December 12th - Torch Relay in Ottawa

Yesterday (December 12th) the Olympic Torch Relay took place in Ottawa...I spent much of the day following it around...first stop (for me) was Beechwood and Marier - which happens to be right by the Jacobsons (the store that the company that I work for owns), so I did a bit of shopping then all the staff headed out to cheer on the torchbearer...

After Beechwood, I headed over to City Hall, but not before running into the relay a few times while en route...I got to City Hall just about 5 minutes before the torch bearer - Melissa Brunet, who is from my end of town - and I was lucky enough to be right beside the red carpet where the torch was run down...(sometimes there are benefits to being late).  The cauldron was lit while the crowd chanted Go Canada Go, then we all sang O Canada...After speeches from Max Keeping, the Mayor, and Gordon Campbell (among others), I ran into a friend of mine who happens to be a city councellor (Rainer Bloess) and was lucky enough to accompany him up onto the stage once the festivities were over...however there was still lots going on on stage - photographers everywhere taking pics of the Olympic Athletes that were present (Elizabeth Manley, Barbara Ann Scott, Sue Holloway, Rob Marland & Greg Joy). I had my picture taken with the Olympic torch and cauldron...(thanks Rainer). and also got some great shots of the athletes and local celebs!  Some of the pics are attached, but the ones of me will have to wait until Rainer sends them to me...

At 5:45 p.m. I headed over to Parliament Hill to see the torch arrive and the simultaneous lighting of the cauldron and Christmas lights...Joe Juneau carried the torch for that leg and again, I had a great view...he was so close that I just got a blurred pic as he was flying by!!!!  Again, the crowd sang O Canada and after a few speeches and a Joe Juneau interview, Tom Cochrane played...

Coca Cola was there handing out glow in the dark Coke bottles, Royal Bank was handing out little tamborines, and the NCC was giving everyone little torches that were lit and made the whole hill quite lovely.  I heard one of the girls working in the Coke booth saying that the stage was the most impressive one she has seen throughout the relay and in her words, she has seen many over the past 44 days.  Way to go Ottawa!!!!

Stay tuned for more news once I arrive in Vancouver - I don't expect to post much on for the next six weeks as nothing much Olympics related will be happening (to me)...see you in February!!!!

November 29th Worksop

On November 28th I headed to Vancouver for the final workshop required before the Olympics! I left Ottawa at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, attended the workshop on Sunday, then left Vancouver at 10:00 a.m. on Monday - quite the whirlwind weekend...but the good news was that I never really adjusted to the time change...the workshop was basically info on the venue that I would be working at (Pacific Coliseum), some mock chaperoning scenarios, some logistical information of what to expect re work shifts, transportation etc. - best of all though was that we got to meet some of the people that we would be working with and everyone got to share some of their related experience....

I rode the Sky Train (Canada Line) from Richmond to Downtown on Sunday morning - it took just under 20 minutes...I passed the Olympic Village stop - from there to downtown it is just 4 minutes...I'l be using that route quite often during the Olympics as I have several shifts in the Village...
After the workshop, Jan (my friend who was kind enough to put me up for the weekend) and I went to the Canucks/Sharks game - it was strange to see Heatley in a San Jose jersey, and I must admit that I did boo him...San Jose won, but no goals for Heatley...Gary and Billy (my housemate and CCES employee)had front row seats for the game right behind the goalie and they managed to get on the big screen with their Sens jerseys
Above are pics of The Bay downtown, and below are pics that my housemate took while he was at the Olympic Store - Kurt Browning and Gaetan Boucher were there signing autographs (with the Olympic mascots).  I've also included a couple of pics from GM Place...

Thanks to Jan & Ron for putting me up for the weekend!

Our Uniforms

This is the gear that the volunteers receive for use at the games. They include pants, 2 long sleeved T's, a fleec vest, jacket and touque. What a great souvenir to take home!

Where I'll be living during the Olympics

This is the house that I am sharing with 3 - 5 (# varies throughout the month) people during the month of February...thanks Gary for working all of this out! The house is in Burnaby and is 2 blocks from the Edmonds Sky Train...apparently we can get to downtown or the airport in 25 minutes on the skytrain...

Volunteering at the 2010 Olympics

On February 3rd, 2010 I am heading to Vancouver to volunteer at the Olympics - I will be spending almost one month in Vancouver, heading home on March 1st. My duties will include chaperoning for the anti-doping program, so it will be front line duty for me!!

I applied to volunteer at the Olympics in 2007 and since then I have had to attend an antidoping workshop, a Vanoc training session and a World Cup Event to prepare for my volunteering...I am heading to Vancouver on November 28th to attend the last anti-doping workshop before the Olympics.

Hard to believe that it is now only 2 months away....can't wait...