Olympic Craziness!

I can and can't believe that it's been a week since I've blogged. This week has been insane. Two USA hockey games and a Barenaked Ladies headlining medal ceremony. But now all that is over and I have no more event tickets. It flew by so fast and it makes me sad to think it's all over.

The hockey games were fantastic, definitely the high of the whole week. I took pictures and hopefully I can get them up soon once I find my camera cable. The downtown area has been great too, just filled with people everywhere. Especially Granville and Robson which are all pedestrian areas. There's people with flags cheering and hooping and hollering everywhere. It really is the coolest thing I've ever experienced.

I went to the Sochi World Russia House. It's science world but taken over by a whole Russian contingent promoting the 2o14 winter olympics in Sochi. That kind of made me sad because after this week I want to olympics to be here FOREVER. I want them all the time because they're so festive and fun. However, also expensive. It's now my goal in life to be a serious hockey fan because thats been the high of my week. The problem is there's no way in hell I can afford Canucks tickets. At the game yesterday I sat by some diehard Wisconsin hockey fans and it made me miss high school because they had so much school spirit that UBC just lacks, but Curtis did have. They kind of made me want to be more into hockey. Also, after this week I insanely miss America so much because I forgot how awesome we are and what winners we are. Seriously, USA owns the podium here. I saw Seth Wescott awarded his snowboard cross gold LIVE at BC place. Watching them raise the flag and play the anthem was pretty emotional. I like Canada sure enough but in those little moments at these games, I finally feel home here. I feel homesick for America often and especially in the run up to these games when Canadians have finally figured out national pride. It makes me feel like an other, because even though I've been up here for years, it's not my country. This is just a little rant though.

As fun as it is to support the USA it was a little awkward last night in the bar of the pizza place I went to with my friend. We searched the city for a place we could get beer, pizza, and watch TV. So basically we went to Granville. We watched the men's figure skating and realized the whole place was owned and filled with Russians wearing Russian team jackets. Needless to say they were very upset when Pleshenko's result came in and he took silver. I had my Team USA shirt on (still on a high from the hockey game USA 6-0 Finland) so when we took figure skating gold over Russia I finished my beer, zipped up my jacket over the shirt and left. I was severly outnumbered. It's been fun to see people show their colors though. Me, I'm a USA fan first and a supporter of Canada as well. But I've been in the Swiss House and the Russia house. I've also walked by Czech supporters, Finns, Swedes, everybody! It's cool.

I wish it was like this always.

Thoughts on the Opening Ceremonies

Symbolism. Flying Prarie Children. Nice Canada Uniforms. Weird USA Uniform pants. Sarah McLaughlin's voice. The lack of Celine Dion. Catriona le May Doan not getting to light the torch because of a hydrolic problem=lame sauce to infinity. Anne Murry + olympic flag. Wayne Gretzky in the streets. KD Lang in a white tux. All these things I'll remember as reasons why I love Vancouver (apart from the Catriona le May Doan thing, that was really sad).


Tomorrow I hit downtown and I have not a single thought about what to do FIRST. I know what I want to do, I want to do it all. I just have to stay like a sponge and soak it all up.

This Post Might Make You A Little Jealous

The night before the opening ceremonies feels like Christmas Eve. There's electricity in the air and it keeps me from sleep.

Tonight the Olympic Torch ran through my school. It went from just mediocre to one of the greatest experiences of my life. Literally. It's something I will tell other people's kids someday. Or right now. In true Vancouver fashion it was pouring rain. Not pouring but consistent enough where all of the sudden you end up soaked. I got my free relay flag from coca-cola and decided for the next 2 1/2 weeks I actually love corporate sponsorship. They were also handing out free cokes in sweet 2010 bottles but there was one problem. This math equation: free stuff + students x olympics=mob scene. I couldn't get close to the freebie truck. We were all lined up along the route. The street lights went out and an olympic themed flash mob started up. I must redact my previous post, this was actually super legit. Then came the police cars. And then fire trucks. Followed by 2010 vans and all of the sudden dancing down the street came the runner holding the olympic flame. The crowd was cheering and waving flags. Some people held candles. It was epic and as the flame passed groups of students ran out after it so the street turned into a sea of students running. Then stopping. Running. Then stopping a bit as we followed the torch in the rain down University Boulevard. All of the sudden people started chanting U-B-C U-B-C and all the regrets I ever had about going to this school melted away in the rain. Eventually the RCMP put a stop to our chase, but that alright with me by then. I had experienced a moment that I could hang on to.

I was one of the students that chased the torch in the street and my heart felt so full it almost burst. Here it was, arriving, the culmination of 4 years of work. I wanted to be here ever since 2003 or so. In fact I've wanted to go to the winter olympics since 1994 in Lillehammer. So I worked. And I worked hard, dammit, just to get here. I remember sweating through chemistry class trying desparately to access the science portion of my brain because I knew Grade 11 Chem was a must have to apply for UBC. I remember checking the mail everyday. Nights crying myself to sleep until I got into this "dream" school. The first night here when I bolted my dormroom door for the lack of anything better to do. All of it traces back to that fall of 2005 as the Torino games approached when I went "maybe I could move to Vancouver". A thought became a dream a dream became a trial and in this moment chasing the olympic flame shoulder to shoulder with people I don't even know but who are just as excited as me, well, then the dream became a reality. In this moment, I felt off the charts happy. And for someone like me, that's a big deal.

