I've got something to put in you

Another busy week up here in Vancouver. I had another awesome weekend, my friend Sami who lives in Alberta came to visit me, which was so fun. She was my neighbor in Australia and I haven't seen her in two years, so it was so exciting for her to be able to make time and come for a short visit during the games.

Since it was the second weekend since the games have started, the city has been busier than ever. There are honestly walls of people walking down the streets at night and every bar has about an hour wait. Luckily, on Friday night, I was able to get to a media party for people like me working in broadcasting and similar departments so there was essentially no line and a bunch of my friends from work were there as well. Soooo much fun! Almost perfect night except for the fact that my camera was stolen (super sad face). Really bummed about that, but I've been trying to make due with taking other people's photos and using Scott's camera. I spent the rest of the weekend with Sami going around the city and letting her take in the Olympic experience in Vancouver. Both Saturday and Sunday nights we got tickets to the Victory Ceremonies at the stadium downtown, which were super fun. I got wicked close to athletes Apolo Ohno and Shani Davis as they were awarded their medals. An amazing experience. Hopefully I will be able to get Sami's photos from those nights because I have none at the moment.

Work has been the usual, hanging out in the runner's lounge, getting free massages, tracking down celebs. We got a photo with Wayne Gretzky on Monday after waiting for him outside of his interview room for a half hour! Kind of a grump, actually. I also saw Bob Costas at the IBC the other day, and I got a bit starstruck, because he pretty much rocks. Saw him on the escalator going up as we were going down and I told him I was a huge fan. He probably gets that all the time, but I'm sure I made an impact.

I've actually been so spoiled with this job with OBS and I think I've even started to take for granted how sweet the place is. Like, how awesome is it to spend my day searching for celebs in the building, or to be walking to the cafe and look over and see NBC filming live footage for the Olympics just a few feet away. Or to be able to watch the games on TV and see the news anchors talking and know that they are filming at that exact moment somewhere close in the same building where I am. I'm getting pretty depressed thinking that I'm already leaving so soon, right after I'm getting really settled in my life here. I really love most of the people I work with, there's always something to do in and out of work, and just being included in the Olympic spirit has been incredible.

For example, last night I took a spur of the moment trip to Whistler with my friend Emma from work. We left work at 5, got up to the mountain around 7, and I had to be back in the city by 9 this morning for another day of work. We met up with my friend Benny, who is from Australia, and another person I studied with when I went abroad. He's been working up there since December and hooked us up by getting us into "The Fray" concert and a few bars around the village. I caught the 6:00 bus back this morning, and needless to say, have been pretty tired all day. Totally worth it though, and I might as well take advantage of the opportunities I can take with my access to the games.

I'm looking forward to the weekend already, hopefully I can make another trip up to Whistler on Saturday, and if I can get Friday off as well, there is a free Girl Talk concert that I'd die to get to. We have an OBS party Sunday night, but with the end of the games approaching, the work around here is gonna start to get crazy again.

Well, I'm super tuckered out after last night and working all day, so I'm probably gonna get to bed. Post more soon. Goodnight!

 Peace, love, and nachos.

A

P.s. Have you guys been watching the games?? They have been incredible! Every sport has had some amazing competitions and performances. GO USA!

It may be years until the day my dreams will match up with my pay

Hey Hey Hey!! I'm just sitting at work right now, on the runner computer in our lounge. So far this week we have had almost zero projects and things for us to do so we have been spending most of our time at work getting paid to sit and watch the sports, as well as play games like Pictionary and Monopoly. Sweet life, eh? (Look, I'm using "eh," I'm truly becoming a Canadian!)
OH crap! Time out, Lindsay Vonn just lost Gold in the Alpine Combo by falling on her run! That's rough. At least she got her medal yesterday!

Anyway, you can see that work has been pretty hard this week. I actually just got a free 15 minute massage today at the press center next door. Really not a bad job. I have still been running a few errands around the IBC, trying to keep a look out for athletes and other celebs that may be around. We have been going to press conferences every morning to help with crowd control, and sitting in on them is pretty interesting. We get to hear the press rip apart the heads of VANOC and the IOC about all the problems going on during the games. One reporter even asked what their comments were about this being the "worst beginning to an Olympic games... ever." Yikes. Even though I'm in PR, I would not want to be answering some of those questions. However, it is particularly intersesting me to be sitting in on these conferences for that exact reason. I am enjoying seeing more of the press side of the Olympics, since that is what I have studied in, as well as noting how they respond to the conflicts that have been arising during these games.

Other than that, I did get up to Cypress for the men's halfpipe finals last night. What an amazing experience! Seriously, Shaun White is the MAN! Almost a perfect score for his second run, and a gold and bronze medal for the USA! The venue looked awesome, which is quite an accomplishment after the troubles they have been having up there with the lack of snow. I was very impressed. The whole crowd was excited for Shaun, including people from all over the world. It was awesome that everyone recognized what an amazing athlete he is, and cheered him on even though he wasn't from their home countries. My camera died right before Shaun's final run, so I was pretty mad I didn't get that on record, as well as the medal ceremony. Still exciting though! Hopefully I can get some copies emailed to me from a friend. Here is a photo of me, and one of Shaun White after his first run.

