On my way to work early this morning, I met a fellow from Greece at my local bus stop. He was looking for directions to downtown. I told him he could follow me and we talked on the way. Turns out he is a "ticket boker"--a nice name for a scalper. He used to live in Holland but recently moved to Greece to avoid the social problems in Holland. He is the second scalper--I mean ticket broker--that I have met this week. On Saturday at Tim Horton's (coffee and donut shop) I met a ticket broker who had come up for the Olympics from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As I detrained, I showed the fellow from Greece what station to go to and politely declined his offer of helping me with tickets.
Of course the big news for last night and today was Alexandre Bilodeau winning Canada's first gold medal last night in men's moguls. I guess I left downtown too early last night (although I never would have lasted) as the celebrations continued well into the night. It was one of those classic "Where were you when ..." questions today at work.
As I walked to the Stadium this morning, the large electronic sign at the side of the road that had previously displayed closed streets ahead now said "CONGRATS ALEXANDRE BILODEAU / ON WINNING GOLD !!! / GO CANADA GO".
This evening I stopped at a bar in Yaletown for dinner just as Alexandre was being presented with his medal. Watching on the bar televisions, the diners all cheered and applauded.
At Workforce Check-in this morning I was greeted by name before my accreditation was scanned. I don't how the volunteer at Check-in does that but it sure makes me feel welcome in the morning.
Things were rather slow this morning. It sounds like the first Victory Ceremony last night at the Stadium went well. There were quite a few of us on the early shift so our manager told us that half could go out for an hour if we wanted while the others covered the call groups. The weather this morning was gorgeous.
On my way there I once again got involved in helping people. As I was walking by the corner of Robson and Beattie, a family was standing looking at the posted map. As I walked by the mother said, "Let's ask this guy." They were a family of four from Calgary. They asked me, "What should we see?"
In high school I spent three summers as a tourist counselor in Toronto. My old skills kicked in this morning. I knew just where to start. "How long do you have? What have you seen? What interests you?" I gave them lots of options and recommendations and showed them where everything was on the map. (I now carry extra pocket maps with me.)
Once I sent them on their way, two other people needed help finding their way. The blue Smurf jacket is a beacon for visitors.
On my way back to the VCC with my stamps, everyone at security and Workforce Check-in asked to see them. If I had bought more of them, I bet I could have sold them.
The rest of the day was relatively quiet at the VCC so we sent some of our folks out to help act as Guides for part of the afternoon. There were lots of people who still needed to pick up their tickets for tonight so there would be lots of people looking for the will call office. This might be our normal mode of operations this week. Fine with me. I'm already working overtime as a Guide.
We also seem to be wearing out our building and infrastructure. Our washrooms had to be shut down for much of the day today causing people to have to trek outside to the portable washrooms. We also lost our printer yesterday and it was replaced today by a much larger model. The IT guy also asked us if we wanted a larger Panasonic HD TV. What a silly question.
We watched the men's snowboard cross races during the day. It is such a wild sport.
After my shift I wandered over to LiveCity Yaletown, one of the downtown celebration sites. This site includes the official sponsor pavilions.
I entered the Coke pavilion because I needed to open some happiness (their current slogan). Their pavilion is in a large tent shaped like a quonset hut with a translucent roof so that it can show images projected from inside at night. They showed a short film on the torch relay which Coke helped sponsor then offered three interactive stations. You could have your picture taken with a torch, race against someone else (on a screen) as a polar bear, and virtually catch recycled Coke bottles. They also offered a free drink (naturally) and gave everyone a glowing Olympic Coke bottle as they exited.
Panasonic had a pavilion demonstrating their new 3D TV technology. Pretty cool. Coming in April to a Best Buy near you.
I watched the Canadian ladies play hockey and the men's 500 M speed skating on the big screen with a few friends. It's the best way to watch exciting events.
On Robson Street there is a display of creative outdoor art. I've seen it during the day but it looks even better at night.
There is a set of illuminated, modern totem poles.
And a forest of lantern trees featuring lanterns made by Canadian children from across the country.
I was going to stay downtown and watch the water, light and fireworks show in Yaletown, but by mid-evening the rain returned. I stayed for a while but then decided to get out of the rain.
I have two days this week with late shifts. Those will be better nights to stay and watch the fireworks shows.
Tomorrow there are three hockey games being played at Canada Hockey Place next door to the Stadium. The middle game is Canada versus Norway. With so many people to move in and out of the arena, including rabid Canadian fans, it might be a more complicated day tomorrow in the VCC.
In the end, with things to see, events to watch, event results to track, and work to be done, it was a busy day. But a very red, white and gold day.
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