THE OLYMPICS

As I write this, the Closing Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver are happening. This ceremony takes place just after Canada defeated the US for Men's Hockey Gold for a harrowing 3-2 Overtime win. The goal was score by non-other than "the kid" Sydney Crosby... it's a good day for Canada, it's a good time to be Canadian.

I have to admit, when the idea of a Winter Olympics in Vancouver was being bandied about all those years ago, I was one who voted "no", I didn't want them in our city. Too much chaos, too much debt, too small a city! Now watching the Winter Olympics from my "home away from home" in Singapore and listening to all my friends and family talking about how awesome it is, the pride, the positivity, the energy in the city... I really wish I was there to take part in all this amazingness.

Michelle has always been a bigger "Olympics fan" than me, she's into both summer and winter, me? I prefer winter cause that's the one that has mens & womens hockey... and curling (closet-curling fan here)! But we both realized being across the planet while this monumental party was happening in our city was tough on us. Not at first, when we heard about the transportation woes, the lack of snow and all the line-ups, in fact we both chuckled that we were both "glad to not be there" but by day three, that changed.

Michelle ordered ESPN so that we could get full Olympic coverage at home, I started checking the websites more and more for updated stats and medal progression and within a few days, we both wanted more than what we could get in Singapore. Michelle really wanted to experience some of the magic first hand. She was already homesick to begin with but add on some Olympic mayhem and she really wanted to be a part of it, so we dug into the savings and sent her back to Vancouver for the last week of the Olympics.

To say "you have to be a part of it to believe it" seems to be an understatement, Vancouver is more alive now than it has ever been. According to Michelle, everyone is out on the town, all the pavilions, restaurants and bars are constantly full. People from all over the world, crammed together, laughing and cheering their respective countries on and above all else, everyone is happy. Sure you see a lot of protesters on the news but that is nothing in reality. The positivity of these olympics far outweighs any damage those protests could do.

The thing that I really notice is the onslaught of "canadian pride" usually subdued and reserved and only for closed circles, no, not anymore. Canadian pride is out there, it's loud, it's proud and bigger right now than the expected American pride, that's for sure. They are usually the ones on the hill screaming to the masses, not anymore, look up on the hill again, you'll see a touque-wearin' Canadian!

I'm glad these Olympics went well, could they have been better? Sure, technically, transportation throughout the city was a disaster, there was a lack of leadership for all the Volunteers and let's face it, NO SNOW! These have been the warmest Winter Olympics in all of history something I am sure the IOC does not want to repeat. But the being said, this has also been the Highest Viewed Olympics on Television (more than Salt Lake & Torino), USA and Canada both broke medal records (USA with the most medals overall and Canada with the most Golds overall), the city was restructured to accommodate live-event tents (places for non-ticket holders to gather and watch events - a successful endeavor that IOC wants future Olympic cities to incorporate) and millions of people got to enjoy our city and bask and all that Canadian goodness.

In the end, I'm glad that Vancouver hosted the olympics and I think most Vancouverites are as well. The city looks great, the people look like they are having fun, Canada did fantastic in the tournament and Sydney Crosby scored the OT winner to win Hockey Gold from the Americans!

Despite my no vote, I wish I was there.