Day 15 at VVL

I've been seeing so many famous people that it's dizzying. My nutrition and sleep is down. I'm not greeting everyone as I usually do. I've gotta have that radical hospitality again. Christine Nesbitt walked past me and I didn't greet her. I didn't congratulate Coach Davidson on getting another gold medal. I needed to go home early today. I needed the rest. I can't think straight. I now know that eating McDonalds is acceptable only in dire circumstances ie. when I forgot my lactaid. God showed me that I would've liked the veggie pasta and curry.

Notable Athlete Sightings:

• Team Canada Men's Hockey (3x) ~ I said "Salut. Bon soir" to Martin Brodeur
• Denny Morrisson (yesterday?)
• Austrian men with their 2 bass-pumping SUV limos, girls, and booze.
• Maelle Ricker
• White and Davis
• Virtue and Moir
• Mirai Nagasu
  
• married Chinese pairs couple who won gold
• Mercedes from Over the Bolts and her friend
• Zdeno Chara
• Kipper
• Jari Kurri
• Christine Nesbitt
• good-looking (and good-smelling) Italian male figure skater who I was behind in security a while back ("arrow shaped" cough drop man)
• Tanith Belbin (she looked crabby) :S

Martin Gelinas and Alex Edler Day aka Day 14 at VVL

Greeting Alexa Loo, spectating athletes, hockey players, and the Norwegian men's curling team, getting a Swedish flag from a driver, meeting the nice Newfie police officer, and getting hugs and greetings from Tamara and T = most memorable birthday yet. :D

Message from the CEO	English / Francais
Through your passion, energy and relentless commitment, you have proven to be the heart and soul of these Games. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games had volunteers at every touchpoint — some of you have been with us for years, some for only a brief time. No matter the length of time, your contribution has been critical to creating a transformational historic event for Canada. Your willingness to take part has made our nation better. To recognize your involvement, we present you with a Vancouver 2010 Winter Games participation certificate. This small token of appreciation honours your selfless spirit and your journey with the 2010 Winter Games. You were truly the best of the best and your country is proud of you. On behalf of Vancouver 2010, thank you for everything you have given to these Games. As you reflect on your experience from this moment forward, I trust you will feel that your personal contribution was as critical to the success of the Games as any other. To me, you are a genuine Canadian hero. Thank you. John Furlong Chief Executive Officer Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Request your certificate(s)
To thank you for the tireless hours of dedication you put in to staging an extraordinary Winter Olympic Games, we would like to present you with a Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Participation Certificate. This is not only a way to show our appreciation, but it will also be a commemorative piece of your Games journey as a member of Team 2010. To order your certificate, please enter your E-mail Address and Registration Number below, then follow the steps. By completing this ordering process, you are letting us know that you would like to receive your certificate. Please note, if you do not complete your volunteer obligations, your certificate will not be sent. Only upon completion of your Games-time commitment, your certificate will be approved and mailed to the address you provide. If you are a volunteer for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, you will be able to order both certificates at this time.

Thank you
Thank you for placing your certificate order. (100156) The Games truly could not have happened without you. This certificate is a small token of our appreciation for your time and dedication to volunteering with Vancouver 2010. We hope that you will display it proudly for years and generations to come.

Transit update: It now takes 30 minutes to get to VVL according to TravelSmart2010. @_@

VVL Day 13

I survived an entire shift without gloves. Wayne is my hero 'cause he photocopied the email contact list for me and will invite me to a workforce reunion in August. :) Deep called me after my shift to say that I can call him anytime especially when I need cheering up. :)

Notable People I Greeted:
Teemu Selanne
Bree Munro
Melody Davidson
Team China women's hockey team
Meryl Davis
Tessa Virtue
Scott Moir
Martina Sablikova (Czech gold medallist from women's long track speed skating)

VVL Day 12

I saw:

Sinead Kerr
the Japanese male figure skater with the shoelace problem
the Japanese male figure skater with pretty eyebrows
Michael Lambert and his buddy Matthew Morison (we talked for quite a while about how he was enjoying his first Olympic experience in his home country, how he bought DVDs, has Blue Ray from LG, and I gave him directions to the DVD lounge). :)
Shani Davis
Michael Lambert's coach

Christo let us ride in the shuttle twice. He said Yoda scared him when he was little 'cause he thought Yoda was real. I told him, my fellow LZA, and the shuttle driver about my Star Wars poster from QD. Christo said he and his wife used to buy movies in England instead of watching movies 'cause going to the theatre was so expensive.

