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My Olympic experience

Ok, this really isn't my Olympic experience. I was asked to write up a blurb about what it was like to live and work here during the Olympics, and send it to the company. My hope is that it gets published in the company magazine, that gets sent to all the properties, across Canada and the US.

I had to self-edit a bit, and write what they wanted to hear.

The Olympics were a good time though, I just left out the parts that were't 100% positive. I will write those here later, and you can know what it was really like. It wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, like I make it seem. There were a few thunderclouds and bee-stings along the way too!

This is a first draft, and I will look at it again tomorrow and edit it a bit. So, it's not a final product really, but a pretty solid start. It's dry, and devoid of any real personality. I think that the format and style will work, considering the magazine I hope to get it in.

My name is Jon, and I live in Whistler, British Columbia. For the majority of the years I’ve lived here, I’ve worked at both the Sundance and Cascade Lodge properties.

I have been fortunate, living and working in this little mountain town this year, as Whistler was the Official Mountain Resort of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. We hosted the alpine skiing events, Nordic skiing events, and the sliding events, which include bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton.

It has been a great experience living and working in Whistler during this exciting time. While we’re used to tourists up here, we weren’t used to the number of tourists who came, and the varied cross-section of people who visited our town.

The Village was packed every night, full of people taking in Olympic events, free concerts, and simply drinking up the Olympic atmosphere. Athletes, journalists, fans and locals all mingled together, watching, talking, and experiencing the Olympics. Everyone was friendly, and the majority of people had flags, face paint, or national gear from their home countries with them. Strangers laughed together and high-fived each other in the streets, and everyone was excited to be experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime, seventeen-day event.

For me, along with most of the country, the highlight of the Olympics was watching our men’s hockey team take the gold medal in an overtime thriller. Every bar and restaurant was packed, and giant screens showed the game in the Village. When The Goal was scored, it seemed like the whole town started to shout and celebrate at the same time! If Whistler ever experienced a single unifying moment, it was then. We were all Canadians, all hockey fans, and all super excited to see our players establish world hockey supremacy!

The Olympics served to unify Whistler in a way that we haven’t seen before. Everyone in town was brought together as one big mob of people, happy to cheer on athletes of every nation, no matter what their passport said. The Olympics were an excuse to have a big block party, and everyone was invited. Every day was busy, but never overwhelming. Friendships were made, good times were had, and memories forged. No matter where I find myself living in the future, I’ll never forget living and working in Whistler during these Olympics.

Shameless self-plug

At the hotel, when guests leave, they are emailed a comment card that asks them various questions about their stay. Here's a bit from one that came back today:

What one thing would you like to tell other owners who may be interested in staying at this resort?

We stayed at the Cascade Lodge in Whistler, and the young fellow Jon on the desk was very very helpful and I can't say enough about him, it was a true pleasure to meet him and he made the difference in our stay at Whistler during the Olympics. Thank you!

Woo! I'm young!

Also, it's nice to be recognized for doing a good job.

I feel able to post this, since everyone is saying that these recent Olympics enabled Canadians to be proud and vocal about their achievements!

Mostly though, it'll be nice to keep this in mind as I begin another bout of job hunting. It will remind me to go into interviews with confidence, knowing that no matter what the job, I am able to do it well.

Spine!

I've been quite busy here during the Olympics, occasionally working full days at both my jobs, driving and hotelling.

Yesterday was a day where I did both jobs. I had a trip down from Whistler to the airport at 6:20am, and then picked people up at 10:30 and brought them up. I had to work at the hotel at 3, and had to run through the village from where I parked the work truck to the hotel, so I could be on time. It's too much! I'm going to avoid doing that in the future I think.

Once I got to the hotel, I was a bit tired and as a result, was a bit snippy. One thing I have to deal with a lot at the hotel is people complaining about their room location, and it's one of the things I loathe most.

I checked some people in, and here is the exchange we had. It was a really busy time, and there was much hubbub in the area.

Guest: So, what is our room number?
Me: It's XXX, on the 2nd floor.
Guest: Which way does it face?
Me: Pardon, sorry?
Guest: Which - Way - Does - The - Room - Face.
Me: My first language is English.
Guest: *flabergasted*

Oops.

My co-workers loved it, and for me the guilt has passed.