Other than that, not much else new up here. The city has just been buzzing with Olympic hysteria, and the nightlife has been crazy. There are hundreds upon hundreds of people roaming the streets at night, all dressed up in Canada gear, wearing flags, playing hockey in the middle of the street, and it is super exciting. Hopefully I will be able to participate in some of the craziness this weekend, I actually have Saturday off.  The weather has still been amazing, and I was able to snap some photos in the city with the beautiful weather.

That's it for today! Wish me luck on all the work I have to do today including watching more speed skating and probably spending more of my meal vouchers on shitty cafe food.

Peace, love, and sushi!

A

Leave me (Like you found me)

I've been working at IBC for two weeks already! The time has definitely flown by since I've arrived in Vancouver, and I'm worried that I'm just going to blink and have to go back home already. I'm not really looking forward to going back home from Canada; having too much fun and not ready for the unemployment/being in debt aspect of Minnesota. I'm trying to take in as much as I can while I'm here though, and not really worry about how much money I'm spending, cause it's all about the Olympic experience, right??

Speaking of Olympic experiences, the city has just been CRAZY since the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night and the games starting on Saturday. The streets are literally flooded with thousands of people, mostly wearing red, and taking in the sights and excitement of the Olympic spirit in the city. Both Friday and Saturday I had to work the late shift at the IBC, which was from 1:30-11:30 p.m., which sounds pretty lame for weekend nights, but ended up kind of exciting, with the beginning of the games.

I got the privilege on Friday night to work "security" for the final lighting of the torch, right next to my work at the broadcast centre. (And by security I mean standing next to the police officers and make sure people had the right passes to be in the torch area. Even the rest of my coworkers weren't allowed as close as I was!) It was pouring rain out for most of the time, and we had to wait outside during the entire Opening Ceremonies, but seeing as there was no chance of me making it to that actual ceremony, this was the next best thing. I stood in the rain for 3 hours waiting for the final torch to make it to the cauldron, which will be lit for the rest of the Winter Games.

Another exciting thing about the lighting of the cauldron was that Wayne Gretzky, the Canadian hockey hero, aka "The Great One," was secretly the final torchbearer, so he brought the torch down from the Opening Ceremonies to light it up.  Once word got out that Gretzky was going to be heading from the stadium down to the IBC, the streets swarmed with thousands of people, rushing to see Gretzky finish the home stretch of the torch's journey. However, none of them were let into the cauldron area, where I was standing and waiting. Even though it was raining, it was totally exciting to see this legendary hockey player come and light the torch, which will be standing as a symbol for the Olympics throughout the rest of the games, especially since I had front row seats!

Afterward, Gretzky left the area, and the crowd around the cauldron was going crazy. They were all cheering and yelling "GO CANADA," and finally the Canadian anthem was sung by a couple hundred people surrounding the torch. There was about a five-minute fireworks show, and the excitement was just incredible. That evening was probably the most "Olympic" and fantastic experience I've had so far in Vancouver. Here are a few pictures to showcase the night:

"The Great One" coming in with the torch!!

Right as Gretzky was lighting the cauldron.

Me with the cauldron in the background, as well as the fireworks behind the crowd watching the ceremony. Soooo amazing!

Gretzky waving right at me! haha

 So as you can see, an amazing night! Saturday was a bit more low key, but I did run some print distributions to all of the broadcasters with a friend of mine, and while we were down by NBC, there ended up being a ton of security around, and Joe Biden came strolling down the hallway towards us. We kind of just stared for a few seconds, but he came over and introduced himself. Seemed like a pretty goofy guy, actually. So we got a quick picture, and even though we were in Canada, it was exciting! Here is the picture we caught by chance around the IBC.

We all look so happy! Well, that was pretty much the excitement of my weekend, I had the day off yesterday, actually, so I just wandered around the city again and took more pictures. It was a seriously beautiful day, so the photos turned out awesome. Hopefully I can post a few of those soon. Gonna be off for now, I think I should give Scott a chance to use his computer, seeing as I don't think I will be getting my own back during this trip.

I think there will be more exciting things going on during this coming week, maybe even a couple events to go to!

Tata for now,

A

And then we'll get down there, way down to the very bottom of everything

Here are a few photos that I've taken around town.

This one is in a part of Vancouver called Gastown, it's just this old, touristy section that has some cute shops, restaurants and bars. This clock runs on just steam, and is pretty well-known around here:

I took these pictures at night and the sky was just beautiful. This next one has part of the skyline in the background as well.

These next few photos are of the torch being carried in around Lonsdale Quay where I take the seabus across the harbour every day. It was super crowded, so you can see the loads of people waiting and then my blurry photo of the runner going by with the torch. Still a pretty cool moment.

