Day 25: And that's a Wrap Folks

A sad day throughout the park today. The last day of the Olympics. It was sad but also really exciting for us Canadians who still had a gold medal hockey game to watch. Followed by the real end, closing ceremonies.

Mikaela was working at the MPC in the morning for the Canadian Olympic Committee's closing press conference. A time for everyone to reflect on how we did as a country and get a chance to ask the president and the chefs any questions they may have. It is also where the closing ceremonies flag bearer is announced. Mikaela was pretty fortunate to find out who it was going to be ahead of time when they came into the office to hide until asked to come out. For those who missed it the flag bearers were Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, repeat gold medalists in bobsled.

The rest of the day was take down which made everything sadder. But on a happy note Mikaela was given a ticket to closing ceremonies as a thank you for all the hard work this month.

Mikaela went to COH to watch the hockey game along with Doug, Stacey and Lisa and the rest of the volunteers and families. We weren't able to get tickets but to watch it there was the next best thing. It was a great game and made us come together once again as a nation. Women's and men's hockey but managed to defend their title of Olympic champion and make the entire country proud. There were many Canadians getting up early to watch the game and it was a great final event to end everything off with.

Next was off to closing ceremonies. It was a great show and really well done. The Russians have worked hard this month to bring everything together and the closing ceremonies were a true indication of that.  Being in the stadium was incredible and had a real feel of unity. We were all proud when the Canadians came out jumping around and having fun. Now able to relax with competition being over.  When the flame went out at the end of the night it was a sad feeling to know it was over and an even weirder feeling to know that it won't be lit again for the Olympics. Fireworks went off and it was the official end.

An amazing month full of memories, fun times and great new friends. An experience of a last time that none of us will ever forget.  Now it's a couple days to sleep and shop before our flight home. Some much needed down time.

Day 24: Thank-you Volunteers

Happy Birthday to Stacey!!!!

Second last day of the games and things are starting to wrap up.  All four of us went to Canada Olympic House for a volunteer thank you lunch.  It was a great event to see everyone together (since we usually all work different shifts and Mikaela isn't even based out of COH anymore) and of course eat some good food.  Marcel Aubut, the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, made a speech to all the volunteers and thanked us for all of our hard work and long hours.  We were the ones who ran the house and without the volunteers it wouldn't have been possible to have a place for athletes and their families to relax and hang out.  We were also all given a scarf and a pair of mitts as a thank you.  And we got a picture from our first day orientation.  It was a picture of all the volunteers with took along with Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue.  The best part about the pictures we got is that they were all signed.  For Scott and Tessa to take the time to sign all of the pictures to thank the volunteers proved that our work didn't go unnoticed, and even though we had some long days it was all worth it in the end.

From the volunteer lunch we all headed over to the IBC/MPC for a tour.  Mikaela was able to get guest day passes for Doug, Lisa and Stacey so they all went over to take a look around.  We all thought it was impressive to walk through the MPC with all the yellow cubicle offices of all the major newspapers across the world.  We then went into the press workroom where all the journalists who do not have offices work.  These would be a lot of the ones reporting back to Canada (The Toronto Star, CTV, TSN, Waterloo Record).  After our walk through the MPC we went to tour the CBC studios.  None of us realized how much work it took behind the scenes to run what we see on TV.  There are so many employees and so much buzz with everyone running around getting things finished.  There are so many TVs and cables running every which way to get connections complete.  After we walked through the main work room and saw the radio stations and makeup room we headed to the main studios.  Everyone got to see where the "stars" are on the air every day.  Once again, pretty cool to see the behind the scenes to what everyone is watching back at home.  We hit CBC at an off time and there were no athletes walking around but it was pretty cool regardless.  After CBC it was down to the relaxation room for some time in the massage chairs.

When Doug, Stacey and Lisa left Mikaela went back to work at CBC.  The men's curling team were coming into interview and they were all just there to have fun.  I guess it's easy to relax after you win a gold medal and finally have some fun with competition being over and that's what they were doing.  With it being the last night before closing ceremonies and the last night to do major prime time interviews, there was a large lineup for the night to come.  Mikaela decided to take one for the team and stay as late as possible to help everyone out in the studio.  Radio Canada was doing a big wrap up show and bringing in many of the francophone athletes to interview.  Skiers, speed skaters, snowboarders and hockey players all came through the studios to take part in their interviews.  When all was said and done it was about 2 am when the time came to call it a day and pack up.  It was great to be there the whole time and experience first hand what it's like to work in broadcast, but it is something you would need to mentally prepare for ahead of time to be able to do it every day. 

