Closing Ceremonies -- Feb 28th

Neil Young performs at the Closing Ceremonies.



The gold medal men's hockey match at Plaza of Nations.



Me at BC Place prior to the closing ceremony.



My fellow team leaders at UBC Thunderbird after our last shift!



Our last team leader/supervisor meeting the morning of our last shift at UBC.


Saturday (Feb 27th) was a great day, as just Katrina and I headed downtown all afternoon to take in Olympic stuff...Emma had a playdate and Kirk was at work. It was nice for Kat to get to do what she wanted! She doesn't mind the lines, so off we went to check out the Northern Canada Pavilion...we also went to HBC downtown again so that she could pin swap. It was amazing how many people on the street noticed all the pins on her lanyard and gave her free pins. She was pretty stoked! Then inside the Bay, you should have seen her wheel and deal with the pin traders there! She must have 25 or 30 pins now...mostly of the mascots. She got everything she wanted...then we went to the Mint (still a 6 hour line to see the medals, so no chance there)...and ate dinner out.

Sunday I worked the closing ceremonies and unfortunately got stuck outside AGAIN! I was super disappointed. At least it wasn't raining this time. I only had 16 volunteers in our section, even though we were meant to have 35. And two people in my group, as soon as they found out we were outside, ditched us and went home! So, morale wasn't the best to start out the day...but I promised my team I'd get them inside to watch for a little while...and that I did! We went inside at 6pm and were there until almost 7:15pm before having to go back outside to our post prior to egress (when the spectators leave the venue). It was great...we saw Sochi's performance...also were there for the speeches and the standing ovations for the gold medal hockey game and also for the Georgian athlete. Very emotional! We saw Neil Young perform...the flame go out...William Shatner...and had to leave just before Michael Buble (too bad!). I have it all taped, but haven't found time to watch it on TV yet...

Luckily I was able to see the gold medal hockey game with 2 minutes to go (saw the US tie it up) on the big tv screens at Plaza of Nations...was just going for my dinner break then, so watched us score our game winning goal too. Was great! The screaming crowd outside was unbelievable!

Hard to believe the games are over...it is an experience I will never forget and I feel SO incredibly lucky to have been part of it. I met and worked with so many great people from all over Canada and beyond; to be the "face of the Games" was a wonderful experience and I think the 2010 Olympics were a huge success. Volunteering for the Games is something I will always remember, and in fact...I bet I will do it again in my life...who knows, maybe London 2012? Ha ha! At least I still have the paralympics to look forward to. I'll be a "Team Leader" back at UBC again for sledgehockey...

Fireworks video from closing ceremony:

The men's games

February 22nd I worked outside all day. Luckily I knew this ahead of time so dressed for the weather! My team was in charge of the ticketing (they were ticket-takers outside the main entrance) and we were also in charge of giving directions from the lifeguard chairs outside the main entrance. It was a pretty smooth day...I had a GREAT team working for me...I made sure to give them plenty of breaks and we brought them hot chocolate, etc. to keep them warm. It was sunny out and the fans were excited for the games...a good day it was!

February 23 and 24th were probably my best days yet! The men were coming to our stadium to play a qualifying match and a quarterfinal match. Other men's teams (like Team Sweden) came to our arena to practice too. Everyone was pretty excited to see the stars...although we weren't allowed to take pictures!

My area for these two days was the media section and the VIP section. In my opinion, these are the plum positions in the entire arena and I was THRILLED to be working here. My team each day was THRILLED to be working here too, which made it easy to be their "boss." Everyone was happy, everyone got to watch LOTS of hockey...we met broadcasters and members of the media and a few VIPs along the way.

Our games were exciting to watch and even went into overtime. When Team Finland was playing, the President of Finland was there and it was really interesting dealing with her security detail and working with them to make sure she was safe at all times. She almost got hit by a puck, which was pretty funny actually! There was just one game each evening (we are used to two games per day)...so it seemed like easier days all around.

At the end of the 24th, it was a bit sad. Our last game at UBC...we had a farewell volunteer party and lots of pictures were taken and our farewells were said. Many of us were going to be working the closing ceremony and some of us will be back at UBC for the paralympics...but at the end of the day, although we are truly tired and worn out from very long days...it's an experience I will never forget and I am truly lucky to have been part of the 2010 Olympics!

Enjoying the Olympic experience with the family

Kirk and the kids pose at a photo poster near UBC Thunderbird.



Here we all are outside UBC Thunderbird Arena.



Highlight of the game for Katrina was getting an autograph from an athlete after the game.

This is how crowded the bus is!

The Schulz family in our "Go Canada" gear

I'm not sure how I managed to get the entire weekend off of volunteering -- everyone else seems to be working! I realized very quickly to keep this on the down-low...since the first few people I told seemed to be ticked that I didn't have shifts! Ha ha!

