Cheese, Knives, Watches, Chocolate, Bank Accounts and all things Swiss

Switzerland!
Dad and I both landed in Zurich on the 12th and we were off on our Swiss adventure! I dint understand anything!!!! Who thought German would be so difficult! Luckily we were basically in French Switzerland the whole time, so we got by.

Day one we picked up our car and drove into Zurich.  I'm not bragging but I'm not that bad with directions, even with street names I can't pronounce. It also helps that the Swiss are insanely organised (and clean) and everything has a direction sign.

Dad was pretty jet lagged so our night in Zurich wasn't too late, plus we had drivin' to do the next day! 
Day 2 we started our drive West towards Gstaad. Dad went to school in Les Diablerets and worked in Gstaad in the early seventies so that was the reason for our destination.
I noticed a few things early on about Switzerland:
1. They love English pop music. Every radio station played it. But not recent pop, it was either something you'd never hears before or a song that you'd heard but went "oh yeah THIS song!" when it came on. The parking garages though were a different story: Kylie Minogue, MJ and Madonna reigned supreme down there. I like the garage music, it adds to the bleak atmosphere.

2. Air Conditioning. This trip has proved to be A LOT hotter than I thought it would be, liked wicked hot and nowhere I've been believes in air conditioning! Hotels, stores, department stores, no one, there's no escaping the heat.

Anyway, back to day 2 we drove to Bern and had a nice lunch. Switzerland is great! Different than I thought but awesome.
After Bern we made our way to Chateau d'Oex, the village in which we'd rented our apartment. The Swiss country side does look lime how I pictured it, mountains and farms and Swiss chalets, no rotisserie chicken and fries though. All the small towns look just like ski resorts too, but that's because they are!
For the next few days we'd get up have our breakfast, wandered into town past the sounds of cowbells and head overflight Early Beck bakery/coffee shop to take advantage of their free wi-fi. We did a lot! First up was the medieval town of Gruyeres where we learned all about the castle and the battles. Now the Swiss are awesome and have translated everything touristy into several languages.... However, I feel like there is always a little something lost in the English translation.... But still great none the less. After the giant hills in the town we went to the fromagerie! I LOVE CHEESE. I think I may have been Swiss in a past life, cheese and chocolate are found everywhere and actually encouraged! We learned all about how they make the cheese from the audio guide guided by Cherry the cow.... Cherry was a little condescending and had a bit of an ego but got she got her point across. Plus we got free cheese.

Then we discovered a chocolate factory.... Fantastic the next day we set out early and learned all about chocolate and ate and bought tons. The Swiss are very tidy and clean however being here has made me realised just how crazy we are about cleanliness and safety precautions we are in Canada. For example, in the chocolate factory there is a tasting room where you can taste as much chocolate as you want. There was one staff member. The tasting pieces are full squares and they are just laid out on plates... Who knows how many people have looked at, touched or even breathed on them. Dad and I quickly realised it would be MUCH different at home. When are free samples EVER full size?! And everyone would probably have to wear gloves... So lame just give me the chocolate.
This chocolate factory also encouraged (real) chocolate eating so things were great.

We drove down the coast of the lake and ended up at Lausanne! And what's in Lausanne?!?!? The Olympic MUSEUM!!! So great! Room after room of information and people who love the Olympics just as much as I do! And a gift shop FULL of pins.... Those pins traders would loose their mind!!! The gift shop also so TSNs Hockey GOld DVD set.... But not the actual Olympic set which I thought was pretty funny.  No I didn't buy it, Switzerland is wicked expensive....
Yeah Insanely expensive! Dad and I paid 12 francs for two cokes. The exchange between CAD and the CHF is about 1.25 so you know just dropped approximate 7. 50 for a coke, NBD. (I did that math right, right?) either way, everything is expensive.

Continuing through the week we saw all the sights. We took the massive gondola up the mountain in Les Diablerets to check out the Glacier up top. We hiked through the field to a waterfall that dad had gone too in his youth! 
Switzerland is FULL of hiking trails. On our last day in chateau d'Oex wetook a different gondola up and hiked down the side of the mountain.... Who would have thought hiking down would be so much work! Mountains can be deceiving. But it was great, we walked through farmers fields and past the cows and through some farms and down some steep cliffs!

