I say to myself each morning...please just let me learn all the lessons for today....let me be present and in tune with what is presented and give me the chance to grow!!!
Dressage trainer Verena Sonstenes is at Whistler managing the Olympic Lounge. Read her account of Olympic life, plus thoughts about dressage, horses, skiing, snowboarding, snow and of course, Whistler itself.

Olympic Update Continued

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Hi again,
Yes indeed I am typing on my laptop and have just returned to my little spot at Blenz cafe. I finished my training, which consisted of a lengthy introduction and food safe training. Then a gondola ride up the mountain where some of our posts will be. Our locations change daily, sometimes down at the base of the mountain or partway up at the finish line where we receive the athletes and keep their family and friends comfortable with hot food and beverages. Then there's one more post at the top where the men and woman begin their hopeful gold medal sprint down the mountain. Lots of strict instruction not to ask for autographs and only speak when spoken to. After all , those are tense moments before their descent.

How thrilling! I was frozen solid and am only now beginning to thaw after my $4.25 small hot chocolate, which I gulped down in two swigs.... but it did reach my toes and now I am getting that nice tingling sensation indicating that my blood has indeed started moving again.

I can't get over how gorgeous it is up here. The houses all tucked into the mountain sides, the roofs so covered in snow that it's a wonder they don't cave in under the weight. Every direction you turn there are gondolas that lead up the mountain sides and the slopes lead literally right into the coffee shop......in fact, here comes one now...ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

Then from one slope which lands in Creekside, the eager skiers and snowboarders pile into the bus which will take them back to Whistler village to do it all again. What a life...I had no idea this world existed. It doesn't even feel like Canada. Everywhere I turn there are Brits, Aussies, Germans, Dutch, Russians, Japanese, Chinese, Hungarians, Spanish, a couple Americans and a few locals in the mix. Oh, how I'm soaking up the different languages! It feels strangely like home....even though I do feel like a fish out of water with my little pumas, jeans and no hat or scarf, slipping and sliding in and out of snowbanks. I only packed one outfit since I will be heading to Vancouver again tomorrow.

Shawna, Aarons's sister, is simply a gem. There's a special at the pub tonight: pint of beer and pizza for 10 bucks...count me in.... What a great group of people up here.

Anyway, I will keep this one short: I have to start on my visa stuff.

love, Verena
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Olympic Update

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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
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