Game On

Robson Square Rocks Out

Hello from Vancouver, British Columbia, the overprepared and neurotic hostess of the 2010 Winter games, which, but for the much-hyped lack of snow, punishingly politically correct opening ceremonies and chain link fence around the Olympic flame, is actually turning out to be a lot of fun– despite itself.

I am here (like everybody else, seemingly at the Vancouver airport when I arrived, who were met by pretty young girls hoisting giant corporate signs on sticks of such corporate sponsors as Panasonic, Weston, Coke and Visa)thanks entirely to the generosity of the lovely folks at Birks,  the games’ official jeweller.

Like my comrades on this historic journey, Lisa Tant, ed-in-chief of Flare, Bernadette Morra, ed-in-chief of Fashion, Hello’s Ciara Hunt, and a grab-bag of local media–including the hilarious freelancer and stylist Catherine Dunwoody and the entirely delightful Claudia Cusano, editor of Nuvo, whom I ‘d never met, and who told me instantly that the reason she didn’t follow in the family’s tradition of fine jewelry retail (her father owns Montecristo) was that she had horrible hands for showing jewelry–this is my very first Olympics and I hadn’t the slightest idea what to expect.

Others in our merry band include our most pleasant host, Birks CEO Tom Andruskevich and his elegant wife, Suzanne, who was raised in Missisippi and still has a southern lilt to her voice, as well as the jovial Dr. Lorenzo Rossi, definitely the most unassuming Italian count I have ever met, chairman of the board and a decendant of the venerable Martini & Rossi family–all of whom are veterans of the Olympics in Turin and Beijing.

What exactly, besides negotiaing giant crowds and standing in long slow queues for sporting events, is involved in attending such an event?

Day One, during which I attended a women’s hockey match at the UBC arena in which the Canadian team clobbered the poor Swiss women, (who might as well have been playing in dirndls and braids, they were so ill-prepared for such a relentless pummeling), what I discovered was that unlike at any other time, national enthusiasm runs very high here for anything  or anyone Canadian.

And yes, it is different actually being here than watching the whole thing on tv. The sense of  positive energy and international cooperation and mutual kindness and friendliness is almost utopian.

Almost everybody in the crowd (Except me) was completely attired in red and white, including one extremely enthusiastic gentleman dressed in a red-dyed Mohawk and Maple Leaf sunglasses who appeared to consider himself an unofficial mascot of sorts for Canadian Olympic hockey and had somehow managed to score tickets for all 34 Olympic hockey games.

At each rush of the Swiss net (which was most of the game–the poor Swiss never seemed to have the puck  for more than a a second or two) the cheers and stomping feet in the stands were deafening. The final score was 10-1 for the Canadian women–the day before the same team had shot out the Slovakians 18-0. So much for the notorious Canadian reticence,  lack of nationalism and inhibition.

In the spirit of the event I downed a beer and a mustardy hot dog in a soft white bun like a bad girl. Sadly I have now eaten two such unhealthy lunches in as many days as once you are at an event, you are basically stuck there, thanks to the long lines and massive security detail. And the “greek salad on pita” option at the concession seems to be merely something listed on the menu.

I must say, going as a guest of a sponsor is clearly the way to go–we have hardly had to wait in any horrendous lines, and despite massive security (perhaps a bit overzealous considering they have turned downtown Vancouver into a dead zone by closing the streets to cars just when the whole world happens to looking at it on tv), the whole thing has been a breeze.  Perhaps I am misled by the fact that the lovely girls from Birks are ferrying us around to events but it all seems effortless. Same for the city: Hotels might be full to capacity but you can still get in to most cafes and restaurants. Perhaps Vancouver is usually so sleepy that this qualifies as chaotic and busy?

On the street, at such hot spots as Canada Place around the Olympic flame (awkwardly, for picture takers, cloistered behind a chain link fence) is like a big 24 hour street party. Pin enthusiasts gather to trade pins. Boozed-up hosers and revellers who see the event as an extended Stanley Cup dance in frat house ecstasy in front of tv”s in store windows. Families in matching national sport dress queue for hours to get in to one of the sponsored tents like Heineken House or  Slovak House. Above Robson square, where people ice skate at night under what looks like a giant suspended glass helmet, people whizz by screaming on a zipline.

It seems every third person on the street is dressed in Olympic merch from the Bay. Huge line-ups around the old HBC flagship on Seymour Street wait for hours to get in to the Olympic Superstore. Clearly HBC designer Tu Ly and his team have hit it out of the park with their vaguely 60s Expo inspired Canadiana. No less a critic than US designer Vera Wang is a fan (according to Tu Ly, Wang told him the collection was just “fabulous fabulous”).

Yet everywhere, the sense of fear that maybe with the world’s attention turned on us we might not shine is palpable. Will they hate us because thesre’s no snow? Will it rain? Are we disorganised? Or are we just too boring?

Certainly NBC coverage hasn’t helped much. The NBC announcers seem to love guffawing about how Canada doesn’t even has many people as the state of California!! One report on shopping advised visitors to buy smoked salmon and maple syrup, as if we had nothing more to offer than the cliche. Another NBC reporter stood on a street corner here asking passersby to say “eh”.

No wonder we are still so insecure.