winter games diary, day one
Update! A month later.
It looks like my attempt to keep a diary of my Olympic experience was misguided. With the exception of this first day, nothing really exciting happened at all. I was working so often and writing so little, and had no opportunities to actually partake in any Olympic fun (or protests), except for a taping of the Colbert Report.
Also, a Russian yacht was docked by Lonsdale Quay, where I was working, so met many young and adorable ~*Russian Sailors*~ throughout the month. That was nice.
Anyways, it’s over now, and thankfully some of the attractions are still up around town for the month of March, so perhaps I will write about them. In the meantime, I’m still plugging away at my screenwriting portfolio and YA novel, and looking for something else to help pay the bills.
Days Worked: 1
Times Accosted by a Hostile Member of the Public: 1
I’m performing a menial and tedious task for the Winter Games. I am helping load buses with spectators, athletes and employees going from the city to the mountains in North Van, where there is no parking or accommodation. Once the games actually start I’m sure this job will be exciting and action-packed, but for the next three days it looks like I’ll be standing around on the streets for strangers for upwards of ten hours with nothing to do.
In one particularly boring stretch of time, a member of our group told a story about a hate crime that happened last summer on the Island. While telling the story he used hand gestures, as story tellers often do. A slow, fake punch perhaps would have been employed, given that he was relaying a tale of violence.
Not five minutes later we were approached by a fake-tanned white guy dressed like Eminem, with crazy eyes (you know the kind, Tom Cruise has them), who got extremely close to the Story Teller and started screaming at him. He called him a thug for “re-enacting what you did to somebody”, throwing around weird pseudo-gangster postures, and claiming that he had been videotaping the “re-enactment” from a promenade.
Crazy Eyes was the full package. He had about four puffy vests on, but his legs and arms were bare, and he had a sideways cap and lots and lots of bling. He was positively orange from self-tanning, and when he first started talking I honestly thought he was doing some kind of street theatre. I thought he would go on his rant, perhaps actually start to rap, and then give us flyers to his show. Unfortunately Crazy Eyes was for real. He said that normally he wouldn’t even approach somebody like the Story Teller (who I guess I should mention is black), but since the Story Teller was wearing a Games uniform, Crazy Eyes knew he wouldn’t be able to retaliate.
Anyways he went off eventually, screaming about how he has this video and he’s going to show the world.
It was a weird first day. But I am used to sadly unloved and unwell people wandering around in Lotus Land, and I have a feeling this is going to be bringing them out in droves.
Perhaps something beautiful will happen tomorrow.
Later I tried to buy Oregon Trail on my phone, but it wouldn’t work, and I’m pretty sure I still got charged. :-S
The first show I saw in the festival this year and definitely off to a great start – this guy was hilarious. Equal parts ridiculous, endearing, and simultaneously not offensive OR bland and “wholesome”. I imagine that is a hard line to straddle. Byrne just seems like a genuinely nice guy, and I’m of the opinion that a great comedian should be on the fringe of society somehow – Byrne seems to have suffered a lot as a child, and it’s given him a really good sense of humour. One of our party was pulled on stage for the “magic trick” which was AWESOME. If you get a chance to see this guy, do it.