I guess I can't be going above and beyond, providing great guest experiences, and *insert random hospitality/service industry cliche here* all the time!

Fun Day: Feb 14!

It was a really enjoyable Valentines Day for Carmella and I. Here's what we did.



I worked until 3, and Carmella left a bit early to catch a free concert in the Village. It was Matisyahu, a practicing Jewish reggae/rap artist. Carmella's had his music for quite some time. He raps and sings about Jewish things, world peace, and Jerusalem.

The fans were into it, and the atmosphere was great. There were toddlers and girlfriends on shoulders, and Israeli flags in the crowd. It was a good time.



Carmella and I then went to Swiss House, a restaurant that has been taken over by the Swiss for the Olympics. You can get food inside in the restaurant part, or take-out outside and sit on their patio, next to their TV broadcast pod. Carmella bought us Raclette, which is melted cheese over bread and potatoes, with some pickles beside. It was really tasty!

We were happy that Swiss House is open to the public. Most of the other houses in Whistler, like Austria House, Canada House, and France House, are only open to the athletes and dignitaries of that country. Those houses seem elitist, and I'm not a fan. Swiss House is open to all though, which is great.



Carmella and I then went into the Roots store, as I bought her a great hoodie for Valentines Day. The mogul final was on, and the store filled up with people coming in off the street to watch it. It was a very unique atmosphere, and I'm happy to have seen it where I did. Great fun!

There was another concert on in the village at the time, so the big screens were showing them. As a result, Carmella and I were some of the first people in Whisler Village to know that Canada had won a gold in the Moguls.

I was quite impressed with Alexandre Bilodeau's handling of his win. He thanked the crowd, and was very humble in victory. I think we as Canadians like our athletes to be humble and proud at the same time, and Bilodeau was a great example of a class act.



Here's the hoodie! Valentines Day was a great excuse to buy this for Carmella. It's great because it's a classy hoodie that won't expire when the Olympics leave town. I think Carmella looks like quite the Finn in it!

Olympic Event!

Here's an email I sent to Er, talking about the biathlon event I went to yesterday.

I'm really enjoying the Olympics, and all the action! I thought it was going to be all hectic, but it's good times.

Here's the email, so I can give you all an idea of what's going on. It's easier to copy and paste, and go see a concert!

Here's the unpolished email:

I liked the moguls coverage, although I didn't hear that comment bc Carmella and I were in a pub that didn't have the announcers turned on. It was a good atmosphere though, with everyone cheering loudly when the canadians were up.

The event was good today, but a bit underwhelming. We got the tickets for free, so it was a last minute thing. It was the women's 7K free biathlon, and there were 80 skiers starting in a staggered fashion, so some were finished before the last ten or so started. There was no drama and no way to know who was winning, other than the scoreboard, which wasn't really helpful anyway. We didn't see any replays on tv later either, so tht was disappointing.

The top 40 women qualify for the pursuit, which I have tickets for. That will be a more fun event, because the girl that got first will leas out of the gate, and then the others follow depending on their time. It'll be easy to follow because the first to cross the line wins.

It was good to go to the event today though, and scope our spots for the next event, and figure out the way the whole thing runs. We had to wait for at least an hour in the rain on the way out, which was unfortunate. They really need to work on their transport strategy for fans exiting the venue.

The vibe in the village was really fun, and it's a different crowd than is normally in town. It's more fun, and a real mixed bag of people.

The event itself didn't really have any sort of olympic feel though, just another race and a lot more flags in the crowd. Lots of foreigners in town too, so that was fun. But if it wasn't for the big set of olympic rings in the back of the shooting range, I wouldn't have known it was any different, so that was interesting.

Time for bed, I have an early day tomorrow. I took some pics (it was foggy and rainy so they're nott he greatest) so ikll hopefully get them up tomorrow.

Biathlon!

Carmella's friend whom she nannies for (and who was a torch bearer too, on top of the Grouse Mountain tram even!) has given her two biathlon tickets! With an unexpected day off and unexpected Olympic tickets, it's going to be a fun day!

I'm wearing my Denmark soccer jersey under my China zip up, and have my Danish Dynamite shirt with me to wave around.

If you're watching the event, look for Carmella's yellow coat, and my burgundy one.

Go Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, and Canada!