Our final night was topped off with dinner and a tour of the Palace Hotel in Gstaad where dad used to work... Whoa.  Gstaad is the place for people with money... And lots of it. There was a polo tournament happening this weekend so the hotel was crawling with polo players and Bentleys. The hotel itself is fantastic! And once I get my dream job I'll be able to affordthe penthouse suite complete with a sauna in the tower for a simple 9700/night. It holds 6... Who's coming?!

We ate our great dinner sitting outside enjoying the Montaigne s and the owner, grandson of the owner when dad worked there came and introduced himself as well as the head waiter who'd worked in the nightclub when dad worked there. It was great! Even better was after when we asked for the bill and to our surprise it had been covered by the management. Thank you!

Side note.... The Swiss don't bring bills.... It seems like you always have to ask for it.

After our fantastic evening at the Palace we made our way back to Zurich last night night and had our last Swiss dinner. 

It was a great week and Switzerland is like nowhere I've been before! Even the airport I'm in right now is tidy and overly clean!

I'm on my way back to London before a quick turnaround to Iceland and then I'll be on my way home!

Until then. 
Have a great day!
Kate

Land of Hope and Gloria, Land of my Victoria: The Maple Leaf gets an Accent

So I finally got the chance to sit down and write some stuff down!
Im currently sitting in an airport hotel in Manchester (well away from the riots) missing my awesome family hard!!! But I'll start from the beginning.

Some things I've noticed about England in general before instart I with London:
1. Brandon Flowers and The Killers seem to be quite popular here. Take note Canada
2. Older British people are awesome and well respectedwithi the community
3. People have varying opinionsabout Amy Winehouse
4. That celebrity you haven't heard from in awhile?.... They're probably on a British talk/game show and it's mostly Big Brother
5. Cameron and Clegg look eerily similar and robotic
6. Converse Chuck Taylor thong sandals?look just as awful as they sound
7. Apparently the Brits don't like to watch TVon the hour, nothing ever starts onthe hour or the half.
8. I could live here
9. Political Correctness? Just a suggestion. Canadians are wickedly PC.
10. I will never get tired of large amounts of tea, sticky toffee pudding or Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding..... But I knew that already. PLUS everyone takes milk with their tea!!!I'm not an outsider here!
 
London!
Welcome to London team!
I met up with mum at the hotel and our adventure began!!!

It was hot in London! Our first day I checked out my future wedding venue. Westminster abbey is pretty great however it looked A LOT bigger during the wedding, but still beautiful. Jeremy Irons does audio guide for the abbey. It's awesome. we walked the nave and saw St Edwards chair, the chair in which the British monarchy are crowned. We left the abbey and wandered around for a while and just by chance ended up outside the Goring hotel! For those who don't love the Royals, thats where Kate and her family stayed the week of the wedding.
Not only did we see it, we got a full history lesson from the doorman Rupert and the bellhop Moe.... As well as a free bag and magazine. I think moe and rupert were a little bored. London is so friendly.

We did a lot of sights but one I'd never done was the Buckingham Palace State Rooms. Whoa. I do find the worlds fascination with them really weird though. I mean i paid 16 pounds to walk around the Queens dinning room. What i find even more weird however is the Palace store. People are so desperate to get a little piece of them... Anything! The tour was great and also Included Kates wedding dress, She. Is. Tiny. Amazing.
Buckingham Palace is fantastic! I'd say it was well worth it, howeverno princes in sight... Damn.
Other days we just wandered and ate and shopped and drank a lot of tea but London is one of my favourite cities. It's massive and so busy but great! A few of my favourite things:
1. Accents. Who doesn't love British accents, but everywhere you go is different! I love it. 
2. Dress: not everyone is well dress but most are. And they all look great.
3. Everyone seems to be very friendly. The British never seem to have the same too-busy-for-you Torontonians seem to have downtown.
4. Mens dress socks. The only black and grey dress socks I saw were on North Americans. Everyone wore such great socks under their well made suits.
5. Their use of space! I'm always impressed at how much can be fit into such a small space.
6. The Tube. Check it out, a city subway system that actually works, really well, fancy that. They even have bike lanes, what a great idea! And look at this a major city with amazing public transit to each airport from the city centre! (In case you didn't catch on.... Toronto needs to improve.... Get rid of RoFo!)

