Well I guess that’s it. Today I woke up, pack my last few things, said the rest of my good-bye’s and then was off. Its weird leaving some place after you have been there for a month. It seems like it just flew right by, but at the same time, when I think back to my arrival day and all that has happened since then, it seems like an eternity. When I think about the people that I met and got to know so well, it feels like I have been in Vancouver a lot longer than a month. And yet, when I think of back home, it seems like my life there paused, waiting for me to return. There is absolutely nothing I would ever trade for this experience. No one could ever give me something great enough to compensate for what I gained with this trip. And at the same time, no one can understand exactly what I experienced… except for the people that I worked with. It is just such a process that you have to be here to see it first hand. No matter how much I write and how much I tell people about it, I know there is no way for me to explain it except by saying you had to be there. The people I worked with, I’m sure, feel a similar way. We lived together, ate together, suffered together, laughed and cried together… and we were each other’s lives for the past month. And what we see and what we do in this business is so different from anywhere else. Its like we were living in our own little world where the things in life that normally matter, like sleep and personal priorities go by the wayside as other problems become instantly more important. There are just so many moments that we share that no one else can ever understand. And in the same way, there is no way for me to even attempt to relate it back to all my friends. The whole experience is just so surreal.

            And now, as I sit on the plane heading back home, I don’t know what to expect. Leaving everyone for a month and talking to them once a week at most, I am not sure how the transition back to the life of a high school student will be. The past month I was the one helping everyone out. My job was to direct the guests and general public through the city and help them with whatever they needed. And in this process, I learned a new city and gained some new freedom. And now I am supposed to go back to school and be the one who adults tell what to do. I have to be the one being directed, rather than the other way around. And, which I think is hardest of all, I have to go back to being a high school student. I have to relearn how to relate to people my age and understand the problems they face, most of which are so unnecessary in real life. I got so used to working and then going out and being in the city; exploring and enjoying the Olympic atmosphere all hours of the day, having something else new and exciting with every day to come. And now, my life returns to the routine of school, homework and sports.

            As I talk about the hardships of going back home, there definitely are some things that make me excited to go back. But probably, the most important things I’m excited for are the simple things, like a washing machine and home cooked food. But also, I never realized how much my life revolves around sports. I miss playing my sports and having something fun to do every day while getting exercise! I would have to say, walking around a city for hours a day is not the same as playing water polo! And of course, I miss my friends!

            Yet, no matter how much I can’t wait to see people back home; I still don’t want to leave. It was just such an amazing experience that I am reluctant to face the fact that it is over! I realize that I am so lucky to have this opportunity, and I cherish every moment from it, even the hard ships and sleepless nights. But these are the things that really make you feel alive and take in everything there is! if I could do it again, I would have to say I would do everything the exact way I did. All of what I have gone through I know, will shape the rest of my life! it is now, that I question what I really want to do with my future. Being in this business and seeing what I was able to see, it makes me want to do this the rest of my life! I just enjoyed so much all the people I met and worked with and all the moments we shared together. When people say that there are life-changing experiences, I know what they mean… and this is one of them. Although I know right now I haven’t even realized all that I have gone through, but in the weeks and months to come, when I think back on this month in Vancouver, I know it will affect me in a way that nothing else can. And I know I will miss it too. All the fun and excitement I had is something that I will always think about and carry with me. And when I yearn to be back and at the Olympics again, I know I will have the memories to live off of.

            I am just so thankful to have this experience. When I was in Vancouver and people discovered that I was a high school student (I tried to hide my true identity from people as long as I could!) all they could ever say is that I was so lucky and this was such a good experience. And I could not agree more with them. I realize that I am lucky. Hardly any other high school student gets the opportunity to leave school for a month and go work at the Olympics. And I could not love this opportunity more! I just hope everyone who ever helped me to gain this opportunity knows how much I appreciate it, because I know that I can never thank them enough!

            I am sad that it is all over. I am going to miss everything about the Olympics and Vancouver. From the beautiful city and people I met to the Olympic events, all I can feel is joy as I leave this place behind. I only hope to stay in touch with my new friends and visit this wonderful city again (in the summer as everyone says its gorgeous!). And as far as this kind of work, I hope, and I will work my hardest to make it happen, that I get another opportunity to work in this field again in the near future. But as of now, I guess I have to face reality to return to my life as a 17-year old high school student. And with that, good-bye Vancouver Olympics and good-bye to the wonderful land of Canada! I hope to relive this dream again!

