From Lone Blogger to COC Volunteer to SportCafé Editor

What a difference a year makes.

One year ago today, I volunteered for the Canadian Olympic Committee for the Olympic Heroes Tour.
The first day was spent going to area schools where the Olympians shared inspiring stories with students. The morning was spent with kayaker Hugues Fournel and Justin Karn (para-judo).



They both had very inspiring stories and the bonus of accompanying the Olympians was getting to hear them. In the afternoon, we were joined by Olympic bronze medallist Antoine Valois-Fortier and swimmer Charles Francis.



The next day was the Olympic parade where I was assigned the swimming float which included two bronze medallists Brent Hayden and Richard Weinberger. This is Canada's swim team five minutes before the parade was to start.



My sister was in the crowd near the end of the parade. She ran out to hug me (she was so excited for me to have had this opportunity) and as I'm running back to my float, she called my name so I turned around. This shot is a perfect representation of the whirlwind two days I had and the happiness it brought me.



I wrote many posts about this experience last year (links at the end). What I am reflecting on today isn't those amazing two days, but how things have changed since then. I may go all kooky on you now, but I believe in serendipity. From my Olympic experience in Vancouver to today. I feel like things are meant to be.

If I made a movie about my 2010 Olympic experience, people would think it was Hollywood-ized. Everything was too perfect. Links from past posts are at the end of this one.

When I came back, I thought my Olympic dream was over. Nothing could beat a home Olympics but a year later I realized that it didn't have to be over. Just like an Olympian who wins a gold medal doesn't (necessarily) stop competing. I didn't have to stop wanting Olympic experiences even if it meant seeing an Olympian compete in local events or following athletes dream to compete at the Games.

I decided to start writing about Olympians and amateur sports more. Rather than bombarding my original blog (My Life Is Like A Song) I began in 2008 with Olympic posts, in May 2011, I started a second blog (Olympic Hearts) dedicated to Olympic sports (I did transfer the 30 or so Olympic related posts from my original blog).

My goal was to follow Olympic sports and athletes year round, not only leading up to the Olympic Games. I wanted to see them compete when it was possible, I wanted to follow Olympic trials. I wanted to be thrilled when a 20th place at the Games meant a personal best. I wanted more than the medallist focus found in mainstream media.

As much as I say that I believe in serendipity, I still believe that you have to make your own luck. Starting my blog and separate Olympic twitter account meant that I was following athletes and organizations more closely. This meant that I saw the call for volunteers by the Canadian Olympic Committee. This meant that I knew who Hugues Fournel was when I was assigned to him.

Hugues, Justin and I had great discussions in the car on our way to our destinations. At one point, I mentioned that I had seen Hugues' writing on SportCafé. He was really excited that I knew of SportCafé explaining that his friends had started the website. He continues by saying that they work SO hard. I half-jokingly ask if they need help from someone in Toronto...who's bilingual? (I knew that Etienne and Antoine were based in Québec City). I was surprised when he said "maybe, I'll ask them."

I believed that Hugues meant it when he said it, but I didn't know when he would see them with the kayak season having ended. Although he may not have remembered me, I hoped he would remember my idea I shared about what I would love to see on the website.

SportCafé mostly featured athlete blogs then. I told Hugues that often times, athletes blog about where they've been and where they've competed. I wanted to know when and where they were going to compete before they competed. Was it close to Toronto so I could go and cheer them on? Was it televised or livestreamed?

One week later, I was meeting with Antoine and Etienne who were in Toronto for a conference. They loved my idea and asked if I wanted to undertake that part of the website. If me meeting Hugues the week before Etienne and Antoine were in Toronto isn't serendipity I don't know what is. Initially I thought they travelled to Toronto often, but the next time they came this way was in June when they were in Welland for team trials.

It all came full circle with Hugues, Etienne, Antoine and I at National Team Trials.



A year ago, I was working on my own blog with limited connections and a very small audience. I even wrote about SportCafé on my blog last summer. You can read that post here where I say that "SportCafé is billed as website "for athletes, by athletes" where athletes write about their experiences and share their blog posts." I never thought that I would end up joining those athletes and writing on SportCafé myself (or recently becoming Editor).

I'm now part of a team dedicated to increasing the visibility and support for amateur sports. With the 2014 Olympics only 140 days away, we'll be working even harder to make that happen for the Games and beyond.

My Olympic dream continues.

Links to past posts:
Olympic Heroes Tour (summary of school visits)
Olympic Volunteer Day #2 (before the parade and coincidence of being assigned the swimming float)
Toronto Olympic Parade
Call Me Maybe Great souvenir for me appearing in the Olympic team video.

My 2010 Olympics (collection of all posts from newest to oldest)
Partial Dream Come True My first time holding an Olympic torch. I didn't know I would go to the Olympics yet and thought this was as close to my Olympic dream that I would get.
Opening Ceremonies
Men's Moguls...Canada's First Gold At Home
Pre-Opening Ceremonies
Vancouver Day 1
Victoria Highlights Includes Terry Fox statue, Simon Whitfield and Steve Nash jerseys and two occasions to hold an Olympic torch

My 2010 Olympics

When I first found out that the Olympics would be in Vancouver, I half-jokingly asked my friends who lived there if I could reserve a corner on the floor of their apartment. I imagined that everyone they knew would be wanting to attend the Olympics so didn't even imagine that the couch would be available.

