All of the ice dancers and figure skaters have looked quite lovely in the recent events, but check out a few of the Olympic costumes that you might have missed, here.
This link was forwarded to us from a friend through FastCompany.
Day 14- Tuesday’s Musings
In the Ancient Olympic Games, an athlete was not onlly expected to possess great agility and strength, but also understand and nurture the arts. By training the body in sport and the mind in art, literature, poetry and music, the Ancient Olympic Games aspired to produce more responsible and enriched citizens.
Our observation is that Vancouver has fully embraced this concept, creating non-stop (mostly free) venues for art and music. The Vancouver Art Museum has a Leonard Da Vinci exhibit, Granville Island has the equivalent of Open Studios during their Winteruption, street performers are everywhere, theater is presented in gypsy wagons and taco trucks. It’s really a three ring circus.
But, wait, there is no line at Irish House. Perhaps it’s a poetry reading….
Day 13-Moms, Mittens and Madness
Thank you Mom board at the PG Family House
Having a definite “behind the scenes” perspective is such a treat! You may have noticed the “Thank you, Mom” Proctor and Gamble commercials interspersed throught the sports broadcasts. I have to admit that I get pretty sentimental when I see that a corporation recognizes the THOUSANDS of hours of practice, $$$ in coaches, dictionaries of encouragement and the sacrifices made to create a champion. At the PG Family house where the families can relax there is a HUGE poster that the athletes can write on to publicly thank their mothers. People brush away tears when they stop and read it.
We recently found out today that one Canadian skater’s mother came with her and was rushed to the Vancouver Hospital upon arrival. She had a massive heart attack and the daughter just found out this morning that she died. Joanie Rochette is determined to skate in the face of this crushing news. The eyes of the world will be watching with sympathy and admiration.
On a brighter side, the weather was glorious so we walked completely around Vancouver today from Granville Island, around the Seawall, through Stanley Park (stopping at the Vancouver Boat House which has been transformed into Saxony House filled with beer, bratwurst and ohm-pah bands), continuing on to the Caldron (formerly know as the Olympic Flame) then back up through the crowds and zip-line enthusiasts on Robson Square. We came across a “The Globe and Mail” sign, turns out that everyday they post an image of part of a location. For example, a piece of grass, or a parking cone. Then it is revealed and it is a city wide race to see who can figure out where the location is and get their first with a copy of the paper. Great idea, eh?
The Globe and Mail's Vancouver Race for Tickets!
Everywhere we saw the famous MITTENS; kids, dads, moms, draped on statues, attached to the mascot-the Inuckchuk. They have sold over 3.2 million for $10 (with a percentage going to the Canadian Olympic Team) and now they are on the street for $30 each (with every penny going to the vendor and her suitcase enterprise). Commercial competition is as fierce as any sports event – and just as transitory.
We’re up early tomorrow to work 9-6 then hop on a ferry to Victoria to visit Lauren’s alma mater, Brentwood College School. Her former rowing coach has invited us to stay overnight with them. She’ll be a guest speaker at the school Assembly the next morning. I think she’ll be speaking about her company Reel Green Media and the work they’re doing in “greening” the film industry, but I’m sure a mention of the Olympics will slip right in. Canada is so proud to be hosting this event as especially proud to be doing it in the greenest way possible.
So now, immobilize me – I have a sore throat (too much yelling), hearing loss (again too much yelling), headache (too much electronic stimulation), tired feet (from not wearing the Ralph Lauren lace up boots) and aching back (the lanyards we have for our credentials inspire LOTS of pin trading – I think mine weighs in a 5 pounds). This is not whussy behavior, this is the wisdom of the ages signing off.
Just finishing up watching final skating events on TV. All of the pairs did an amazing job!
Day 12 – Sunday and Symbols
Fan Sighting on Seymour Street - CODE RED
Not even CLOSE to a quiet, day-of-rest Sunday as we anticipate the USA/Canada Hockey game. Are we talking religious fervor or an international excuse to drink the entire population silly? The line for Irish House across the street (where you can get a can of beer for $8 – in a non-breakable red dixie cup for $15) is already thumping with disco music, the line is half-way around the block and liquor stores have threatened to close at 7:00.
Irish House across the street - 9:00 a.m.