Friday morning we checked out and made our way to Liverpool station to hop on the train to Hatfield Peverel for the wedding of the century!

I love the train! My biggest wish is that Canada had a much better train system, it's awesome. The GO Train just won't cut it.

The Wedding
I don't even know where to start with this but I'll give it a try. Imagine a feel good romantic comedy set in a small, cute, British village, staring Hugh Grant and you'd be a third of the way there.

We took the train in on Friday and made our way to the out of town drinks. The drinks reception would have been an amazing wedding.... We pulled up to a garden that basically could have been part of The Secret Garden to a nice small house that was gorgeous. Upon closer inspection, I realised this was the pool house....the 50 bedroom house came Complete with live in butler, a Lord and Lady and science labs where the element Argon was discovered....Good thing I packed some extra outfits.
If Friday were any indication we were in for quite the party the next day.... I should have been better prepared. 
Day two... Wedding day!
The wedding wasn't until 330 so I decided to go for a walk during the morning....and almost got invited to a second wedding... Man I love England! I was quickly joined by a nice older lady named Esme. Our conversation went like this.
E: are you here for my nephews wedding?
Me: possibly! Who's your nephew?
E: the groom....
Me: ummmm possibly
E: would you like to come visit the venue with me?!
Me: sure! Why not

So I followed this stranger to a beautiful house across the street with a loooooooong driveway. Don't worry I didnt go inside but had a lovely conversation with Esme and met some of her family. The best part is no one questioned why I was there, just accepted it. I wasn't even dressed for a wedding. Mind you keep in mind theirs wasn't starting until 330 too so Esme was pretty early. 
After assuring Esme I'd be fine crossing the street again I made my way back.

Back out front the hotel and dressed ready to go, guests were greeted by two decorated old double decker buses.... Awesome. We made our way through the tiny country roads and ended up at a beautiful village church....( just to throw it in there, the grooms family runs the village....no big deal)
The church and the ceremony were beautiful as was the entire wedding party, but the real party was the reception. We all headed back to grandmas estate (she reminded me a little of the Queen) and it was quite unbelievable that Joanne (the bride) had managed to completely organise this wedding for 270 people on her own. The marquee glowed with wonderful paper globe lanterns and the entire thing screamed Jo and Charlie. It's hard to describe in words so you'll just have to imagine based on my photos. 
The party was a lot like the Picnic Ball we went to a couple of years ago, with the same family in Scotland. This family knows how to party. Kilts and booze, Scottish dances and more booze seem to be the classic staples, plus the post party hangover party.
We partied well into the night and all things pointed to a successful and fantastic wedding and party!
The next morning everyone gathered for the brunch the next morning, some even who had watched the morning come! Somehow couches made their way to the field outside the marquee and were quickly filled by clans of kilt wearing hungover young adults, some of which had only slept a few hours if any under a tree in the garden.... Man I love summer!

So there are many stories to be told about the wedding weekend but simply not enough space here or words in the English language to fully explain, so I'll leave it at that.

From the wedding we went to visit the family in Baildon, the coolest family ever. Who else would drive four hours to pick up two extremely hungover girls and their mother to pick up and drive right back?! our wicked family that's who. I love visiting our British relatives because no matter bow much time has passed, we pick up exactly where we left off as if we saw each other yesterday. 
Day one the kids went to see Harry Potter. I thought it might be more authentic to see it in England. Then the ladies went to have their feet munched on by fishies!
Have you heard of this?! SO WEIRD. Basically you sit elevated above a clear box of tiny little fish ( part of the piraña family) and they swarm and nibble at your feet. Apparently it's supposed to exfoliate but it just feels absolutely weird. Just try it and you'll understand.
My other favourite thing in Baildon besides my cousins, are their awesome accents, much different from those in London and those at the wedding. The Yorkshire accent just makes you feel very much at home actually!

The rest of the days were spent lounging and drinking tea and enjoying each others company while still marvelling at Englands fantastic train system.
It doesn't get better than that!

Those amazing two weeks bring me to right now, hanging out in Manchester, waiting for my flight to Zurich to meet up with my dad. 
I'm pretty excited but a little sad to leave my fam. I haven't even really had a chance to be excited for Switzerland with all the England excitement but now that I leave tomorrow I can't wait and just want to hop on the plane! I've never been so it will be anew adventure and another country to cross off the list!