I survived the day. :D

The Czech people have a habit of finding me ridiculous. Perhaps I'm too cute and little to be taken seriously. >.< *growls*

My fellow LZA said I looked cute with my toque and liked my nails. :)

Michael Lambert seemed genuinely nice, not like the Czech athletes who laughed at me. >.<

I wish the nice athletes like John Napier, Matthew Morison and Michael Lambert the best. Ryan Miller was mean (snobbish/stuck up/full of himself) to Alex and Cat today. :(

I hung out with the friendly bus drivers today ie. the ones the Hillcrest and UBC busses and the nice blue-eyed one from Alabama. :) I told the one from Alabama that I'd pick him over Sidney Crosby (I really would). Haha. "What's he got that I don't?" - blue-eyed friendly bus driver from Alabama who treats us all as if we're princesses and calls us all Baby. :)

Final Shift at Archdiocesan Olympic Hospitality Centre

Vetter stayed to watch ice dance with me, Ralph, and Ann. He and I played Video on Trial at the Stereos concert at Alberta House. He walked me to my bus stop. :) We saw Virtue and Moir win the gold. He took a picture of me with Megan celebrating the win on Robson. Megan held the flag and I held the medal board. We yelled that Canada won a 5th gold. :)

Day 11 at VVL

Last Friday I saw Cherry, Alan, and Natalie at Stadium Station. :)

James and I sat together at the Victory Ceremony last night. Thank You God for helping me find my seat and sending Tasia, her fiancee, James, Roger, and Catherine to sit with me. :D Thank You for letting the Stereophonics perform wonderfully. Thank You for letting me have a good time. Thank You for letting me see Roger's pic with Wayne Gretzky and for letting me see Pauley at the ceremony. I'll always remember I was sitting in 452 MM ~110. XD

A Quebecois bus driver and a (Latvian?) athlete winked at me today. :D Sara ("Cera") and I got along fantastically. I saw Henrik Zetterberg and Alexander Semin tonight. Thank You Lord for letting Dad tell me what to do about my schedule. Thank You for letting the food at VVL be good. Thank You for letting me survive Mass and lunch afterwards. Thank You for letting my backpack work out. Thank You for letting me keep warm at the Village. Thank You for letting me greet Kalyna Roberge, the Korean medalists, the Chinese medalists (in particular the married couple who won gold in pairs figure skating), Rick Hansen and his children, and the dignitaries from out-of-town. Thank You for letting me hear the Canadian hockey fans cheer all around False Creek. Thank You for letting me see Mr. Holowka and a fellow friendly volunteer on the way home. Thank You for letting me walk to the skytrain station with kind billingue Jeff. Thank You for helping me not have any trouble recycling/composting all the food and drink containers I had today. Thank You for providing me with bathrooms. XD Thank You for keeping my feet warm. Thank You for helping me finish my apple juice before leaving the Village.

Someone in the meal tent kept whistling an 80s song.

Sara, Melanie(? I forget her name though she's very nice) and I watched Virtue and Moir's flamenco (original) skate together. They found Scott Moir manly.

2nd shift at RCAV Olympic Hospitality Centre

I met a kind Knight, the other Peter, and discovered that Megan is Mike's sister. XD We watched Virtue and Moir skate. We met people from the Czech Republic. Archbishop Michael Miller waved to me. :D

I recorded a video for Dunk on Vetter's phone, walked him to the Blarney Stone, then met Chris Drury's brother, nieces and nephews in Gastown on the way back to Robson to buy soap. I ended up buying Live Clean soap from Shoppers. It has lavender and eucalyptus. Things worked out fine after all. :D I even said good night to Andre the Brazilian VANOC load zone attendant and bought a More Than Gold backpack to replace my broken Dakine one.

Day 10 at VVL

Marco said that the cheese in poutine looks like poop. lol. He said it's good to laugh. He said if he knew I was working at this time he would've scheduled a different shift. He asked for the night shift.

JR Celski waved hi to me when I walked in to the Transport Mall after checking in. :D

I helped some figure skaters into their van before I swung by Bay 3 to hang with Marco and mes quebecoises preferes.


I helped at Bay 10 towards the end of my shift. The bus drivers were really nice. They chatted with us. They let us warm up in their busses.

Irene and I figured out how to use the handwarmers. We and Eunseon shared the handwarmers.

Irene, Catherine, Iris and I had dinner together. Karen and Momo joined us afterwards.

Terrance greeted me with, "Happy days." He still didn't remember what the show was. He said it wasn't Danger Mouse.

Iris hugged me after we took a picture.