When they moved to Victoria, I (again half-jokingly) asked them, what about my corner? They assured me that getting to Vancouver would not be a problem from there.

When the first phase of tickets went on sale, reality set in. The expense of buying tickets and getting accommodation for a family of four seemed too big of an obstacle. I realized that the Olympics at the other end of my country wasn't going to happen for me.

I was crushed, but then focused on the Olympic relay. I applied wherever I could in order to run the relay. I figured that this was my destiny. It was my consolation prize, but what a prize it would be. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), I was not chosen to run the Olympic relay.

When the torch was lit in Greece, I couldn't watch it on television. I couldn't believe that our home Olympics was beginning and that I wouldn't get to experience first hand. Some of my favourite Olympians were on hand when the torch arrived in BC, so I couldn't resist watching that...happy for them to experience what I couldn't. This is when I started blogging about the 2010 Olympics and my journey to make my dream of attending the Olympics a reality.

The label "My 2010 Olympics" contains those posts that were initially published on My Life Is Like A Song. I am reposting them here with their original dates.

Meet a Mother On Fire

Originally published on April 2, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

This is the article that appeared under Meet a Mother on Fire on the Mothers on Fire website:

Suzanne Sewell Goes to the Olympics!

“I think what really made this work was how supportive my whole family was. They understood how important it was to me and they did everything they could to help. No one complained or whined. No one made me feel guilty.”

Suzanne Sewell just came back from a solo trip to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This was a dream she had for a long time and despite a lot of logistical planning, she made it happen. Suzanne is a perfect example of what being on fire means for many reasons. Mostly because she followed her heart and made her dream come true.

MOF: Why was it important for you to be part of the Olympic experience?
Suzanne: Since I was a little girl, I have loved the Olympics. It meant so much for me to be part of the Olympic experience especially in 2010 because it was in our home country.
I remember Brian Orser carrying the flag in Calgary for the 1988 Opening Ceremonies. Seeing him enter in his home country and the crowd going crazy was awe-inspiring. I wanted to witness our Canadian athletes walking in at the Opening Ceremonies in our home country. I wanted to see the Opening Ceremonies that would showcase my country. I wanted to see our athletes compete in front of their home crowd. I didn't dream that I would see us win our first gold medal on home soil, but I did.

MOF: How did you make it work with your family?
Suzanne: My husband was away on a 4 day business trip overlapping with the first 24 hours of my absence which made it more difficult than it would have been otherwise. Our kids are 10 and 13 and are quite independent so they were not the biggest concern. Our 9 month old puppy was the biggest problem. The kids would be at school all day, but the dog needed to be taken care of. My husband's parents traveled from Windsor to take care of the kids and puppy until his return and then my husband worked from home until I came back.
I think what really made this work was how supportive my whole family was. They understood how important it was to me and they did everything they could to help. No one complained or whined. No one made me feel guilty. My children helped out and my husband handled everything else. We often take the Blackberry world for granted, but it's at times like this that it's wonderful that my husband could work from home and manage his business and family responsibilities. If any questions arose, I was only a phone call or message away. Technology really helps in these kinds of situations.

MOF: What was your biggest challenge?
Suzanne: My first big challenge was to overcome every reason that would pop up of why I couldn't do this, from cost, time, effort, responsibilities, fear and guilt. But then I would think about how I would feel if I didn't do it, and it would motivate me to overcome those reasons.
My second biggest challenge was worry. I worried about child and puppy care working out. I worried about the snowstorm in Southern Ontario. I worried about the rain and fog at Cypress Mountain where my event was taking place. I worried about the commute from Victoria (where I was staying with friends) to Vancouver and to Cypress Mountain. I worried about the sea planes being grounded due to high winds or storms. I worried about missing the bus to the ferry and being stranded in Vancouver. I worried about being there alone. I spent a lot of time coming up with back up plans. I felt better knowing that I had solutions to potential problems. My extra research and planning paid off because while I was there, I never came close to getting lost, stressed or late for anything.

MOF: What did you learn?
Suzanne: I had often been passive in my life. Letting things happen. I have been pretty lucky that a lot of wonderful things have happened to me without having to fight too much for it...but I also wonder if had I fought more, could even better things have happened to me. I learned that if I had let things happen this time, I would not have gone. When challenges came up, it would have been easy to give up...and I did give up a few times, only to decide to keep trying when I would get so sad imagining that I wouldn't be there. I knew that if I missed this opportunity, I would regret it my whole life. A month before getting the tickets, I was reading a book that had the following quote that really spoke to me: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things". After reading that, I looked at the obstacles I came up against differently. If there's anything I learned from this experience, it is to not give up.

Suzanne Sewell lives in Toronto with her husband and 2 beautiful children. She has a passion for music and writes her own blog called My Life is Like a Song. You can read more of her life experiences at www.mylifeislikeasong.blogspot.com

Diary of a Mother On Fire

Originally published on April 2, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

this is the diary I wrote for the Mother On Fire website I wrote about yesterday:

My Olympic Experience

Since I was a little girl, I have loved the Olympics. At the 1976 Innsbruck Olympic Games, Kathy Kreiner from Timmins, an hour from where I lived at the time, won the gold medal in Giant Slalom. I dreamed of going to the Olympics myself.

