The GeekHiker

You didn’t think I was done with the Olympics, did you?  They were only over a month ago, after all…

Okay, seriously, I just wanted to share a few final, random thoughts about going to the Olympics in Vancouver:

• I honestly didn’t get all the criticism that I heard, particularly in the U.S. media just before I left.  Everything seemed to be very well organized in our experience.  There were problems, of course, as there would be with any event of this size, but it seemed that VANOC dealt with them quickly and effectively.
• Vancouver, as a city, and all of Canada never wavered in their support.  Even with the tragic start to the Games, people pushed forward.  They acknowledged what happened, but didn’t let it drag them down, and in the end the Games were celebratory in nature.
• The volunteers: amazing.  Everyone was friendly, nice, helpful.  After a while, the blue jackets everywhere were reassuring to a stranger in a strange land (and even to the locals).  But it wasn’t just them; local volunteers, the RCMP’s, security officers, heck, even the border officer at the airport, was pleasant and helpful.
• This post sums up the feeling about town nicely.
• The Olympics are expensive.  Not to say out of reach of the average person, but there’s a certain amount of planning involved.  We started talking about it two years ago, buying tickets last year, planning things months ahead.  Even the tickets we had, which were not the most expensive (by far), cost us a few hundred total.  Add to that food, pricy souvenirs, etc., and it’s a bit like spending several days at DisneyLand.  Still, with planning and saving and being thrifty (and, in my case, a friend who was willing to put a bunch of people up for several days), it can be done.
• Canadian sports fans are awesome.  I’ve been to a couple of Lakers games in my time and I never quite fit in with the crowd; they’re a group that, when the home team is down, actually boo them, rather than “cheering them on to victory.”  Canadians, on the other hand, cheer good sport.  Any sport, and everyone who plays.  That isn’t to say that they didn’t cheer louder and harder for the home-town teams.  They most certainly did.  But they also cheered on anyone and everyone, not just the home team.  The hockey game, for example, was between the Swiss and the Russian teams, and the crowd was just as boisterous there: flags waving, cowbells ringing, cheering at each attempt on goal.  At the medals ceremony after the Gold Medal Men’s Hockey game, the crowd cheered on the U.S., who won Silver, for playing a great game.  At Skeleton, cheers went up for every person flying down the track.  This is the group of sports fans I’ve been looking for my whole life.
• If you attend the Olympics, you’ll see less than you would at home, but more in-depth.  So much time is taken getting to the venue, going through security, navigating the crowds, watching the event, etc., that a single event can take a half-day (or a whole day, such as with Whistler).  So you’ll see less, in terms of total Olympic coverage, than you would watching on TV at home.
• On the other hand, you’ll see more because you’re there.  The delays, the videos used to pump up the crowds, the accidents, coaches conferring with each other, etc.  Even the ice surfacing machines decked out in Olympic colors while those at home are watching a commercial.

One of the decked-out ice surfacing machines at the hockey game

• Since you don’t get to see the videos used to work up the crowds, you all missed one of my favorite things: the 90 second music video montage used to pump up the crowd at each event venue.  With great music and scenic video of Canadian sights, every time it aired it had people clapping, cheering and stomping their feet by the end.  I need to contact VANOC to see if I can get a copy.  I did, however, record one on my camera in video mode, and still watch it on occasion to get me “back in the moment”.
• Here’s one I can’t figure out: I was generally the warmest when outside with all my friends.  Two from SF, two from Vancouver, and it was me, from sunny Southern California, who was usually stripping off jackets and working up a sweat and such walking around town.  Yet I freeze in my own apartment.  Maybe I can live in a colder clime, so long as I have a warmer house…
• Vancouver is an amazing city.  Or maybe it’s just a better fit for me as a person, I don’t know.  What I do know is that of all the cities I’ve been to, Vancouver is at the top of the list for the one I’ve felt most comfortable in.
• I got to share the Olympics with some of my closest friends.  In a fantastic city.  With great, upbeat crowds and friendly people.  I miss it already.