2010 Winter Olympics. Day 1
I've decided, since I happen to live in the opportune place, to break my longtime LJ silence with updates about the Olympics. I work at a custom t-shirt store on Granville and Robson, one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in downtown Vancouver, so it's definitely going to be interesting to see the whole spectacle firsthand.
Woke up at 6:15 to brave transit in order to make it to work on time. Get to the store around 8:20, pull out my keys, when a sudden chorus of "O Canada" comes echoing down the street. Suddenly, bike cops in yellow jackets are plowing down the road, yelling for running tourists with cameras to get out of the way. I look, and Walter Gretzky (Wayne's father, of course) is trotting merrily down the street, illuminated torch in hand. I realize that this is probably the only time I will be five feet away from the Olympic flame, and decide to embrace the moment (lucky I brought my Holga today).
Work is insane, talk to people from all over the world, from Denver (which I got excited about) to Russia, get off at 4:30 to find the streets completely packed (my normal three minute walk to the Skytrain took 15), there is a zipline going from the courthouse to the art gallery (across the street from one another), black helicopters are flying low to keep the terrorists in line, a group of protesters are running around dressed as zombies, and Robson is completely blocked off for pedestrian traffic, lit up by green and blue spotlights. After not being able to get onto two trains due to them being completely full, get to Mike's and play video games. Now I'm about to go to sleep to brave the whole thing again tomorrow.
I keep telling myself, "once in a lifetime!", but it's so hard when tourists are so cruddy. Oh well, perhaps work will be easier tomorrow.
Woke up at 6:15 to brave transit in order to make it to work on time. Get to the store around 8:20, pull out my keys, when a sudden chorus of "O Canada" comes echoing down the street. Suddenly, bike cops in yellow jackets are plowing down the road, yelling for running tourists with cameras to get out of the way. I look, and Walter Gretzky (Wayne's father, of course) is trotting merrily down the street, illuminated torch in hand. I realize that this is probably the only time I will be five feet away from the Olympic flame, and decide to embrace the moment (lucky I brought my Holga today).
Work is insane, talk to people from all over the world, from Denver (which I got excited about) to Russia, get off at 4:30 to find the streets completely packed (my normal three minute walk to the Skytrain took 15), there is a zipline going from the courthouse to the art gallery (across the street from one another), black helicopters are flying low to keep the terrorists in line, a group of protesters are running around dressed as zombies, and Robson is completely blocked off for pedestrian traffic, lit up by green and blue spotlights. After not being able to get onto two trains due to them being completely full, get to Mike's and play video games. Now I'm about to go to sleep to brave the whole thing again tomorrow.
I keep telling myself, "once in a lifetime!", but it's so hard when tourists are so cruddy. Oh well, perhaps work will be easier tomorrow.