So, on Saturday we actually had tickets to the women's game at 2:30...my mom and I took Kat and Emma and Kirk met us there straight from work. It was neat knowing the venue (and where the hidden bathrooms were at intermission)...also cool to know all the workers on our way into the venue. I've made some great friends and they all wanted to meet my girls. It was neat being a spectator at my venue and seeing the high level of service that the "smurfs" (as we are called) gave to the public...we arrived over an hour early for the game and made it through security in plenty of time. Even saw the mascots as we made our way into the building.

After the game we ventured downtown and went to see the Olympic cauldron. It is AMAZING how many people are wandering the streets of Vancouver. The Olympic spirit and pride is something else...I've never seen Vancouver so crowded or so patriotic. We ate dinner after seeing the flame, even ran into some people we knew (including Kat's best friend -- what are the chances of seeing friends from Langley in the thousands of people downtown??). We went to the Royal Canadian Mint -- hoping to see the medals. Unfortunately it was a 6 hour wait...so we went in the shorter line and saw the million dollar coin and held the half a million dollar brick of gold instead. I am hoping we can go back to the mint and see the medals during the paralympics? We'll see I guess.

Then we went to the Bay (HBC) to see the Olympic store (Kat really wanted to shop!). The worker said it was at least an hour wait and the line looked long. It was already 10pm, so Mom and I decided to take Emma home (she had HAD it) and Kirk stayed in line with Katrina. Turns out they got into the store in 10 minutes! Can you believe it? Too bad we didn't stay...but since then I have been back a few times. Amazing how much stuff is there!

Feb 19-23, 2010

Time has been flying by and I just haven't had enough time to sleep let alone blog! I will get some photos up soon, but thought I'd post something quick.

Feb 19th -- was a practice day at UBC Thunderbird Arena...no games. Was very (yawn) boring...quite different when no games on. I had a terrific group of volunteers though and they all stayed very positive and had a good time despite some boredom.

Kirk and I had a sitter at home, so since I was off at 6:15 and he at 7pm, we met in Vancouver...ate dinner and hung out downtown and took in the Olympic stuff. We went to the pyrotechnic show at 9:30pm which is at Robson Square...it is something like you'd see at Disneyland. Amazing! Course, then we got caught in a mosh pit afterwards...it really wasn't safe at all. I was SO glad to not have the kids with us. We were being pushed and shoved, it was a bit scary. Made it out alive (obviously) but from that point on the police started cracking down a bit heavier on all the partiers and closed the liquor stores at 7pm on the weekend...sounds like it helped. People were a bit out of control, I'd say!

Feb 20th -- day off! Woot woot! Kirk, my mom, the girls and I went to a women's hockey game at Thunderbird (cuz I haven't seen enough of those. Ha ha!). We bought the tickets long before we knew I would be posted there...it was very cool to know all the staff and have everyone saying hi and wanting to meet my kids, etc. The game itself was very good/exciting...you'd think I could remember who played but honestly it's all a blur. I think we saw China versus ?? I'll have to update when my brain is functioning fully again (maybe in March, haha!).

After the game we went downtown and saw the Olympic cauldron (very cool)...we walked on Granville street and went to the Royal Canadian Mint...there was a 6 hour lineup to get to see (and hold) the medals...so we didn't get to do that. We did see the million dollar coin, though. Pretty neat. We also held a $500,000 gold bar...pictures to follow. Am hoping to get to the Mint again to see the medals (I hear even the 6 hour wait is worth it, believe it or not!). Perhaps one morning I can go early ... we'll see...apparently the line isn't so bad during the week and earlier in the day. Maybe only 2 hours?

We also went to the official HBC Olympic store but got told the line was an hour long by a worker (and it was 10pm). Kirk and Katrina stayed to shop and my mom and I took my youngest home. Then 10 minutes later Kirk calls to say he's already in the store. Drats! I'll head back there another day too...quite the place!

Feb 21st -- Another day off...how'd I manage two in a row? We watched the USA versus Canada game at our friends' house...was fun to get together but not fun to watch Canada lose!

Feb 22nd -- Back at UBC...my post is outside where the ticket takers are...it's a beautifully sunny day and is a great day to be outside (even though it is a tad cold). We have an awesome team and everyone has a really great day. At the end of the night we are able to watch the overtime period and then the shoot out.