I'll try and update but if my days are as busy as the first half we'll see how Things go!

Have a great day!
Love 
Kate

Oh ps! Yes these riots are crazy and police are all over the cities affected it we're all safe and sound!
  

Havin' A Time

From Banff to Revelstoke

We set off early in the morning for Revelstoke.
Our car situation is fairly interesting. 5 adults in one Toyota Camry is not the most comfortable searing arrangement, but at least we all fit. Apparently all of Calgary (where we rented the car from) was completely out of anything bigger. I blame the stampede. 
Either way we piled in the car and started our tour West, our first stop at Johnston Canyon. I have a feeling we will see several stops like Johnston Canyon, plenty of big rocks, big trees and big water, but it was fairly impressive as the walkways werebuilt out from the rock edge.

Next up was Lake Louise! Always a tourist hot spot which was obviously as everyone crowded around the one tiny deck at the bottom of the stairs instead of walking the 20 steps to the right to the empty portion of the Lake edge. I sent my mum a text ( mum= Louise, named after such lake) and said hello to my grandpa who loved Lake Louise and we were off toasted Revelstoke through Kicking Horse, Yoho National Park and Glacier National. There were thousands of Glaciers and tall mountains throughout the drive.
We arrived in Revelstoke and stayed in a suite in the new Revelstoke ski resort. It was sort of like The Shining, with reversed seasons. It was practically empty. I don't think I saw another person except at dinner. It was very strange to see a ski resort in the middle of summer too, especially one that isn't complete. 
Revelstoke is a small town. I don't quite understand the draw to it really. I mean it's pretty and on the railroad but it's not very accessible and really far from everything. Something tells me the ski resort is going to have difficulty selling their condos....

We packed up this morning and headed off toasted Osoyoos, Canada's desert! From the chilly rocky mountains to the hot dry desert! Who knew?! On the way we stopped and saw the spot where they hammered in the last spike on the railroad....great. You can even buy spike key chains if you were so inclined! 
We arrived in OSoyoos after a quick stop at WhiteSpot for a fantastic milkshake!
Osoyoos is Vineyard country, which I don't quite understand.... We're in the desert... Yet there are rows and rows of grapes and cherries. Strange.
Also sofar the entire town has been built with  pueblo architectural design. Ikon the hunt for Taco Bell. It's quite a change from tall Banff mountains to brown hillsides.

Imnot sure what the plan is for our two days here but I'll update a little later!

Off to explore the desert!
Have a great day!

Kate

I Know the Trail Hop Along....

Welcome to the West....again

So, I'm back out West, this time with an entourage. National Lampoon's Horseback riding Vacation has made it to Banff, AB!
Our trip started on the 5th as four, we flew to Calgary and hopped on the Brewster bus to Banff. By the way, Brewster owns everything.

We wandered around town and it was a million degrees! But the scenery is great! Water, rocks, trees, your classic rocky mountain image. I won't attempt to describe it, you'll just have to wait until I post some photos.

Later, we met up with my aunt and uncle and cousin who had driven down from Victoria and we had a very traditional Banff meal of Cheese fondue!

So have you ever been up a mountain on a gondola? Terrifying. Day 2 we went up Sulphur mountain on a gondola....all the way up. It's pretty fantastic up there with views for miles!

Day three brought the first day of our horse ack adventure.... I had no idea what I was in for.
We started at the Holiday on Horseback trail riding store in town and drove out to the stables where we were saddled up and given only four directions. 1. Pulling back will make the horse stop.
2. Pull right to go right, left to go left
3. Pull back harder and he'll back up
4. Kick to start!

And we were off! Our group was made up of 17 amazing people and horses and two guides, Amber and Larry. My horse, Cedar was great, he loved to munch and got spooked by a hat once on the second day, but other than that we had a great time. I miss him now!

Our first day was hot hot hot and we made our way up the mountain with a lunch stop. We learned quickly that you need to show your horse who's boss, but let's be honest the horse knows who's boss and it was not me, Cedar was going to munch whether I told him too or not. 