Tomorrow is closing ceremonies and our last day in the park.  No one is quite sure what will happen after the games are done and if we will still be allowed into the park so for now we are soaking everything up as best we can. 

Day 23: Men's Turn Today

Well today it was the men's turn to win some medals (and of course there were still some ladies in the mix).  It started off with the ladies who won gold and silver in the Women's ski cross.  For anyone who has seen that sport or who watched it, you know in intense and nuts it is.  But also soo soo cool.  If becoming a skeletor doesn't work out, maybe the switch can be made to ski cross.  The evening was filled with success for the Canadian male athletes.  It started with the men's curling team who matched th women and won gold.  It was a pretty big blowout for the team but after the tournament they had, they are more than deserving of the gold medal.  Later in the evening, Charle Cournoyer won bronze in the men's 500m short track race.  After the last couple of days in the short track world, it was great to see the tables turn and see Canada on the podium once again.  And...(as if there even needs to be more) the men's hockey team won their semi-final game over the USA 1-0 to move into the gold medal game. 

For the four of us, our sucesses weren't as big but it was a good day regardless.  Mikaela worked the morning at the MPC and had an awesome day including a press conference with the women's hockey team.  There was a great buzz around the office and all of the MPC with the big win over the Americans and match up number two about to take place.  Our American friends from down the hall all dropped by to congratulate us and also tell us it was going to change in the men's game (guess their fortune tellers were wrong again).  The women were all sporting their gold medals and it was great to meet them all in person and get to spend a little bit of time with them.  From the MPC was work at CBC and now taking the women to their CBC interviews.  One of the interviews too place in the lobby and everyone kept stopping by to take pictures of the girls in their medals.  They did all the major interviews and were proud to show off their medals.  Some of the girls even wrote a good luck note to the men's team so that they beat the Americans.  There is never any down time at the CBC studios, so right after the hockey team left the ski cross medalists came by to do the interview circuit as well.  Marielle and Kelsey did radio, news and both French and English studio visits.  A lot to cram into an hour, but  that's how the business works.  Which is one of the neat parts about it. 

Doug, Lisa and Stacey were at Canada house and still hanging out with all the athletes and their families when they come in.  Now that competition is over, the curlers and figure skaters frequent the COH and are familiar faces near the bar.  When their shifts were over, the three of them tried to score some tickets to the semi final game but were unsuccessful.  So hanging out at Canada House to watch the game is the nest best thing.

There are only two more days left of the games and we are all starting to get a little sad while thinking about leaving the games.  Ready to go home and sleep in our real beds but nothing will compare to being at the games!

Day 21: Canada Strikes Gold...Again!

Never a dull moment for us here in Sochi.  Yesterday Mikaela was able to meet Scott and Tessa while holding their press conference in the MPC.  They were super friendly and down to earth and Mikaela even got a picture.  After work it was over to CBC where Mikaela brought around the women's silver medalist speed skating team for their interviews.  Such an intense dynamic that group has and Marianne St-Gelais is a huge riot, the life of the party.

Doug was also able to get his hands on a ticket to watch some skiing in the mountains.  It was a miserably rainy day, but Doug was a trooper and beat the rain.  Although when he did show up it did look as though he had seen better days (and since he is "accident prone Doug", he also hit his head on the stairs leading up to our apartment and had a goose egg).

