traveling around the world at the Athletes Village

We are doing follow-up courtesy visits with the various countries who have already checked in. In one day I went from China to Peru. What a difference in the size of the delegations! peru=1, and China=hundreds. Both were happy with their accommodations.

My volunteer time is almost at an end, only one more shift. This is bittersweet. I have met so many wonderful volunteers and staff who have all been so committed to the spirit of providing a welcoming place to call home for the athletes. But now it is time for the games to begin; the opening ceremony is tonight.

Volunteers were all given the opportunity to see the dress rehearsal of the ceremony for free on the 10th. We traveled down to BC Place with our neighbors. Parked the car at Park Royal and took the bus to BC Place. The bus we chose also had my co-worker Vance and his wife. Small world.
The rehearsal was awesome and left us awestruck. The world will be impressed with all things Canada when they see this performance. It was very meaningful that the Prime Minister of Canada, the Premier of BC, and the mayor of Vancouver all attended the rehearsal and spoke to the volunteers.
I had a moment when I looked around the stadium full of 25,000 people. Assuming half were volunteers, the fact that I was selected to represent this enormouse work force at the ribbon cutting was humbling.