            My last day. It wasn’t all that exciting, but it was still fun! I woke up pretty late, sleeping in after the party. Then I helped around the office. Everyone was packing up and breaking down the rooms. There was a lot of stuff, since they had shipped everything in to start with. Yet, it took a week to set up and only a day to break it down! There was packing, boxing, labeling, counting, and shredding… and then that was pretty much it. A few of the managers are staying a few extra days to finish up several things, but with the stuff that I could help with, they were pretty much done. And after all day of cleaning up, we were left with a room filled with boxes and some empty offices.

            So after I helped, everyone wanted a few things from the Super Store, thinking that the line would be gone and all the Olympic stuff left. So I went with one other person and we went out on a shopping assignment. First, though, we grabbed something to eat. We went to the vegetarian restaurant, Naam, again. This time I got a veggie burger, and it was so delicious. Then we went to lululemon. We had to exchange a sweatshirt for someone. I just love that store, so it was fun. And after that, we headed to the super store. Yet, there was still a line around the block! It was so weird to see, because everywhere else in the city, it was completely dead! It was like this was the only thing remaining from the Olympic atmosphere. Instead of waiting in line, we went up to the 5^th floor where the team apparel is. And that is when we found out that the US Ralph Lauren clothing was 50% off! We had always loved the puffy vests that the athletes wore; yet they were so expensive! We rummaged through all the clothing and managed to find only two vests. So we took those. Then, I called my mom and pretty much the whole office was sent up to store, to finish up the shopping. We stayed and helped all the guys pick out clothing for their families and kids. It was really fun actually! Everyone was still looking for the mittens, yet they were completely sold out by now! I did manage to find one pair that a security guard was holding, and bought those. Yet even the workers were astounded that I had found them! After about 3 hours, we headed back to the hotel… with a lot of shopping bags and money saved (since we spent so much to begin with!).

            Then we all went out to dinner… our final dinner together, since most people are leaving tomorrow. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone, after we had lived with one another for a month straight! Yet, we all are counting on seeing each other again in South Africa for the World Cup this summer, so there was a sense of ease with out heartfelt good byes.

            And then I had to pack… and that was a challenging feat on its own! Luckily, we got duffle bags here, or else I would have had no shot at getting everything home. But even with the extra duffle bag, with all of my gifts and souvenirs that I had bought, I barely was able to fit everything! It was weird packing up everything that I had lived with for a month, but I guess it forced me to face the fact that I was leaving!

            Well… my last day of work. I, along with a few others, actually worked for pretty much 24 hours straight between yesterday and this morning. I got a three-hour break, from 11:30 to 2:30am, and then went right back to work this morning. It was departure day for all of the guests, along with pretty much the rest of Vancouver. Because they were anticipating a lot of people, the Vancouver airport actually built a temporary additional terminal to split up the crowds. I was working at this terminal. We just had to see the guests off and make sure they got checked in ok. Since they split up the terminals, it was actually really quiet. It was a nice building that they build, so it wasn’t bad at all. We worked until like 8, and then we were done for the day. It wasn’t a bad shift, and it was nice to be done early!

            After a long nap, I decided to go out in the city one more time. Since I was done with work!… I just roamed the streets. Compared to the last week, the streets already seemed dead! Places that used to be restricted were now open, and there weren’t any long lines anywhere! It was really nice actually. I went a palates class, and then just finished up my shopping for my trip. I had to make a conscience effort throughout the games not to buy too much. One because I knew I would buy a lot of stuff, and two because some how I have to get everything home. So today, I just got the things that I was planning to buy. Already, with my numerous clothes from work, presents for other people and just other things that I bought, I have no room left to pack anything else… if I can even get what I have now home! But that will be tomorrow’s task!

            Tonight was our staff party! First, we had a party in our hospitality tent for just our program. It was really fun and we just all hung out. We got to try all the products that the guests got  to have, like the new innovation drinks. Most of them were milk products. They came from the Asian countries because they like it over there. A few of them were good, but mainly they were just really different! There is also this freestyle machine, which is really cool. It mixes all these drinks of different flavors that don’t even exist. Overall, it has like 100 different drinks, and it was really fun to use!