Today was also very exciting.  Mikaela and Stacey worked the morning and it was pretty quiet shifts for both of them.  There was a press conference in the MPC for Mike Riddle who was the halfpipe skier who won silver the night before.  After work Stacey and Mikaela headed up to the mountains one last time to watch the finals of the women's bobsled.  Bobsled takes place on the same track as the skeleton, so it is also difficult to watch.  We placed ourselves in front of a huge screen and saw the bobsledders whip on by.  We were obviously cheering like crazy with our Canadian capes and swag.  The final round was unreal  The Canadian team was in second place after the first three runs and went second last.  They were only .11 seconds behind the Americans going into that round and had a great final run.  The Americans were last to go and we all held our breaths for the first half of their run.  But then they started to lose time and fall behind the Canadians and it was cheers all around for the Canadians.  The Americans lost .21 seconds and ended .10 behind the Canadians.  It is a sport where equipment plays an enormous role and where every milisecond counts.  It was the second gold medal win for Canada that Stacey and Mikaela were together to witness live and it was just as exciting and memorable as the first.  We are always proud to be Canadian but in that moment it meant even more.  We were proud to wear our Canadian capes out of the track and stop to take pictures with all of the Russian fans.  And as happy as we are to win all the time, it does make it a little nicer when we beat our friends to the south (Sorry guys, but I know you feel the same way about your Northern friends).

Bobsled wasn't the only excitement of the night.  The men's hockey quarterfinal game against Latvia was also on and Lisa and Doug were in attendance.  Doug bought his ticket for the game before we left Canada and Lisa was the chosen one again and got a free ticket to the game (Doug likes to remind us all that he actually paid to go, unlike some people...).  They both had a great time at the game and it was a close one for sure.  Probably a little too close for comfort though.  Being in the Bolshoy arena felt like a home game for Canada.  There were so many Candians in the stands and the Russian fans also enjoy cheering to Canada.  After the bobsled, Mikaela and Stacey stopped by the mountain Canada house and watched the third period.  Thank goodness we pulled that win out!

It was a successful day all around and one that made us very proud to be Canadian! 

Day 19: Tessa and Scott... Need I say more?

Today was a quiet day during the day but it wasn't at night.  Mikaela was in the MPC during the day and since all of the press conferences for Jan and Dominique were the day before, it was a pretty relaxed day around the office.  This was also due to the fact that snowboard cross was cancelled and other events postponed during the day.  Stacey was at COH during the day and Doug was recovering after a fun time the night before. 

After work, Mikaela once again headed over to CBC to help input all of the athletes who could potentially medal and come through for interviews for the following day.  They all require guest passes to the IBC and someone has to put them all in, by 6pm.  Let the time crunch begin!  After being at CBC, Mikaela and one of the other volunteers at the MPC headed back over to figure skating for the free ice dance program.  Once again on media tickets and once again getting all the way through.  And with better seats than the night before.  We were right in the lower bowl on the rail and had a great view of all of the skaters.  It was out of this world.  The skaters were even better than the night before especially the Canadian pairs.  And when Scott and Tessa came out, the entire arena was in awe.  We didn't breathe for four minutes watching them skate.  And they did so well.  They without a doubt make Canada so proud.  All of the top three teams did very well, the Russia pair was outstanding and the crowd loved it.  At the end of the night it was great to see Tessa and Scott win the silver.  It wasn't gold but it made every Canadian in the arena and back home proud.

Lisa was also fortunate enough to go to an event.  She was working the evening shift at COH but it was pretty tired and one of the Americans from next door came over and dropped off 30 free tickets to the women's hockey quarter final.  So Lisa and a bunch of the other volunteers headed over to the arena to cheer Canada on.  And the women won as well.  They beat the Swiss 3-1 to move into the semi-finals.  It was a successful day for everyone and a great way to end it all off.  Only 6 more days until the Olympics are over, crazy how time flies.  But it's not over yet and the last few days are going to be the busiest and most exciting for us!

Day 18: Who said it was all work and no play?

Today was an incredible day for Canada and the four of us.  Canada won its first medal in alpine skiing in twenty years with the bronze medal performance by Jan Hudec, an impressive accomplishment to say the least.  And a couple hours later we won silver in women's snowboard cross with an amazing final race by Dominique Maltais. 

Winning medals wasn't the only exciting part of our day.  Lisa, Doug and Stacey all worked the morning at the COH and were then lucky enough to go to the Men's hockey Canada vs. Finland game.  Doug and Stacey already had tickets and Lisa was able to get an extra on from the COH.  They represented Canada well while being all decked out in Canadian gear and sporting many Canadian flags.  The game was a close one, with Canada coming out on top in overtime.

