The Games are now CLOSED!

What a weekend!!! Remy arrived on friday night. I surprised him with two tickets to Men's Snowboard PGS on saturday morning. The alarm rang at 6am. He did not understand why an alarm was ringing. I told him to wake up and get ready as we were heading to Cypress mountain for the event. It was raining a tiny bit but to our suprise it was pouring at Cypress. We were soaked to say the least. As we were watching the event, I ran into the Derek, my former director for the Canadian Olympic Committee. We chatted a bit and even watched the finals of men's Speed Skating - Team Pursuit between the semi-finals and the finals. We started cheering a gold medal in speed skating for Canada. 15 minutes later we were cheering again when Canada won gold at the event we were attending.

Once arrived in downtown Vancouver, Remy and I had to go buy new pants in order to dry up. We were cold and wet!!! For dinner, we made our way to Granville Island. I think Remy enjoyed what Ganville Island had to offer.

Today, we went to the closing ceremony. It was really interesting being in the crowd versus watching it on tv. I believe the effects and the colours are better portrayed on tv however the atmosphere is undescribable live. It is unbelievable that the games have already gone by. Time sure does fly when you enjoy what you are doing!

I hope you all enjoyed following my adventures.

Take care!

Women's Hockey win GOLD!!!

YAY CANADA!!!! Women's hockey won gold yesterday at BC Canada Hockey Place. Mathieu and I stayed at the Canada Olympic House after our shift to watch the end of the game. We are still tied for gold medal count!!

After the game, we made our way to BC Place for the Victory Ceremony. This is a ceremony that takes place at BC Place every night to hand out the medals to the Olympians. For those athletes who are staying in Whistler, they receive their medals in Whistler. This is showed to us in Vancouver via satelite on the big screen. Essentially, they hand out medals for one event in Vancouver and then one in Whistler, etc. Alternating from one location to the next. What an exciting ceremony for Canada when the winners of Women's 2-man bobsleigh were handed their medals. The whole stadium was singing Oh Canada at the top of their lungs! I have taken a video of this, which I will post on facebook once I am back home.

Following the Victory Ceremony, Mathieu and I watched Joannie Rochette perform on a screen CTV has posted at the corner of Robson and Burrard. The funny part is that while walking on Robson street, I lost Mathieu for a good 30 minutes. We were on our way to the Nike store, therefore I figured I would walk in that direction and meet him there. As I passed by the CTV booth, I noticed Joannie Rochette was about to perform, so I stopped to watch it. As I am watching her performance, I took a glance at the crowd around me. Mathieu was standing right there. Just to put you guys more in context, the CTV booth was about 4 blocks away from where I lost Mathieu. What are the odds we found each other that easily!!

A Big CONGRATS to Joannie Rochette for winning the Bronze yesterday! She is a very brave young girl to say the least!

Remy arrives in Vancouver today!!!! YAY!!! I am working till 4pm at which point Mathieu and I will keep ourselves occupied downtown and then head to the airport for 11:30pm.

Talk to you tomorrow!!

4 medals for CANADA!

Canada has won 4 medals yesterday!!!!!! What an awesome day. Canada has dominated in Bobsleigh last night with a first and second spot. We also won silver in short track speed skating relay and we won bronze in long track (Clara Hughes). We are now holding 4th spot in medal standings and we are tied for gold medal standings.

Mathieu and I made it to the Finland-Czech Republic at the BC Thunderbird Arena. I was happy to be able to go to this game. This aloud us to see another Olympic Venue!!! It is a lot smaller than Canada Hockey Place.

I am anxious to watch the events today. Women's hockey team will be competing for the gold medal tonight as well as Joannie Rochette will be performing her long program!