            After this, we went to the party for all of the different departments at the Olympics, like the local program and the Happiness House people. It was at a club that they rented out, and there were like over 600 people! First there were speeches, and then the party got started! Everything was a surprise about who was going to be there and what was going to happen. There were several different slide shows going on the whole time. And they had passed out glow bottles to everyone, so everyone was waving them around and having so much fun! I’m pretty sure I was one of the only sober ones in the whole club, but it was so much fun!… mainly just messing with all of the drunk people! But they ended up having two different DJ’s. The first one was Girltalk. This guy is pretty famous, and he is so good! He was going crazy, like jumping up and down and on his table and all, but somehow he was able to mix some of the best music I have ever heard! It was so much fun to dance to! Then, after this, they had another DJ, Martin Solveig. This one was later in the night, so there were mostly young people left. They had flown him in on a private jet from France! And he is one of the best DJ’s in the whole world! Listening to him, I could definitely tell. He was different from Girltalk, and I think I liked him better. Instead of using a computer, he actually used CD’s and a real turntable! It was so incredible what he was able to do too. When he got up, the club seemed to turn almost into a rave. It was just so much fun! It was incredible that the company was able to put on such an amazing party for their employees! It was literally the most fun party that I have ever been to… and I’m sure the best one for a while.

            Well, today was an incredible day! There’s no way to put it any better! I started out pretty early, and worked straight through for 12 hours! I took a group to the USA Canada gold medal hockey game. We were able to get all of our staff into the stadium, but none of us had seats. They did have a staff lounge, but that soon got full. So I walked around with one other staff. We knew it was going to be hard to see the game, but we thought that it was worth it to try! Eventually, we found a volunteer who let us stand with her and watch! All day, everyone was really tense about this game. Everywhere you walked, people were in Canada gear! I have never seen so many people in hockey jerseys! Of course, though, I was proudly wearing my USA apparel. I’m lucky that I had to wear my work jacket, though, because anyone who could tell that someone was wearing USA would instantly boo them. When we got into the stadium, the whole thing was red! Signs were all throughout the stadium supporting Canada. It was really powerful seeing the Canadians so patriotic. On the other hand, when USA scored, it was the best feeling ever! Across the fans, there would be a few fans standing up, cheering. And for the rest of the fans, tension quickly spread over them. The staff that I was with was so nervous. All of the Canadians were acting like their whole life depended upon this game. And when USA scored the tying goal, the whole stadium completely hushed. It was such a cool feeling, and definitely something that would be hard to recreate in any way. I ended up having to leave during overtime in order to meet one of our buses. When I was outside, all of a sudden, someone started cheering. Then a few horns honked, and soon, the whole streets broke into chaos. Everyone was yelling and cheering and celebrating. It was then that I knew Canada had won the gold! the volunteers with the mega phones were broadcasting the news over and over again, mainly to hear the crowd’s cheer. I was proud for Canada, with breaking the record of number of gold’s in the winter Olympics, but at the same time, it was hard to see all the excitement, knowing that my home team was feeling just same amount of energy, but in the opposite way. I would have to say though; it is pretty impressive for Canada to have set that record to compete so strongly at their own Olympics! Maybe they could have just broken the record in a different way, than beating the US hockey team! Haha but all the same, it was an awesome game and the level of play and excitement could in no way have bee better!

            After this, we took our guests directly to Closing Ceremonies. We also had one bus coming from the hotel that we had to receive. It was just the same amount of chaos and people as Opening Ceremonies, but after 16 days, the task seemed a whole lot easier! After we got the guests in, we had a few more tickets to give out. The rest of the local staff, which worked at the hotel, had already had a lottery for tickets, but a few others had turned up. So between the venue staff that did not get a ticket for Opening Ceremonies, we had a lottery… and out of the three drawn, I won a ticket to the Closing Ceremonies! I was so excited! I was hoping that I could at least peak my head in to see some of it, but I ended up getting my own seat! It was so awesome! Just as the whole Olympics were, everyone was so high energy and excited to be there! It was really cool to see too. I liked how they joked around with what Canada means to the world. They sort of joked with what they are known for. Even the local staff that I was with was saying that only in Canada would they mock their own culture, like beavers and moose, and when they pulled up the fourth arm of the torch and lit it again! Everyone was so proud of their culture and their country! It was just so awesome! And a perfect end to such a good Olympics!

