Getting Ready For the 99th Grey Cup

So back in the summer, when I was volunteering at Vancouver Summer Live, I happened to run into someone I'd volunteered with at the 2009 World Police and Fire Games, on the transportation team. (We were dispatchers for the fleet of cars for VIPs.) We shared a shift together checking in Volunteers at Summer Live and in between waves of people, we chatted about where we'd been volunteering since. Gerald mentioned that the Grey Cup was coming to Vancouver and they were looking for people. When I went home I went online and signed up.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, which was the orientation for the transportation team. We met in an office building downtown. The first half of the session was going over the volunteer and driver's manuals. I didn't see Gerald (I think he's involved in a different department) but I did spot Laurie, whom I also met at the World Police & Fire Games and who volunteered at the Stadium during the 2010 Games as well. We keep running into each other-I guess we're diehards! It's kind of nice to have a friendly face in the crowd.

Afterwards, we went upstairs to get out photo taken with the Grey Cup. Now this isn't something I would necessarily normally do, but they had arranged for this to happen and after the Grey Cup is over, they will be sending us our photographs as a thank you. I have to say that it was kind of cool to get to touch a 99 year old piece of Canadian history.

(The door leading to the room where the Grey Cup was housed and where we picked up our uniforms.)

While it's treated with a certain amount of respect, the Grey Cup is not like the Stanley Cup-there's no guy (that I saw anyway) travelling around with it to guard it and you do not have to put white gloves on to touch it. In fact, when they took the photo, I had my arm around it. While the Stanley Cup is like a flashy diva, the Grey Cup is more like a cherished old friend.

After the photo was taken, I rounded the corner to pick up my uniform. They gave me an orange bag the size of a small suitcase loaded with goodies in the official Grey Cup colours: orange, white and black . When I got home, I unpacked it. Inside was a white jacket an orange toque, and a black and orange fleece, made by Reebok. They are really nice-I especially like the jacket.

 

My fleece is miles too big-the sleeves are about 8 inches too long and it fits me like a dress, so I will have to exchange it for a smaller size.(Which shouldn't be a problem.)

 

The toque is adorable and cozy. The little logo you can see is a commorative pin. (I'll show a close up a little further on in this post.)

Anyway, there are going to be a ton of fun things to do at the Grey Cup Festival. There's going to be a big parade on the Saturday and the Grand Parade Marshall is local boy, Corey Monteith who plays Finn on GLEE. There's the Vanier Cup, which is the college division football final happening on the Friday night of Grey Cup weekend. They generously gave each volunteer a pair of tickets for that and the hometown team UBC has a good chance of being in that final. They have one more game to play until we know for sure.

There will also be pancake breakfast-one put on by the Firemen (for charity, I believe) and two by The Calgary Stampede (both Friday & Saturday) for free. There's a ton more things happening-parties, music, a cheer off (by CFL Cheerleaders), contests and so much more. There will be something for everyone and the festival is family friendly. If you're local and want more info, you can view events by date or events by venue. The festival homepage is here.

Sunday afternoon is the Grey Cup game and right now the BC Lions have an excellent shot at being the Western Division champions, so it may be the hometown team playing! *fingers crossed* The only thing that would make it even more exciting is if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers get to represent the Eastern Divison. (Of course then there's going to be trouble 'cause if the Bombers are playing, you know I'm going to root for them. You can take the girl out of Winnipeg, but you can't take Winnipeg out of the girl! I root for the Lions as long as the Bombers are not involved!) There are 2 games to go till we know who's playing for the Grey Cup.

Here's a close up of the pin, as promised. It depicts BC Place Stadium as it appears now that we have the fancy retractable roof on it, along with the mountains and ocean, which are synonymous with Vancouver. We're raising the roof with the 99th Grey Cup-it will be the first major event to take place since the renovation.

Well will you look at that-if you didn't know me, you'd think I was some big football fan or something! Truth is, while I enjoy going to see the odd game, the Olympics are really my sports thing. I volunteered for the 99th Grey Cup because I love this city and it's my pleasure to serve and give back. I always learn alot and I love helping people. The delicious irony of giving is that the more you give, the more you get to keep for yourself and the best part of what I get to keep for myself are the memories of some very wonderful experiences. For me, those experiences are what make my life so rich.

The Countdown is On!

Yesterday evening I went to pick up my Torchbearers' uniform. Here's the logo on the back of my jacket.

One side of the left arm...

...and the other side. Colourful, isn't it?