I don’t know how the Ancient Greeks celebrated, but pitchers of Retsina do NOT come to mind. Never have I seen such zany socks, capes, temporary tatoos or toques. If you’ve been following along with text with the occasional picture, but sure to check out the photo gallery for the upclose and personal portraits of fans gone awry.
Vancouver’s ENTIRE police force is on duty for crowd control. The influx of the inibriated on public transit is causing 2-3 hour waits to get on the metro and one takes one’s life in one’s hands to ride the skytrain (or at least could write a book about the experience).
They say that this is the land of hockey, but we are also deep in the land of LOGOS. Everything (and nearly every athete) is branded, marketed and displayed with a specific intention. This particular infrastructure is carefully knit together with licensing agreements, almost scientific precision and well defined regulations. We joked that we couldn’t bring in a Starbuck’s coffee cup since McDonalds is providing the coffee, but it is no joke. 
Unlike many other countries, the USA Olympic Committee does not rely on government support, so the generousity of sponsors is integral to their success. We all are more than grateful for the support of donors, partners and suppliers. Imagine if this were a non-profit that required annual pledge drives or bake sales?
Then and again, there is the sweet story of the one athlete - the sole representative of his country -who showed up at the opening ceremonies without a uniform. The citizens of Vancouver gathered funds together to purchase a beautiful jacket, pants and hat for him for the closing ceremonies. I’ll be looking for him. And making a quiet salute to all his fans.
Sunday – not quite a prayer
One of the most inspiring things here is the sustained camaraderie of ALL the athletes.We have been here eleven days and the demonstration of humanity has not waivered once. I am continuously stunned by the respect, courtesy and admiration that transcends national boundaries, religious differences and historic animosities. This code of sportsmanship and honor encompasses more than just the sport.
As for those that are not the elite athletes in the spotlight, politeness and patience is the norm. The city is filled with ordinary people just aching to be helpful. If Olympus was the mythic home of the gods, somehow every individual we meet has been blessed with a little of their splendor.
I am also in awe of the OLYMPIC TRUCE which I knew little about prior to our visit. It is a simple declaration: All competing countries cease fighting during the duration of games. It is an extraordinary thing when you think that there IS the possibility of peace just around the corner.
This is intense and focused and an utterly remarkable place to be.
Day 11-Cultural and Artist Olympiad
by Lauren Selman
Today our plan was to head up to Whistler, but unfortunately here at the Games going to Whistler isn’t a “last minute” decision because it requires having a ticket to a Whistler event or having made reservation long beforehand. We had neither. So, rather than heading up to the mountain, we chose to explore Emily Carr University of Art and Design and the artistic side of Vancouver: artisans, jewelers and sculptors.
The art finders…and now the art….
We explored paper shops, book shops, art galleries and watched a handful of street performers. We especially liked the CODE 2 exhibition at the Emily Carr University. 
The first one we came across was exploring the relationship between our physical environment and garment. Artists and designers created interactive dresses that responded to the wearer. For example, one dress got tighter the more you tried to get comfortable. Another one barked when danger approached. There was a fabulous blue one that expanded as the air pressure dropped in Montreal. Crazy, right? Well, you should have seen the one light up when you blew air into the sleeve.
The next exhibit we passed was originally installed at the Venice Film Festival in 2001. It was a mini movie theater and when you entered the space it felt like you were in the balcony of a vintage movie house. It was a sound and cinematic experience that both haunted and inspired us. The description of the installation reads as follows:
In a small replica of a full-sized movie theatre balcony with 16 red velvet-covered seats, viewers put on headphones to watch and listen to a film projected in a miniature movie theatre in front of them. Surprisingly they hear other more intimate sounds and stories. A real and a fictional layer of sound are intertwined, creating a strange sensation of reality for the viewer.
Movies are, of course, The Paradise Institutereferred to in the title. Looking over the full-sized balcony into a hallucinatory space of a miniature movie theatre below, a visitor’s senses are further misled by putting on headphones that create surrounding sounds which are equally deceptive between the film being shown and noises being heard. The projected movie is about a man who is a prisoner in a hospital with its own soundtrack faithful to the images. Simultaneously, another soundtrack, more intimate, is confidentially whispered or heard nearby with a surprising fidelity in the viewer’s ears. This other soundtrack seems to directly emerge from other members of the audience present with coughs, secrets, cellphones and other sounds of ordinary life interrupting the flow of the movie’s audio effects. The impression is disturbing as the realities created by the sounds close by are more real than the fiction of the movie, although both are illusions, with their narratives culminating in an eerie conclusion. How the brain tricks itself into believing through image and sound is one of the inescapable implications of the experience of The Paradise Institute.