For those interested in listening to our interview yesterday with CBC radio, here is the link:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Ottawa_Morning/ID=1424489114

CBC Radio Ottawa

It had already been an eventful morning. Mathieu and I got up early this morning and headed to the CBC Vancouver office to do a pretaped interview with Kathleen from CBC Radio Ottawa. What an experience. It was neat to see the studio and get set up in the sound proof radio studio. We got the mics and the sound on our headphones ajusted. We spoke to Kathleen briefly before the taping. She asked us the proper pronounciation of our names and welcomed us to CBC. Within 10 seconds later we were saying hello again in our actual interview. She asked us what it was like to volunteer at the Canada Olympic House, who we were most happy to meet, how we made it to Vancouver and what our future holds. 15 minutes later, the whole experience was complete!

Tonight, Mathieu and I have tickets to the Victory Ceremony at BC Place tonight. Hopefully Canada can win a medal during the day so that we can cheer on our Canadian Athletes.

On a more heartfelt note, I hope everyone got a chance to watch Joannie Rochette's performance last night. CTV replayed her performance this morning as we were setting up. A lot of volunteers and staff had tears in their eyes watching the replay. I am routing for her tomorrow night!!!!

2 more sleeps and Remy will be joining us in Vancouver!!!! I can't wait to share this experience with him!!!

Women's Hockey

Mathieu and I got tickets at 5pm yesterday for Canada-Finland Game that started at 5pm. We ran all the way to Canada Hockey Place in record time. We missed only 4 minutes for the first period. That included going through security to get into the venue. Luckly the metro station was in the building we worked at and Canada Hockey Place is only one stop away. What a game!!! I enjoyed the atmosphere!!! Hayley Wickenheiser trully has good puck handling. There is a reason she wear the C on her jersey!

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won gold yesterday in Figure Skating - Dance. Awesome performance. I watched the replays once I got home.

I am anxious to see Joannie Rochette's performance. My heart goes out to her and her family for the loss of her mother. I am happy to see that she decided to compete. You can do it Joannie!

Tonight, we are going to the 9pm quarterfinal hockey game. Unfortunately, it is not Canada who is playing but it should be a good game. We are seeing Slovakia against Norway. It is always a gamble when you buy tickets to quarterfinals, semifinals and finals as you don't know who is going to continue.

Ok i must get back to work!! Have a nice day everyone!!!

Ski Cross

Je me suis trouvé un nouveau sport à suivre. Le ski cross!! J'ai bien aimé ma journée à cypress à regarder le ski cross. L'événement c'est débuté à 9:15 ou 33 athlètes ont décendu la piste une à la fois pour qualifier pour les éliminatoires. Par rapport à leur temps, les athlètes sont regroupé en groupe de 4 pour affronter la course ensemble. Les top 2 de chaque course continue à la prochaine ronde jusqu'à temps qu'il y a un gagnant. Chris Delbosco c'est rendu à la finale et tombé à la dernière minute. Avant de tombé, il était en 3e place. C'est domage qu'on a pas pue gagné une médaille, par contre c'est la nature du jeux. Au temps que la vitesse est importante, la stratégie y prend place aussi. C'est pas que le parcours à aménager.

Christina Groves nous a remporté une médaille d'argent aujourd'hui dans le 1500m de speed skating!!!! Je suis bien contente qu'on a réussit à gagner une médaille. C'est la deuxième médaille pour cette athlète. Elle représente le Canada avec fierté!

C'est domage que nous n'avons pas remporté le match contre les États-Unis. Par contre, nous avons acheté des billets pour le match de quart de finale d'hockey pour mardi soir en espérant que le Canada y joue. Ont verra bien!

GO CANADA GO!!!!

Men's 1000m and Women's 1500m short track

WOW! What a sport. I trully enjoyed watching this event. Although speed is an important factor, strategy is equally important. Every race was different. Some had quick starts with fast speeds and others were slow. You could tell that every athlete had their strategy their strategy. The slow starts demonstrated that none of the athletes wanted to take a lead in the begining of the race.

What also surprised me was the size of the ice. The size of the ice is smaller than a figure skating rink. It is the same rink but they shorten it with thick patted boards. The athletes are constantly turning. The average time for a lap was about 12-15 seconds!!!