In the summer of 1976 when Montreal hosted the Olympic Games, I remember hosting our neighbourhood Olympics where we would have various races and gymnastics events with the winner getting to stand on the podium to receive the home-made medals.

As the years passed, and my athletic ability didn't warrant a trip as an athlete, I dreamed of attending the Olympic Games.

I remember when Brian Orser walked into the Opening Ceremonies as flagbearer at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988. I will never forget that emotional moment. I always thought that I wanted to experience the Canadian team enter an Opening Ceremonies at home.

I thought I would have my chance when Toronto bid for the 1996 Games but that was not to be.

I was online the first day tickets went on sale for the Vancouver Olympics, but I realized that the cost of getting my family to attend with everything being even more expensive than normal was not a possibility for us. The dream seemed to die.

I consoled myself with a back-up dream. I thought that perhaps a more realistic goal would be to run in the torch relay. At least I wouldn't have to travel for that and there wouldn't be extravagant costs involved. Unfortunately, I was not chosen and I realized that this was an even more difficult dream to fulfill. I thought that my dream of being involved with the Vancouver Olympics was over.

At this point, I attended a workshop presented by Mothers on Fire and I was reminded that my dream really was to attend the Games, which was still a possibility. The Games hadn't happened yet.

I read a book at about the same time that had a quote that stuck with me.
Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.

As the torch relay began, I was so sad. I couldn't get myself excited about the relay starting when the Olympics were in my country and I didn't have plans to be there. This mood would only last a couple of days though. My friends who live in Victoria called me so I could hear first hand the torch relay pass in their neighbourhood. It was such perfect timing as it completely got me excited about the Olympics. A few days later, a neighbour came home after running in the Torch Relay on Vancouver Island. Knowing how much I love the Olympics, he lent me the torch he ran with. My family and I all took turns getting our photo taken holding it.

This really fueled my desire to make my dream happen. As a family, we couldn't justify going, but could I go alone? Was this possible? My husband was completely supportive of that idea.

Every time it seemed like it couldn't work, I thought, it's just a wall.

Tickets went on sale for Phase 3 two weeks later, but the website crashed. I clicked refresh for over four hours in the hopes that it would get fixed, but they announced that the sale was postponed until the following Saturday. I thought, it's just a wall.

The next week, I spent four and a half hours refreshing two computer screens and redialing the telephone. I finally got over the wall. There weren't many choices left, but my number one choice, the Opening Ceremonies was still available. I bought one ticket! The only other tickets for the first few days were preliminary women's hockey tickets. I thought perhaps I would manage to get a ticket for a more meaningful event for me. At least I hoped so.

Finding accommodations in Vancouver seemed like an impossible task. Another wall!! My friends from Victoria convinced me that it would be easy to get to Vancouver, so I booked my flight to Victoria.

A few weeks later, a friend sold me a ticket to see the Men's Moguls which was all her family was able to secure, so they decided not to make the trip for one event. This was the only ticket offered to me by anyone, and it happened to be two days after the Opening Ceremonies.

It turns out that the commute from Victoria is not THAT easy and would involve a possible four hour commute one way. No problem, it's just a wall. Getting to Cypress Mountain for the Moguls event meant adding an hour to my commute. It's just a wall.

My husband was away on a rare business trip for a few days before my departure. His trip overlapped with my first 24 hours away. Child and dog care became another wall to overcome.

Every time I came up against an obstacle, I did some research and found ways to overcome them.

Two months later, I was at the Olympic Games having the experience of a lifetime. The effort it took to get there was so worth it. Everything worked out even better than I could have dreamed. My seat for the Opening Ceremonies was in the section right beside where the athletes entered the stadium. I was less than one hundred feet from Team Canada as they entered at our home Olympic Games!! Unreal!!

Before the Olympic Games began, the media focused on "Own the Podium". All I dreamed of was that Canada would win ONE gold medal. I didn't want Canada to still be known as the only host country to never win a gold medal on home soil. Being present at the Men's Moguls when Alexandre Bilodeau accomplished that feat was unbelievable for me.

So many things happened to make my experience perfect that I just thought it was just meant to be.

I only did the four hour commute once taking the 35 minute sea plane commute the other times. My friends found me a hotel room across the street from the Olympic cauldron for after the Moguls event so I was able to completely soak in the atmosphere after our first gold medal and spend an extra day in Vancouver the next day.

Looking back at my experience, I can't imagine having missed out on my Olympic experience.

It would have been so easy for me to say, it's too expensive. It would have been easy to say that staying in Victoria and sometimes having a 4 hour bus/ferry/bus commute wasn't worth the effort. It would have been easy to say that going there by myself was too scary or selfish. It would have been easy to say that I should stay home with my children and my dog.

It would have been easy to say, maybe next time. But one day, I may wake up and realize that I missed my chance. I didn't want to regret not going.