I was pretty impressed with all these horses. They walked over and across anything and everything, rocks, stumps, streams. They really are amazing. 
We finally made it to Sundance Lodge, our home for the next three days. The lodge was an amazing! A HUGE log cabin out inthe middle of nowhere, literally nowhere, no roads. The only way in or out was by horse or emergency helicopter. The 17 guests and our four guides ( two cooks plus Amber and Larry) got along famously! Everyone was so friendly and fun! Great things happen when you're sitting in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to do but drink river-chilled beers and have good conversation.

Day two and the sun disappeared and the hail came down. No one was quite prepared for the cold but we carried on. The horses shuffled along cliff edges and creeks and nimbly walked down steep steep steep rocky hills. 

Have you ever rose a galloping horse? Terrifying... Again. Here's the story. While walking along a cliff edge, the rider in front lost their hat which landed on the ground which is apparently extremely scary to Cedar. He turned around and refused to walk past the hat. When I finally turned him around he brokeout into a full gallop and turned a corner where I lost a stirrup and was convinced I was going to fall off and be trampled to death. (I later learned that a horse will do everything to NoT step on a human) plus Cedar would never step on me... :)
However, I didn't fall off, my waterbottle did fall off my bag and drained itself down my leg, which in the wind and the dropping temperatures was just great. We stopped for lunch and I was pretty spooked and contemplated hiking back, but reconsidered when I thought about the horse thigh high river we crossed on the way up...
So I decided to stick with Cedar and we made our way back. The lodge was fantastic! It was a huge log cabin with 33 beds, two bathrooms and a little kitchen. Dawn and Katie cooked all our meals and we all sat around and ate together. The only people there were our rising group and two cyclists, so it wasn't really that busy. The nice part about the lodge well, beside it being beautiful, was, that once we finished riding each day we just hung out at the lodge. There was nothing to do but hang out with everyone and we had a great time. At night we played a stressful game of bananagrams and possibly the funniest game of headbands I've ever played in my life. Some highlights:
"Am I in finance?" 
"Am I Asian?" " how many famous dead recognisable Asian politicians do you know?!"
 " of what he did, he was the MOST famous!" Academy AWARD winning!!!!

Riding sadly came to an end and we rode our way back down to the lodge. We said goodbye to our new friends and had to wash the horse and fire smell out :( 

I'll post again after our next section! This post is a little long. 
Until next time, and a little further West!

Have a great day!
Kate

Welcome to the South Y'all

I love this City. Nawlins might just be the coolest place I’ve been to in a while. It may be the 25 degree weather and the bright sun but this place takes the (King) Cake.
We’ve done a fair amount so far and we still have quite a bit to do.

Day 1 – Monday we wondered around, while we waited for check in and soaked up the sun. Zachary our local waiter at lunch was fantastic although it did take me a while to catch on to his accent. It is now my favourite accent ever.

Day 2 – We took the Charles Street Streetcar to the Garden District and checked out the Giant homes and wandered down Magazine Street. Then we went to the Louisiana State Museum. The Museum had two exhibits….Katrina Before (During) and After, and MARDI GRAS!! Two very different yet very well connected exhibits.

I have to admit I didn’t want to do a lot of Katrina things while I was here, but it’s pretty hard to miss. I find disaster tourism a little odd but the two things we’ve done and seen about Katrina have not been what I expected. The Museum is owned and run by the State of Louisiana and to my surprise, the exhibit did not paint the State or Country in a very nice light. It talked about the history of New Orleans and past hurricanes. Then you turned a corner and were faced with three giant screens of footage from Katrina. The next room described personal accounts and opinions about the days prior to the hurricane and the desperation afterward. It was pretty ridiculous. Other rooms talked about the reasons for the hurricanes and geography and why it's considered a man made disaster, but the last room discussed rebuilding and how New Orleans is coming back. At first I thought it was sort of weird to house a Katrina and Mardi Gras exhibit in the same building but the transition worked well. The last Katrina exhibit ended with the idea that New Orleans isn’t the land but rather to culture and tradition of the past which lead directly into the Mardi Gras exhibit.
Mardi Gras is crazy y’all. I can’t really imagine what it was like last week here.
For dinner we went out to Antoine's....whoa. I can even describe this place but it has 15 dining rooms and if you've ever been to the French Quarter you'd understand why this is confusing. Everything is really small and close together so it's a little crazy to think of a place having 15 dinning rooms. The wine cellar is an entire city block long....

