Olympic Fever 2010

Yay! I know it's been a while, but that's just because I've been busy finishing up my final semester of nursing school! I can't believe I'm graduating on April 30th! It seems like only yesterday I entered university with wide-eyes and a belief that school would never end.

Also, I've been enjoying the crazy Vancouver Olympic festivities that are all around me! Living around the area, it's hard not to fall prey to the Olympic buzz and when you immerse yourself in the crowd, you can't help but get just a little bit excited. I had actually purchased a pair of tickets to the Olympics to watch my favorite winter sport... no, not hockey... CURLING! I seriously love that game... it's a blast to watch on TV and I was ready to take the next step and watch it in person. I've been counting down the days to watch the Olympic game with my dad, and enjoy downtown Vancouver.The event was held at the Vancouver Olympic Center, and it was great! There were 3 games going on at the same time... Great Britain vs. Sweden; Russia vs. Denmark; and China vs. Switzerland! It was hard to watch all at the same time, so I mostly focused on China's game. It was so energizing to hear the crowd go wild over curling. I thought that I was the only one who was enthusiastic about this game (because whenever I talk to my friends about it, they just don't understand why I'm so in love with the sport) but to be in a crowd full of people cheering on the skip and sweepers... I felt at home! These people understood the love of the game! In the end China beat Switzerland 8-6! It was a nail-biter, but I knew China would pull it off.

After the game, I hung out downtown with my pop to watch the Olympic flame in the cauldron roar away. There were also booths around Robson for taking pictures with the Olympic torch, so we did that too. I would have liked to try the free zip-line, but the line-up was ~6hours long! Oh well, there were better things to do with my time than line up for a chance to zoom across the sky held by a rope. My dad and I really enjoyed the downtown atmosphere and the amazing lights and such... so, we decided to head back downtown the next day and bring along my sisters and mom. We walked around Robson and did a little window shopping (Olympic souvenirs are quite pricey); then we headed back to the Olympic cauldron. We took a different route to get to the torch... and it's a good thing we did, otherwise I wouldn't have seen the most awesome shrub ever!

The most amazing shrub... I just had to take a photo.

I sure hope the Canadian-pride and communal spirit that I saw downtown continues on even after the Olympics. It was a great, once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'll never forget it.