Let the games begin!!!!!

WOW!!!! I am still on a high from last night!!!! These past two days have been something I will never, ever forget. I lived in Calgary during the ‘88 games and I vaguely remember partaking in the festivities, but this….wow…..memorable!!!

On Thursday night I hung out downtown with the hopes of catching a glimpse of the flame. I walked around the city after work taking in the sites and at the same time hoping the rain would stop. Later on I met up with Carly and Jo just outside David Lam Park’s LiveCity and we stationed ourselves in front of the blue fence waiting for the torch to arrive. The best thing was the vibe, the energy, the peeps and the fact that the rain stopped!! Before we knew it Ken came strolling down Pacific Blvd. and BAM, in an instant he was gone. I snapped some pix as fast as I could. They aren’t the greatest quality because taking pix at night is something I am not used to, but you get the idea :-)

**Thanks to Carly’s bro for snapping this fun photo!**

After we watched the fireworks we walked around Yaletown and found a place to have some beer and appies. Pappas met up with us and it was a great way to cap off the night. While walking to the train I saw Shaun White (soooooooooo should’ve stopped him for a pic) AND I stood outside the Bell Ice Cube watching and listening to the Barenaked Ladies perform live. It was such a great, great night!!

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Friday was a big day!!! As I mentioned in a previous entry, I won a ticket to the Opening Ceremonies. I met my boss and co-workers at work where we had some bevies and ate sushi. We put on our homemade sweatshirts for some pix, before making our way to BC Place.

At first I was hesitant about wearing the sweatshirt, but once I was there I was totally in the spirit and didn’t care. We were asked to wear a white or  light colored shirt to the ceremonies, so I opted out of taking the sweatshirt to BC Place simply because I didn’t want to lug it around for the whole night since I already had my hoodie and jacket. Well, what a mistake! My boss, her hubby and my 2 co-workers wore them down while Lani and I left ours behind. Those who wore them were rockstars!!! I am not even kidding you!!! They were stopped left, right and center by people complementing them, taking their pictures etc. It was awesome!!!! Bad move on my part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, I loved seeing how much attention they all got! It was great!!!

We waited in line for a couple of hours…I think…and made our way inside. It was so neat to see people from all over the world decked out in their home colors. We grabbed some beer and found our seats. Lani and I were in one section and our boss was a couple sections over.  As soon as we sat down we were instructed as to when to bang our drum, when to stand, when to shine our blue light, and when to shine our candle. It was all so surreal. Before I knew it the ceremony started and 3.5 billion eyes were on us!

If you saw it on TV, I got really emotional when each section counted down from 10 to 1 (we were one :)) and then the announcer welcomed the world as provincial footage was shown on the big screen. Then the snowboarder jumped through the rings and landed on the stage. The crowd was ELECTRIC!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t stop jumping up and down and cheering!! It was a moment I was so proud to be Canadian!!

After that each country had their moment to shine by taking the stage waving their flag. That part was kind of long, but everybody definitely took notice when the Georgian team took the stage. The mood turned quite sombre, understandably, and was also quite emotional. :( So heartbreaking!!! :(

After the athletes took their seats the ceremony continued and it was fantastic!!!!! The lighting, the choreography, the set design, the performances…WOW!!!!!! Well, you saw it on TV, right???? Such a great experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did NOT bring my DSLR because I didn’t want to take the chance that they wouldn’t let me bring it in at the last minute. Tons of people had their cameras, which kind of bummed me out, but that is ok. I think had I had my big camera I would spend more time snapping away than actually watching the ceremonies. So yeah, I did have my trusty point and shoot though. Not the best quality, but good enough :)

*We had WICKED seats!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
*Our gear for the night*
*My beat up drum*
*Lani and I in our weird, dentist like ponchos*

*Welcoming the Canadian athletes!!!!! :)*
*The flags were created by lights being shone on the spectators in their white ponchos. It kind of looks like cards were being held up, but nope.*
*Nelly & Bryan—loved it!!*

*SAAAAARRRRRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!*
*I loved this part! Especially when everyone’s suits switched on to the red and white lights.*
*Shane Koyczen was discovered on YouTube and I absolutely loved his Canadian rant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
 
*KD Lang’s rendition of Cohen’s “Halleluiah”  was PHENOMENAL!!!!!! I think it was my favourite part of the night!!*


*Go Gretzky, Hansen, Nash, Lemay Doan, Green go!!*

:-)

Thanks for letting me share my amazing night with you!!!!!! I am sure you agree, it feels so great to be Canadian.  I look forward to taking in some more Olympic sites, snapping some more pictures AND best of all watching Canada bring home gold!!!