15 things (and one bonus)

15 things that made for such an amazing, wonderful, memorable, delightful Olympics week in Vancouver. And an honourable mention.

1. My sister. Hostess to many MKs over the course of the weekend (and an MK herself, oddly). Shopping companion. Dining mate. Hockey connoisseur. I don't think I show her enough appreciation.

2. Other family - a nice lunch of dim sum with my brother Carlos. I'm sorry Mark couldn't make it. I'm sorry we didn't get up the coast. I apologize a lot for something that was a good time, I know. Sorry.

3. Chris. Read his blog already! Also, he'll kill me, but I will set him up with anyone who meets my exacting standards for awesome enough to be his match.

4. Brian and Giuseppe. We love these guys no end, and we're glad we get Chicago and Vancouver time with them. Bonus points to Brian for his past Olympics experiences to share with us. Bonus points to Giuseppe for introducing me to Dan Mangan's stuff and then for being so adorkably tongue tied around the man.

5. Dan Mangan.
OK, I wasn't wild about the woman who was on before him (OK, I was so unenthralled as to sit reading the Globe and Mail - a TORONTO newspaper, for crying out loud! - on my iPhone while I prayed for her to be done her set), but the man put on an awesome show. Among many wonderful moments, I loved that he halted "Pine for Cedars" to tell us how, when he was touring Australia, he had to explain the lyric about winning a home in a hospital lottery. So BC. Love him.

6. This sweater on me. I never said I wasn't shallow.

7. This scarf on me. In fact, I'm very very shallow.

8. Coffee at Safari. If I can't have a flat white, then this will do nicely, though I realize I forgot to go to the place Janet recommended. In May, when we return.

9. Seeing Canada's first gold medal on home soil - EVER! - draped around Alexandre Bilodeau's neck, and having tears running down my cheeks during O Canada.

10. Getting to dress in Swedish drag and be a Svenska fan for one hockey game.

11. The First Nations presence around the Games (photo from the Coast Salish carvers in a house at the Art Gallery). Wonderful, special. I've commented already. Conrad and I ended up buying a print from the Edzerza Gallery to keep in our Vancouver home. I'm stunned that Alano Edzerza designed the really cool Netherlands uniforms. Wow.

12. Curling. Never really played it, still love it. How can you not love a sport that opens sessions with a round of bagpipes?




13. The houses and pavilions. Best by far was Canada's Northern House, but I think I actually liked Maison du Quebec most for its entertainment and proximity, its' blue glow at night.

14. Vancouver in the spring sunshine. Yes, it was spring. Yes, I am still bitter about being back in wintry Chicago.

15. Sharing in it all with this man. My Valentine the night of the photo, but so much more, and every single day. Thanks SB!


Honourable mention (no photo): meeting Mark and Maureen, even fleetingly. Marie may be the one hosting people, but I felt more than a little pleased at having been able to lend our condo for one night to the brother and sister-in-law of a good friend. I hope they enjoyed their Olympics experience and greatly!

hockey

My sister Marie gave me and Conrad a very generous gift two Christmases ago: tickets to go with her to see an Olympic hockey game.

OK, I'll pander a moment to stereotypes: I don't follow hockey (or football, or baseball) much. Fleetingly - enough to have some conversation about rankings or standings. So yes, let's make jokes about the gays not following sports for a quick moment.

Got that out of your system?

Good. Now re-set. I do like sports, a great deal. Hockey, though, eludes me. I never played it as a child (I barely skated at all - non-frozen water is my medium). I don't know the rules. It always looks to me like a bunch of people skating randomly with no set plays, no strategy. Chaos and chance. It alternately bores me and bugs me because of those aspects.

Heresy from a Canadian, right? Hey, at least I can get a grasp on curling!

Still, live events are always different than watching them on television, I like spending time with my sister when we're here in Vancouver, and as it turned out, she had picked up some pretty good seats.

Two other things:

• Conrad had never been to a hockey game - I've seen NHL games in a few cities myself.
• The Swedes were playing, and so we knew who we were rooting for. In fact, because two star Swedish players are also Canucks, it was like a home game for the Swedes against Germany. And, certainly there were German flags and face painting in the arena, but the yellow and blue of Sweden was oh-so-visible.

Conrad and I left curling (more on that in another post) early to get to the game. Loads of people being funneled through check points, but it all kept flowing, and in short order, we were with Marie and her friend Gavin. Regalia on, a light snack (no beer for us, but Marie enjoyed her own cup, and we stole some of her pretzel later).

And then the game.














You know what? It wasn't a great game. That sounds ungracious, but I think that Marie and others might agree. The teams were tight in the first period. Sweden scored the only two goals in the second. In the third, Germany got aggressive, but to no avail.

It still looked a little chaotic out on the ice to me. Oh, and I wish the Kiss Cam operators would realize two things:

• not all men and women sitting together are romantically involved
• those two guys or two women sitting together might be romantically involved and might want to show it

Getting back off my soapbox, I have to say that was a good capper for our Olympic events. Our team won. We had great seats. We have the photos and memories.

Thanks Marie!