I have to admit that I was dissapointed that Canada didn't win any medals in these events. Both disciplines had canadien contenders that made it to the finals. I hope I get to see a canadien win a medal tomorrow as no canadiens have won a medal to the events I have attended thus far.

Tomorrow I am heading to Cypress Mountain for Ski Cross. Mathieu and I managed to get category A seats in order to replace the category B seats that were cancelled. I am anxious to see this sport. The event starts at 9:15am and the finals are held at 12:15 pacific time.

Montgomery wins GOLD!

Yet another GOLD for CANADA. About 5 minutes ago, Montgomery won Gold in Men's Skeleton. I wish I could describe the atmosphere here in Canada Olympic House for all of you. We have about 300 guests here tonight glued to the TV watching the end of this event. Everyone is cheering and happy that Canada won another gold medal. I was worried that we wouldn't win any medals today. I am really hoping that Canada can win at least one medal per day.

I attended the symposium this morning at UBC. Unfortunately, Mathieu and I were not able to stay for the whole event as we had prior engagements for lunch. We were able to hear Richard Pound speak about the impact of hosting Vancouver and the extent of organizing such an event. He stressed the importance of risk management when planning Olympic Games. This is why the IOC has set specific dates and meetings in order to ensure the organizing committee is minimizing risks (i.e. marketing, logistics, etc.). Benoit Seguin and Milena Parent (profs from the University of Ottawa in Sports Management were scheduled to speak later that day. It is unfortunate that we were not able to stay and listen to their segment. We were able to say hello and speak a bit about our olympic experience thus far with Milena.

The Canadian Olympic Committee hosted an event in the HBC room of the Canada Olympic House for all volunteers. We ate like Kings and Queens and were recognized for all our efforts. Some volunteers are only with us for one week. Therefore, they organised this event this evening in order to have everyone together.

Tomorrow I am switching to day shifts. It will be nice to have evenings off for the next week. Mathieu and I have tickets for short track speed skating tomorrow night. Please watch. The event starts at 5pm pacific time. Look for two crazy french canadiens jumping around like crazy with a canadien flag!

Pins

Pins...I am not sure I understand the frenzy around pins at the Olympics. Everyone around me is trading pins to get other ones. Everywhere you look, peope have crazy amounts of pins on them. People I work with are constantly trying to get their hands on so called "rare" pins. I really don't get this obsession but I am entrigued by this process.

Aujourd'hui c'est avere une journee tres occupe. Il y avait un evenement a la Maison olympique canadienne qui ma garde sur mes pieds toute la soiree. J'ai eu l'occasion de voir des empoyes du COC qui provient d'Ottawa. J'ai vraiment aime travailler avec ce groupe d'individus. Par contre, j'apprecie l'occasion de rencontrer d'autres employes du COC.

Puisque j'etait occupe ce soir, j'ai manque la joutte d'hockey ainsi que le patinage de vitesse. Canada a gagne le match dans un "shoot out" et Christine Nesbitt a gagne la medaille d'or!!!!! Canada a maintenant gagne 3 medaille d'or. J'ai eu l'occasion de voir la performance de Patrick Chan. C'est malheureux qu'il a tombe dans sa performance.

Demain, j'ai l'intension d'assister un symposium a UBC. Richard Pound et Holger Preuss sont parmi les invites. J'ai bien hate de voir ce qu'ils ont a dire au sujet du sport.

Shawn White

What a day yesterday!!! We were able to get last minute tickets for Men's halfpipe. Justin Lamoureux from Canada made it to the finals but to no surprise the great Shawn White from the US won gold. Even bofore he performed his second run of the finals, he had won gold with 46 points. To my suprise, he beat his score...finishing in 1st place with a score of 48 out of 50. What an event!!

The event was long. I was surprised that it was an all day event. I anticipated being at the venue for 2 to 3 hours. The qualifications started at 1 and the finals finished around 8:30pm. I was happy that the weather was nice. This allowed us to spend the whole day outside in the stands.

