I love the Olympics. Always have, and always will, unless they begin killing puppies as an olympic event, but I digress.
Me at a pretty neat outdoor art installation. During the day it was okay, but at night it was magical, as every piece of art lit up with the Olympic spirit.
This past weekend, me and two wonderful other women took advantage of our proximity to Vancouver and explored the magic that is the Olympic games. All of us were taken aback by the overwhelming amount of Canadian Spirit we encountered. I put that in capital letters because it is well deserved; they had a national spirit like I have never seen. They had congratulatory messages for Canadian medal winners on the announcement boards in the subway. People drove down the street blaring horns when the first Canadian won a gold medal. Every business had some sort of Canadian flag or maple leaf. One of us spent the whole two days taking pictures of every awesomely dressed Canadian she saw. Let's just say, we were stopping a lot.
A blurry picture of the torch, through a fence, with an example of the Canadian Spirit.
But it got me thinking: would this kind of national spirit have been accepted in the Salt Lake games eight years ago? Another one of my traveling companions worked at those games, and she said that in Salt Lake, there was a more international focus, and people weren't so focused on the host country. I can imagine that USA Pride may not have gone over so well internationally, and even with some Americans. Perhaps because America's influence is already everywhere, it might be inappropriate or insensitive to spread it further using an international, unifying sporting event.
Apparently they will have fireworks every night in downtown Vancouver. These are from Saturday.
However, I was completely swept away by the Canadian Spirit. I wanted to be Canadian, and talk like a Canadian, and eat Canadian food. I was struck by all the tiny differences that make Canada Canada. And maybe it is good that, as an American, I related to being another nationality for a few days.
Apparently, Canadian hot-chocolate makers love me as much as I love Canada.
I know as the Olympics continue, I'll be cheering for Canadian athletes. And American athletes. And the two Estonian athletes (congratulations Kristina Smugin-Vaehi for your silver medal in the cross-country 10k yesterday!). And, let's face it, anyone with a story that makes me cry. That could be pretty much any athlete.