Mikaela was working at the MPC in the morning followed by a couple hours at CBC in the evening.  While at the MPC, there was a press conference held for Denny Morrison and Gilmore Junio.  Denny won his second silver medal and was coming by to share in his excitement.  After attending the press conference and hanging out with both Denny and Gilmore after, it is clear how close the two of them are and how Gilmore's kind act was just a true indication of their friendship.  They even have a signature handshake they call the "Gilmorrison" which includes a high five followed by a fist pump.  They are also super funny and down to earth.  Mikaela was even able to hold the silver medal which is much heavier than anticipated.  Denny said, "Now you know how hard it is to be an athlete.  Do you know how sore my neck gets wearing that thing all day?!?!". 

After being at the MPC, Mikaela was fortunate enough to score a ticket to the short ice dance figure skating program.  The MPC always has extra tickets to events but the catch is you have to have the proper journalist accreditation to use them.  But a few of the other MPC volunteers were able to get into some other figure skating events with no issues so we gave it a go.  For a quick second, we didn't know if we would be able to get in but thanks to the language barrier (Sorry Russia) and a big smile, the security let us through.  And thank goodness they did.  It was an amazing event! And so surreal to see in real life.  Scott and Tessa skated very well as did the rest of the Canadian pairs.  Although there was some slight discrepancies in the judging of the skating, it was a well done event and only part one of two!

Day 17: To be a Skeletor...

Another exciting day in Sochi! Stacey worked in the morning at COH and Mikaela was at the MPC. With Patrick Chan winning another silver the night before, it meant a busy day of press conferences and interviews at the MPC. Patrick came in for a press conference in the afternoon and is a great guy. He is so down to earth and sincere and Mikaela even got a picture with him! Then men's hockey team coaches also had a press conference in the morning. Babcock is a pretty funny guy and was able to have a good time with the media.  There was also a frenzy around the office with media needing tickets for the USA vs Russia hockey game. And what a game it was, Russian fans weren't the happiest after that event.

After our shifts, we headed up to the mountains to watch some skeleton finals. Doug and Lisa were working in the evening so it was just Mikaela and Stacey who went. We got up to the mountains easily and had some time to walk around before the event. We ran into the wife of the Canadian ski jumping coach who we met at the men's moguls. We hung around with them for dinner and even visited the Canada house located in the mountains. Its a different vibe than the one in the main park and is much quieter and more serene.

We got up to the sliding center by the gondola, which is much more fun than taking the bus. However it was pretty dark and we were  unable to get any pictures of the view. The competition itself was interesting. Skeleton isn't the easiest sport to watch and a lot of it is watching the screens but the atmosphere was enough! We decided that if we had to be a winter Olympic athlete we would be a skeleton athletes because the sport seems the most intense. And who wouldn't want to slide head first down a winding track going about 130km/h???

The Russian athlete (or skeletor as we called them), won gold and the entire stadium exploded. Since it wasn't a Canadian who won we were glad it was Russia and it was awesome seeing the way they reacted and how proud they were. Its what we imagined Vancouver to be.

After the ride back to the costal cluster we met up with Lika as it was her last night before heading home. It was terrific meeting someone so kind and also a weird feeling knowing we could never see her again. Fingers crossed we met again soon (and in the world of sport).

Day 16: Oh Hey Putin!

Well today was nothing short of exciting for all of us. The day started with Doug and Lisa heading to the mountains to watch some alpine skiing. It was a gorgeous day in the coastal cluster and Lisa said it was also T-shirt weather in the mountains. Seems more like the summer Olympics than the winter!  Doug and Lisa may have gotten to the event late due to barely missing the train but they had a great day cheering for Erik Guay and watching some good racing. Austria has its house in the mountains and it has a nice outdoor bar so on a beautiful day who wouldn't be there?!

Mikaela and Stacey worked in the afternoon. Stacey was bartending at COH and Mikaela was working at CBC. After a press conference and TV interviews with the women's hockey team it was down to work for CBC's guests for the following day. Mikaela was also put in charge of escorting Johann Koss, founder and CEO of Right to Play to his interview with CBC. It was pretty spectacular to be able to meet and talk with someone as accomplished as him.

