Day 6

Today is my first kick at the Sky Train. The busses don’t start running up in my area until 7:00 so I know I will be a bit late, but it should be close. After I caught the community bus I took it in opposite direction I arrived at the Lougheed Sky Train station. Here I had 2 choices, 1 was to take the train into town and transfer at Broadway and then a quick trip to Waterfront Station (the same place where I get the West Coast Express). Or I could take it heading out the other way and stay on it as it goes through New Westminister and goes directly to Waterfront. So I chose the onw that you had to transfer as it is about 15 minutes faster. Again I am so pleased with the transit as I made it to work only about 7 minutes late. It again was a slow day but we did have a bit of excitement as our tent got a full sweep by the police. This is done to all of the buildings that are housing any Olympic personnel, so it was our turn. We welcomed 8 officers who proceeded to search every inch of our tent, including under the stanchions (poles with roles between them to help direct the flow of people in our tent), under all the chairs, our computers, the walls and even our portta potty. We were asked to leave the building while some of the search was going on, but we (volunteers) all felt that it was for our safety and were just glad that they are so diligent in their jobs to protect us.

Today I helped 3 media people in my 7 hour shift, boy I can hardly wait for all those elusive media to show up at our tent so that we can really show them how great we are. After my shift I took the sky train back, this time taking the other route, and met a great lady who is from Ottawa and she is in town to volunteer as a driver. She was spending her day off trying to find out where some of the events are going to be held so she can get her charges to where they need to be. I am finding that when you are wearing your bright blue volunteer jackets, you get more people taking to you and other volunteers are drawen to you as you are a safe haven when you are by yourself.

When I arrived home I was happily surprised that my BC family was having a birthday party for me. Nicole and Robbie had helped with the decorations and we had an excellent standing rib roast with all the trimmings (including tons of Yorkshire puddings). I even got to Skype with my Edmonton family and got to see Talia (my granddaughter) who I’m glad has not forgotten who I am. That’s all for now, talk to you soon.

Day 5

I had today off so we had a typical Vancouver day, running here, running there. We did spend a bit of time at the mall, mostly in the Bay looking at the Olympic merchandise. As a volunteer I received a coupon for one day of 15% off including Olympic gear. Shauna, Dianna and I did our best to support the games and to keep the economy up and running.

I did spend some of the day trying to figure out how I will get downtown tomorrow as the West Coast Express does not start until 9:40, which would make me a little late for my 8:00 shift. So it looks like I will be trying out the Sky Train, yet another new adventure.

Day 4

We are open late from now to games time (to 10:00) so they are having 2 shifts. I am on the 8:00 to 3:00 shift until the 12 of February. I still marvel how easy it is to get from Port Moody to the waterfront on the West Coast Express. Today being my 3rd shift I collected my shift gift, a Team 2010 pin with the Mascots on it. Some people are a bit pin crazy and we wear them on our lanyard for all to see. I have 4 or 5 pins on mine but some have 2 or 3 lanyards full. The hot topic of discussion is where you can buy the pins and which ones are the “hot ones”. We even get some from the folks as they go through our stations, or just passing by to talk to one of the supervisors.

Day 3

I had another 9:00 – 6:00 shift today but thought I would still catch the 7:15 train as most of my other shifts are 8:00 to 3:00, so I might as well get there earlier today and get into a habit. I had a bit of extra time today to sit in the old Canadian Pacific station to watch people coming and going. Yesterday I had noticed a couple of other volunteers wearing their bright blue uniforms, but today I saw a few more and I am sure that there will be more and more as the games draw closer. I need to check in every day at the bow of Canada Place (they say it is a one klm walk round trip to our tent) and get my shift card stamped. On the day of my 3rd shift (Friday) I will be getting a volunteer gift, a way for them to insure volunteers keep coming.

It was another slow day today (about 65) so we are wondering if a lot of the media might be getting their cards validated at the airport where there are 8 stations in the domestic terminal and 8 in the international terminal. They did check on the computer and it looks like there are still 9,000 Media that still need to be done, so either we will be getting bigger crowds or the airport will. I have met some more great volunteers and everyone is very friendly and we have some great laughs through the day. Even if the media says Vancouver volunteers don’t smile they must have missed our tent.

