The BIG day is here.....

I am writing this on Sunday morning. The fact that it is Sunday means nothing as the reason today is important, to me anyway, is that it is the culmination of an absolutely fantastic Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. The final three events are today and all are important to many different folks. The Euros are excited about the 50 km X-Country event as they dominate in that sport, both U.S and Canadian hockey fans are on the edge of their seats as the re-match game starts in a couple of hours and about half the population of the world is anticipating the final act – the closing ceremonies. What better day could we experience!

Yesterday was my last shift as a “smurf” of the Vancouver Olympics 2010 and it started in the usual fashion – in the dark. (Freddi was fortunate enough to pull a short shift for her final day also as she had to work from 10 am to 2 pm.) As I walked to the bus I started to feel a twinge of sadness as this would be the final dark walk to the bus. What has happened to me to have such feelings when only 17 days ago I didn’t know that there was a 3 am in morning let alone a bus schedule! I hope that feeling goes away....

Anyway, the bus trip was as usual and I tried to get some pictures of the Inuksuk at the entrance to Whistler. The lights and accent of green have been attractive all through the games and I have never had my camera with me in the dark. I used the little camera but I was disappointed with the results. On arrival at the WOP the driver dropped us right at the building instead of at the at the stop a km away from the door which is the usual Whistler stop. Small mercies are appreciated when you are tired and feeling the effects of a winter cold.

On my final check-in I was given two gifts for my participation as a volunteer “smurf” for the Olympics. The first was for completing 12 shifts (a logo luggage tag) and the second for my final shift bonus. It was a SWATCH which is “smurf” blue with the logo and design image of the 2010 Olympics. I was assigned to work at the X-Country venue for the Ladies 30 km Classic Mass Start race. My assigned area turned out to be an area I had worked before in the “back of house” with the Accessible access and the athletes, media and Olympic family. The benefits of that position is you are up close with the athletes, coaches and of course kings and queens ( the Swedish royals were there). The shift started in wet snow and the weather turned to rain until well after noon. It was enough to make us all wet and cold for the culmination of the race. The race was won by the Polish skier and she was followed by the Norwegian and Finish skiers. It was a very close finish and the noise in the stands was terrific. I was unable to see most of the event from my vantage points but I did venture up to the stands for a couple of views during the race. These women are machines and the sprint to the finish after 30 km was fantastic to see.

Once people settled down and the other skiers finished to the cheers of the fans the egress started. Our team was very busy with the egress but it went very smoothly and all of the Accessible folks were escorted through the “back of house” without a hitch. The weather helped to get people to move out of the venue with the exception of the Polish supporters who were filled with song, cheers, admiration, patriotism and fortified by lots of alcohol. We patiently waited for them to settle down and then started to pressure them to leave the venue. They were polite but not anxious to move on as they wanted to see their star athlete as they had not received a gold medal in the Olympics since 1976 in Innsbruck. You can appreciate their enthusiasm. Once they were clear and meandering down the 1 km path to the transportation area I sent my team members home and cleaned up our area. I did a final de-brief with my supervisor and started the decent to the transportation area in the shuttle. I stopped a few folks that I had worked with and said goodbye and made my way to the Whistler bus. I walked through a group of Polish people singing loudly as they approached the buses. They were moving so slowly that they ended up being on the next bus. I pitied the folks who were living in their hotel and were not Polish! The feeling of sadness came back to me once I sat down in the bus. I was cold and wet but feeling remorse that this time had passed and the nice folks I had worked with would all be a memory. We all had lives outside of the Olympics but for the last 16 days we had a focus on this little bubble we were living. It was a very unique experience and it brought out some very unique emotions. I had to wonder what people would do with themselves once the Olympics were no longer the focus of our lives and TV broadcasts around the world.

When I arrived in Whistler I chatted with the transport guy I had seen daily since the start of the Olympics and set off for my connection to Pemberton. I was supposed to meet Gray at the house and we would return to Whistler for a family dinner at the Sushi Village Restaurant. Once there we met up with the ladies as they had been at the Bobsleigh event and bar-hopping during the late afternoon once Bree and Tara-Lee were finished their work. Nicolas joined us as she is almost a family member up here. Bree and Tara-Lee ordered a huge amount of sushi delights as they are very familiar with the menu. The food and excited conversation were both terrific and the choices demonstrated the restaurant’s capability as all dishes were delightful and very tasty. Freddi even tried and enjoyed fresh raw tuna which was a big surprise to me. After vacuuming down the meal in record time we were on our way again. The young ladies wanted to get to the Usher performance and Freddi, Gray and i drove back to Pemberton in Tara-Lee’s car as she had a shift at 6 am in the morning. When we got home Gray and I opened a beer to watch more Olympics but we both fell asleep before we even tasted the beer. Shortly thereafter I awakened and went to bed for a long sleep. No need to get up early.......

Just watched a CTV soecial broadcast with all of the medal winners who will be participating in the closing ceremonies later today. It was a very nice conversation and they all showed appreciation ofr each others effort and winnings. They also showed a lot of great fottage of the games. It makes it even harder to believe that the games are coming to an end. But the BIG game is still to happen...... "It is a great day for hockey"