These are the special mittens. You can see they look just like the red mittens everyone bought during the Olympics, but with two very important differences:

The maple leaves are made of grippy rubber instead of being fuzzy...

...and the top side of the mittens bear the Paralympic symbol, the Agitos. (Latin for "I move".) These are going to be rare as hen's teeth because they are only for the Torchbearers and won't be sold in stores.

Here's my toque.

A close up of the patch on the toque.

This is my official leg of the 24 Hour Torch Relay. Unbeknownst to me, VANOC used the 24 hour clock when handing out the relay times. You can imagine how surprised I was to discover I was running my leg at 2:37 a.m. !! YIKES! This means I have to be up at midnight to make the collection time of 1 a.m.!

It's going to be a really long (but exciting!) day for me because on Friday afternoon, I have been invited via the Mayor's office to a special Paralympic Torch Relay celebration at LiveCity Downtown in the afternoon and then we have tickets to the Opening Ceremonies in the evening. Somewhere between doing the torch relay and the celebration, I will need to fit a nap in!

They gave us all our info in these cool folders. I will be recycling mine into my Olympic/Paralympic ROD journal, which is in the works.

Inside was some postcards and stickers, which are also destined for my ROD journal.

When I went to pick up my uniform, there were a ton of people there to do the same thing. People in wheelchairs, people with guide dogs, local celebrities (I stood next in line to Mi Jung Lee, a local news reporter, who is also running a leg in the relay.) and everyday folks. It looked like a nice cross-section of British Columbians were chosen to participate in the Relay.

I also, by chance got to meet the Torchbearer who will be lighting my torch. His name is Kevin and he lives in my community. He's #146, I am #147.

I am really excited that in 16 hours, I will hold my torch in my hands and walk it into the official Paralympic history books. I know the moment is going to be fleeting ( as all the best moments of life are) but I will be savouring every second. Hopefully my guys will be able to get good photos and perhaps capture it on video as well. For one brief moment, I will literally get to be a luminary.

Back soon with a story to tell. It doesn't get any better than this!

One Week Left!

Here I am trying on my uniform again! Well when I say again, I really mean for the first time, officially. The last time I had one on, was before Xmas, when I went to accreditation to pick up my ID and to determine what size uniform I needed. This is the first time I've put all my pieces on to make sure they fit comfortably. I ended up having to chase down a belt for my pants because they were just too loose in the waist. (And no, I am not complaining!)

I spent this evening with a red Sharpie labelling everything with my name. I feel like I am 12. I can see labelling clothing I am going to have off and on, like my jacket and vest and toque, but my pants?!? I only have one pair and I cannot imagine a situation in which I would inadvertently leave my pants somewhere! ...And if I could imagine such a situation, I am guessing that not having pants on might be the least of my worries! Anyway, pants are duly identified, just in case. Maybe I should add "If found, please return to the embarrassed half-naked girl" on the tag. *laughs*

I've packed my official backpack with all the stuff I need for venue training tomorrow. It's quite a monster of a backpack-I've never had one this big, as I tend to like to travel light. They've made the limited edition Volunteer backpacks extra roomie because we have to have on us at all times-there's nowhere to store anything-no lockers or anything like that.

So what am I going to be packing around? Well let's see....

-my spare shirt, vest, jacket & toque when I am not wearing them

-a pair of heavy duty gloves

-a pair of spare socks

-my accreditation (ID)

-the Olympic pocket guide

-my iPod (Don't leave home without it!)

-cell phone

-pocket money

-official steel mug

-medication

-toothbrush, paste, lip balm & breath mints

-sunglasses clips

-house keys

-umbrella

-wetwipes ('cause I hate that sani-gel stuff!)

-Kleenex (I maintain a 3 pack minimum at all times.)

and if I can manage a wee bit more weight, my journal. (I think I will sneak it in.) I am trying to keep what I am hauling at a minimum, as the less stuff I have, the less time I will have to spend going through security screening. Less is more!

If it were up to me, I would just stuff everything in my jacket pockets and not have a bag, but if I take my jacket off, when I am inside the venue, I have to have somewhere to put it. I'm a girl who could happily do without a purse or a bag, but that's just not going to work this time around.

The steel mug I mentioned was a part of our welcome package. We're not allowed to bring any food or beverages into the venues (alas, no Starbucks!) but they gave us these steel mugs and will be providing our meals, snacks and drinks. Believe me, I am pleased to not have to pack a lunch-that's my least favourite chore ever!

