Thanks to fellow volunteer Vance Curry for this photo showing the simultaneous cutting of the ribbon in both Whistler and Vancouver.

Olympic torch comes to Whistler

A crowd of thousands stands in Skiers Plaza awaiting the arrival of the torch. I wiggled my way through the crowd with some of my volunteer work mates (Jan, Janice, and Michelle). We stop because we can move no further. And who am I standing next to: our dear friends and neighbors Michael and Tara.

there is a lot of pre-torch rev up the crowd activity. Videos on the big screen of it being carried all over Canada by beaming men and women. Gordon Campbell goes by passing out BC pins. (Olympic pins abound and trading them is a full time occupation for some).

In Whistler style, the final leg is carried by alpine skier Julia on a snowmobile (recent ligament injury), followed by 'crazy Canuck' Steve Podborski (former alpine skiing Olympian) skiing down the final descent of Whistler mountain to the gondola area, where he transfered the torch for it's final leg to Tyler Allison, an 18 year old student at Whistler Secondary who hopes to participate in the 2012 Olympics. An emotional moment for the women standing with me who know this young man. As the torch passes by within 10 feet of me, cameras are flashing, and tears run down faces.

When the cauldron is lit on stage, the national anthem is sung. Canadians all around me sing with fervor, and more tears flow.

It was very moving to experience this Olympic moment.

Cutting the ribbon

The Athletes villages are open! At the ceremony today, Muk Muk's pal cut the ribbon, simultaneously with a volunteer doing the same in Vancouver, to officially signal the opening of the village.

I gotta get out more

Driving down to Vancouver today to do a little shopping.
Took note of the cruise ship tied up in Squamish. It is where the many housekeeping and other workers are housed during the Olympics. They have all the amenities of the ship to enjoy. Even a bus to drive them over to WalMart to shop.

Speaking of Walmart, what did I see there? Three Canadian soldiers dressed in their camos, carrying new pillows under their arms. :)

On the way home, a police escort with flashing lights escorting a stream of tour buses. VIP's? Team Canada? Folks stopped along the way to take photos.

Mukmuk!

Mukmuk!

It's all about the buses

I was one of two riders on the inaugural run of the new #10 express bus to the Athletes Village yesterday. I asked the driver for his autograph, but he politely declined. I appreciated the limo service. Turns out that I was one of the few that arrived on time. Over 200 new drivers have flooded the scene, some from as far away as Texas. Most don't know Whistler at all. This was verified by my coworkers, who saw the bus for Alpine (north) headed south to Creekside. A lot of lost drivers and late riders.

USA delegation checked in today! Go USA! Lots of delegations are arriving and this makes things quite hectic for us getting their books ready (with details of their residence units, the sign-offs of total beds assigned from their Delegate Residence Meeting, and CAD drawings of the room layouts, with inventory lists of contents). Not to mention keys :) Once they move in, the phones start to ring with requests from their National Olympic Committee liaisons.

About 6:30 p.m. I heard loud machinery outside. Couldn't be snow clearing, cause it hasn't snowed in a while. It was a bus unloading the 20 or so RCMP's who have taken up residence down the street. They were each carrying fistfuls of grocery bags, making (to my eye) quite a humorous procession.
This morning ( my day off and the day I didn't have to get up at 4) I was awakened by voices at about 6:20. who could it be? Late night revelers? No, my friends the RCMP again, standing around chatting under the streetlight waiting for their bus. I guess this is going to be the morning wake up call. I appreciate the early morning patrol :)

appreciate the quiet while you can

Walking to the village bus stop at 5:15 a.m., I appreciate the quiet in my neighborhood, the ability to stroll leisurely across Hwy 99 because there is no traffic, and the chance to observe the flickering light over the village map on the bus loop.
This will all change on Feb. 1. Local bus service will be added a couple blocks away. Which will be a good thing for getting to work. Still am puzzling over how I am going to get to the lifts without a) a lot of walking, b) transferring more than once and c) a lot of walking. I'm sure I can figure it out.
I had a variety of tasks today which included manning the phones, troubleshooting, and driving. yup, I passed muster as a driver cause they needed someone to run to get a key made as an emergency. so I got to drive around the site in a VANOC vehicle, out through security, to the locksmith. Ooops, no locksmith in the office. Come back to the Village through security, get charge card to go to Rona to get key made. Back out through the security, success in key world, made friends with all security checkpoints coming back in. YESSS!!
Got to go out to the Canadian delegation to deliver some paperwork, managed a little customer service and collected some requests. fun to interact with team related folks.
A great pep talk from the head of VSS on having fun everyday. Which is what we do. I am a happy camper.
I told Tom (from Croatia) that he needed to tell more jokes because we are supposed to have fun. His response: "What do you call a snowboarder who broke up with his girlfriend?"
Answer: "homeless"