These observations of the final day of the Winter Olympics come to us from Gail Screaton, AAA/CAA Account Manager for western Canada.

Well, the games are really over - I think that I'll be going through 'Olympic withdrawal' this week!

Wasn't the hockey game a nailbiter yesterday?  I was already in downtown Vancouver at the time, meeting friends for late lunch before the closing ceremonies.  All the bars were full - we were able to get an outside table at one place, it was warm enough and turned sunny (a total bonus, as they'd predicted more rain.) We couldn't see the TV really well for the last overtime minutes, but knew immediately when the whole street 'exploded' into cheers that we'd won!  Our patio table ended up being like a 'viewing platform' for the nonstop parade of partiers yelling Go Canada, We're Gold, and just plain yelling!  Haven't seen that many Canadian flags in years (I brought one to wave!)  What a riot!  It was so much fun to be down there!  And that wasn't even in one of the most crowded areas of downtown.  A busload of orange-clad Dutch got out to join the party for about 45 minutes - they were celebrating as loudly as we were (and probably also wondering what kind of a weird hockey-mad country we were!)

Then - the closing ceremonies!   What a thrill!  But make no mistake, it was hard work too.  Had to don a white cape (we all did, made for a pretty white backdrop for all of you out there in TV Land - like with the opening ceremonies.)  Then we had to know when to hold up one coloured card, then the other colour.....oh, the stress of it all, ha ha!  Each section had its own 'cheerleader' to let us know what to do - but sometimes we just got so busy watching all the fun stuff.

Then, the  pièce de résistance - the moose antlers with the flashing lights on them.  Yes, I am now the proud owner of a set of plastic foam moose antlers.  We all had to don them during the 'I Am Canadian' set - the one with the huge mounties, inflatable moose, lumberjacks, hockey players, etc. on the arena floor.  A proud Canadian moment indeed, all 60,000 spectators decked out in very kitschy antlers. 

I had a seat on my own - but ended up sitting beside a girl from Japan who was in Canada for the first time, and a young guy from Montreal who'd been volunteering at the Francophone Pavilion during the Games.  The three of us ended up having a riot.  The Japanese girl helped us to wave my Canadian flag, and we cheered when the Japanese athletes came in.  Makes you feel pretty inadequate language-wise though - the French Canadian from Montreal spoke fantastic English, and the Japanese girl spoke fluent English - and a bit of French.  And here I was with my few words of very rusty French - makes me want to take classes again to learn more. I now want to see the ceremonies on TV - TV picks up the detail, and has background info.  But nothing could take the place of being part of the 'energy' in BC Place.
 
Some funny incidents - when the crowds were being 'herded' into BC Place - one of the volunteers yelled 'this group to the Left, please' - and it happened to be a group of Russians.  (well, okay, we thought it was funny.) Then, on the way through Yaletown (part of downtown, near BC Place) - an impromptu street hockey game had broken out, being cheered on by the police!  Police were from all over - saw OPP, QPP, RCMP from all over, and some Peel Regional guys last night.  The police were really great, actually - only hassling people who were really causing a disturbance, and I didn't see any of that.  Rode the Canada Line train with a group of people in Belgium uniforms, and also some with Czech Team attire . . . plus Russians, they are everywhere.  I am really going to miss them when Vancouver gets back to 'normal.'

And to all of my American friends – you really had us going when your team scored that goal less than ½ minute from the end of the game.  There were some people in the crowd carrying American flags, and they actually partied it up just like the rest after the game.  Good sports, you guys, good sports!  And you did win the most medals – well done! (But remember the fine print – your neighbours to the north won more gold medals than anyone.)

Cheers,
Gail Screaton