I am going to test drive my steel mug tomorrow. It has a handy-dandy clip built into the handle so you can attach it to your backpack and have it dangle. I want to know if you can do this with liquid in it or not...the instructions never said. I'm going to test it out with water before I try something hot! I also need to find some sort of sticker to put on it, so I know it's mine because there will be a zillion just like it lying around. I'll have to look and see what I have handy.

On the news tonight they were talking about all the FREE entertainment that's going to be available while the Games are on. If you are interested, the website with all the details is here. You can get a run down of all the "houses" that are being hosted by different countries and/or sponsors and local city venues. The site tells you where each is located and what type of entertainment is being showcased. I am simply stunned by the length of the list and am already wondering how I can squeeze in enough downtime to visit a few of the houses. I might have to give up sleeping!

In addition to that site, our local station, Global TV is doing an excellent job providing Games related information on their website, which you can find here. There are tons of tabs to click and you can spend hours learning about the Olympic & Paralympic Games, our city and so much more!

I am so excited that the world is literally coming to my backdoor. I had just a small taste of what it was going to be like during the World Police & Fire Games in the summer and it just made me hungry for more. I met some incredible people, made some wonderful memories and I felt very blessed to have been able to serve during those games. I know that these games are going to be equally as special and inspiring.

You know, I think Kleenex should be my official sponsor because it's like this: I don't care what country you are from. I will cry happy tears for you, whether you medal or not. Seeing people having the courage to live their dreams moves me. THAT is what the Games are about.

ONE WEEK from today, my Games begins!

Suiting Up!

Well the day has finally arrived! I went and got my Olympic ID and uniform this afternoon!

Yes, this is the place!

I bought myself the official backpack. There's nowhere to store personal items at the venues, so they came up with these backpacks for us to keep our things with us at all times. This was not included as part of our uniform, so I paid $55.

The backpack has a zipper that you unzip to remove the Olympic rings and underneath is the Paralympic agitos. They designed it so that you can covert the backpack and uniforms and use them for both games. This backpack is a limited edition, available only to volunteers. It's quite nice-lots of big pockets and comfy straps.

This is the polar fleece vest.

And the stitching on the back.

Here's the jacket. (Sorry if the pics are dark-it's night time here, so no natural light in my studio!) The jacket has a ton of pockets and a nice deep hood. What you can't see is that there is a wave pattern on the surface of the jacket. I have to look closely to see it.

This is one of the removable patches on the jacket, which gets replaced with the agitos for the Paralympic Games.

The back of the jacket has iridescent markings. Again, the rings will be converted for the Paralympics with a snap on conversion kit bearing the agitos.

Shirt #1 is plain turquoise.

The back.

Shirt #2 has the wave pattern on it.

The back.

The pants are navy with turquoise stitching. These are the city pants which are unlined.

The toque...

...which says "Vancouver 2010".

The accreditation booklet that explains the ID passes and related information.

The pocket guide which is chock full of information we need as volunteers. It has everything from maps, to sports info, to relevant venue info. It's REALLY well put together and in addition to be useful for the games will also make a great keepsake.

My goodies. On the far left is a peek at my ID pass. I didn't want to show it all because it has personal info on it, but you get the gist. It has a pretty lanyard that it hangs from. This will get me into my venue as well as on public transit for free during the games.

They gave us these reusable cloth bags to haul our booty home in.

My last stop at the accreditation venue was a booth where a volunteer greeted me in French with "Parlez-vous Francais?". I responded with "Oui, je parle un peu de Francais." which apparently was the appropriate response he was looking for. He gave me the "Bonjour" pin, which means anyone looking for someone who understands French at the games will know they can talk to me.

French and English are not only the two official languages of Canada, but also of the Olympic movement. I was born in St. Boniface, which is the largest French speaking population outside of Quebec. I started French in kindergarten. While I haven't used it in years, I understand enough to be helpful. I also have basic Spanish, which I picked up from living in Barcelona, Spain. It will be really nice to put my language skills to use! I used them a bit in the summer at the Police & Fire Games. It's always nice to see someones face break into a smile when they realize you understand them in their own language.

As part of our welcome kit, we got this great steel mug.

The mug has this latch mechanism in the handle so you can clip it onto your backpack. It also locks the liquid in, if your mug is full so it won't spill. I will get alot of use out of that!

They also gave us a packet of special postcards. I haven't pulled them all apart to look at them all yet, but I like what I did see!