But the most exciting part of the evening was for the people at COH when Russian president Putin drop by Canada house unannounced. He happened to see some Canadian volunteers outside the house and asked if he could come in. Well no one was going to turn him down and he came in for a visit. It was an exciting time at COH for sure.

On the way home at the end of the night, Mikaela got a ride home with one of the CBC drivers and picked Lisa and Stacey up in the way. We felt like pretty important people on the ride home!

Day 14: Canada Wins!

Today was a pretty exciting day. Stacey had her day off, Lisa worked at the COH in the morning and Doug in the evening. Mikaela was at the MPC in the morning. The MPC was a pretty exciting place to be. All the media was stopping by the COC office to take a peek and catch up with the staff. Word also spread about the Canadian backpack and mitts that were being given to Canadian media so there were quite a few people stopping by to collect theirs. It is also well known around the MPC that Canada has the best snacks. So dropping by for a quick caramilk isn't unusual. Throughout the morning we were gearing up for the press conference for slopestyle medalists Dara and Kim. There are a lot of little things that need to be arranged for the press conference to go smoothly and it is the COC that is responsible to getting everything set up and ready.

After work Mikaela met with Stacey and headed to the women's hockey Canada vs USA hockey game! At home, Stacey and Mikaela both intern with the commonwealth games and one of Stacey's contacts happens to be in Sochi and invited us to attend! We were almost late for the game because everyone kept stopping us for pictures. We had our flag capes on and everyone wanted to take a picture with us.  The game was off to a bit of a slow start for Canada but they sure did pick it up in the third and came out on top. It was a different atmosphere watching a game at the Olympics and in Russia. The arena was mainly packed with Canadians and Americans but the Russians that filled in between were very entertained. They cheered at everything! No matter what team they cheered as loud as possible to every goal. Except for the little boy who sat behind us and cheered CA-NA-DA! the whole game. We gave him a couple Canadian flag stickers to keep him on our side. There were also a lot of explanations throughout the game. After any penalty was called, they would post the definition of the penalty on there big screens in both English and Russian, just in case you needed a refresher. We also saw an unassisted Canadian goal have two assists added minutes later... Only in Russia!

If we thought it was bad for pictures before the game we were shocked at after. Word must have spread that Canada won and even more people were cheering with us and asking for pictures. We almost debated running out of the park to avoid being the 'rude' Canadians who said no to a picture!  On the way out of the park we met the doctor for CBC who was very interesting to speak with. He knew so much about all the sports and because he is responsible for keeping everyone healthy, they all feel he needs to be rewarded with free tickets to events! Is it too late to apply to med school?

We also won another silver medal in long track speed skating. Congrats to Denny Morrison for the win. And we are proud to be Canadian with the story of how he won. He couldn't have done it without Gilmore Junio giving up his place. And now comes the movement to make Gilmore closing ceremonies flag bearer! 

Day 13: The Party Never Stops

After a late night on the slopes today included a much needed sleep in. From there we heard and saw the buzz of excitement as everyone was posting about the men's hockey teams being in town. But most excitingly was the two new medals we won first thing in the morning. A gold and bronze in women's skiing slopestyle. This is the first year that women have been able to compete in the event and Canada represented very well. Dara was our gold medal winner and Kim our bronze. A pretty successful showing for such a strong freestyle team.

We all worked evening shift at the COH but on the way to work Mikaela used her main press center pass to get into the men's hockey opening press conference. There were four players (Benn, Marleau, Weber and Bergeron) and assistant coach Claude Julien. The room was packed and there were many reporters and camera men ready to ask the tough questions. The Russian team had held their press conference in the morning so there were many Russian reporters in the room asking how the Canadians felt and if they were prepared for a Russia and Canada gold medal game. All the players handled themselves well and now it will all matter with how they do on the ice.

Being in Canada house was also very exciting. There were two medal ceremonies at COH, one for Charles Hamelin and one for Alex, Mikael, Dara and Kim. The ceremonies are nice because it gives friends and family time to celebrate but there is also media available for a more informal interview outside of the press conferences. We were all pretty busy and got even busier as all the media arrived and many patriotic Canadians. Celebrating three gold medals in one night is something pretty remarkable and we were all honoured to be a part of it. 