I feel like this whole Olympics brought Canadians to embrace their country. Everyone who I talked to said that they usually never see people passionate about their country… and hardly ever does it look like a party on the streets with everyone so excited about one thing. Every single night of the Olympics, and especially today, all of the streets were packed with drive Canadian fans. You could not walk anywhere without hearing a Canada chant or seeing a Canadian flag waving. It was a nice end to the event that may change the Canadian fans forever! and yet, through all this passion and  support, the Canadians were still able to maintain their culture and friendly nature about them! Really, the only way that I can describe the whole Olympic experience is that it was absolutely incredible!

            It’s sad. I’m excited to go home and see my friends and go back to my sports, and I miss the simple things in life, like a washing machine. But at the same time, I don’t want this all to end. All the people that I’m working with, all the events that I’m dealing with will never be recreated after these next few days. I just can’t believe that tomorrow is closing ceremonies! This is by far the fastest month ever! Yet, at the same time, I have seen so much and experienced so many different things, that it does kind of seem like a long time. Although I am getting almost ready to go home, there is so much about this whole experience that I am going to miss! There is nothing in the world that I would trade for the opportunity that I have had at these Olympics!

            At the end of today, it is starting to hit me that this is the end. I went on the last tour today. I got up really early, and we went on the Grandville Island tour. I was working it because we had to take the guests to the Happiness House directly afterwards. We are lucky… well our guests are lucky… that we get to go to Grandville before the markets are open and have a private tour of the markets. Although I had already seen the markets normally, I liked this because the chef showed us all the excellent foods in the market, and we got to sample them! we also got to carve part of a totem pole. The guy made it look so easy to do! Yet, when I tried, it was nearly impossible! But it is so awesome what they can do with the wood! After this, we took the guests to the Happiness House. Not much has changed, except for the fact that the staff has become a lot less overly happy towards the guests than they were the first week.

            I got off of work pretty early, and so I had the rest of the day. I didn’t want to waste one of my last few days at the Olympics! Since I was just going out to shop and walk about, I offered to buy people stuff. The managers work every day all day, so they hardly every have the opportunity to leave the hotel! They always see what I buy and want me to go out and get them something similar. So today, I went on a grand shopping mission to buy other people stuff! It was actually really fun because I got to shop and buy stuff while using other people’s money! I mean I didn’t get to keep the stuff, but it was still just like shopping! Lululemon, one of my most favorite stores!, had these winter hats that looked like hockey helmets. Since hockey is really big up here, they were pretty popular. They were on sale today, and so everyone in the office wanted one! So I went and bought about 15 hockey helmets… mostly USA, but unfortunately some Canada as well. The whole time the streets were crazy! Not only were the horrendous weekend crowds out, but they were also cheering and getting prepared for the hockey game tomorrow! And every time Canada wins a medal, there are certain places where horns go off and there is a certain celebration. In the past few days, Canada has been sweeping in the medal, and so there are always cheers and horns going! I don’t know why, but the US always seems to struggle in leading the Gold medal count even though we destroy everyone else in the overall medal count! In our office, there is always debate and rivalry pertaining to this topic! But of course, in the end, it only matters the amount of total medals!

            Right when I got back from my shopping excursion, I got offered figure skating tickets. This was to the gala exhibition event. It had already started, but I decided that I would rather go to this than the bronze medal hockey game that I was going to go to. I had already seen a lot of hockey games, and I had only seen one figure skating event! This particular one is really fun because all the medal winners from all of figure skating events perform in a fun, relaxed setting. Some of them do crazy things with costumes and modern songs, but in general, it is just supposed to be a fun show for the athletes to try stuff that they don’t do in competition while having fun! I loved it because we got to see all the best people from every event. My favorite was the couple from Canada who won the gold in ice dancing. The girl came out dressed in a tutu with the guy in jeans and a Canada hockey jersey. It was so cute their dance that they did, acting like a young couple in love! All of these people were so amazing! They made everything look so easy and effortless. There wasn’t even a question if they would mess up or fall!… but I guess that’s why they are Olympic Champions!