Our next event is short track speed skating on saturday. We will see the qualifications and the finals at 5:00pm pacific time. You should all tune in for this event!

The photo attached is a picture taken yesterday at the Men's Halfpipe.

Canada wins a 2nd GOLD!!!!

CONGRATS TO MAELLE RICKER FOR WINNING CANADA'S 2ND GOLD MEDAL!!!! Mathieu, Lai and I were sitting in Robson Square to watch the final of Women's Snowboard Cross. The excitement in the crowd was awesome!

Unfortunately, our tickets to Ski Cross on Feb 21st and Snowboard PGS on Feb 27th got cancelled. Apparently there is a lot of mud in the general admission area which is ruining the venue. We will be refunded the full cost of these tickets. What a dissapointment!!! What upset me the most was talking to Remy tonight and hearing how dissapointed he was. I am convinced we will be able to find more tickets as time goes on. Many people are trying to sell tickets. Cheer up REMY!!! I will do my best to get you some tickets for Feb 27th!

Tomorrow, we are going to attempt to get tickets for Snowboard halfpipe. Apparently VANOC still has tickets to sell as of 2 hours prior to the event. We will see what we can get!

À demain!!!

L'épreuve de décente masculine - Whistler Creekside

Quelle journée!!!! Lai, Mathieu et moi, nous sommes rendu à Whistler pour voir notre premier événement olympique - L'épreuve de décente masuculine. Quel beauté Whistler Creekside a à montrer au monde entier. C'était la première fois que je me rendais à Whistler. J'ai bien hâte de me rendre le 2 mars avec Rémy et Mathieu pour faire du ski.

En ce qui attrait de l'épreuve de décente de ski - ce fut très excitant. Même si le Canada n'a pas remporté de médaille, l'atmosphère canadienne y fut très forte. C'est vraiment quelque chose vivre les jeux sur les lieux et voir le Canada remporter la foule. La swisse était très représenté aussi avec les Américain. Erik Guay nous a bien représenté avec une 5e place!!!

Dès que je suis arrivé à la Maison olympique canadienne, ce fut occupé. Nous avons recu Alex Bilodeau fièrement avec sa famille pour lui félicité de sa médaille d'or. La maison était remplit, chacun cherchant une occasion pour lui prendre en photo. Jennifer Heil est revenu à la maison avec l'entourage de M. Bilodeau. Elle semblerait très fière de son collègue!!!

De plus, le CANADA A GAGNÉ une autre médaille - Mike Robertson a gagné une médaille d'argent en snowboard cross!!! J'espère que le Canada peut continuer à gagné des médailles tel qu'on le fait présentement.

Demain, Lai, Mathieu et moi, nous allons visiter plusieurs pavillions dans la ville. À demain!!

Canada wins GOLD!

And CANADA WINS GOLD!!!!! Alexandre Bilodeau won a gold medal today in Freestyle moguls. Also, a big congrats to Kristina Groves who won a bronze in speed skating. What a day!!! And to top all this up, Jennifer Heil was recognised for her win here at the Canada Olympic House this evening. Canada is on a roll!!! The excitement here in Vancouver continues to grow!

Mathieu and I were offered tickets by the COC to attend an Alpine Ski event in Whistler tomorrow morning. We will be taking the Olympic bus network to get to Whistler and back on time for our volunteer shift at 4pm.

Lai joined Mathieu and I in Vancouver today. I am really happy she will be able to join us tomorrow in Whistler!!!!

As Mathieu and I were waiting for Lai at the airport, we got to see Jarome Iginla. His flight at just landed. I got a chance to take a few photos. You will have to be patient as I do not have my camera hooked up to the computer right now.

First medal for Canada!

Way to go Jennifer Heil!!! Canada has won it's first medal!!! Jennifer Heil won silver in Ladies Freestyle moguls. I was at the Canada Olympic House performing my voluntary duties while Jennifer Heil won silver. What an excitement with the prosperity of her winning gold. I am still proud that we won a medal!!! Hopefully we can keep the momentum going...we have a few athletes who have made it to the final round in speed skating. Lets go Canada...let's show the world what we are capable of doing!

