Vancouver 2010 - Part 3

I've been to the German Fan Fest, had my free sausage and beer, watched the final 20 minutes of the Canada - Switzerland game and cheered with the crowd (pretty much all Canadians or at least pretending to be) and got out alive and in time to pick up the first of three guests that were to arrive last Thursday night. That's because I promised to talk about the GFF.


No live ski cross for Francis and I due to our cancelled standing tickets, but guess who got $25 (and that's cheaper than what VANOC sells them for because I didn't have to pay fees and taxes) tickets for cross-country ski relay? That's right, I grabbed four tickets for $100 off craigslist because I wanted to see an outdoors event very badly. To my credit, there wasn't much left for sale on the official website except for some pricey tickets for a couple of hockey games.

I went with Francis and my mom, and sold the fourth ticket to an eager asian guy who took the train from Seattle to Vancouver and hung around the city from midnight to 5am when I met him at the bus station just before leaving for Whistler (where the cross-country ski events take place). He wanted to pay me in US dollars so I even made a little profit, assuming I spend them when the US dollar is high...
In any case, we had an a.m.a.z.i.n.g. sunny and warm day in Whistler Olympic Park on Monday. Miga and Quatchi thought so too:


You can't tell from the picture, but I got the biggest, fluffiest hug from Quatchi just before it was taken.

A team of Romanians participated in the men's cross-country ski relay event but they didn't do very well. Neither did the Canadian women, although they did qualify for the final. The Canadian men's team was rather lopsided, as Alex Harvey was able to go from sixth to first place during his last round (he's first in this picture, near the end of the round)

but his partner lost the position when he took over for the final round of the relay and finished fourth. Germany, Norway, Sweden and Russia owned the podium during this event but we had the best value for our money nevertheless, what with the great weather and exciting race.

Today Canada got four medals, all from women's events! Did you know that we have a medal in women's snowboard cross, women's ski cross AND men's snowboard cross? What about men's ski cross, you ask? Well, we would have had a medal there too if Cristopher Delbosco hadn't crashed and burned while in third position just before the end of the course. I should not tease because this guy has been through a lot, but ... the symmetry! So close.

And now, a little something I've been meaning to mention since the first olympic post. It's easy to tell who's a volunteer at the Games because they wear sky blue jackets with the Vancouver 2010 logo. While travelling by public transit during the Games, I've noticed a lot of passengers starting conversations with volunteers on the bus. People ask them how their day went, what kind of tasks they have to do, what the perks are, and the volunteers are more than happy to oblige with detailed answers. This may not seem out of the ordinary, but when you consider that in Vancouver people pretty much never talk to strangers (and if they are asked anything they do their best to answer briefly and indicate that the conversation is over), this is quite remarkable.

As I expected, it's been difficult to post regularly since we try to get out and about the city as soon as we can every day and we've been having evening plans daily as well. Before I sign off, I'd just like to draw your attention to Joannie Rochette's figure skating performance tomorrow. She is an extremely talented skater and currently ranks third (after the short program). Her mother passed away suddenly on Sunday, right after arriving in Vancouver to watch her skate. Most of you probably know the story by now, and it's very inspiring that Joannie pulled off a great short program yesterday despite this. Let's all wish her all the best for tomorrow!