Although I came up against walls in my attempt at reaching my dream, I learned that if you really want something, sometimes we can climb those walls; sometimes we can go under them, around them or even go through them to reach our goals. It all depends on how badly we want to reach them.

Written by Suzanne Sewell
www.mylifeislikeasong.blogspot.com

Men's Moguls...Canada's First Gold At Home

First published on February 23, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

I arrived in Vancouver on the sea plane from Victoria and was very excited to see the lit cauldron. When I had landed the day of the Opening Ceremony, it was covered. I hadn't seen the outdoor one yet, so as we landed in the harbour, I took the time to take photos. You can see the three posts I wrote about Day 1 here (arriving in Vancouver), here (pre-opening ceremony) and here (Opening Ceremony).

I walked up to the cauldron where I met a Japanese tourist. She was also at the Opening Ceremonies on Friday and was very excited about seeing the cauldron. She asked me to take her photo and she then took mine.

The fence is a bit of an eyesore, but I was still able to get some great shots by putting my camera right up to it.

I especially love this one.

I then walked over to the seabus terminal and arrived on the north shore with plenty of time before my assigned bus time up to Cypress Mountain. I got myself a fruit bowl and went out to to the quay to take in the view, take photos and enjoy the sun that made its first appearance on my trip.

My bus was scheduled to leave at 11:25am. The bus was full at 11:20am so we left ahead of schedule. Incredible organization on getting us to the mountain.

For the second time at the Games, security is no problem. It's like going through at an airport. They take your bags through an x-ray machine, you empty your pockets and then walk through a metal detector. There were only a few people in line ahead of me and I am quickly through security.

I continue my walk to the mountain and pass by the portable toilets (seriously?) and a very very long line-up for food. I'm happy I had my fruit bowl and have a snack in my bag. As we passed, workers did warn us that this was a short line-up compared to what it would be. They weren't kidding!

I make my way to my seat, and take in the view... gorgeous ...

I arrived a couple of hours before the start of the event, but time went by quite quickly. There was a 45 minute practice session, there was commentary and I learned that I was in the same venue as my favourite mogul skier, Jean-Luc Brassard (1994 gold medallist) who was doing commentary for RDS (Réseau des Sports), the French Canadian version of TSN. As they announce that he is there, I take a photo of someone who is at the window of the RDS booth behind me. It looked like him, and I will continue to believe that it was him.

Interestingly, I just looked online to get a recent photo of him because I haven't seen his face in over a decade. The video clip that I stumble upon is from a program called "La flamme de la Francophonie" (The Francophone Flame) and he talks about finding your passion and pursuing it. I guess it's a common theme, or once something is in your head, it pops up everywhere.

At this point, I realize that I am only going to see every skier twice. I decided not to photograph or video during the final round which meant choosing whether to video or photograph on their first runs. During the qualification round, I took a video of Alexandre Bilodeau instead of photos. I knew he was our best chance at a medal. I took photos of the world's number 1, Dale Begg-Smith who is originally from Vancouver but competes for Australia.

I also took photos of Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (nicknamed P.A. - pronounced in french P=pay A=soft a like in cat) whose brother was sitting behind me. This photo of P.A. ended up being my favourite:

P.A.'s brother (and friends) are very knowledgeable about moguls, so I thoroughly enjoyed their (French) commentary and I learned a lot about what to look for. I learned that even though a skier may be fast, their turns were not as good, so although they would get time points, they would lose style points. They could easily see when a skier was being bounced around and would lose points. They often predicted correctly where a skier would end up. It was also fun to have a more personal experience by hearing their excitement over P.A.'s performances (and his teammates and friends).

Every skier was introduced and they lined up at the bottom for a photo in the order that they qualified for the final.


The Canadian skiers were ushered through the media maze in order to be interviewed by RDS.


I like this photo of P.A. during his interview.


There was then a two hour break where people lined up for food, souvenirs or portable toilets. The food venues included two tents, each about the size of a McDonald's counter (or smaller). The ski chalet was in another area of the hill (and probably reserved for athletes and their entourage). During the break, there were thousands of people in line. The line was so long that I took a video walking from the back to the front of the line. It took me over two minutes to walk along the 2-4 people wide line to the point where the people would enter the roped zig zag line for one of the tents (and where that line-up ended when I first arrived and I thought it was long). The other tent's line went the other way. I was glad I had my snack. On the bright side, the line up for the (portable) toilets was only about 10 minutes.

The final round was amazing. I didn't take the camera or video camera out until it was all over. I wanted to completely enjoy the moment. Vincent Marquis, a Canadian was in first place when P.A. came down. P.A. had an amazing run and was cheering looking up at his brother and friends behind me. He was in 2nd place! The next skier was another Canadian, Maxime Gingras. The crowd was so enthusiastic and cheering, 1-2-3!! 1-2-3!! Unfortunately, his score wasn't high enough to have an all-Canadian temporary podium. After every skier, the crowd would go crazy with the Canadians still with potential podium finishes. The astmosphere was electric. Vincent and P.A. lasted in first and second until the 4th last skier came down.

When the Canadian-born Aussie Dale Begg-Smith came down and took first place, it burst our bubble a little, but we knew we still had a shot with Alexandre Bilodeau coming down second last.

