I remember I was in grade three and my miniature classmates and I were all sitting at our miniature people desks. I was handed a brown paper bag and the teacher told us that we could design something "Olympic" on it. These brown paper bags would be going to the "Olympic Committee" who were meeting up in Whistler. I was only in grade three but I was already a fan of the Olympics. I remember exactly what I drew. On one side was a little girl doing a ballerina dance pose. It read, "If You Dream Big..." and on the other side of the brown-paper-bag, I drew the same little girl in a huge spotlight in skates in the same ballerina pose. This side read, "...Your Dreams Will Come True!". I don't know about you, but for an eight year old, that's pretty genius.
Ever since that moment, I have been waiting for the Olympics to come to my hometown. I remember when Vancouver won the bid I counted how old I would be... "22! That is SO OLD!!!". What I didn't realize at the time was that 22 would be the perfect age to experience the Olympics.
So on February 12, 2010, I went home for the Olympics...there was no way I could say no. My little- grade-three-self would have been so angry if I decided to go to Cancun instead..and I just couldn't do that to her!
AND THE OLYMPICS WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. I have never seen Vancouver so brilliant. If I could describe it, the downtown streets were a mixture of New York, elbow-to-elbow madness and Las Vegas lights...The only difference is that everyone was so nationalistic, friendly and naturally happy. The sun was shining, the weather was great and the wandering Olympic athletes...well they were damn hot.
There are very few events that happen in this world that make us feel united...and I strongly believe that events like The Olympics help bring the world closer together. Nationalism was also re-introduced to Canada: people young and old swarmed the Vancouver streets in red and maple leafs; You were an outcast if you didn't follow suit. High fives, chants for Canada and happy Canadian Jigs were a regular sight. Sporadic belting out of "Oh Canada" was the definitely the cool thing to do. Overall, hosting the global event has reminded Canadians just how great Canada is...So much so that I believe Canadian Emigrants want to immigrate back into Canada.
Well done Vancouver, well done.
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