            After the event, I decided to go out to dinner. The hotel food that we eat everyday is really good, but after a month of the same type of cooked food, I just needed a good, fresh meal. Ironic or not, I decided to go to a Chinese restaurant. I went with some other staff and it was absolutely amazing! It might have just been that anything tastes better than the food that we were used to, but it was exactly the meal I needed! Despite this still, I am sad that tomorrow is the last day of the Olympics! I don’t want it to end!!!

Today was another exciting day! I know I keep on saying this, but its true! Every new day and every new event brings about its own sort of excitement. And with everything, the Olympic spirit and energy is present. With everything that I have done, I have just had so much fun living up the Olympic experience!

I wasn’t working until later this afternoon. So when I got up, I decided to go out to the suburbs and meet my friend. I have been most places in town already, so I wanted to go somewhere where I hadn’t been. I went to W 4^th street, where there are a bunch of little shops. I just looked around and enjoyed the shops. This street is only a few blocks away form the shore. So I walked down to the beach. It was raining pretty much all day today, but it was still pretty on the beach. There was pretty much no one out, so it was nice. I could also see Stanley Park across the bay. I was really enjoying the rain. I guess I’m not used to the rain, so I like being in it… but I know everyone who lives in the rain constantly thinks I’m crazy for saying that… and I better not say it too much until I have to actually live in it! But anyways, for lunch, we went to another vegetarian restaurant. This one is known world wide to be one of the best vegetarian restaurants ever! It was really good… to say the least.

Tonight, I was working the semifinal hockey game with Canada and Slovakia playing! VANOC was really strict in letting us watch, but luckily we were able to sit in some of our seats that weren’t being used! It was an incredible game to be at! The whole stadium was red! Everywhere you looked, you saw Canada fans and jerseys! It was really a cool sight! Personally, I was nearly having more fun watching the fans and everyone around me than watching the game! Vince Vann and Wayne Gretzky were actually in the box behind us! And everyone was turning around in order to get pictures of them! But anyways, Canada was playing so hard; it really made it a good game! I was definitely cheering for Canada! I am so glad that it is going to be Canada USA in the gold medal game! Yet, to tell the truth, I am a bit torn for whom to cheer for. Of course, I want USA to win…but, and everyone is going to kill me for saying this, I kind of want Canada to. Its not that I want USA to lose, but I like seeing the home team succeed and do well for their whole country. It just really is such a great feeling to witness… whether it is your own home country or not! But I guess we will see what happens on Sunday!

After the game, I went to the Live City where the Happiness House is. they have concerts at night as well as fireworks and a water show. These are the fireworks that I watched the other night, but with a much better view! The fireworks are right over the Live City! They were awesome! And they had a water show with projections on the water and music and video to go along with it all! Vancouver really has done a great job to impress the world!

           Compared to the past few days, I didn’t do much today. I actually slept in, and semi caught up on my much-lost sleep. I started my shift in the afternoon. So for the first half of the day, I just hung out around the hotel and helped out other people.

            Today I was the escort to figure skating. It was the women’s long program, which is a medal event. We had over 100 guests go, and three buses. This is the most people that we have had, besides Opening Ceremonies. Yet, since all of the staff is really well trained by now, it was pretty easy. Luckily, I was able to get seats for this event. It was so amazing. Watching these girls, most of who are in their teens or low twenties, I just couldn’t believe what they could do. Most of the spins and jumps that they did, there is no way I could do them on land. And while they are on the ice, they are so elegant and graceful. I really found it an awesome event to see. There is also this new thing that we were lucky enough to use. Each one of our guests got a mini radio. On this, they could listen to the commentary while watching the skater. This is common in other sports, but I had never seen it in figure skating. I liked listening to it, because it helped me understand the sport. They would tell us about the judging and what the skaters lost points for. It was interesting to see the way the judging worked. To me, the only noticeable mistake was when the skaters fell. Yet, to the judges, the little things matter so much more. One would lose points if they were to take off from the wrong edge of the skate. They also gained more points for certain moves. Each tactic and series would be ranked upon a level, 2 to 3 to 4. And if a skater were to add one more step or particular move into a combination, it could up the level of the whole series. I found it very interesting to hear while watching the skaters. Although, while the judges deducted many many points, I found all of the skaters to be amazing. Yet, Yu-Na Kim, the girl who won from Korea, was absolutely fabulous. While she was on the ice, her style and grace just captured everyone’s attention… for me, she was performing so beautifully, and it was hard to look away! I was glad, however, that Joannie Rochette, from Canada, was able to get the bronze. One, because I love to see athletes win in their home country, but two because her mother had just passed away a week ago. I can’t even imagine performing under those circumstances, yet she was obviously able to… in honor of her mother.