After Alexandre's run, he was announced as the leader (ahead of his biggest rival Begg-Smith) and the crowd went crazy. I was so excited that we were guaranteed a silver medal. Everyone waited with baited breath as the last skier came down and we awaited the final standings.

GOLD for Bilodeau. GOLD for Canada. Our first gold medal won on Canadian soil.

In case you missed his run, you can view it here.

I have never heard cheering as loudly as I did that day...even louder than at the Opening Ceremonies. We are jumping up and down and celebrating this great feat by Alexandre Bilodeau.

Will this be remembered as a moment in Canadian sports history when people will wonder where we were when we won our first gold medal on Canadian soil? I will be very lucky to be able to say, I was there.

At this point, I moved more centrally as some people have left I'm sure with hopes of catching one of the first buses back to Vancouver. I take my camera out and take photos of the podium and flower ceremony.

I took a short video of the podium, but I am shaking so much that it's quite comical. I was so cold at this point, from not wearing my mitts to take photos and not being surrounded by people like I was when the stands were packed.

My friends had found me a hotel room in Vancouver, so I wasn't in a rush to leave to catch the ferry back to Victoria. I went down to the General Admission area and watched as the skiers left and accepted congratulations, including P.A. from Quebec Premier Jean Charest.


Finally, after all his interviews, Alexandre Bilodeau came by while on the telephone. I don't think he was able to hear anything though with the crowd still cheering.


Time to leave the mountain. As I start walking to the exit, I notice that the souvenir shop is still open and there is no line-up to get in so I enter and purchase a couple of Cypress Mountain freestyle t-shirts and a stuffed mascot for my daughter.

As I get to the bus line-up (which is basically every spectator that was there, since I was in the minority in taking my time to get to the line-up), I realize that I'm hungry. It's about 7:30pm. Since that bowl of fruit this morning, I have only eaten a few almonds. I am still feeling quite cold because I continued to keep my mitts off while I took photos of the departing skiers. My granola bar is frozen, and it's difficult to chew with me shivering, but I am still so happy.

What a day!!

Opening Ceremony

Originally published on February 21, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

There was too much material for one post, so you can view my pre-ceremony post by clicking here. This is the beginning of the ceremony.

I decided to video the beginning of the Opening Ceremony, so with one hand I had my video camera and with my other I lifted by tambourine during the countdown.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

It's such a fine line between being able to truly be present in a moment and wanting to have a photograph or video as a memento. A small disappointment for me was because we weren't told where to look, I am looking all over wondering how the ceremony would begin. I got distracted by seeing someone emerge from the floor in the centre. I couldn't tell at the time that it was a camera man. I should have figured it out with the ramp beside me, but hindsight is 20/20...so with the camera rolling, I catch the snowboarder after he has come through the rings and lands on the ramp beside me.

Whether to take photos or not also caught me in a very uncharacteristic moment. I rarely move during our national anthem. Often even if I'm alone at home, I will stand during the national anthem, but this time...I couldn't resist videotaping the national anthem...which isn't too bad, but then half way through, put it down to take photos. It was so beautiful, with the flag on the screen, the flag just raised, the Olympic rings and Nikki Yanofski in a red dress on the stage.

I love so many things about Canada, but one of the things I love the most about Canada is the seasons. Although I love summer the most...loving the heat and sunshine, I probably wouldn't appreciate it so much without the other seasons. I love the beauty of the fall colours. Almost every fall I am out taking photos of the leaves turning colours and it was one of the first paintings I did when I took a painting class last year. I love the pureness and beauty of the snow. I love the crunching sound on a very cold day after a snowstorm. I love the hope of buds growing on trees in the spring.

With my love of seasons, it was perfect when the seasons were so prominent in the opening ceremony. When they first came walking out with the snow falling, I thought it was SO beautiful. Later when the emphasis was on the maple leaves during the fiddling segment and leaves were falling in the audience, I was in awe.

"We Are More", the poem by Shane Koycsan was also a highlight. Although there was too much for me to absorb in the moment, some lines definitely resonated with me. I especially loved when my daughter i.m.'d me saying "please and thank you lol".

The standing ovation that the Georgian team received as they entered the stadium was very emotional.

Being married to a Brit, I was excited when Great Britain entered the stadium led by the Skeleton athlete Shelly Rudman (and I didn't know it at the time, but my favourite Brit winter Olympian David Murdoch is in the photo).


When the United States of America entered led by luger Mark Grimmette, it was the largest cheer up to that point. There were a lot of American flags in the crowd.



The big highlight has to be when Canada entered the stadium. The crowd was thunderous. The flags were waving everywhere. I don't think I had ever heard cheering like that.


I thought the musical performances represented Canada well. Bryan Adams, Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan are very well known (and loved) outside of Canada so they were great choices. k.d. lang was incredible, but that Leonard Cohen song (that she covered on her 2004 album Hymns of the 49th Parallel) has been so overplayed on American and Canadian Idol (and X Factor) since that I'm almost tired of it. The fact that she does it so incredibly well and with such passion made it a musical highlight for most I think.