I went to UCM tonight and during the end of the worship set I sat down in the back and cried. But I couldn't stop smiling. Happy tears. It was because I knew that I'd escaped. High school was hard for me, the road to Vancouver for me was marked with bouts of depression and serious lows. It was this weird feeling of "if I made it here like I wanted, maybe possibly I might be ok. The rest of my life might just be alright". The olympics have always made me feel better about things. They've always been a distraction from things, but a good distraction and for once I am in the epicentre of this earth quake. When I log onto NBColympics.com I see pictures of places I've gone to, places that have been a part of me for 2 1/2 years.

After UCM we all hit up McDonalds for mcflurries. It's something about the olympics that makes me crave McDee's. That corporate sponsorship stuff really works, I drank a coke today too. If this continues by the end of the games I'll open an account at RBC go home and flip on my panasonic TV and then call someone on my samsung phone. Yikes. Going out after UCM was great because, well, I started and sitting around the table watching hockey misplays of the day on TV with my friends was exactly what I needed. The cool thing is not that the olympics are here and I'm going, but that I'm here and the olympics are coming. This is my city. This is my campus. And right now, despite housing issues and tuition increases, I love it.

I should really get some sleep.

Brain Storm (a bad one)

There is too much going on in my brain right now. It's just a flurry of activity. So much so that clearly all my energy is going to thinking and none of it to anything kinetic. Basically, I'm just sitting around. I just wish the olympics would hurry up and start. Everything's here, I'm ready to go, let's just do this Vancouver.

There is a FREE zipline OVER Vancouver. I can't imagine what the wait will be like, but in short: I WANT TO GO. It's only here for the olympics which is dumb because think about how awesome this city would be if there was a permanent one. I'd be on it every weekend, zippin' around.

I booked a bus ticket home for a few days during the break. Will I regret it? Well, no, because it's nonrefundable. As most regrets are. It will be good though because as fun as olympic spirit is, redoing my third year would NOT be fun. So I'll actually get some work done it seems. I also realized how long its been since I've been home. Not home as in "in Tacoma" but home as in "in Tacoma with my family". I spent my whole break working nights, then christmas, then went to DC for four days then came back for new years and next thing I knew I was back here. I haven't been home for three consecutive days since the end of August. Now, I have four term papers due after easter weekend and I don't finish finals until April 29th. There's plenty of time to enjoy the olympics while I'm here (hellllo zipline) but there's also time to see my mom and dad and get some long awaited rest.

Other craziness? hmmm, well I sold a pair of olympics tickets that cost me $44 online for $90. That was pretty much sweetness. The olympic torch is on my campus tonight. I hear rumour of a "flash mob" going on, but holy crap those things can be annoying. In non olympics news, I remembered how great mcflurries were. They are both reasonably priced AND delicious, a rarity in Vancouver.

Olympic Spirit

I haven't written in this blog in about 9 months. I could have had a baby in that amount of time. I did not, however, I did pass my second year and sailed on into the third here at UBC. 2009-2010. The year the olympics come to the city. I would be lying if I said that I chose UBC originally because of its academic values, blah blah blah. No. I first applied to UBC because I wanted to go to the olympics and knew there was no way I would ever be an elite athlete. Especially since dodgeball and frisbee are not olympic sports there was little hope for me.

I decided to resurrect my blog because I have the privilege of living in Vancouver BC while the world visits for two weeks. In short, I finally have something to talk about worth reading. I went downtown yesterday to pick up my tickets while there were still manageable lines for the box office. It's very strange because I don't even recognize parts of the city, all of the sudden there's white tents. Everywhere. And pretty much none of it was finished yet so hopefully they keep on working at that. I'm planning on making the most of this experience but not making such a big deal about it that I'm disappointed. Compared to most I've spent little on tickets. I plan on watching it on screens downtown, provided I can get there. The motto is: no regrets. Because as I learned yesterday, I am no VIP and half the things I wish I could get into, I can't.

I am planning on being downtown for the gold medal hockey game and watching it with all the Canadians. Since its men's hockey I'll be pulling for Canada. Best case scenario: gold medal win, party in the streets of Vancouver. Other best case scenario: loss and a riot in the streets of Vancouver. Either way, it'll be an experience. So whether I'm dancing around with strangers or throwing a trash can through a window I'll be living the dream.

To be honest I'm a little nervous because I tend to not do well when I'm surrounded by people. It exhausts me and as much as it pains me to say this I might take a four day break to go back to Tacoma. I miss my family more than most people know and if downtown is so crazy I might as well go home and watch it on TV. I always said I wouldn't leave while the olympics were here, but I mapped it out on my calender and this crap takes FOREVER to complete. There's three weekends in there. It is a behemoth that swallows Febraury whole and craps it out March 1st. As exciting as it all is, getting to go home and see my mom and dad is a little more exciting, especially in that mid week lull of the last week where only Saudi Oil Billionaires can afford tickets to anything. It's also the women's gold medal game that thursday and I have this feeling in my heart and soul that the USA could win it. In which case, me and my american flag might not want to be here. On the other hand, the USA losses to Canada. In which case me and my american flag might not want to be here and endure the taunting.

I'm sure I could justify a Tacoma trip. Mostly I'm just talking to myself right now so most of the convincing is aimed right back at myself. I could use the rest, after this two and a half week explosion of world unity through sport, I start class at 9 the following monday. That is just not fair UBC.