            Today, the Canadian women’s hockey team won gold. On the way home form figure skating, the streets were totally crazy! Everyone was out on the streets! Although hey beat the USA team in order to win, I would have to say I am happy for them. Hockey is their life and everyone is so into it! It’s nice to see Canada doing well for their home! Yet, I hope the men play each other for gold… and I’m not so sure I would want Canada to win that one. But I guess we will have to see!

            I started out early in the morning again. I just took a group to the Happiness House, and then was helping other people around the hotel for a few hours.  It was really rainy and cold when I got off but it didn’t bother me. My dad and I took the bikes and went on a bike ride around Stanley Park. This is a big, natural park, right by where we are staying. We rode around the park, and it took about an hour or so. It was really pretty, and no one was out because of the rain. It was nice because we rode the whole time by ourselves! The path is right along the sea wall as well, so we were able to see the ocean at the same time!

            I have always kind of been interested in curling, and have watched it on TV, almost as a joke. But since it is a popular sport up here in Colorado, I thought that it would be fun to see! For Canadians, it is a leisure sport. Some schools even have classes for curling. I found it to be compared to bowling in the states. I wasn’t expecting much when we went and bought tickets, but once I got into the stadium, I knew was actually going to be fun. At the same time, there are four sheets with two teams each competing against each other. Luckily, my dad had looked up the simple rules of curling before we went, because it was actually kind of confusing. How it works, is that there are two teams who each have 8 rocks. There are 10 innings, and the teams each have 73 minutes to complete their rounds. If they go over that amount of time, they are forced to forfeit the match. The team who has a rock closest to the center after all the rocks are thrown score. They get one point for each rock that is inside their competitor’s closest rock. It actually consists of a lot of strategy and skill. The team, which has four players, has to go about their blocking and hitting and throwing of the rocks in a certain way in order to give them the best advantage at the end of the round.

            Although I thought it was going to be kind of slow and not very exciting, it was actually really fun! The Canadian fans were getting really into it. The US was playing as well, against the Swiss, but we got out early and lost. The Canadians were playing Russia, and it was a good match. At the end, it was kind of close, and it was realy cool to see the fans so into it. They would cheer for every move. And on Russia’s last turn, the whole stadium starting singing Oh Canada! It was almost an eerie feeling, with the whole stadium singing it. Luckily, Russia messed up, and Canada ended up winning… and that’s when the stadium went crazy! I really enjoyed seeing curling, and found it actually pretty interesting.

            After the event, we went out to dinner at one of the best Indian restaurants. It is world renowned, and I must say, it really was delicious! I ended up spending the night at one of my friends apartment. We were planning to go up to Grouse Mountain in order to see the Today Show, so we thought it would be easier to stay with them!

            I went up to whistler today! We had one ticket in Whistler all program, and it happened to be today. I was lucky enough to be able to escort this venue. We went to ski jumping. This stadium is actually like 20 minutes away from the Whistler Village. The drive up was absolutely beautiful! It was along the English Bay, and the coastline, as well as the mountains. The mountains had snow, and the sun shining on them… it was just so pretty! Whistler is about 2 hours away from here. But with the beautiful views and all, it didn’t even feel like that long!

            When we got up to the ski jumping place, we got all the guests in and then followed. It was up in the mountains, and it was a good, 15-minute hike up to the venue. The cross-country venue is near the same place. About half way up, the two split different ways. At the stadium, you can see across the valley and some really beautiful views, but of course, it helped that it was so clear and sunny! We were able to stand in the general admission area. It was really fun because we were in with all of the fans that were going crazy! It was the team ski jumping, so each team had four people going. It is absolutely ridiculous how high these guys jump from! They literally look like birds as they are flying through the air! It was really cool to see.