Day 3 – My sister and I are pretty nerdy when it comes to history and activities so the four of us went on a City Tour that included the Ninth Ward and Lakeview, the two areas the worst hit by Katrina. I can't even imagine being here during that time. It was pretty intense just to see the destruction on the tour. The tour guide was the most amazing guide I think I’ve ever had! Sorry Keating! Sylvester was pretty exactly what you think of when you think of New Orleans.

Day 4 - Today we just wandered the city after our Jazz Brunch at The Court of Two Sisters. I'll post some photos once I get home but the courtyard has a wisteria canopy and white table clothes....pretty great and incredibly beautiful. Then we headed out for our tour of the Treme area, clearly I need to watch the show on HBO now,


Things I love about Nawlins so far....
1) Accents - By far the coolest accents I've heard. But it's not just accents but also the vocabulary.

2) Everyone is so friendly! and not that fake, you're a tourist friendly. They are genuinely friendly and laid back. It's great. They use words like sweetie, sweetheart, hun, babe with total strangers, they wave and ask you how you're doing on the street, they work on their own time and I fully support it. Now I'm sure if you did enough to piss them off it would be a little different but I don't really plan on finding out.

3) HEAT - It's hot here and not gross humid Toronto hotm but pleasant nice hot, I may never leave. I'm dreading coming back to coats and mittens.

There are a lot more things that I love about this town but we still have a few days here, so I'll update a little later.
I'm also not sure how long my internet will last!!

Have a great day team!

Kate

2011 International Olympic Academy Application!

I eat and breathe Canada every day!


I am extremely personable, cheerful team player! I have a natural ability to take the lead, but being very adaptable, I will fulfil any role needed in order to be successful. I love to learn and I’m constantly striving to soak up new things and expand my understanding of new places, people and experiences!



My bilingualism has proven to be my biggest asset and skill; allowing me to communicate with people across our nation and the world as well as being extremely useful in my day-to-day business interactions. Strong communication skills have been vital to my success in building strong, trusting relationships.

I thrive off passion.


I am extremely passionate about the things I love and I am in love with Canada and it’s people. My love affair for Canada and the Olympics has always been present...
but during my trip to the Vancouver Olympics I was able to connect my love of sports and competition with my passion for my home! Being able to partake in and experience the power of passion and sport and how it can take hold and unite a nation was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced.


It was then that I realized I needed to be involved in creating this experience for everyone.


This drive and need has led me on a Cross Canada train trip, stopping in every province, as well as a trip to Halifax to volunteer for the Canada Games.
While volunteering I was able to chat with a variety of people but it was the dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm displayed by our young athletes that solidified my need to be a part of Canada’s Olympic Movement and made me excited to begin my trip down this path.

K.A.C Is Mixin' It Up.

That's right team....
I'm putting my passport to good use and crossin' the boarder to the land of stars and stripes.

I've been to the States several times before, but I've pretty much stuck to the North East. I've done Nevada and Florida too but this new destination is pretty different.

I'm not going to tell you where it is yet but I will give you some hints this week and I'll see if you can guess.

1) It has Canadian connections

Happy guessing!

Have a great day!
Kate

CWG Love!

So the Canada Games ARE GREAT!!!!

Here's a list of things I've loved so far....

1) Volunteering:

Basically I hang out in the Trade Centre and make sure that no one is where they shouldn't be, I know it's a hard life. All of the athletes are staying in the four hotels that are connected to the Trade Centre which has been transformed into the Athlete's village, it's all connected through pedways. The Trade Centre/Village includes the dinning room, Polyclinic, volunteer lounge and pretty much the sweetest athlete's lounge around. There's more in there but I don't really go there so I don't know what it is, like the mission offices. All I know is that Mission's staff think they are REALLY important and never want to check their coats and bag. So I pretty much hang out during the day and chat with coaches, athletes, Mission's Staff, other volunteers...really anyone because everyone is so friendly. Some of my co volunteers take it a little seriously....but it's ok. Better to be safe than sorry right? I even spoke to Kyle Shewfelt, Olympic Gold medalist from Athens and had NO IDEA. He's here with AthletesCan and gave me a pin! I then asked him what AthletesCan was and he was very nice...even though I realize now how stupid I must have looked. I probably should have done a little more research

2) Pins.

This shit is crazy team. I knew about Pin trading from hanging out in Vancouver last year but I had no idea it would take over here.

