One Day Away

The olympic torch relay came through my neighborhood today and I had the opportunity to witness the excitement as crowds gathered on the streets waiting for the torch bearers to come through. With only a day away from the opening ceremonies the atmosphere is brimming with fervor. The media has all arrived within the past week along with the world’s top athletes. Vancouver has been preparing and waiting for this moment and it’s finally arrived! I haven’t seen so much Canadian pride until now. The Canadian flag is visible nearly everywhere I look. It’s plastered on side of buildings, hung inside shopping malls and stuck on the windows of every other car in the city.

Everything is set and ready for the olympic games except for the snow. Vancouver is melting under all the rain we’re getting and mother nature does not seem to want to cooperate. It’s been the mildest winter I’ve experienced since moving here three years ago. If the olympics were held last year, lack of snow would not be a problem. There was so much the city was buried in it, but ironically this year it’s the opposite. Olympic organizers can’t seem to keep the snow on Cypress Mountain from disappearing. They’ve been trucking in snow from miles away and flying it in by helicopter from peaks of nearby mountains. Hopefully there’ll be enough for the competitions.

During the course of the Olympics, I plan to document some of the excitement around the city and post the pics to my flickr account. Unfortunately tickets to the olympic events are hard to come by and not cheap so I won’t be attending any in person, but will watch them on TV like most people.