Day 12: Déjà vu

What an end to what started as a normal day in Sochi. Mikaela and Stacey both worked morning shifts at the COH. It was pretty quiet around the house with families hanging out with their athletes and enjoying some time together. During our shift, another one of the volunteers said she was just given three tickets to the men's moguls finals that night and asked if we wanted to go. We said yes without hesitation.

The trip to the mountain is not the fastest or simplest. You must take the train from the Olympic park stop. While the stop is just outside the main gates of the park, it takes about twenty minutes to get there from the COH. The train was packed with fans heading up to the mountains for events and we managed to get seats by pretending we were staff, who wouldn't believe an English speaking girl decked out in Canada gear. From the train we had to take a bus all the way to the top of the mountain. Its the same route we did before the games started but with hundreds more fans its much more difficult to get to the top.

Because we weren't planning on attending any mountain events when we left the house in the morning and didn't have time to drop by after work, we weren't as bundled as we should have been. Which basically means running shoes and five hour skiing events don't mix overly well.  But once you walk through the gates and in to the venue, you forget how cold you were and are just taken aback by what surrounds you. The moguls run was insane and so neat to look at. Except for brief moments of cold when Mikaela put her mitts on her feet and Stacey wrapped hers in toilet paper. 

We had standing tickets which are technically considered lesser than the assigned seating tickets but to us it was the only place we would have wanted to be. After the last round of qualifications there was a two hour break before finals. The crowd thinned out and Stacey went to grab some snacks while Mikaela inched closer to the front. By the time Stacey returned Mikaela was chatting up a storm with Mikael Kingsbury's family. Thank you parents for the name Mikaela as that was how the conversation started when Mikael's mom saw the accreditation.

We had a blast with them for the rest of the competition. Mikael's uncle taught us all about the sports and how the runs were judged and Mikael's mom kept telling us not to move as we were her good luck charms. As I'm sure most Canadians can relate, those were some stressful runs. Now try watching the jumps with one of the athletes families! Pretty positive we didn't breathe for half of the final round. But as we all know it paid off for Alex and Mikael as we for the second time this week brought home gold and silver in the moguls.

The Olympics are a time when all Canadians become even more patriotic. We were wearing Canadian flags as capes and were decked out in red and white. Everyone was congratulating us on the way out and asking to take pictures with us.  A moment to be proud and we were lucky enough to witness it and share with our country. And being spotted on TV a couple times was pretty cool as well.

Day 11: And the medals keep on rolling...

Another successful day here in Sochi! The Canadian team figure skating finished in second place behind Russia to win another silver for Canada!

For us the day was a little more normal except for Doug who had tickets to attend the men's ski jumping in the mountains cluster. Him and Lisa worked at COH in the morning and then he embarked on his trip up the hill. Fortunately he found some friends to go with because we were worried he may get lost on his own. Stacey and Mikaela were fully expecting a call from Moscow with Doug on the other end saying he got on the wrong train. But I guess we should give him more credit as he is back home safe and sound after what sounded like an unreal night.

Stacey was on bar during the night shift and was there to witness a full house of friends and family waiting to welcome and celebrate our medalists from day one. After every medal won by a Canadian, there is a celebration at COH. This is a time for friends and family to gather as well as a chance for media to come in and speak with the athletes.  And for everyone at COH they will tell you that the snowboarders and skiers know how to party.

Mikaela was at the MPC working with the Canadian media and getting ready for days to come. Since our medal was won later in the night there was no press conference to be held. The world of communications at the Olympics relies heavily on medal performances. Its can go from dead quiet to pulling an all nighter with one single event.

#wearewinter #sochi2014

COC volunteers with Scott and Tessa at COH

Repping Canada by the black sea

New mural in COH put up overnight after the opening ceremonies

Patriotic ladies watching the opening ceremonies 

Canada vs Russia 

Torch in the park finally lit!

