative ways, I might add – check out some of these amazing pics!), from Greece all the way to Vancouver, and uniting everyone in the same celebration is a pretty amazing feat. From the tiniest communities, to the biggest metropolises, it’s hard to imagine any other event that unites the country, and the world, in the same way the Olympics does.

The torch came through London on Christmas Eve, which was kind of awesome. The crowd was incredible, likely because many people had the day off work for the holiday. There were protesters just outside of Victoria Park where the flame was to be lit, who despite their signs, flyers and bullhorns, didn’t manage to dampen the spirit of the crowd. And, when John Davidson arrived carrying the torch in honour of his son Jesse, (who passed away before he was able to participate in the ceremony), chants of “Go, Canada, Go!” completely drowned out the protesters’ attempts to dishearten the mood. It was hard not to get emotional watching John light that torch in honour of Jesse, who had passed away only a month ago. Both Jesse and John are well known staples in the London community, and it was very fitting that ‘they’ were chosen to participate. Of course, I think there was no momentgreater then when the entire crowd sang ‘O Canada’. WOW. What an amazing and teary moment for me. It was only then that this whole volunteer experience started feeling a bit more real for me; because I know I’m going to be hearing O Canada a lot in February, and it just made me start to wonder and anticipate what those moments are going to feel like for me, being there in Vancouver. The excitement and pride I felt at that moment was overwhelming.

Me, John Davidson, Wes and Gabe with the torch!

And now that we are into 2010, the countdown continues and feels even more real as I start to think about the little details like what to pack, and the transportation routes for getting to and from my venue. I won’t be doing any on-site training (because I arrive too late) but I did receive 3, 40-page training manuals – one for each venue that I will be posted at (Pacific Coliseum for the events, and Trout Lake and Kilarney for athlete training). I’m still waiting on another manual for function-specific training; I’ll FINALLY get to find out what being a “host” will entail!

Additionally, I finally got a pair of red, Vancouver 2010 mittens for Christmas! They have been almost impossible to find as of late, with the exception of kids sizes. My parent’s also got me a Canada Olympic hoodie, and I got one for both my brother Jonathan, and his girlfriend Terri. My cousin Erin also got one, and one for Tye too – I can’t wait until we are all together cheering Canada on! Erin, miraculously, scored tickets on the fan-to-fan site for the same Men’s Canada hockey game that Terri, Jonathan and I are going too so it will be beyond amazing for all of us to be there at the same time in our team Canada sweatshirts

Early Rising

My new Olympics schedule arrived today!

I have a total of 13 shifts starting February 9th and finishing on February 26th. I will be in Vancouver from the 6th until the 3rd of March. I generally only get one day between shifts, except for one break where I have two days off. The clincher? Almost all of my shifts are 5am – 3pm. Long, and early days. But, I’ll take it. I have no idea what I’ll be doing that early in the morning, so I’m anxious to find out! I’m actually not sure what this “Host” role entails either  – I thought it would be taking tickets, showing people to seats etc., but it seems I’m working a few hours and shifts where no events are on at that time, so not sure what that means. In addition to working at Pacific Coliseum, some of my shifts are actually at Trout Lake, which is the venue where the Figure Skaters will be training and practicing. Very cool.

Initially when I got my schedule this afternoon, I had a shift that was scheduled  for a few days before I actually arrived in Vancouver, so I had to email them to request a change. The Events Coordinator for this venue wrote me back almost immediately, and was very kind and accommodating, making some changes. Unfortunately, the changes meant that I now have shifts on the days that I have events tickets. And while the shifts don’t directly conflict with the events, 5am mornings, with 10 hour shifts, and late night events three days in a row could be tough! I emailed back to ask if they can accommodate changing these shifts around, but said that I was completely flexible if it was too complicated – I can’t even imagine having to do up a schedule for this many volunteers!!

I’m happy to have the first few days in Vancouver to find my barrings and get over the (minimal) jet-lag. It’s also great to have a couple of days on the tail-end to just relax, unwind and enjoy Vancouver and surrounding area a bit. Since I’ve never been out west, I’m looking forward to doing all the touristy things too. I’m actually getting together with my brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Terri this weekend to plan out some things we can do. I definitely want to make it out to Victoria for a few days, and am hoping that my Aunt Judy (or perhaps some yet-to-be-determined, new friends) might want to sight-see with me. Terri lived in Vancouver for a year or two so I’m looking forward to hearing her recommendations and getting the inside scoop on all the things to see and do!