Mathieu and I have moved to South Surrey today. Although the bus ride is long, it was very efficient. We have settled in quite nicely. I look forward to being able to watching broadcasting while at home. I was missing that element in residence at UBC.

Lai will be joining Mathieu and I tomorrow. She is here for her reading week. It so happens that we will be celebrating Chinese New Years tomorrow with her here in Vancouver.

6 days to go till I get to go to an event!!! I am so excited!!!

Go Canada Go!

The best birthday of my life EVER!

Quelle journée! La cérémonie d'ouverture a prit lieu ce soir à BC Place. Quel spectacle! Même si j'ai visionné ce spectable quelques journée préalable (voir la photo attaché), j'ai eu des frissons à le voir ce soir.

Je me suis réveillé ce matin anticipant une très belle journée. Par le temps que nous somme parti de la résidence de l'Université de la Colombie Britanique il était 11:30. Nous avons choisi de prendre à dîner à quelque part au centreville. Par chance, nous étions très prêt de la flamme olympique qui faisait son trajet à travers de Yaletown à Vancouver. Dès que nous avons sortie du restaurant, nous avons visité les lieux; tels que le Pavillion autochtone, le Pavillion de BC Hydro ainsi que le Pavillion de la monaie royale. Le pavillion autochtone avait des spectacles qui reconnaisaient le talent des autochtones au Canada.

Par la suite, nous sommes rendu à la Maison olympique canadienne pour notre premier shift de bénévolat. Il y avait a peu près 120 personnes qui se sont rendu à la Maison pour visiner la cérémonie d'ouverture. Dès que tous les invités étaient rentrés dans la Maison, nous (les bénévolats) avons eu l'occasion de regarder la cérémonie d'ouverture. Il y avait encore un élément de surprise pour ceux et celles qui ont vu la pratique de la cérémonie. Je ne savais pas qui était pour porter le drapeau olympique ni qui était pour transporter la flamme olympique.

À plusieurs reprise, j'ai eu des frissons qui longeait le long de mon corps durant la cérémonie d'ouverture. Mon excitement continue à grandir avec chaque jours qui ce passe ici à Vancouver. Tout ce que je peux dire, c'est que ceci sera une de mes fête que je n'oublira jamais!

Par contre, je suis très attristé par la mort de l'athlète de luge qui est mort aujourd'hui à Whistler. Lorsqu'on mangeait notre diner, il y avait une annonce qui est apparu sur CTV annoncant la mort d'un athlète de la Georgie. Quel tragédie! C'est super dommage pour la communauté olympique.

Demain, Mathieu et moi, nous rendons à Surrey où nous resterions chez des amies de des amies de la familles. Nous sommes très contents qu'ils nous avons offert leur place durant les jeux. Merci Jane et Christopher!

À demain! Go Canada Go!

Volunteer Training

Today, Mathieu and I made our way to the Canada Olympic House (COH) for our training. It basically involved an overview of our roles. Both Mathieu and I will be working in access and accreditation. We will be printing out athletes and their families accreditation for COH and allowing those who are accredited to enter the House. The Canada Olympic House is essentially a distraction management facility for canadian athletes. It is a place where they can escape the media and spend time with their family. Friends and family members will also be able to make plans through Tourism Vancouver. Athletes do not have to worry about keeping their family and friends occupied while they are in training or competing.

In addition to athletes meeting their friends and family members, COH has an events room which is decorated in HBC apparel. Various events will be held in this room, such as medal ceremonies, team sport events, etc. There is also a VIP room in the COH where dignitaries will meet. Therefore, Mathieu and I have the opportunity to greet and meet high profile athletes and various other canadians.

On our way home from work today, the bus got stuck in traffic. The torch was crossing the intersection. Mathieu and I quickly hopped off the bus and got to see the torch. I was not able to see the torch in Ottawa. I was happy to see the true Olympic torch once and for all. I have attached a video of the torch which is making its way through Vancouver over the next 24 hours. The final destination will be BC Place at the Opening Ceremony! The attached photo was taken on our way into the dress rehearsal yesterday.