In front of the rings

Proud to be Canadian. Inside COH

Costal cluster rings 

CBC studios at the IBC 

Patrick Chan press conference 

Touring CBC studios

Finally seeing snow in the mountain cluster 

Checking out some luge tracks 

Day to the beginning. Day one in the park 

Thor doing some celebrating

Official sign in COH

Welcome to the Olympics 

Official Sochi mascots

First view inside the COH

First ones to get accredited

Day 10: Success on the Slopes

Oh Canada! What a day today was for Canadians. For everyone at home the day isn't over yet but for us here is Sochi it has been an action packed day.  Day one and already three medals, and one of each kind none the less. This is the way to start the Olympics with a bang!  Congratulations to Mark McMorris on his bronze medal performance in men's snowboard slopestyle and to sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe on their gold and silver medals in women's moguls.

All of us worked in the COH today. Mikaela was working communications and media, Stacey was selling the goods and the Canada store and Doug and Lisa were setting all the friends and family up with their accreditations. It was an action packed place this evening. From the women's hockey game to the figure skating to the fantastic performance at the ladies moguls.  Bring at Canada house was nothing short if impressive. If this is any indication of what's to come it is going to be one heck of a party!

With so many friends, family and athletes at the house it is difficult to contain all the excitement but they are all just there to relax, grab some beers and spend much needed time together. Jennifer Jones and the Canadian curlers were hanging out tonight watching the hockey game and some of the girls came over after the game to celebrate with loved ones. Even our impressive flag barer, Hayley Wickenheiser, stopped by to check things out with her family.

It has been an exciting and eventful first official day and there is guaranteed to be more to come.  Its another day here in Sochi and fingers crossed for more medals when everyone wakes up in Canada!

Day 9: Let the Games Begin!

Well there is never a dull moment in Sochi and with the game now officially underway I'm sure the party is just beginning! But I guess before we get into all that we should catch everyone up on the last couple of days for the Algonquin crew. Starting all the way back to Tuesday...

Tuesday: Doug went into Sochi to pick up the event tickets he ordered back in Canada.  He had a couple extra seats and it was a fight over who got to attend with him. Luckily everyone was happy in the end and all body parts are still intact. Mikaela was back at CBC for her last day and what a day it was! Since the Canadian team has been arriving all week, Tuesday was a big day for opening press conferences.  The morning started off with the Canadian cowboys' alpine skiing team who are really enjoying the Olympic experience and playing some shinny with the women's hockey team. In the afternoon we had the pairs figures skaters followed by the men. It is a pretty cool atmosphere and when Patrick Chan is talking the room goes silent. After working on some solo interviews with the skaters after the press conference, the long track speed skaters arrived. What a big team that is! There were many onlookers in the room but the most excited by far to see the team was Clara Hughes , who is working with CBC for the Olympics. There was also a chance to tour the CBC studios and take some pictures posing in Ron Maclean's desk.

And if the day wasn't exciting and surreal enough, Mikaela was offered a ticket to the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremonies for that night as a thank you for the work put in. To be one of the firsts to see the biggest spectacle of the Olympics?!? Yes please! The ceremony was awesome! Some pictures were slyly taken until a large security guard saw and yelled loudly in Russian that pictures were not allowed. And now that almost everyone has seen the opening ceremonies, how cool were those giant mascots?!? Pretty realistic!

We will skip Wednesday because other than being minor celebrities on the boardwalk and everyone asking for pictures of the Canadians, it was a pretty low key day.

Thursday: after a week of waiting we finally had our orientation and started our Olympic experience at Canada Olympic House (COH).  We went in the morning and got our uniforms and had a tour around the house and learned some important information. Stacey will be working bar, Doug and Lisa are working access and accreditation (because naturally they are the toughest ones ;)) and Mikaela is working communications. It was a jam packed day and after the first part of orientation we ate some lunch. Not only was it lunch, but it was lunch prepared by Stephen Harper's chef. The Canadian team borrowed him for the month. So we will be eating like "royalty" all month long!

At 1:00pm was the official ribbon cutting and opening of COH.  Many important people spoke and if you look closely in some of the pictures and videos you can see some of our heads poking through in the background. There were some athletes at the opening including Scott and Tessa , who even took a picture with all of the volunteers.

The rest of the afternoon was individual team meetings and gearing up for a commemoration ceremony for French broadcasting legend Richard Garneau who covered 23 Olympic games for Canada. He passed away last year and the IOC was honouring him with a medal. Only 15 have been given out in history and he is the first journalist to receive it.  The event was well done and many members of the media were there to celebrate.