They also included a pin. This is the second one they've given me. I got one a year ago when I went to the initial training.

So...that's it now till the end of January when I go to do the venue specific training. I think at that point they will give us the yellow sleeve that we slip over our right arm to indicate we're events services personnel. (I refer to it as "the sexy yellow sleeve".)

Only 47 more days till my Olympics begins! February 8th (when they open the venue for rehearsals) is not that far away! It seems more real now, having put the uniform on and being issued my ID. I am so excited!!

I have one more thing to share. When I opened up my jacket to see what kind of pockets were inside, I found this patch stitched on the left hand side, right where it will rest on top of my heart. It says "With Glowing Hearts. Des Plus Brillant Exploits." which is a line from our national anthem in both languages and the theme of our Olympic games. It was like a little secret, tucked there for each of us to find.

It made me all teary to know that each one of us, who has committed ourselves to serving our country and the athletes and citizens of of the world for this games, will wear this sentiment close to our hearts. It's perfectly reflective of the quiet patriotism that is so much a part of who we are as Canadians.

My heart is glowing with anticipation. Bring on the Games!

2010 Uniforms Unveiled!

Last night I went to the unveiling of the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic volunteers' uniforms. As you can see, the official colour of the uniforms is a beautiful, bright turquoise. The colour is representative of the sea to sky corridor that links Vancouver to Whistler, which are the host city and the host mountain of the games.



Each volunteer with be given 2 long sleeve t-shirts, navy pants, a toque, a jacket and polar fleece vest. The uniform is created for layering, which is typical of how we dress in British Columbia. We have a joke here that goes like this: "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." Our weather can change on a dime.



There are 2 types of pants-city and mountain. The mountain pants are lined for warmth for those volunteers that will be working outdoors. The city pants don't have the lining and volunteers working at indoor venues will have those ones.

Here is an example of one of the shirts. I saw two kinds-one was plain and the other had a tone on tone print of the wave pattern that is part of the 2010 logo. He is wearing the city pants.

This guy has on one of the polar fleece vests and the mountain pants.

The Olympic Games symbol is the rings and the Paralympic Games symbol is the agitos. Because both games are completely separate events, there was the need for the uniforms to reflect the identity of each games. They came up with an ingenious way of converting the uniforms. On the back of each jacket are snap fasteners and there is a panel (shown above) that snaps on over top of the Olympic Rings which are printed on the jacket. In addition, there is also a separate patch that will velcro on to switch out the Vancouver 2010 Olympic emblem for the Paralympic emblem!

There's a good shot of the jackets here if you want a closer look.

There is also a backpack made exclusively for the volunteers, which can be purchased if we want one, for $50. (It's optional and the only part of the uniform that isn't free.) It's in blues and greens with the wave pattern on it. The section on the front that has the Olympic rings zips off and again, changes over to the Paralympic agitos symbol.



There are three specific staff groups that have their own unique colours within the uniform, allowing for high visibility. The purple armed uniforms are for anti-doping personnel.

The red armed uniforms with a white cross signify medical personnel.

And finally, the yellow armed uniforms signify events services personnel. The yellow arm is a simple sleeve that just slides up over the t-shirt sleeve and can be removed. This is the uniform I will have!

The pants (both kinds) have lots of big pockets as does the jacket, eliminating the need for a purse, which I am happy about! Footwear and gloves are whatever you choose.

So there you have it! Aren't these great uniforms? I think they were really well thought out in terms of utility, comfort and suitability for local weather conditions. I can't wait to get mine and try it on-that will be happening about a month from now.

When I arrived at the venue this evening, I ran into a good number of my transportation team from the World Police & Fires Games! There were about 10 of us there. Everyone, with the exception of me is working transportation for the Games, but that's perfectly okay-I think I'm going to love what I will be doing. I just thought it was funny that they all signed up to work transpo again!

As an added bonus to my evening, on the way home, I was waiting for the seabus and who should walk into the waiting area and sit down two people over from me but David Suzuki! Of course everyone was staring because in these parts he's a pretty big deal. (West Coasters being tree hugging granolas and all.) He just sat quietly and read his book while we waited. No one bothered him. That made me happy-it was a nice end to my day.

I had a good time last night-I met some new people and I am so excited for the games. As the head of Workforce (the volunteer part of VANOC) pointed out, there are just 17 Mondays left till the games begin! (That got a collective gasp from the audience.) If your wondering how many days from today that is, it's exactly 121 till Feb 12th and the opening ceremonies! I am counting the days!