Olympic Update
Hi all,
Well here I am, nestled into a comfy loveseat at the local Blenz in the heart of whistler. I just got my accreditation so now I am an official Olympic committee member. Picture ID and all which gives me access to everything including free transportation throughout Vancouver and Whistler for the duration of the Olympic games.
I almost didn't make it yesterday due to a huge delay in LA. Finally after boarding, the pilot comes on and cheerfully tells us that the reason for the delay was that in the wings of the plane there are these little receptors that communicate to each other and this is vital for the plane to be able to land and take off. Well, two of these receptors were not talking so they had to fix it.....but now we were good to go. "Great", I thought to myself, "I'm going to die!." I ordered a beer and thought, "Well, I may as well go out a little happy..." Haha.
The flight was good and smooth and we arrived behind schedule. I hauled ass through the airport and made my second flight where I was placed next to a guy who "let it rip" the whole flight. By the end of the short but smelly flight I was pressed against the window screaming "Air...must have air...!!!!"
Kolly met me and we headed off towards to border to drop off my I-94. We parked at the duty free and I headed into the building: the infamous building that had swallowed me so many times before. "Wait here," I told Kolly, "and if I'm not back in ten minutes, just wait longer." It was like a deserted training death camp in there, unlike the crowded slaughterhouse I was used to. I was called over immediately and incidentally, it was the same officer who had sent me in there on that fateful 29th DEC.
He was very nice and stamped my passport and said "So you're heading north now right?" "Yes," I said with a huge smile. He handed me 'the orange slip and instructed me to hand this to the officer outside. "Almost home free," I thought. The officer outside was a little confused and started firing questions a mile a minute: "Hang on, let me grab you an escort!" "Shit!" I thought. "Here we go again.' I guess he saw that look, of "You're kidding, right? What now?" in my eyes and so he said "You know what? Just go and have a nice night." Don't have to ask me twice; I started booking it across the parking lot and wondered if this was maybe not a good idea, since it did look a little like flight mode, but no rifles were drawn and so I arrived at Kolly's car and off we went: home safe in Canada.
A quick dinner of pasta and we were off again to YVR to catch the bus up to whistler. Phew! Once nestled in the seat heading through downtown, I realized how beautiful Vancouver actually is. I had forgotten. I read my book and soon arrived in Creekside, where I called Shawna from some little diner that I had found to plug in my exhausted phone...turns out it was like 100 feet from her house. She met me outside, we caught up and then hit the couch. "WOW!" I thought. "Here I am."
Yesterday I was overwhelmed with bouts of intense loneliness and sadness at having to leave my life, but this morning I am feeling excited and ready for the adventure to begin. Everyone is soooooo friendly here and it's true what they say: it's one of the most beautiful places on earth!! Like an alpine village somewhere high in the clouds flooded with young, rosy-cheeked, healthy-looking people most of whom have a snowboard attached to their hip and covered in snow. Bright smiles and a haven for partying and fun. Other-worldly. Olympic mania and as it turns out I am in the best venue: the athletes are within reach (rather if I don't feed them , they might not perform to their max. lol. This is a huge responsibility. haha.)
I came across the bobsled team this morning: hilarious and straight out of a movie.
Now I just have to make money and be able to pay my attorney so I can get back to MY Olympic dream. But maybe I will enjoy the ride a bit...
Love you all,
Verena
Well here I am, nestled into a comfy loveseat at the local Blenz in the heart of whistler. I just got my accreditation so now I am an official Olympic committee member. Picture ID and all which gives me access to everything including free transportation throughout Vancouver and Whistler for the duration of the Olympic games.
I almost didn't make it yesterday due to a huge delay in LA. Finally after boarding, the pilot comes on and cheerfully tells us that the reason for the delay was that in the wings of the plane there are these little receptors that communicate to each other and this is vital for the plane to be able to land and take off. Well, two of these receptors were not talking so they had to fix it.....but now we were good to go. "Great", I thought to myself, "I'm going to die!." I ordered a beer and thought, "Well, I may as well go out a little happy..." Haha.
The flight was good and smooth and we arrived behind schedule. I hauled ass through the airport and made my second flight where I was placed next to a guy who "let it rip" the whole flight. By the end of the short but smelly flight I was pressed against the window screaming "Air...must have air...!!!!"
Kolly met me and we headed off towards to border to drop off my I-94. We parked at the duty free and I headed into the building: the infamous building that had swallowed me so many times before. "Wait here," I told Kolly, "and if I'm not back in ten minutes, just wait longer." It was like a deserted training death camp in there, unlike the crowded slaughterhouse I was used to. I was called over immediately and incidentally, it was the same officer who had sent me in there on that fateful 29th DEC.
He was very nice and stamped my passport and said "So you're heading north now right?" "Yes," I said with a huge smile. He handed me 'the orange slip and instructed me to hand this to the officer outside. "Almost home free," I thought. The officer outside was a little confused and started firing questions a mile a minute: "Hang on, let me grab you an escort!" "Shit!" I thought. "Here we go again.' I guess he saw that look, of "You're kidding, right? What now?" in my eyes and so he said "You know what? Just go and have a nice night." Don't have to ask me twice; I started booking it across the parking lot and wondered if this was maybe not a good idea, since it did look a little like flight mode, but no rifles were drawn and so I arrived at Kolly's car and off we went: home safe in Canada.
A quick dinner of pasta and we were off again to YVR to catch the bus up to whistler. Phew! Once nestled in the seat heading through downtown, I realized how beautiful Vancouver actually is. I had forgotten. I read my book and soon arrived in Creekside, where I called Shawna from some little diner that I had found to plug in my exhausted phone...turns out it was like 100 feet from her house. She met me outside, we caught up and then hit the couch. "WOW!" I thought. "Here I am."
Yesterday I was overwhelmed with bouts of intense loneliness and sadness at having to leave my life, but this morning I am feeling excited and ready for the adventure to begin. Everyone is soooooo friendly here and it's true what they say: it's one of the most beautiful places on earth!! Like an alpine village somewhere high in the clouds flooded with young, rosy-cheeked, healthy-looking people most of whom have a snowboard attached to their hip and covered in snow. Bright smiles and a haven for partying and fun. Other-worldly. Olympic mania and as it turns out I am in the best venue: the athletes are within reach (rather if I don't feed them , they might not perform to their max. lol. This is a huge responsibility. haha.)
I came across the bobsled team this morning: hilarious and straight out of a movie.
Now I just have to make money and be able to pay my attorney so I can get back to MY Olympic dream. But maybe I will enjoy the ride a bit...
Love you all,
Verena
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