Friday: Opening ceremonies day!!!!!  Excitement was in the air as the opening ceremonies started off the Olympics. We planned on finding a restaurant to watch the ceremonies which proved more difficult than we imagined it would be. Not many places were showing the ceremonies, a completely different feeling than if we were in Canada. After about an hour of searching we went back to our favourite pizza joint to watch the ceremonies. It was a small but packed restaurant and everyone was pretty happy to be watching the ceremonies. We cheered patriotically when Canada marched out and everyone in the restaurant followed, cheering and clapping for Canada. We instantly made some new friends. We returned the favour and cheered when Russia came out.  The ceremonies went well and we all had a good time watching Russian TV with our new friends. A lot of what was happening we didn't understand but we discovered pretty quickly why everyone burst into laughter and cheers when one of the torch bearers come on. Turns out its Putin's girlfriend. It was as funny to us as everyone else in the room.

Tomorrow everyone starts official shifts with the COC and the true chaos begins. Happy Olympics :)

Day 6: The Adventure Continues

Things have been pretty busy and crazy over the last couple of days. On Saturday we met up with some fellow Canadian COH volunteers and headed up to the mountain cluster. We are fortunate as volunteers because we get free access to public transit with our accreditations. We took the train up to the mountains and worked our way from there. Finally it felt like the winter Olympics. There was snow in the mountains and although we have suspicions it wasn't all real it still gave us the feeling of being at home.  It is a pretty big change from the palm trees down in the costal cluster to snow in the mountain cluster.  We were also fortunate that we were up in the mountains on a sunny day. The first one we have seen so far. It wasnt as cold as expected and made for an enjoyable day.

We went up to the Rosa extreme park where they will be doing the snowboard half pipe and where the mountain COH is located. It was pretty surreal to see everything set up and ready for the competition to start. While we were up there, there was an NBC crew on site and Mikaela got interviewed about thoughts on the scenery and atmosphere. So if anyone happens to be in San Diego during the Olympics, you could see a smiley Canadian on TV.  From there we went up to the sliding center where the bobsled, luge and skeleton are taking place. That was by far the neatest part of being in the mountain. Its something that isn't commonly seen at home so it was interesting to see it first hand.

The mountain cluster is similar to the coastal cluster in that many of the buildings are not complete. We like to describe them as "functional" but not done. There are three massive hotel-resorts along the train tracks arriving at the mountains. It appears that only one of them is complete and the other two are still in progress. That means many more spectators are about to be displaced.

On Sunday the group separated a little bit and Mikaela went to volunteer with CBC while Doug , Lisa and Stacey went to check out Sochi.  For those who don't know, the Olympics are actually being held in the town of Adler, a city in the region of Sochi. There is also a city called Sochi and it is about an hour from Adler. During the trip to Sochi it was evident where all the money went to. Sochi is done up with all the bells and whistles and ready to welcome visitors.

Mikaela was able to volunteer with CBC at the IBC, which is a great and educational experience. A chance to experience the broadcast side of sport. While at CBC Mikaela worked on documents for the opening ceremonies for the French radio-canada broadcast. And other than the office being the same temperature as an iceberg, it was a lot of fun.

Evening festivities included Doug and Stacey pulling an all nighter to watch the Superbowl. The game started at 3am Russian time and although they described it as the worst Superbowl they have ever seen it was an enjoyable time for sure.

Today was back to CBC for Mikaela to continue work on the opening ceremonies binders. There is a buzz around the studio and its growing with every moment. More and more reporters and crews are arriving and everything is coming together. Tomorrow night is a run through for the opening ceremonies and everyone is getting last minute details in order. Mikaela toured around the studios and saw where all the athletes would come in for most victory interviews. Neat to see all the behind the scenes action after watching the Olympics for many years.

Today Lika also arrived. She was in our program last year and is from Russia. Lika was able to get a volunteer position with COH as well and we'll be staying with us for a couple of weeks. It was nice and helpful to have a native Russian speaker by out side and sorry everything out for us. Its a full house for the next couple weeks but we are all excited to start orientation on Thursday and get the games started Friday!