Pretty much everyone associated with the Games has pins that they give away and the point is to trade them. There is no real value system, it's just whatever you think is a great deal. There are some more rare pins but most of them are from the Territories so they are just rare to begin with. I wasn't going to collect pins...it's way to addictive, but then a really sweet little Albertan gymnast really wanted me to have one, so it started. At first I was just going to accept the pin but then quickly realized other provinces don't like it when you're not wearing their pin too....so I quickly accumulated an entire province/territory set. So pin collecting (I don't trade pins...I only accept them) is pretty great and gives you something to talk about to non-chatty co volunteers.)

3)Free Concerts!

So far I've seen Joel Plaskett, Hey!Rosetta and Matt Mays, all for FREE! Plus I sort of get a double show because they do their sound checks while I volunteer, I can't see them but the concerts take place literally right outside the athlete's village. Tuesday was too cold to stand outside and watch Sloan, (really...too cold, -30 with the wind chill and 70 km winds) but Saturday is Great Big Sea! Halifax is prepping themselves for the big crowds!

4) Athletes

These. Kids. are. AWESOME. IF only a quarter of them make it to Sochi 2014, Canada is going to DOMINATE. they are so great. They are all between the ages of 10-18 and are amazing.

I chat with a lot of them when they come in or are leaving. On my early shift they are all coming in for breakfast or leaving to compete so there is plenty of time to chit chat. Surprisingly, most are fairly chatty but there are by far some faves. You get to recognize most people (athletes, coaches, managers, missions staff) that come through, and the cool ones even remember you! Most of the athletes all travel in team packs and I have singled out some faves...

a) Wheelchair basketball - amazing. I don't know why but every single athlete, whether permanently in a wheel chair or not is SO NICE. Especially the boys on the Ontario team, they were pretty excited when I told them I was from Toronto on my first day (a nice change as most people don't think to highly of Toronto 'round here.) Now every time I see them, they stop and say hi or wave as they go bye in the hall. I love 'em! I'm also REALLY impressed with their skills, I don't know how, but most of them manage to go DOWN escalator in their chair.

b) Hockey. Right now it's just boy's hockey, girls play next week. But every team travels as a pack together at all times, coaches, players, managers, everyone. The Alberta boys even dress in the same outfit whenever they come to the Athlete's village - jeans, dress shoes and their grey Alberta sweatshirts. There is rarely a time when you see any hockey players walking around on their own, it's a pretty great way to build team unity! Also, on game day they wear their suits and spray on the Axe! It's just like going to the Keating dances!

c) Ontario's Hockey team: I was invited to a birthday party by one of their coaches on the first day...no I didn't go. Ontario doesn't always wear the same outfits when they come in so I didn't realize but every time they walked by I'd ask them how they were doing and tell them I was from Ontario!

So now their coach has caught on and has started calling me Toronto and giving me high fives...they lost in the semis but have a chance for Bronze tomorrow.

I decided that these Games would be SO fun as an athlete. They get to hang out with their friends all week, stay in a hotel, meet all their competition and hang out with other awesome kids from across the country. It's sort of neat because, depending on the sport, most of the teams know each other and their competitors and are actually very friendly. They been competing against them for a while now, so I guess it's easier to get to know them rather than not like them. what's cool is that they could all end up competing for Canada together in a few years....it's like watching the team being formed from the inside out!

5) Event:

I've been to two events. Most of the events are taking place outside of Halifax so it's hard to get to. But I have seen Wheelchair Basketball and Long Track speed skating....Whoa....

Wheelchair Basketball is CRAZY but amazing. If I ever tell you I want to try it, remind me about these kids....I wouldn't last and would probably break every bone in my body if I were to try it. It's so intense.

If you think speed skating looks fast on TV you should watch it live.....AH-MAZING! I have pictures but I'll post them to FB later.

So that's all for now. There is still a lot to talk about and a lot more to love but I think this post is long enough.

I'll be sure to fill you in on the Athlete's team attire next time...each province has some pretty awesome clothing....oh and the free Great Big Sea concert....no biggie!

Have a great day!

Kate

True Patriot Love

I'm Back!
Back in Halifax that is.
I. love. the. Maritimes. There is just a fun-loving vibe! It might be because they play this in the bar though ..Still I love it.


