Notes from Khristine

Hell yeah, my heart's aglow.

Whilst on Holiday in Mexico, M suggested that I write for her blog. Now let me begin by saying that this is terribly frightening for me as I have never before written for public viewing or such. So please forgive me as it will not compare in wit or manner of speech. I will simply do my best to describe what a wonderful time we had visiting the Olympics in my dear home town, this past weekend.

Feb 19-21, 2010

The first thing M said upon arrival late Friday night was "you guys need to go and walk outside!" It did not matter that it was 23:30 and long past the girls bedtime. You see, I had threatened sleep on them during the car ride up from Seattle and it worked! We managed to drive up and cross the border in record time. Never in the 10+ years that I have been driving the I-5 corridor to the Peach Arch border crossing on a Friday night had I experienced such an easy, no-wait border visit. (Thank you Olympics!) So off we went, leaving M alone to her own devices, allowing her to finish packing and re-packing for her cruise. We rounded the corner to Robson St. and our pace was slowed by the crowd of people that were revelling in the street. There were men, women, men? women? families, groups, animals...you name it. They were out in full force in a sea of Red and White. Maple Leafs and Canada flags were peppered with those of other countries. Finland, Korea, Russia, the USA....everyone was making noise, a joyful noise in celebration and though we were walking in the middle of the street, in a mob of people, I felt unusually safe. Canada's Jon Montgomery had just won Gold in Men's Skeleton and Canadian pride was overflowing on a beautiful Friday night in Vancouver. It was unseasonably warm, feeling more like Spring than Winter but perhaps because 60,000 people's hearts were radiating for the country, the people and the city. 3 blocks were just enough for us to get a taste of what our weekend would bring. A nightcap at Timmy's complete with a Canadian Maple Creme was the perfect way to end the evening.

It didn't matter that we didn't have tickets to any events. I was up before 8am on a Saturday, and for those that know me, this is completely out of character. M was wrapping up to head to the airport via Canada Line and I was just too excited to sleep. As I bid M farewell and happy cruising, I turned to my sleeping family and decided to wake the troops to start our day. We headed straight for Granville Mall, to see what was going on. We stopped at every photo op, pretending to ski jump, snowboard and bobsled...the girls oooh'd and ahhh'd at the paper lanterns that lined the "trees" drawn by the children of Vancouver....we stood amazed at the 70 year old man wearing a Canadian track suit from the Calgary 1988 Olympics who had 1000+ pins all set out on a bench, ready for trading. (Apparently pin trading is REALLY BIG at the Olympics). Then the girls quickly reminded me that in my excitement,breakfast was amiss. Like good Canadians, we filed into the nearest Timmy's for a couple of double doubles and some chocolate milk, biscuits and bagels and we were back on track. We hit the 5th floor of the Bay downtown (thanks M for the tip) because at 10am on Saturday morning, the lineup for the Olympic Superstore was already over an hour. The girls were happy to have found tshirts, which was all we ended up getting, everything else was pretty much dessimated. Erwin walked around and took photos of the Team USA merchandise. The outfits were designed by Ralph Lauren and apparently that makes them ridiculously expensive. After grabbing our shirts and sneaking down to the women's lingerie department to pay for them (cashier on the 5th floor had a line up of 45 mins!) we hit the streets. Robson Square was alive. Walking to the Art Gallery, we caught glimpse of the urban zip line and the line up for BC Pavillion. There were lines everywhere, yet everyone was smiling and happy. It was a gorgeous day and my home town was showing off her best side, the Beautiful one.

The Mascots are a Big Deal. To my girls and apparently to every person who has a child or is a child under the age of 80. I was surprised that we didn't see more of them, other than on the billboards and murals, in all the bins of plush dolls that were everywhere, yet there were no "living" Miga's or Quatchi's roaming the streets. Sofie was on a hunt for the "living" Miga. Not the kind that is "flat" or "small" Mummy....the kind that walks and hugs. As promised, we went to the "Meet the Mascots on Ice" show at Robson Square, which is on daily at 13:00, 15:00 and 18:00. We should have known to get there at 17:00 for the 18:00 show because by the time we arrived, it was not standing room only, it was packed like sardines in a can-standing room only. We managed to elbow our way down to the rink. Sof up on E's shoulders, just to get a glimpse of the tops of Miga, Quatchi and Sumi's heads and Isabel climbed the counter at the skate rental as I held her feet down to keep her from falling. It might as well have been a Rolling Stones concert. The crowd was screaming, chanting "Miga! Miga! Miga! Quatchi! Quatchi! Suuuuumiiiii!!!!" and after the 3rd encore skate around, the referees had to escort the gigantic furry creatures off the ice and all you could hear is parents trying to explain to their children "it's ok, the mascots have to go to bed...it's getting late...say bye-bye now..." For some reason, I too was sad and as a result of a) being late and having to watch the show climbing up railings and on Daddy's shoulders and b) my own desire to actually see the show myself, I promised that we could come back tomorrow.

