DAY OFF!

Looking at the clock and seeing 10:42am, while still in bed and slightly hung from last nights parties is making me REALLY really happy. Also it's about 8 degrees here in Whistler, the sun is shining and the sky is so blue it looks like my VANOC smurf suit. Today is my day off.!!

The past two days have been like all the rest: a party, busy, crazy and amazing. I somehow ended up taking an impromptu day off two days ago when I accidentally found myself at a party in Creekside (a neighborhood 15minutes by bus from the village). I say accidentally because I was planning on going to bed early and getting to work on time. Instead I ended up at Moe Joes with a slew of Australian and British ski bums, dancing a lot. BUT as it turns out in volunteer land you can sometimes just not show up. sort of. My supervisor did call to make sure I was still alive, luckily I did have an alibi of going to the clinic because I actually had to

go. That night I was able to attend the medal ceremony in Whistler celebrating the victories of the German biathlon athletes, and the cross country winners. It's not hard to believe that my roomies have been extremely, extremely happy these past couple of days - Germany is kicking some serious butt. Feist was the performer for the celebration. I wa

tched live, front and center.!! She was the free concert for the night, and after dancing crazily with a couple of German dudes I found my bitties at the front of the stage. Feist is a brilliant performer, it was soo soulful it left me all musically inspired.

I did make it to work the next day to be positioned at entry. Entry entails that you welcome in all of the spect

ators with bright smiles and Hellos or Bonjours! It also means that we have all the answers to al

l the questions like: Where's the best spot to watch cross country? I have been on entry for most of my shifts. I was a little bummed I wasn't amidst the action the sports but I love meeting all t

he people. Everyone has a story and everyone wants to chat or take pictures with us. A man from Norway gave me a flag the other day because we were chatting about sailing. It's this crazy flag that I am still googling to find out where it's from. I was also complimented on my entry abilities and was told to I'd make a great Walmart Welcomer. I hope my Queen's degree gets my farther than that... At least I have a skill, right?

After shift yesterday I made it to the Luge double finals. It took place at the Whistler sliding center at the midpoint of the Blackcomb Gondola. It was so cool to see a live event, it's a lot different from how it looks on T.V. mostly because you can only see the athlete for a split second in luge, they go sooo freakin fast! You need the televised version to be able to see anything. The crowds are what make it though, everyone is so proud of there country it's unbelievable. It's endless cheering and excitement from all parts of the track. Luckily I walked the entire track and saw it from all parts - sooo cool. Best seat was at the finish line! It is going to be bizarre to return home and not question when the next event is on. My life is entirely Olympic now, I come home after shift and turn on the T.V. and catch any sport that's on. Not to mention that all of the village has massive screens televising all the sports.

As for last night, we made it to our usual bar Brandy's with a crew of Brits and my usual chickies. Before that, however, we met the German Nordic combined team in the line at Buffalo Bills - locals night was at Bills. Unfortunately it was a $16 cover charge and when you come from Kingston and only pay $5 it's pretty difficult to pay such a steep price. The highlight of the night was meeting the two crazy German twins who are always very very drunk at the events, and are the most nationalistic. However they have a soft spot for Canada and will make sure you know it "We don't like Canada, WE LOVE CANADA"... they're awesome.

As for today, I think I'm just going to enjoy the sun, and doing nothing. I only have a few more days in Whistler left, which is a really wack realization. I'm going to miss this place like crazy.