Lastly, we stopped by an exhibit of the best of Canadian Industrial Design. Everything from snowshoes, to bike co-op programs, backpacks, collapsible kayaks and fishing rods, we learned about the influence of Canadian ingenuity.
The innovative bike sharing program in Montreal where members of the collective can check out bikes throughout the city.
Today was also the first day of Winteruption, a winter festival of events and art on Granville Island, so the island was packed full of activities! Our favorite street artist was Circus West, Vancouver’s own circus troop. They performed an under the bridge circus show that included fire dancing, trapeze arts, tissue and unicycling. Very cool!
We also had the best fish and chips in Vancouver at “Go Fish,” located just steps from our front door. We had fish tacos and battered fish that was fresh off the boat. All of the proceeds go towards encouraging sustainable and local fishing practices by Vancouver’s fishermen.
I had the pleasure of inviting my mom to my favorite Yoga studio in all of Vancouver, Semperviva Yoga. The studio looks out onto the water and at night the instructor lights small tealights that line the windows. The candles against the night skyline of Vancouver created the most serene and peaceful yoga experience.
We are turning in just a touch early so we can be up for our first day shift. It is a big day tomorrow!! There are 3 Hockey Games slated and one of them is USA versus CANADA! Repeat after me…U-S-A! Your turn! Louder, we can’t hear you!
Day 10- Low Key
Today we were feeling particularly exhausted so we kept it low key. I went on a walk and then when I came home, Darlene taught me how to make a real Canadian Breakfast. I made pouched egges and Canadian bacon crusted in corn meal. Now that’s a Canadian Breakfast for Champions!
Breakfast for CANADIAN Champions
We hung out around the house and then headed over to Granville Island. Darlene showed us her favorite stores and secrets of Granville. My favorite was the Gelato Store!
Our time to work at USA House came soon enough and before we knew it, we were back on our shift. Tonight’s highlight was learning about Carl Lewis’s new iPhone application called, “Fit Forever,” from Carl Lewis himself! For those of you who don’t know Carl Lewis, I’ll say this, he won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Championship medals in Track and Field and he is not only a funny and full of charisma, but he is a world class athletic legend.
He was so proud of his new application, if you have an iPhone, download “Fit Forever.” And, while you are at it, download the guide to the 2010 Olympics. Both are free and totally worth it!
Day 9- SKATE EXPECTATIONS!
by Lauren Selman
What a day! It was all about great expectations and the surprisingly unexpected.
We started the morning by rolling out of bed at a bright 7:00 with the sun. We pieced together our uniforms and necessities for the day and headed down to the Science Center, now known as Sochi House (located at the end of False Creek) for a morning taping of the Colbert Report. He was scheduled to shoot at 9:30, but we had learned from volunteers who saw his show the day before the importance of getting to the stage early. We eagerly stood in line and then all of a sudden, the line was no longer a line but a mad rush to the stage. Over six thousand people ran as fast as the could to the edge of the stage. Luckily, we were fast enough and were close to the action. Canadian, Americans and “ICE-HOLES” from all over the world stood side by side anxiously awaiting Colbert’s arrival. When he ran on stage, the audience went wild. We cheered and hollered! The energy was electric. Flying by the seat of his pants, Colbert welcomed us to the Report and we were well on our way to a hilarious show. He interviewed aerial skiers, snowboards, politicians and ended by jumping on a moose.
Stephen Colbert comes out on stage and all of the cameras are in full force!
Colbert rides a moose for his finale!
After the show, we had a decision to make….what event we wanted to see. We had tickets to both an event at Cypress Mountain and one out at the Richmond O. Luckily, scattered throughout Vancouver are the helpful “blue jackets”–friendly volunteers who are equipped with the answers you need. A friendly “blue jacket” helped us with our transportation logisitcs and moments later we were on the SkyTrain heading out to the Richmond O for the Ladies 1000m Medal Event.
When we arrived in Richmond, we got off on at the Aberdeen stop. We found out later that it was the wrong stop. It was a 2km walk to the stadium, but it was nothing to complain about. A we walked along the river that was accented by several bridges, it felt like we were across the world experiencing a scene from a French or Italian landscape.