The cauldron is cool.
We walked down to Canada Place to see the cauldron at dusk. It was beautiful and the chain link fence that we heard about had been replaced by discreet plexiglass. Again, there was a huge line and because it was very close to dinner, rather than joining the line to get up close, we found an excellent viewing point from across the street and thankful to my Nikon and trusty Tamron telephoto lens, we shot photos of the cauldron and ourselves as though we were right at her foot. As the afternoon gave way to evening, the crowds of families began to morph into crowds of young adults, single people, out on the town on a Saturday night. But this was not just any Saturday night, it was the Olympics. The streets were packed and girls were wearing the Canadian flag in ways that even I would have to say was questionably "patriotic". We had been running all day. It was like a tour de force fueled by sights and sounds and after dinner, we all gave in to exhaustion. That is...after we lined up for the Olympic Superstore so I could buy my very own CANADA fleece blanket to wrap myself up in to sleep.

One more day. Sofie and Isabel woke up on Sunday morning clearly remembering our promise from the night before of returning to the ice show. I had to remind them that it was not until 13:00 and being only 10:00, we got up and headed out the door. We walked down to the Canadian Mint with the slight hope of maybe...just maybe...squeezing it in. But no, the line was just too long. So instead, we walked back over to Robson Square and watched a street entertainer balance a dozen chairs on his chin. He was quickly upstaged by the Eagle Song dancers from the Squamish Nation on the other side of the square. Public skate was also going (free with the exception of $3.00 skate rental) and the rink was packed with kids and families. We people watched and listened to the drummers with our left ears and the chair balancing guy with our right ears. Before we knew it, the Mascots on Ice show was about to begin, and there we were. Centre Ice with no obstruction.

The girls had made signs for Quatchi and Miga and they reached out and high 5'd, got hugged and screamed in joy. If this is all they remember from these Olympic games, it will be completely worth it. A bunch of huggable friendly mascots. a Sasquatch, a Sea Bear and a Spirit Animal. All friends who have come together to celebrate their heritage and embark on the adventure that is the Olympic games and what a privilege my children had to be there.

We walked down to LiveCity and through Yaletown to Chinatown and to the Olympic Village. We rode Canada Line and the Bombardier train to Granville Island and took the Aquabus back over to the Roundhouse and walked again up to Granville Mall. We met friends, new and old, tattooed our foreheads with Canadian flags and sang "Oh Canada" at the top of our lungs. If it was possible, downtown was busier today than yesterday. Today was THE HOCKEY GAME: Ice hockey, Preliminary Round Group A, Team Canada vs. Team USA. Everyone was decked out. Everywhere you turned, people were talking about the game, going to the game, going to watch the game......this afternoon, it was a matter of PRIDE. The game was not scheduled to start until 16:40 but people started staking their claim early. We did not actually sit down in 1 place to watch the game. We didn't have to, because everywhere you went, the game was there. In places where you would wonder what the power source was...there was a TV. The city roared with each goal....and silence was felt through the downtown core when at the end of the 2nd period, it became apparent that things were not turning out as originally planned. Our beloved Team....was struggling. And in the end the team that played a better game that night, won. And it wasn't us. A blanket of melancholy fell over downtown. The ruckus and joy of the day before was stunned by disbelief. After the sport analysts and media dissected the game and blamed everyone but themselves for the loss, (I don't even care to re-live it) the shock set in. What the world did not know is that Canadians are strong and resilient. We are the True, North, Strong and Free and a loss to the US was not going to stop us from coming back and fighting harder. A sleeping giant was awoken, we will win again. We had to bid farewell to the Olympics on Sunday night, it was a fantastic 2 days. We will never forget the sights, the sounds... but what I will carry with me for the rest of my life is the swell of love in my heart that will always be truly Canadian.