When the Olympic flag came out, I forgot that some of our great Canadians would be carrying it. So the announcement of these flag bearers was very exciting for me. I had really tried not to think about who would be bringing the Olympic torch into the stadium, so most of these great Canadians (except for Terry Fox's mother) hadn't come to my mind, until the announcement.

Carrying the Olympic flag, Betty Fox, Bobby Orr, Jacques Villeneuve, Anne Murray, Donald Sutherland, Roméo Dallaire, Barbara Ann Scott and Julie Payette.


It was SO exciting when Rick Hansen wheeled the Olympic flame in. A few days before, I was asked by a television reporter in Victoria who I thought would light the cauldron (or who I wanted to). I hadn't really wanted to think about it because I was hoping to be surprised. I answered Terry Fox's mother Betty as one choice. I said Simon Whitfield. I said it would have been great for Rick Hansen and Steve Nash but they had already carried the torch a few days before. My final answer was that I could name 20 people or 100 people that I would be happy to see light the cauldron. It was too difficult to choose just one.

I guess the organizers felt that way too choosing to have 4 people light the cauldron. Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash, Nancy Green and Wayne Gretzky.

When I heard the french announcer say MVP...I couldn't believe that Steve Nash was there. I thought I had read in the newspaper that after he carried the torch in the relay the day before he had left to go to the NBA All Star weekend. I was SO excited to see him carry the torch in the stadium.

With the problems with the hydraulics, there was a delay, so I took the opportunity to stop videotaping and took photos of the torchbearers waiting.

I didn't realize that there was a problem, so when I saw the multiple pillars, I was so excited to see that they were all going to light the cauldron. I can see now when I watch my video (after having seen it on tv) that there is a hole where the fourth pillar was to come up, but at the time I didn't notice it. I wondered why Catriona was just standing there, but still didn't think anything was wrong. I thought perhaps she had another role to play. I was to later learn of the problems. I wish she had gone over to one of the other three or taken over Wayne Gretzky's since he would light the one outdoors. I just read that she considered joining Nash but was instructed not to...bummer. They were also on a timeline because the torches would only stay alight for so long. I saw an interview with Catriona that said that they extinguished the minute they walked out. This is also the reason that they replaced Rick Hansen's torch when he arrived and gave Wayne Gretzky a new one when he left the venue.

Once the ceremony was over, we were told that we could stay to watch Wayne Gretzky light the cauldron on the big screen, but I was really concerned about how long it would take to get everyone out of the stadium. If I missed my bus to the ferry, my hosts would have to make some calls to their friends to find me a place to sleep in Vancouver. I really didn't want to inconvenience anyone, even if they did say that it was no problem.

So I gathered my mementos and my cameras and headed to the door (where we were sucked out because of the higher pressure inside that holds the roof up) and walked out in the pouring rain. Considering that it was supposed to rain the whole time I was there, this was one of the few times that I was caught in the rain during my entire trip. I was on such a high that really, I didn't mind the rain. I arrived at the bus terminal 45 minutes before it was scheduled to leave...enough time to recharge my iPhone a bit for the 4 hour commute back to Victoria.

There was very little traffic so we did arrive at the ferry early. We got off the bus once it was on the ferry and I went up to the 6th deck (or was it the 5th?) where I found a television showing the ski jumping and then the beginning of the Opening Ceremony. I never thought that I would think this, but the ferry ride went way too quick. The nations were about to enter the stadium when we were instructed to go back to the bus :-(

It was wonderful to see the beginning of the Opening Ceremony on television and see what it looked like to the rest of the world. I look forward to seeing the rest...maybe once the Olympics are over and I'm back to my regular television viewing hours, I'll make the time.

Stay tuned for my recount of Canada's first gold medal on Canadian soil...next post: Men's Moguls.

Pre-Opening Ceremonies

Originally published on February 19, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

There was too much to write about my day at the Opening Ceremony. You can read part 1 here and the post about the actual ceremony here.

It was a week ago, this moment, that I was sitting in BC Place watching the Opening Ceremonies. I never imagined that it would take me this long to blog about it but I was much busier on my holiday than I thought I would be and I guess in the end, it's better late than never.

I arrived at the venue at 3pm, three hours before the ceremony would start. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to walk around, take photos, and buy souvenirs before having to take my seat at 5pm. Knowing I would be rushed after the ceremony to catch the last bus and ferry back to Victoria, I wanted to ensure I took the time to take in the whole venue.

I was overwhelmed with emotion as I walked into my section. I stood at the entrance for a while taking it all in. The usher took my photo with my iPhone (he was busier taking photos of spectators than finding their seats).


At the other end of the arena is the stage and where the flags would be raised.

I then went down to my seat to admire the view I would have during the ceremony.

I was 7th row beside the ramp. The bottom of the ramp is visible on the right of the photo. The ramp would be deflated after the snowboarder came down and this would be the entrance for the athletes, the Olympic flag and the Olympic torch. The dignitaries' box is up on the right.

At our seats, there was a bag that contained an octoganol box which would double as a tambourine filled with props we would use during the ceremony. There was also a program that detailed what would be seen during the ceremony.

I went for a walk around the stadium to get different views. This was the view from the other side of the ramp (and further to the side):

View from the other side of the arena, looking back at the ramp and my section:

I bought an Opening Ceremony t-shirt as a souvenir, grabbed a bite to eat and really don't know where else the two hours went.

