Up until the last few days, the 2010 Olympics seemed like some vague concept, rather than the massive event that it really is. I’ve been pretty blasé about it, mostly thinking about the Olympics in terms of how badly they’re going to screw up my commute. Of course, there have also been controversies aplenty, from massive budget overruns to concerns about the treatment of people in the Downtown Eastside. Suffice it to say, my feelings about the Olympics could be summed up as: Meh.
But then the travel stories started popping up, replete with recommendations for things to do and places to see and restaurants to eat at. And the slideshows. Oh gob, the slideshows. It’s gotten to the point where I click on every Vancouver tourism story I see, just for a quick pick-me-up. You know, Vancouver is an amazing city. Where else do you have a cosmopolitan, multicultural city centre in proximity to the ocean and oodles of park space, with beautiful mountain views to boot? There is just so much to see and do here – I’m lucky enough to play tourist whenever I have out-of-town visitors, so I’ve seen and done a lot – but there’s still so much more!
And then this morning, my bus came to a full stop at Georgia Street downtown. At first, there was confusion; then we realized we couldn’t go any further because of the crowds that had gathered for the torch relay. My pal Hannah and I stood there just reveling in the energy of the crowd around us, dancing along with the music pumping from the trucks preceding the torch runner, and finally cheering when we saw the flame approach. For a couple of minutes, I felt like I was seven again, watching another Olympic torch pass me by on its way to Calgary. It was exhilarating!
And that, boys and girls, is the story of how the Grinch caught Olympic fever. To the rest of the world, whether you’re visiting Vancouver or watching the games from home, welcome to my adopted hometown. I hope you love it as much as I do.
I am pardoning your schmaltz! I caught a pretty bad case of it myself – I went to the torch relay in Stabmonton and went around bouncing and squealing like a five year-old, and I read every article CNN and MSNBC are doing about the V-dot(did you catch the one with Gillian Anderson’s recommendations?), I play with my Happy Meal ski-jumping Quatchi toy while waving my Coke Olympics flag and singing the national anthem. I’m so happy the Olympics are in Vancouver! Except, of course, for your killer luge track.
I have only been to Vancouver once so far but it is an awesome city and I loved it there! Kim, you were a great host and showed me around to all the great spots.
I can only imagine how great it is being in Vancouver right now. I used to dream about being in Calgary during the Olympics when I was 8 years old.