Please take a moment to enjoy the ceremony tomorrow. Canada...THESE ARE OUR GAMES!!!

GO CANADA GO!!!!!

Beyond my wildest dreams!

My emotions and thoughts thus far is: "this experience is beyond my wildest dreams".

Today, Mathieu and I had the chance to visit Grandville Island before heading to the dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony. On Grandville Island, we had lunch at an awesome market. There was all kinds of foods, i.e. italian, bakery, fish, fresh fruits etc. It was delicious!!!

After lunch, we still had a bit of time to kill before heading to BC Place, so we decided to walk on the other side of the Olympic Village. We found ourselves much closer to the venue. We took pictures of multiple flags that were hanging from the balconies (i.e. Poland, Italy, Korea, China, Germany, Russia). We also met a few athletes from other countries. In particular, we met 3 speed skating athletes from Italy.

The Russians are doing a great job of promoting they're upcomming games. They have created a large Sochi world which will showcase what Sochi 2014 has to offer to the world.

As for the Dress Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies....all I can say is WOW!!! Unfortunately, the content of the ceremony is confidential but I can say that it gave me goose bumps. You are all in for an amazing show. VANOC has trully come through on this one. During the ceremony, there were 2 screens showing the ceremony live. The image that comes through broadcast is amazing and I think it looks even better than live. PLEASE TUNE IN!!! It's worth watching.

I think I must have said "As if we are here" or "I am a happy girl" about a hundred times to Mathieu in the past 24 hours. I still can't believe I am here!!!

Tomorrow, Mathieu and I have our first training at the Canada Olympic House. We will meet our co-workers and see the final product of the house. Following our training, I am working tomorrow night during the unveiling of the house! I really look forward to experiencing the energy in the Canada Olympic House.

Goodnight!

L'atmosphère olympique!

Quelle journée!!!

Nous avons commencé notre journée avec une exploration du système de transport à Vancouver. Nous avons réussit à ce rendre au centre ville. Sans le savoir, nous avons débarqué du métro directement dans le magasin HBC (là où nous allons travailler - l'édifice dans la photo). Nous avons eu la chance de rencontrer notre superviseur pour les jeux. Elle semble très gentille. Elle nous a donné une visite de la Maison olympique canadienne. Quel bureau!!!! Il y a des télévisions à grandeur, un bar, des sofas, une salle VIP et une chambre pour les événements spéciaux. De plus, il y a des murales sur plusieurs murs. L'atmosphère olympique y est présente!!!

Ensuite, nous avons prit le métro jusqu'à Barnaby pour ramasser des petites choses à Walmart et se rendre au bureau du COVAN. Nous avons tenté de rejoindre notre professeur de l'Université d'Ottawa, par contre elle n'était pas à son bureau. L'édifice et la réception du COVAN est magnifique!

Par la suite, nous avons décidé de prendre le métro jusqu'au BC place et Canada place (là où aura lieu les cérémonies de fermeture et d'ouverture ainsi que le hockey). Nous avons prit plusieurs photos du village olympique ainsi que le "countdown clock" pour les jeux olympiques de Sochi en 2014. C'est à ce moment où j'ai réalisé que je suis à Vancouver pour les jeux olympiques!!!! Plusieurs pays ont placé des drapeaux sur leurs balcons dans le village olympique. Le Canada a placé un drapeau sur chaque balcon d'un édifice complet. Juste à côté, l'Australie a son gros drapeau controversé. Selon moi, il a sa place dans le village olympique tous comme les autres drapeaux!

Lorsqu'on marche dans les rues de Vancouver, on entend parler plusieurs différentes langues. C'est magnifique de voir plusieurs nationalités regroupées ensemble.

Demain, nous avons des billets pour le "dress rehearsal" de la cérémonie d'ouverture. J'ai bien hâte de voir ce que la ville de Vancouver a à démontrer à tous le monde entier!

