I'm sure there is not much I can say that will epitomize how epic yesterday was.
Everyone was so nervous because there was previously a curse on Canada in terms of hosting the Olympics. Canada was the only country to not win any gold medals while hosting the Olympics, so needless to say people were anxious about what 2010 had in store for them.
The first week broke the curse and their performance by the end of the Olympics was nothing short of glorious.
1) Canada won the gold medal against the U.S. (and solidifying how awesome they are because they beat the U.S.A. in hockey in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah).
2) Canada broke the record for the most gold medals in the Winter Olympics (14) and...
3) Canada won the most gold medals as a host country
And....with respect to the housing crisis that put many on the streets, the Tent City people negotiated those who were homeless and living in the Tent Village have now been housed, with roughly 50 people moving into empty BC Housing and City spots, including Woodward's! Considering how VANOC basically tried to ignore that Vancouver had a housing issue, this is a huge deal.
So many reasons to celebrate!
Now, I know I am highly critical of belligerent nationalism, but in this case I think Canada deserved it.
Canadians get stereo-typed for many things like, loving hockey (totally true), being nice (mostly true), saying sorry a lot (which is Canadian for "excuse me" or "I sympathize with your situation") and for getting bullied by the U.S. of A.
I have secretly had a crush on Canada for the very reason that they take all the U.S. bullying in stride and although I do feel like they are pushovers sometimes, they don't let it get them down.
And yesterday it was a day to celebrate how awesome Canada is!!!!!!!
Not many people care about the Winter Olympics, but in Canada they do, so they totally deserved to dominate the games and in one of their great cities to boot.
The question remains...did the Olympics change Canada? I don't really think that's the appropriate question...I think Canada changed the Olympics!!!! They showed the world they are a force to reckon with and even when they win bigger and better then any other country in the games, they are super nice about it.
Walking the streets of Robson yesterday I heard very little, "screw (insert other country here)" mostly just, "I love Canada!"
Now compare that to a certain football team's fans (aka the Oakland raiders) who basically riot if they win or riot if they lose...and they don't even have socialized health-care to treat their wounds afterward!
I digress...whether you love or hate Canada there is no denying that yesterday was an historic day.
You could feel the high of the city and everyone's happiness rubbed off on the city. I told my friend in the thick of the crowd..."This is so magical, when everyone is happy everything is just...better." A nice Canadian guy from Manitoba looked at me and said, "You're right!" Canadians from all ethnic, religious and sexual backgrounds flooded the streets and as strangers embraced you knew that young or old, hot or not...this was happiness on crack!
So I think they should change the Winter Olympics slogan to, "When everyone's happy...everything is better!" For historic purposes of course!
Perhaps this is the year for Canada...they could show their neighbours (ya I spelled it right) to the south a thing or two about a little humble pie.
Thanks Canada...for killing all the other countries with kindness....Olympics games wise.
No comments:
Post a Comment