I've been doing some other pretty crazy things around here, but while working six 10 hour days a week, it's been hard to post on here. Hopefully I will get a chance to write a bit tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day!! - Gotta go, I have a date :)

XO,
A

If you wanna get it big time, go ahead and get it, get it big time

This week has been so busy! I actually had the weekend off, which I spent mostly relaxing and trying to get my computer fixed (which is NOT happening while I'm in Van, wayyy too much money), but it will probably be the only time I have both days off until the end of the games.It's been so busy, Scott and I haven't even seen each other since Saturday, except briefly at work. I finally went out on the town last Friday for a few drinks and some dancing, which was pretty fun. I'm meeting some awesome people while I'm up here.

Every day at work has been different; I've been all over Vancouver searching for the perfect wrapping paper to wrap presents for executive, I went back to the curling venue to help out there, and am still distributing uniforms almost every day. There have been a couple more sunny days which makes the city just light up and is pretty awesome for people like me who don't live here to see.

Opening ceremonies are today, so I'm so excited. I think that once the games start the atmosphere is going to craazy in Vancouver, and hopefully I will keep getting cooler assignments to do at work. It is pretty cool to see the Canadians getting so excited about having their Olympics on home ground and how proud they are to live here. I got to see the torch being passed the other day by the station where I get on the seabus to get to work. The runner was supposed to come by and pass it at 8:45, and by 8:00 it was already a sea of red. They had a stage with a Canadian band as well as Native Canadians (is that right??? I have no idea, that sounds weird though) playing and dancing. Right before the runner came by, the crowd started to sing, "Oh Canada," which was cool, although I couldn't sing along. When the torch finally ran through the crowd, it was pretty cool, but I couldn't see much with all the people. Mostly I liked seeing all the people come out with their children, wearing red and white clothes and makeup and carrying Canada flags, supporting their country and getting so excited for the torch to come through. I have a few photos of the morning, which I will post as soon as I can.

Till then, here's one picture I took a few weeks ago before I started work at a place Scott took me to called Horseshoe Bay. Such a pretty place!

Peace out Girl Scout!

A

Don't lie to me Vancouver, you've got a little more raining to do

So today was a pretty sweet day at work!
Number one, it was the first sunny day I've seen in Vancouver, which really makes the city even more beautiful, and when you look across the harbour, the mountains really shine. For once I was able to see the whole skyline of the mountains, including the ones with some Olympic venues. Apparently, though, these mountains have been causing some trouble for the games because it's been such a warm winter. The snow usually comes at least a quarter of the way down, but the snow just covers the top this year. So now they are shipping in snow from I can't remember, and covering the hills. Crazy, huh?

Number two, I was able to escape the IBC today with one of the workers in Planning, and went to the curling venue for most of the day to help move furniture around for the broadcasting employees. Not really super exciting, but I did get to pop inside and see the curling rink (where I will be competing for Olympic Gold on the USA Women's Curling Team, FTW!! - inside joke). Here's a pic:

Number three, after we got lunch and finished off our day at the curling venue, Andrew brought me around to a couple of other venues so I could take a peek. We went to the speed skating rink, and then the figure skating venue. Both were awesome!! I don't think Andrew was actually supposed to take me, but it probably won't be a big deal. Here is a picture of the speed skating venue:

And here are a couple from the figure skating rink:

P.s. That's my uniform, can't get really get a view of the awfulness of it, the jacket is okay, but you can't see my disgusting black corduroys or my star trek top.

So, that was my day! Now I'm just chillin at home, looking forward to having my weekend off. G'nite.

Peace, love, and peanut butter,

A

Room 205

I've been a working woman for three whole days now!! I officially started on Monday as a Logistics runner for OBSV (Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver) and during this prep time before the games start, I've ben set to do a variety of tasks. There are quite a few other runners at the IBC, and we haven't done anything too exciting yet, mostly doing things like organizing uniforms that still need to be distributed, putting together spreadsheets, and some other types of grunt-work that no one really likes to do but all needs to be finished behind the scenes to make things run smoothly. Basically, I'm the broadcasting team's little biotch, which is actually okay with me, it's pretty awesome to see how things are being run for such a huge event and show.

Also, I was informed on Monday that I am actually making more than I initially thought, since I am on a unique contract from the States. I will be making 150 canadian dollars a day, seven days a week, even when I'm not required to come in, kind of like a salary pay. However, my shifts will be longer and I will most likely only have one day off a week. I think it will be okay though, I definitely need the money and since I am pretty much here by myself, there's not a whole lot else to do when I'm not working. I am meeting people though! There are a lot of people my age who are just awesome, and everyone at the IBC is so friendly, so I've been exchanging contact info. Hopefully by the weekend I will have some friends! Haha..... ohhh I'm a loser. JK. But seriously...I suck....

Summary: Work has been pretty sweet so far, but I haven't really had time to do anything else. I met my first cute Canadian boy yesterday! And tomorrow I will be working at the curling venue, doing who knows what. Pretty stoked for that.

BUT, it really sucks that my laptop is still broken, I havent been able to upload photos or skype back home for awhile. Sad face.

And one more thing, did you know Vancouver is rainy as hell?? Seriously, every day its raining out. I'm getting a lot of use out of my new rainbow umbrella. Much better than the cold back home though, I suppose! Well thats all I got for tonight! More deets lata...

Misses and kisses!
A