Catherine and I will help each other speak our second languages. Catherine will practice her English while I practice my French. She says I just need to practice to improve my French. :D

"You know what we have to do? We have to have one of those leads like they have for a dog and tie it to the front of the bus so that we can yank on 'em." - Stephen (deadpan) upon my reporting that we had missing drivers earlier

Day 9 at VVL

I got my shift gift today: a silver Birk's keychain in a lovely light turquoise box. :D

Celebrity Sightings:
Ryan Reynolds at the car wash on 2nd and Quebec :D
Ryan Miller
Ryan Kesler
Jarkko Ruutu
Olli Jokinen
Tim Thomas
Team USA Men's Ice Hockey
Patrick Kane ("Bonjour Mr. Kane" *grumpy wave from 20 Cent*)
Sergei Federov
Pavel Datsiuk!!! :D
the Latvian men's hockey team (arrived from Whistler. They smiled at me). :D
cute little French figure skater and her partner
kind French figure skaters and their coach :D ("Bon soir." "Bon soir.")
kind Swiss and French snowboarders & skiers :D ("Bon soir." "Bon soir.")
Ryan Miller again ("Good evening. :D" "Hey. :)")


Terrance says I'm like this little cartoon mouse who's smart, talks fast, carries books, and wears glasses (and earmuffs in the winter).

Tito Mon thinks he means Brain from Pinky and the Brain.

I think he means the little guy from The Great Mouse Detective, Theresa from The Secret of NIMH, Snoopy, Chip and Dale, or Woodstock.

I'm starting to think he means Gadget from Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers.

J'aime les conducteurs quebecois who call me Lady Marianne. :)

*Marco sings "Moon River"* lol.

*other driver hums un chanson francais*

*we stand between the busses*
me: There's Ryan Miller! Il est beau. :) I think he saw us! He'll be like, "That little girl was looking at me."
Marco: lol. He's very skinny. Maybe 'cause he's very tall.
me: He's 6'2"; 160. Actually he gained weight. He's now 170. XD
Marco: Yeah, he'll think, "That woman was looking at me." lol. Tu le trouve beau? lol!
me: Yup... He's quite good-looking. His face is weird. One side is lower than the other. There are better-looking guys around here.
Marco: You mean me? No... lol.
me: Bien sur. Tu est plus beau. :) His face is lopsided.
Marco: Tu es tres drole! lol!! *tells other driver* Elle est tres drole. *to me* You are very natural. You don't need to smoke to have fun. lol. He's very skinny. He's tall.
Other bus driver: I have a belly. *chuckles*
Marco: Guys can have a beer belly. It's more difficult to be a woman because you can't have a beer belly or poignes d'amour. Do you know what those are?
Me: I think so...
Marco: Those things like when you open a door...
Me: A doorknob... Oh! It's a direct translation from English: love handles. :)
Marco: I'm skinny so I can eat McDonalds.
Me: I don't like McDonalds. I always eat the real food.
Marco: That's good. :D You're healthy.


moi: I need to work here more often! Hang out with the drivers from Quebec. I love Quebec. :D
Marco: *amused* *to other driver* She says she should work here more often. Yeah! :D Have fun with Marianne. We have fun. :D
moi: I like hanging out with les canadiens.
Marco: No!
moi: What's the word? Les habitants!
Marco: lol. You're funny.

Marco and I talked about how I wanted to be a tour guide. He and his company do tours of old quebec. he told me to look him up. "comme marco polo." lol.

We talked about how there are only mountains in the north of quebec.

He told the other driver that I learned French in Trois-Rivieres. :D

I now have a favourite driver and a favourite bay. :D

I told Marco who the hockey players were. He said he doesn't really follow hockey.

driver to other drivers: Elle parle le francais. :D
moi: Un peu! Un 'ti peu!
other driver: Un peu est mieux que pas du tout. :)

*driver smacks Fana's clipboard*
moi: C'est mechant ca!
*other driver repeats what I said*

Archdiocesan Olympic Hospitality Centre Shift 1

I saw one of the Ligocki brothers do his first snowboard cross run before I left for my shift. :)

I met the Fourcade brothers' Dad at the Archdiocesan Olympic Centre. I hung out with Celina Ramirez there.

Day 8 at VVL

I helped a Chinese athlete try to go to Shopper's Drug Mart. She said she'd go another day. She thanked me for my kindness and gave me a hug. :)


Celebrity sightings:
Alexander Ovechkin
Scott Moir

Tuomo Ruutu and the Team Finland Men's Hockey Team
cute little Czech snowboarder

cute little Spanish snowboarder
Jari Kurri
Valtteri Filppula
Sergei Federov
the Lamoureux twins
Angela Ruggeiro
Charles Hamelin
the French figure skater
the Asian German figure skater

I met T and Scott.