We passed the UBC Boathouse and every cell in my body wanted to get back in a boat and back out on the water, but I resisted and kept walking towards to the stadium.
We arrived just in time. The first skaters were setting up at the starting line. Bodies crunched down, held in tight in colorful spandex, anxiously awaiting the sound of the starting gun. “Ready,” a deep voice announces and then “Bang!” The skaters take off. Short steps off the start launch the skaters forward, as they take their first turn the strides become longer and they surge forward. You never know what the ending will be because every trip around the track is a new chance for victory. One second it could be Germany in the lead, the next Japan, then at the end there may even be a surprise finish.
This was certainly the case for the Gold medal win by the Canadian speedskater. The Netherlands skater was in the lead and then the combination of crowd support and the desire to win, the Canadian skater pushed through for the final 50 meters and took the gold. What is particularly exciting about speedskating is one one-hundreth of a second can change your fate. For instance, there was only two seconds between 1st and 7th place. Wow!
After an exciting day at the races, we headed back to downtown Vancouver. On our way, we met volunteers from the Salvation Army who were handing out hot chocolate to travelers on the train. It was surprisingly quite delicious. We boarded the train in just 20 minutes we were back on the crazy street of downtown. We stopped by the USA House and got the results in from the day. It turned out that the USA was doing well. We had scored an additional handful of gold medals and there was a rumored possible gold for Evan in figure skating so everyone was buzzing with excitement.
We ran into a fellow volunteer who had extra tickets to a victory ceremony at BC Place. So we exchanged her tickets for grateful hugs and hurried down to BC Place. It was the perfect night for a Victory Ceremony. Shaun White and Shani Davis were among the athletes getting medals for their performances. We scurried up to the third floor and into our seats, just as the Canadian Police were bringing in the official Olympic Flag. As they raised the flag the audience went wild, while my mom and I turned to each other and cried. “We’re here, at the Olympics!” my mother whispered to me under utter excitement, “I can’t believe it.”
It was clear that the experience and the emotion of the Olympics were finally hitting home and the heart. She was right, we were at the Olympics and together experiencing something quite extraordinary and magical. Our dream was coming true. As we stood there, an emotional duo, we witnessed the best of the best in the world being escorted to their podiums. Athletes who had spent their careers training for this moment, spent practice after practice working towards this day and devoted their lives to their dreams coming true. Not to sound too cheesy but, it was pretty awesome being witness to dreams coming true.
As we were leaving the ceremonies, we saw that the men’s free skate was still going on. We scurried back to USA House to catch the tail end of the men’s performances and saw Lyscek take home the gold for the US.
We continued into the night celebrating with our US Olympic Family. Go USA!
Day 8- Olympic Village
by Lauren Selman
Vancouver is a beautiful city, full of activities, friendly faces and unforgettable scenery. What we love about Vancouver, especially, is that you don’t need a car. It is designed in such a way that everything is accessible, walkable and convenient. To top it off, if you have a pass to an Olympic event then all public transportation is free of charge. How cool is that?
Today we put our boots to the pavement to fully embrace the walkability of this city. We walked down the seawall for lunch at Monks, where we were so Canadian and watched a hockey game and Colbert being interview. Then we continued up onto Cambie bridge which overlooks Olympic Village. Canadian, French, American flags all hang outside the appropriate apartments and colorful uniformed athletes lightly jog along the pathway below.
We then continued to walk throughout Yaletown and much of downtown soaking in Vancouver.
We ended at our “famous” USA House where we worked in the store. I set a little goal for myself of selling at lease two pieces of merchandise that I was wearing and sure enough I sold 4 hats and 5 pairs of boots. Not bad, right? The evening concluded with a walk home and straight to bed with an anticipated early morning walk up to see the Colbert show……
Surrey…..I mean Sorry….
by Tina Hittenberger
“Sorry” (pronounced in Canada as a clipped combination of “surrey” and “sooh-ree”, not “sawry” or with ANY amount of sarcasm). Please. Thank You. These are the three most used Canadian words – way outweighing eh?, touque, chesterfield and even Molson.
So we are sending a genuine “Sorry” for not having kept up our blog on a daily basis. Things are so chock-a-block that they are definitely blending together. We go to events in the day, work a long swing shift and walk home to plop into bed around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. My body is ready to go from being in hospitality to wanting to be in hospital.
Please forgive us.
Thank you.
