Little known fact about the Olympics, every two years (around the time following the Olympics), the general health and exercise rates of Americans increase. Why? I will give you one reason! Inspiration. People watch the Olympics, and it motivates them to do one or more of the following: some of them want to try something new, some of them feel compelled to get better at what they do, and others, well, they just want to be as fit as the athletes. I will be the first to say, I started playing hockey in middle school because of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake. My best friend said she had started playing hockey after watching the 2006 Olympics in Torino. Watching people competing for their countries in front of the world is very inspiring.
Well let me just say... it is one thing to watch it on TV, and it totally different to LIVE IT!
On Saturday, February 20, 2010, my Dad and very good friend Joey (you can read his blog @ http://yojoeyblogs.wordpress.com/ ), drove up to Canada to go to Vancouver. Now, we didn't have any tickets to events, but none of us wanted to break the bank to do so. Tickets to any event (unless you are like my friends relatives and get lucky with a very desperate scalper) are over a thousand dollars a ticket! I don't even have that much in my bank account (sad but true). So we made a day trip to go to Vancouver to experience the Olympic culture, see the torch, and be in the city that the world was watching.
The night before, I was out with my friends, when my Dad texted me, asking if the following Friday I would be interested in going. To his misfortune I wouldn't be able to due to a snowboard training camp I was signed up for. As fate would have it, that weekend I was gifted with having a Saturday off (rare event), told my Dad I could go the next day. At first he declined because of a meeting, in which case I invited my friends to join. Joey was very excited about the opportunity and immediately agreed. My Dad then later texted me asking if we would be willing to wait until after his meeting to go up, and he would drive. We of course liked that idea, since it gave us time to sleep in, and actually helped with the timing of border lines and traffic. It's a good thing my Dad came, he thought about looking up train times and locations in BC, instead of driving directly to Vancouver (something I probably would have done).
We left my house around 2pm, and drove to Richmond BC, blocks from the Richmond Oval (where speed skating is held). We were probably in Richmond by 3:30pm or 4pm. Traffic was a nightmare in that area. Parking was nonexistent, the lines to the train were ridiculous, and traffic was stopped. Having used to travel to Richmond for hockey, we were very familiar with the area, and drove to the next train location which had plenty of parking and very short lines. The downside, was however, the train was already packed when it got to us... be we sucked it in and squeezed our way in (see picture above).
When we arrived in Vancouver, it was like a sea of red! Canadian flags everywhere, people wearing hockey jerseys of their favorite Canadian players, maple leaves caked on everything as far as the eye could see, chants of "Canada" or people belting the national anthem. To be honest (hopefully not insulting), it is the most Canadian pride I have seen in my life.
The first and foremost thing we did, was find a map. We then made our way through the thousands of people to the Cauldron to see the Olympic flame. That was epic! Wayne Gretzky lit part of that! We then decided to get a bite to eat, since I had been complaining for quite some time (I failed to pack snacks, and hadn't eaten since 11am). in the food court we found, we bumped into some fellow Americans, of course showing them our approval by chanting "USA" and cheering. We were well received by them. I then noticed one of the guys was wearing a UW sweatshirt, so I gave him a supper awkward high-five/handshake thing. Joey was not too thrilled that he attends the superior school.
The rest of the night was spent walking the streets of Vancouver, checking out the Olympic art displays, store windows, and the heart of the city. There was a zipline that went over the crowd that was free. It took us quite some time to find where the line began, by the time we had found it they were just beginning to put the closed sign up. Walking the streets at night was like being in a giant Canada party. It was pretty spectacular. We passed a store window that had TVs broadcasting the Olympic events, people flooded around those TVs to watch, routing for their countries. That was something, it was like what you see in the old days. I am almost certain, that I did not see a single person (not including the homeless) who looked unhappy or distressed.
Before we left, I got a white toque with an Olympic logo embroidered on it, and the clerk let me chose an Olympic Visa pin, even though I didn't spend over $50 (amazingly!!! By the way, Olympic swag is cheaper than Globetrotters. Go figure). He also seemed excited that we were American and congratulated us on the metal count.
Once we left and got back into Richmond, we decided to stop at a Tim Horton's for a bite, since Joey had never heard of it.
All in all, I would say it was an extremely memorable day!
TSK