At 5pm, we were asked to be in our seats to rehearse what we would have to do during the ceremony. Time to open my box. There was a flashlight that we would use at various times during the ceremony including when the cauldron was lit. There was a candle-like flashlight that we would use when kd Lang would sing. There was a drumstick for banging the drum during Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado's and at other times. There were various "leaders" around the stadium that would let us know which prop we needed to take out and what to do with it (when to light it, when to turn it off, the rhythm of the drumming, etc.). Sometimes we would need to look at the screen to find out who would be lighting their flashlights. We all had a different number from 1 to 4. The screen would show the numbers and we would light our flashlight when our number was shown. We were also given ponchos to wear so that the lights would reflect better off the spectators. I can't say that the close-ups of the people in the audience shown on television look good with those ponchos, but I guess it helped for the venue shots...especially when the countries' flags were reflected on the crowd.

At first I was concerned that I would miss out on seeing some of the ceremony. I knew I would want to have photos and I would miss some moments because I would be busy taking photos and videos...but now realizing I would also be busy with these props I wondered how much I would enjoy the ceremony...but then I realized that I was part of the entertainment and part of the ceremony and it made it even more special. Just like all the other volunteers, I felt that I was a part of the Opening Ceremonies. Watching them on television when I got back home would be even more memorable.

We practiced the countdown a few times. The bottom of our boxes was either dark or white. We were to hold it up when our number was called. A light would shine on the spectators (and boxes) to spell out the numbers with the light boxes spelling out the numbers. My section would start the countdown at "10".

A countdown started on the screen and as it approached two minutes...I took a moment to photograph it, take in the moment and be thankful for being there.

And then, the real countdown was on....10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!!!

Vancouver Day 1

Originally published on February 17, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

I got up early on Friday and was at the computer in my hosts' living room when their daughter told me to look at the beautiful sunrise out the window.

Photographing a beautiful sunrise (over water) was on my list of things I wanted to do in the next 1001 days for my Day Zero Project, so I immediately got dressed and went out in the hopes of capturing a beautiful photo.


I took over a dozen photos as the view kept getting more beautiful the further east I went.



Unfortunately, capturing the sunset didn't happen. It was cloudy on the days that I could have done it.

Later, I arrived at Harbour Air to take a sea plane to Vancouver. Having to arrive an hour before the flight because of extra security during the Games, this made the commute 90 minutes (35 minute flight). By taking a bus/ferry/bus, it would have been a four and a half hour to five hour commute.

Riding in a sea plane was another thing I wrote down on my list of things I wanted to do. I have never been on a sea plane but had seen them occasionally at my parents' cottage land on the lake. At the time, it didn't seem too realistic. We weren't sure whether they would be allowed to fly into Vancouver during the Games. I also thought it may not be worth the expense (and depending on the weather it can get cancelled) but as the day came closer, those 3 extra hours of sleep (or sightseeing or hanging out with friends) rather than travelling became quite precious.

I liked my friend's response when I wondered out loud whether it was "cheating" to have put those things on my list when I knew I was going to Victoria. His response was that it would have been easy for me to stay at the computer and admire the sunrise through the window, but I got dressed (I had woken up 5 or 10 minutes before) and went out walking 15 to 20 minutes down along the water to reach the eastern point. Also, flying on a sea plane would not be something I would have thought to put on my list, but once it was a possibility, I hoped to do it.

I was nervous about taking the sea plane, especially when my friend was telling me stories about how windy it can get and bumpy in the air. As I'm buckling myself in, the pilot tells us to buckle tight because it would be bumpy over the islands. Winds were 40-50 km/hour. At times, I felt like I was on a roller coaster as the plane would dip quickly...but it was never really scary. It was bumpy, but nothing major. I never came close to screaming like I would on a roller coaster. The other two times I took it, it was quite smooth.

As I left Victoria, I did take a moment to photograph the point where I photographed the sunrise and my friends' neighbourhood.


As we were about to land, I took photos from the sea plane. I didn't know it at the time, but the covered up cauldron is visible (bottom left) as well as the hotel I would end up staying in for one night just beside it on the right on this zoomed in photo.



When I arrived in Vancouver, it was perfect...the first words I heard were "Go Canada Go". There were a few people taking photos, so one of them cheered as someone was taking his photo and those three words were the first thing I heard.

It was so great to see everyone in national colours walking around...whether Canadian, American, Australian, Swedish, Russian, Swiss and all the other countries.

I walked up towards Robson Square and stopped by the Art Gallery where they had a countdown to the Opening Ceremony. It's really starting to hit me that in 6 hours...I will be watching the Opening Ceremony.


I walked around Robson Square watching people ice skate or going down a zip line over the square...very cool.

I then start walking towards BC Place and stopped in front of the Canada Post building where there was a trampoline show and where we could write post cards to the Canadian team (and receive a great t-shirt with autographs in a maple leaf design).

I was almost amazed to see the line-up waiting to enter The Bay's Olympic Superstore. Supposedly you could find gear from all the different countries and I guess that was worth lining up a full block in order to get in.