VVL Day 7 (Opening Ceremonies)

Athlete sightings: Apollo Anton Ohno, Julie Chu, Jaromir Jagr, Jennifer Heil, Clara Hughes, Marie-Philip Poulin, Jayna Hefford, the shy Polish boy (ski jumper?), the pink-haired American girl, Johnny Weir, Peter Forsberg...

I got to see the Living Room and the cafe. Watching the Opening Ceremonies with the bosses, fellow load zone attendants, and events staff was fun. I saw John march into the stadium with his American teammates. :D

Terrance said my American bobsledder isn't good enough for me. He said that at Closing Ceremonies I'll be the one moving the busses. He told me to watch Stephen. "He'll show [me] what to do."

Tony let me use a lightsabre. :D

Leaders of Cheer

Quote of the Night: "Quatchi good?" lol.

I met the legendary Cameron and Scott. Gord the Stage Manager looked like John Shorthouse. XD I got along with frat boys and sorority girls for an entire hockey game (one of whom was a Leafs fan). :D

When I got home (promptly :D) I watched the women's freestyle in the living room. Jennifer Heil didn't win the gold, but she graciously accepted the silver. The pink-haired girl got bronze. The coach from Team Japan who found my cell phone was on TV. His athlete was competing in women's freestyle. :)

I remember seeing John Napier in the crowd supporting his teammate.

What to do at VVL if we can't say yes

According to the Training CD-rom:

"Unfortunately I am unable to fulfill that request, but..."

"Unfortunately I am unable to fulfill that request because..."

Huzzah for agreeable Volunteer Info Centre Staff :)

I've been told that I will receive my transfer pass for Leaders of Cheer from the Blue Crew/Sports Entertainment Limited.

My Vancouver 2010 account will be fixed asap by the tech guy.

I can ignore what my profile says about going to Whistler for U & A and Venue-Specific Training. I can sign up for Paralympic U & A in Vancouver once On Your Mark is working again. I will just have to show up on my first shift. Club 99 and the Olympic Bus Network will be up and running by then. :)

I will be able to have both my Paralympic and Olympic accreditation at once.

VVL Day 4: I really am in love with VVL. :D

I officially wuv the 2 pm to 10:30 pm shift. It's invigorating and refreshing once you get over the cold.

There's an astounding amount of clarity in my life when I centre everything around the Olympics. I am able to prioritize and tell myself to stop if I am doing too much.

I'd love to work at Sochi. :D I really do love the Olympic games. I'd love to do work similar to what I do at the Olympic Village.

VVL Day 3

I met a super nice young American Olympic speed skater, an American figure skater, and the American Olympic team members who just arrived by bus.

I got pins as a giftie.

I saw the slovakian women's hockey team. they were pretty and smelled good. XD

The Italian figure skaters and short-track speed skaters "ciaoed" at us.

A Japanese athlete responded to my "bonjour-allo" with a "bonju." :D

I greeted some russian athletes leaving the skytrain on my way to the bus stop. I felt bad for ignoring a homeless guy on the street especially in my vanoc uniform.

Stephen said hi and see you tomorrow. :D

Jackie didn't get mad at me for being late.

Will and I watched the end of the Canucks game together and talked serious Canucks hockey. :D

I met Kristie the firefighter.

 

:D

Day 2 at VVL

Stephen is a character straight out of a BBC comedy. XD Here are some of my favourite Stephenisms as I can remember them:

"Did the police officers break our telly again?"

"Never ever stand in the road to direct traffic . . . We can replace the Transport Supervisors, but we can't replace you."

"Now we don't need 15 different people helping the Canadian hockey players. And don't go tripping the American team."

"My daughter refused to use the loo anywhere aside from home. That used to be fun on these 300-mile road trips. . . *crosses his legs imitating daughter's pee dance* "When are we getting to Gran's?' 'Do you wanna stop at a . . .' 'No!!' I used to stop in the [ugliest washrooms]. Women need to have pretty toilets."

"Now when you're addressing the police, call them Officer. Never call them Security. They're still getting used to this type of job. They're used to real police work (sitting and eating donuts)..."



I met Charmaine Crooks, a Dutch speed skating coach, an American speed skating coach, a Chinese skier and her coach, Bill the driver (^^)d, Marlena the Transport Supervisor, Pat, Patty, Danny, Jian, Alan, Martina, and Colin.

Hahaha!

*imagines a video for "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof about the Vancouver Olympic Village* XD

*workforce rhythmically walking the village streets and singing "Tradtion... Tradition... Tradition!" lol