            After the event, we arranged with the guests so that we could go to Whistler Village for a bit and walk around. It reminded me so much of Vail! With all the little shops and restaurants right up next to the ski mountain. There was a concert going on and a few other events throughout the town. Tons of people were out having a good time, even though there were no events happening that day at the mountain. We ended up going to the Italy House with the people I work with, who are from Italy. During the Olympics, there are a bunch of different houses for each country. Each house is different, but most have cultural food and a place to hang out. This is where all the athletes go for food and a lounge. Some are private, while others people line up for in order to get in. The Heinekin House, for Holland, holds parties and is pretty much a big club. Whereas, the Italy house just has food. And for the USA House, it is private for only athletes. For most of these, if you have a passport from that country, you can get in for free and avoid the lines. Some of them charge in order to get, while others, like the USA House, are pretty much impossible to get into. Some of the countries have houses in both Whistler and Vancouver. The Italy House in Whistler is only for Italians. We were able to sneak in with our Italian friends, though. They pretty much just had a bunch of Italian food to each, which was absolutely delicious! There was also some famous Italian skier, who I actually had no clue who he was! But it was fun to get a little taste of Italy!

            Once we got back to the hotel, it was already pretty late! But every night, there is a Coca-Cola parade through the streets. They hand out Cokes along with a few these new, special addition glow bottles. These are really popular, but really hard to get a hold of. It was actually fun. After that, we walked across the bridge to the suburbs, where my friends are staying. We strolled along the streets shopping a bit, and then ate dinner. We went to this little local spot, which was really good! Every night, they set off fireworks. We went up to the top of a building and watched them. I was pretty impressed with how good they were, saying that they set them off every day! I nearly felt like I was watching the fireworks at the forth of July!

            Today was… well, to say the least…. A bit of a difficult day. I started out at 8:00, having to take a group to the Happiness House. Since yesterday was such a long day, I was pretty tired today. And, it’s a new wave. Some people in this wave are incentive people. This means that they pretty much earned their way here. Because of that, they actually use the tickets and go out and do things! This is a good thing, but it is also very different. The past two waves consisted of very sophisticated people who had been to many Olympics before. They were less into the tourist things, and were not as overly crazy about things. This group is different. Out of 80 people scheduled, 73 people showed up! We had two buses and just one escort on each. It was really exciting because this is the first time that I have a bus full, with 55 people on it! I liked it. But these people, being as energetic as they are, are hard to control. They all have their own things they want to do, and they all feel the need to draw the attention to them. Hardly any of them were on time and hardly any of them would care to wait for the group. They all were impatient and wanted to do exactly what they wanted to do, which doesn’t quite work out with so many people, especially when we have to take care of them and show them around! But it all worked out… with several glitches.

            After this, I was going to the Richmond Oval for the speed skating. Again, with the generally same group of people, it was one of the more difficult transfers. We ended up sending the first bus with not enough people on it. Then, with the second bus slightly smaller, we had to move the coolers and load the bus, filling every seat. We sent it without an escort; so then we had to arrange them to meet people there. Yet, we still had some people who couldn’t fit, since people had come late after we had already sent the first bus. We tried to get a van, but then we had to settle with two cars, one for the staff and one for the guests. The problem was that the people in the car had the tickets for some of the people in the bus… so then we had to meet up with them and coordinate all of that. It was just a lot of extra work that shouldn’t have happened! Yet, were lucky that this is the first time that something like this has happened this Olympics. Usually, things like this, and glitches in our plans, are quite often. But this program, the numbers have been so small that we have been able to fix things pretty easily!

Despite all of this, I still had a good time at speed skating. I ended up sitting with all of the Dutch fans, and it was so much fun! They kept cheering and everything, and it was cool to be in the middle of it. It was the Women’s 1500 meter. The Netherlands ended up first, with Canada and then Czech.

After this, I went out to dinner with one of my friends and her mom. We went into one of the suburbs by Kits. There was this awesome vegetarian restaurant, which is really well known. It was so good, and they had all of this good food that was made really healthy and all! Since the streets were again really packed, it was nice to get out of the city and be away from the crowds!

USA and Canada also played today. We missed part of the game because of the speed skating, but it was still really exciting, especially since USA won! Almost all the people I work with are form Canada, and here, hockey is really big… well that’s a bit of an understatement, hockey is their life! Everywhere on the streets, there were TV’s on, and crowds of people around them. but besides these crowds, the streets were dead for those two hours! Supposedly, tickets for the game were going for $10,000… no joke! I don’t think I would ever pay that much for one game and I don’t see how anybody could, but I guess here in Canada, they would get sold anyways!