Day 2

Well today was the first day that I was working at the Main Media Center in downtown Vancouver. My shift did not start until 9:00 am but I wanted to make sure I was there on time and had at least 45 minutes to get my bearings and find out if there was anything special I needed to do as I had not yet had a venue specific training. After consulting the BC transit guide Dianna, Shauna and I decided it would be best to catch the C24 (community bus) at the bottom of the hill and take it to the Port Moody Station where I would catch the West Coast Express to Waterfront station. Waterfront is about 2 blocks from Canada Place and the new Convention center which is right where I will be working.

I set off at 6:30 and headed off and everything worked like clockwork. I did have a bit of a wait for the 7:15 West Coast Express but I thought it would be better to be there earlier than to chance missing it. I was surprised when it arrived that it was so full, but I guess the push for commuters to park their cars and take transit into Vancouver before and during the games is working. I had to stand but it was fine as it is only a 30 minute ride. Once we arrived I just followed the sea of people and went with the flow. I made my way over to the Media Accreditation tent and started to meet the great people I will be working with for the next month. Jen, Maggie, Clair, and Paula are all paid VANOC staff and at any given time there were 8 volunteers and an R.C.M.P. constable. Everyone was very friendly and helpful on my first day. My password did not work so of the first part of the day I just watched and helped out with the laminating of the cards and affixing the lanyards. It turned out there was more than 1 J. Martin so my login had to be changed. By mid afternoon I was all set to go and had been brought up to speed on all the stations. The Main Media Center opened on January 12 and had 457 people though that day. Since then they have been much slower, with most days being 100 to 150 and some even as low as 35, so we know that one of these days there will be a real rush, but I am sure we will be able to handle it when it arrives. I had lots of fun even though it was slow, but I did learn some of the great stories the volunteers had. 1 lady is knitting toques for breast cancer patients and her goal is 20 toques by the end of the games. Another was a volunteer during Expo in 1988 and she worked in the Canada Pavilion which is now Canada Place. And one of the volunteers is even carrying the Olympic Torch in Port Moody on the 10th of February.

My shift ended at 6:00 but I took off a bit early so I could make sure I found my way back to the station and caught the train back to Port Moody. I arrived back at Dianna’s at 7:10 so I think is going to work out very well.

Day 1

What a super day I had today to start my Olympic adventure. Diana my cousin and her granddaughter Nicole had skating lessons this morning at the Port Moody Rec Center, so I tagged along and learned a bit about when the Olympic Torch Relay will be coming through Port Moody on February 10th at 6:00 am. A bit early for some but I am sure they will have a huge turnout. I will have a shift that day but don’t need to catch the train until 7:20. After skating we went for a walk along the banks of the little stream and down to the Barrard Inlet. After all the snow in Edmonton, to see the trees just starting to bud is mind blowing. After a quick stop at Starbucks (a regular stop for Diana and Nicole) we dropped Nicole off at school and headed downtown to the Volunteer Uniform and Accreditation Center to get my accreditation card and pick up my uniform. The process was very smooth and was running like clock work. Show ID, get picture taken, go to printer 6, pick-up freshly laminated card (it took only about 10 minutes). Then on to uniform pick-up: check –in at front desk, get yellow form, take number and wait in waiting room (15 minutes) go to change room, try on uniform, (5 pieces: pants, vest, jacket and 2 long sleeve shirts), once you had your correct size, they marked it on your yellow form, you then proceeded to the distribution area, where you were given your uniform as well as a recyclable tote bag, toque and welcome package, last stop was the check out where they scanned your accreditation card and all your goodies and you were done (total time 35 minute). They have already put through 18,000 volunteers and at the check-out they usually process 70 volunteers per hour. Once we arrived home it was time to find out how I was going to get to my first shift which is from 9:00 to 6:00 on Wednesday. After much consulting on the web page, we have decided I will catch the bus at the bottom of the hill at 6:40 get off at the West Coast Express train station in time to catch the 7:15 train that should get me downtown at 7:50 and a quick walk to the Main Media Centre. I know that is very early but most of my other shifts begin at 8:00 so I want to get a feel for it and as it is my first shift they want you there 30 minutes early. So wish me luck and I will let you know how thing go tomorrow.