À demain!

In Vancouver

The morning began with an early start. I woke up unexpectedly around 3 am and was not able to fall back asleep due to multiple factors. 1. I was excited at thought of leaving in the next few hours. 2. I was afraid I would sleep through my alarm.

Once arrived at the airport, Remy and I grabbed our usual breakfast at Harveys. As we were eating, I happened to look down the hallway to see my dad unexpectedly. He got up at 4am and drove all the way to the airport to say goodbye and wish me well!!! THANKS DAD!!!

The flight from Ottawa to Vancouver went really smoothly. We landed a few minutes late which caused Mathieu's flight from Calgary to Vancouver to be a bit late. I on the other hand happened to have a delay of 3 hours. Mathieu was nice enough to wait for me at the Vancouver Airport all this time.

Today was a really nice day to fly into Vancouver. It was a clear sky and you could see a perfect view of the rockies. What a view. The photo posted above shows you the amazing view I had from the plane. I hope Remy gets to see this for himself on his trip out west at the end of the month.

We have arrived to Jay's dorm. He gave us the grand tour of the UBC rez. It is a nice university from what I have seen thus far.

1 more sleep

I LEAVE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 dodos

Deux dodos qui me reste avant mon grand depart pour Vancouver. J'ai fait mon lavage et j'ai commence a rassembler mes affaires. Je suis encore tres indecit pour ce qui en est de mon linge. J'ai decide d'apporter mes bottes Sorel. Je suis beaucoup trop frileuse pour ne pas les emporter.

Demain c'est le defi de les faire rentrer dans ma valise. J'amene juste une valise car j'amene mes skis.

La realite de ce voyage commence a prendre effet. J'ai super hate de partir lundi matin!

(Je m'excuse de ne pas avoir mit d'accent. Je vient de recevoir un nouveau ordinateur et je ne sais pas comment convertir mon clavier en francais comme je fesais au prealable.)

Less than a week to go!

Only a few more sleeps before I depart for Vancouver. I am getting quite excited. I am in the contemplating phase of my preparation for the Games. I have started planning out what I want to bring. I have to admit that the warm weather in Vancouver is throwing me off. My dilema is that I am easily cold and I feel the need for warm boots and clothes as I will be attending outdoor events. However, I may look silly wearing all this clothes in BC.

On a similar note, I am intrigued to see the ski and snowboard events take place with all this warm weather. Although I believe that making artificial snow and man made venues is an expense that can be avoided, I am curious to see this take place. I am anticipating seeing these venues. Will it look like a real venue in the middle of winter?

Let the packing begin!!!!

Olympic Excitement

On Feb 12th, 2009 I told Remy that at that same point in time of the following year (Feb 12th, 2010) I would be in Vancouver celebrating the Opening Ceremonies on my very special day. I am happy to say that this lifelong dream of mine is becoming a reality. I have always wished I could attend an Olympic Games.

Words cannot describe the excitement that came upon myself a few months back when I realized that I was going to be attending the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Although I knew I had been chosen as a Volunteer and that I would experience the Olympic fever in the host city, I never anticipated having the opportunity to attend 4 Olympic events. I can remember this day as if it was yesterday. Mathieu, Remy and I had 4 computers and 3 phone lines going in the hopes to getting through to VANOC's ticketing system. Within the first 5 minutes we were able to get through to an agent. After purchasing tickets for the Closing Ceremony, Ski Cross, PGS Snowboard and Short Track event tickets, I sat down on the couch and processed this. I was finally attending the Olympics! For the remainder of that day, I kept repeating to Remy and family members: "I can't believe I am going to closing ceremonies and events!". I remember watching Opening and Closing Ceremonies to various past Olympics while growing and thinking these were such big and elaborate events; never thinking I would be a part of them.

With only a week left till I leave for Vancouver and 11 days till the game, my excitement is growing significantly.

I hope you can all embark on this journey with me!