Feb 23rd -- My shift today doesn't start until 3:30pm, so I go into work for a few hours. Was nice to see my desk again! Ha ha! Today the men are playing at UBC (qualifying game...Czech versus Latvia). Kirk ends up getting tickets this afternoon for him and the girls too! My section tonight (and tomorrow too) is the media section. It is a very easy area...I was there last week for the Canada game. We just watched the game...no problems whatsoever. Well, tonight it is different and we have a TON of spectators sneaking into the VIP/Olympic family area and we have to constantly monitor and be the "bad guy" and ask people for their tickets and kick them out of the section, etc. Seriously, all the seats are awesome...not sure why people have to move! The problem with the Olympic friends/family section is that many of them don't come right away or for the whole game so we need to keep the seats open for them as they arrive late...by the end of the night it was pretty full (with accredited people!)...the game goes into a 10-minute overtime and in the end Czech wins. VERY exciting game and Latvia played their heart out...the whole stadium kept cheering for them as they were the underdogs...losing 2-0 until they scored two goals in the last period...tomorrow is my last shift at UBC (then I work Sunday at the closing ceremony at BC Place). Can't believe this part of my experience is almost over!

February 18, 2010

I literally am bagged ... thought I'd post a few pictures. I have had two GREAT days at UBC...yesterday was the best so far. I was posted with my team in the media and VIP section in the bowl...basically I had 10 hosts stationed throughout the stadium in the area where media and VIPs sit...it was a piece of cake. All we did was watch the game (Canada versus Sweden...it was a blow-out...13-1 I think?)...Donald Sutherland was seated in our VIP section. So was John Furlong...and also Sir Richard Bransen. I did talk to Donald Sutherland at one point...some spectators had made their way to where he was sitting at intermission and asked him for his autograph, so he signed their jerseys and posed for pictures. I quietly asked him afterwards if he'd rather us try to keep spectators to the side and he said "No way! It's no problem at all!" He was really nice.

Then during the next intermission, John Furlong comes up to myself and three other volunteers and shakes our hands and pats us on the backs and tells us what a great job we are doing and thanks so much for volunteering...it was really nice to hear it from the head honcho himself! Made my week for sure!

Here are some photos from tonight...Kirk, Mom, Liz and I took Katrina and Emma to the Victory Ceremonies at BC Place...I took the bus over from my 7:30-4pm shift at UBC. I still had my volunteer uniform on, so of course I was asked directional questions the whole way to BC Place! Good thing Kirk told me how to get there, ha ha! We met up with our good friends from Kelowna prior to the night's events, which was neat (they had tickets to the Victory Ceremonies too)...tonight we saw Shaun White get his gold medal for USA...lots of other events were celebrated too. Canada won a silver medal yesterday as well, so that was neat to watch. But, of course, the best part of the night was seeing Christine Nesbitt get her gold medal for Canada. It was SO AMAZING to have BC Place all in red/white and belting out "Oh Canada" -- many people at the top of their lungs! I, of course, had tears running down my face! It was a great moment to be part of...how many people get to see a gold medal ceremony in person??!!


Cheering at BC Place tonight


One of yesterday's games



Posing while the Zamboni cleans the ice

Fun day

Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Today my shift starts at 7:30am and I am to work until 4pm. I don't think I mentioned that yesterday my shift was from 10:30am until 11pm...By the time I take the bus to Kirk's work and collect my car for home...it is probably about a 90 minute trip (one way). LUCKILY, I have some great friends in Vancouver that are letting me crash at their house (it is an 8-minute drive from Kirk's work) on the nights I work late and then have an early morning shift...this allowed me to have 6 hours of sleep last night, rather than 4 hours if I had come home to Langley. Last night I meet another volunteer on the bus from Kelowna...we get to talking and it turns out she works with BUD! My boss from Bridges (when we lived in Kelowna)! What a small world...she takes my photo and emails it to him with a hello from me...

So, I wake up bright and early today and leave my friend's house at 6:30am...it gets me to UBC by 7:29...too close for comfort so next time I do this (Thursday morning)...I'll make sure I leave an extra 15 or 20 minutes earlier.

The early shift is a little different. There are less of us team leaders (only 3 today) and less hosts in general. We have a meeting together at 8am, and they even do a draw to give three pairs of tickets away to tonight's men's Russia vs Latvia hockey game. I'm surprised they include us team leaders in the draw, but I guess it's because we are volunteers too! Three hosts win tickets and they are VERY excited to say the least. It is awesome they do this. I wonder if it's a daily morning ritual? It's a great idea!

I am given section "TRAIN 10" for the morning and it's an interesting area...and all on the same level. My 10 hosts are AMAZING and are all very positive and enthusiastic...spots they are stationed at include the media entrance, near the broadcast post, at the athlete entrance, outside the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) lounge, the Olympic family/friends lounge and entrance, outside the changerooms, etc. The hosts are mostly just checking for accreditation and making sure they only let people through that have the right passes.

Almost immediately I send them for their 15 minute breaks (on rotation) and continue to redeploy from post to post so they all get a chance to see different things and meet different people. One of the hosts is from New Zealand which is pretty neat ... At noon there are more hosts being redeployed and everyone will get a new team and location.

