The Flame arrives

On Thursday the Olympic torch relay finally "arrived" in downtown Vancouver just one day before the Opening Ceremony amidst wild celebrations and overflowing Olympic spirit. I was on-hand at LiveCity Yaletown where the final runner brought it down the home-stretch.

In all, Canada's uber ambitious relay will have lasted 106 days, covering over 45,000 km, 1,000 communities, and reaching the furthest east, west, and north points of the country. Needless to say, it's arrival here in Vancouver could only mean one thing: fireworks!

J. Twice

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Location:Granville St,Vancouver,Canada

Indian food

Tonight at the LiveCity celebration in Vancouver I decided to get something to eat at the international food court. Yet after ordering my butter chicken, we noticed a little something strange on the menu...




Tex-Mex Chili? Is this really ethnic? I can't imagine the vendors in New Dehli peddling street chili, but then again I've never been there...

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Location:Drake St,Vancouver,Canada

Hockey Hat!

There has been growing concern from Olympic organizers that a number of companies are using the Winter Olympic Games as a springboard for promotions without paying to be an official sponsor. One of these companies is Lululemon, which has made waves by producing gear advertising "the cool sporting event taking place in British Columbia between 2009 and 2011." (ingenious if you ask me.)




I joined in by picking up their coolest offering, a mock hockey helmet hat complete with tooth black out. Expect me to now be the craziest supporter as the red, white, and blue try to complete "Do you believe in miracles, again?!"

And as for my moral compass, it doesn't bother me that they're not official. In fact, Consumers really don't care either - they'll buy the best stuff even if it is 'unofficial'... Which should be the real cause of concern for event organizers.



Sweet toque, eh!


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Location:Drake St,Vancouver,Canada

You know you're Canadian when...

On Friday night my Olympic experience took a turn for the 'authentic' as Christie informed me that the evening gathering of her broadcast crew would not be taking place at a local restaurant or pub but rather a CURLING rink! (if rink is the proper term)



The natural.

Yes, Curling is a sport, albeit often misunderstood by American fans who see a glorified version of shuffleboard on ice. In fact, my 100% fictional history of the sport traces it back to medieval knight sliding their shields across swedish fjords, but I may be wrong.








Christie dominated the competition, tossing her stones from the hack over the hog line with authority. I just stood on the aide and yelled 'Hurry!!!!' as loud as possible. All in all, good times!





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Welcome to Vancouver!

I start with an image:




This is Coal Harbor, with a view that is worth perhaps a couple thousand words. Yes, Vancouver, British Columbia is perhaps one of my favorite places in the whole world - and don't tell anyone this - but I really could see us living here. But the reason for our visit is not for scouting purposes, but rather for the 2010 Winter Olympics!



The Peace Arch marks the border between the US and Canada... Stating in the most politically correct of manners, "Children of a common mother." Guess that makes the US the rebellious one.

Christie is working for the Olympic Broadcast Service, which is owned by the IOC. Her job will be as a studio commentator / segment producer covering mostly snowboarding and freestyle skiing. Her network will be producing a new show every half hour from 10am until 1am every day of the Olympics. NBC has the right to broadcast it in America, although they will also be doing their own coverage. Christie actually works in the same building as all of them (BBC, NBC, CTV) and can't say much other than expect many a fake fire place on set.



Andiamo rigazzi!!!

My job will simply be to soak it all in, so expect the blog to be fired up over the next month. My early money is on the US... As a Canadian has never won gold on his or her own soil... But expect that to change soon!




The only problem is that the weather has been so nice (almost 60F) that with all the water and beaches many people are thinking this will be the Summer Olympics!




So until next time... Cheers, eh!


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Korea: Not in Europe

So my sister has a friend who just signed up to go teach "abroad." She was telling my sister all about how she was so excited to visit all the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, seeing as she'd be so close and have a lot of time to travel... My sister asked her where exactly she'd be teaching...

Korea.

South Korea... not in Europe

You can't make this stuff up.

~ J. Twice

(Or as George commented... isn't it that tiny country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain?)

Little Liechtenstein

My love for the tiny country of Liechtenstein has been well documented. One day I will make their Olympic squad, merely by default. Usually they do not compose a security threat, seeing as my hometown of Puyallup has more people. However, these "little people" are always up to something... better go to The Onion for the report:

Liechtenstein Successfully Tests Teeny Tiny Nuclear Bomb