There were so many people walking around. I spotted a few torchbearers waiting for the torch to arrive, but was on a mission to find the bus station, so I didn't stick around. After the Opening Ceremony (which was scheduled to end at 9), I needed to catch a 10:30pm bus that would go on the last ferry at midnight. Not knowing how much time it would take to exit BC Place, I wanted to make sure I knew how to get to the bus/train station.

While there, I see the news about the Georgian luger dying in his training run...SO sad and shocking.

I then head back towards BC Place and go through the Ontario Pavillion, where I read on the whiteboard that Adam van Koeverden is about to arrive for autographs at the Right To Play display.



I wait around for a while, until the woman in charge confirms that he had to cancel because his interview with Global went longer than expected. Big bummer. I was very excited about having the chance to meet one of my favourite Olympians as you can see from my posts from the 2008 Olympics. You can read them here, here and here.

After spending a bit more time in the Ontario Pavillion including watching a bit of Jamie Kennedy's cooking demonstration...


it was time to enter BC Place for the Opening Ceremony.


Stay tuned for that report.

Victoria Highlights

(mostly written on Feb 11 but posted on Feb 17th, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song)

I arrived in Victoria last night. No, don't get confused, I know the Olympics are in Vancouver, but I have free accommodation in Victoria, so here I am. I'll be commuting to Vancouver for my Olympics events.

So today, I considered going into Vancouver to try to see Steve Nash run in the Torch Relay, but found out the time too late to get there (looks like his time ended up changing so I might not have found him anyway).

I decided to have a relaxing day going around Victoria instead.

My hosts/tourist guides recommended going to Mile 0 to see the Terry Fox Statue and to go to the Frontrunners store because it has a Simon Whitfield jersey on display (as well as a Steve Nash jersey that my host forgot to mention...hello???) Ok, perhaps not your typical tourist stops in Victoria, but perfect stops for me.

If you know me or have read my blog for a long time, you will remember me being very excited to have visited the Thunder Bay Terry Fox statue in the summer of 2008 (and in 1983). I also mentioned him as one of my favourite reasons to love Canada (interestingly, the photo I used for this post was of the Victoria statue that my friend took when my son's Flat Stanley visited him - you can see the Flat Stanley on the statue).

As I approach the Terry Fox statue in Victoria, I can see that there is an Olympic torch in his arms. I am thinking..."ooohhh, they put an Olympic Torch on the statue for the Olympics", not realizing that it's a much too valuable an item to leave out. I don't rush over (thinking it's there for a while) and make a phone call home.

As I'm on the phone, I see someone take the torch down..."oh gosh, I missed the opportunity...how cool of a photo would that have been?'

So I rush off the telephone and head over to the statue. A very friendly man wearing a Terry Fox t-shirt strikes up a conversation with me, wondering where I'm from. The conversation finally gets to him as I ask him why he's wearing a Terry Fox t-shirt (and there is a television camera man there interviewing him).


It turns out that he is Rob Reid, the owner of Frontrunners, the store I was planning on visiting. He was the driving force to have the Terry Fox statue erected in Victoria.



So here I am, at the Terry Fox statue, watching the man responsible for the statue being erected being interviewed by A Channel.

All I can say is...

Awesome!!

Then he tells me to get his friend (from Calgary) to take my photo holding his Olympic torch with the Terry Fox statue.

You may know that I had the privilege of holding an Olympic torch a few months ago (you can read about that here), but for now, to hold the Olympic Torch of someone who is one step removed from Terry Fox (and Simon Whitfield and Steve Nash), beside the Terry Fox statue was SUCH an honour...and really...SURREAL!!

After a few stops, (for afternoon tea, to see Emily Carr's house which was not opened and to Harbour Air to organize my flight to Vancouver) I end up at Frontrunners. I locate Simon Whitfield and Steve Nash's jerseys and ask permission to take photos.


I had so much fun in the store. I was like a kid in a candy store. Who needs a museum when you have Frontrunners?

The staff were amazing and completely indulged me in my enthusiasm. Rob had just left apparently, so I just missed him. One of the staff saw me and said "the girl with the black coat and black camera...Rob said you'd be by". Ooooohhh, I'm famous! LOL (I don't think in a good way though).

Rob it turns out had gone out for a run. I'm not sure if he forgot something, but he ended up running back into the store for a minute...enough time for me to take a photo, for him to say hello and give me a hug.

In another part of the store, they had Rob's torch relay outfit with a cutout of his face and the torch sitting on the wall above. The staff were great and brought the torch down and took a photo of me with it again (beside Rob's cutout...love it!!).


Many of the employees in the store are world class runners. One of them, Jim Finlayson holds the World Record for the Beer Mile and is a two-time Canadian National Marathon Champion.

Another employee, Erin van Wiltenburg, who fitted me for some running shoes (ok, walking shoes) ran 100 marathons (4200 km) in Africa in 120 days in 2008!

The store also displayed Simon Whitfield's autographed jacket from the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and his running shoes on display.


A perfect museum for me.

I also took the opportunity when I left to take a photo of the cherry blossoms in bloom outside of the store (yes, it is February!).

Really, a perfect day in Victoria...for me.