I end up today being "Delta 10" which is a position that roams and helps wherever needed...it was interesting today since I got to see quite a bit of the USA versus Russia women's hockey game. It was 6-0 when I left my shift (they let me go a bit early at 3:45pm)...I was so busy I didn't take my lunch break until 3:30 today...I vow to make sure I get my break in a little sooner because that was a long day without food! Mostly today I helped spectators with issues...finding seats or even finding items they left out at security...I also helped one family of 5 (two parents and 3 kids) get seats together. For some reason they were spread all over the stadium and they had to sit their two eldest kids (ages 13 and 11) together by themselves with a walkie-talkie they brought from home. I told them I'd work on getting them seated together, so found the right supervisor and we were able to get them all in one spot by the first intermission. Mission accomplished!

Tomorrow I start at 10:30am (working until 11pm) so off to bed I go. Maybe I'll get caught up on some missing zzzzz's.

Let the Games begin!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Here are some photos I took (still trying to learn about layout...never seem to have enough time). Scroll through the 4 photos and you'll see today's posting...

(Top photo: competition rink in between games)

(Second photo: a player on the practice rink)

(Third photo: outside UBC Thunderbird stadium)

(Fourth photo: Signage is ALL OVER the city)


My first "official" game day shift at UBC Thunderbird Stadium...very exciting! My shift starts at 10:30am, meaning I drop off the kids (in my volunteer uniform) at school at 8:30am and drive to Kirk's work to park my car. From there I hop on the UBC 99 bus that will take me very close to the arena (about a 5 minute walk)...I end up arriving about 30 minutes early for my shift, which I like. You need time to check-in, they put a sticker on your date card...every few shifts (I think it is on Day 3...5...9...14...21...etc) you get a gift. So, today's my Day 3 and I get a very cool Olympic pin. It's a nice touch.

So, I get handed my folder, am given my radio and am told I'll be "Bravo 30" today...this is a back of house area over 3 floors. At 11am we have a "team leader" meeting and then afterwards I get a chance to look at my floor maps...it will be A LOT of walking for me during the day (since I am constantly redeploying staff and making sure they have breaks and deal with any issues that come up)...I have half an hour to figure it out before my 11 hosts arrive and I need to be able to explain each of their posts to them prior to 12:30pm (when doors open to the public...it's when everyone has to be on post). My supervisor is great and she walks me through my posts quickly prior to the group coming.

12:15pm...the hosts come to me about 30 minutes later than I thought they would. So, now I'm dropping them off at posts and quickly describing their jobs. Many of them (probably 8 of 11) have not worked back here before...and it is a very disappointing area to work since you will not see a single part of the hockey games. I can tell some of them are not that happy, but I'm hoping they will all make the best of it.

Our areas of coverage include (floor one): the athlete's changerooms, the athlete's workout lounge/facility, the referree's locker room; (floor two): the anti-doping area, the practice ice rink, the caterer area; (floor 3): the workforce area (lunchroom) and stairwell to the main concourse.

The day goes by pretty quickly and I learn that the post that is in the practice ice area needs to have a new host every 30 minutes (it's just too cold for them to stay there much longer). So, that keeps me very busy...there are a few good areas for the hosts...they are able to watch teams practicing, which is cool...the area near the referree locker room is neat (and there's a TV to watch the game too)...the area outside the athlete's changerooms are cool because they run around, warm up, play pickup games of soccer, etc. Some of these athletes seem so incredibly young. I think some of the Swedish team looks to be about 15 years old?! I have no idea how old they are, but they do look very young! At one point in the afternoon (prior to the game), the Swedish team belts out a song at the top of their lungs while they are in a group huddle (with music blaring in the background). It is a really neat moment that I assume they do prior to each game...it's obviously a real bonding moment for these athletes and it's neat that we are actually able to watch it!

I talk to 3-time Canadian Olympic medalist, Hayley Wickenheiser very briefly as she asks me some questions about where she can warm up. Pretty neat...Sports Illustrated named her number 20 of the top 25 toughest athletes in the world. From her warm-up regiment, it's not surprising!

On the whole, I have a fairly good day. I even had hugs from Quatchi and Miga (two of the mascots...then one of the mascots apparently came looking for me later and left me a sticker...told someone to tell me it was from my "boyfriend"). Ha ha! I think my youngest daughter would be very impressed if I could get myself in a picture with one of the mascots, so I do...but with someone else's camera. They promise me they'll email it to me once they are back home (she is from Ontario).

My day isn't all rosy...It is challenging dealing with the various personalities and with volunteers who have given up a good chunk of their life to be here ... so they have some very high expectations about the type of role they would like to do. Unfortunately in this area of the arena, it's not always exciting. But the good thing is that they will never get put in the same section two days in a row...you find there are certain hosts you really hope to work with again on a different day...they are just so full of energy and happiness and excitement. It makes my job a lot easier if they are pumped!