I highly suggest visiting and quickly learning this song.


I filled out an application last year to volunteer for the 2011 Canada Games. I didn't really think of it at the time but when I starting getting Volunteer Newsletters from the Canada Games, I realized that I had actually been approved to volunteer at the Games!


So I'm here in Halifax, it looks pretty much exactly like it did in the summer, except there is a lot of white and a biting cold in the air. What makes it even cooler is that I got here for the Canada Games a year to the day the Olympics in Vancouver started!I also just watched CTV's program for the year anniversary of Vancouver....it was great. I love the Olympics even a year later! I wish they happened EVERY year.

Now, the Canada Games are not the Olympics but they are equally as exciting, just not as global. Why? because some of these kids competing from each province and territory will be our athletes in Sochi 2014! Whoa, I know. I even met one of our Freestyle skiers in the airport...and she won silver today! Congrats Dara Howell! Needless to say I'm pretty pumped to be here.

So here's a run down of my first two days.

I was a little nervous leaving because I really didn't have a lot of information about what I'd be doing. I'd received a few emails and got a message about where to check in but I had no idea of my shifts, times, or even really what I'd be doing. But whatever....I knew it would be fun once I got here.


Things I've learned since arriving:
1) The Maritimes live up to their friendly reputation. I already knew this but it's been pretty obvious in the past two days. I can't tell you how many people have Welcomed me to Halifax! Pretty much everyone I've talked too.

Example: Older lady volunteers at the airport. Somehow, after speaking to them and explaining my situation. ( I just arrived and had no idea what I was doing or how to get the Accreditation Centre.) I was in a van, that I probably wasn't supposed to be in, with the Squash and Short Track officials and was on my way to the Games and the city!

Example 2: Jean.
Getting to the accreditation centre was easy, getting back downtown, not so much. I decided that I was going to figure out the public buses. Enter Jean. Jean first asked me if the bus was coming and then quickly informed me that I was at the wrong stop and that she would walk to me to the right stop. Jean was probably in her late 70's early 80's and loved to talk but all I could make out from our conversation was " I wish I was young again", "the young girls that go to University here go out and get pregnant" and that even though "Toronto and Ontario have an attitude, it's ok". Thanks Jean I probably would have ended up in Truro without you.

2) Halifax just has a different work ethic I think we should adopt.
I didn't really know what I was doing for the Games until this morning. I got a call from my Volunteer supervisor who told me to just show up at the World Trade Centre " at some point" tomorrow and he'd go over all of the training with me. After hanging out in the Security office for a while and meeting tons of volunteers and officials, I learned a lot and did get my schedule in order, but nothing seems too serious.

3) Ontario has a biiiiiiit of a reputation.
So I was introduced to everyone I met today as the girl who came down from Ontario. The usual response was "OOOOOHHH YOU'RE the girl from Ontario!!" This was usually followed up with "...did you come all the way out here to volunteer?" This happened with pretty much everyone I spoke to, from the ladies in the airport yesterday to the head of Security. Something tells me there are not a lot of volunteers from outside of Halifax. I'm not upset about it. Apparently, being from Ontario will get me a new jacket from the Canada Games Store! They only had XL jackets when I checked in so "because I came all the way from Ontario, they'll pick me up a new coat from the Games store". Alright by me.

Ontario has a reputation but I need to watch out when I say I'm from Toronto.... Don't worry I'm True Blue T Dot, I don't let their hate get me down. Some Haligonians love Toronto but I was told today, "Nice to meet you but I hate Toronto" So much for welcoming me to Nova Scotia. I love the Maritime vibe but don't worry, I make sure everyone knows about the best city in world :

and I'll keep cheering on Team Ontario!

GO O GO!


What's on the agenda for tomorrow? Well I'm off to my first volunteer shift and maybe even a Free Joel Plaskett show!

Have a great day!
Kate

B-B-B-Bancroft

Bancroft Ontario....it already sounds fantastic, right?

I love Bancroft for a few reasons though. Here's my list

1)Mineral Captital of Canada AND Most Talented Town?! WHOA. Bancroft is raking in the accomplishments
I guarantee you it more than fufills BOTH titles.

Bancroft even hosts the Bancroft Rockhound GEM-boree every summer where, yes, hundreds of people gather to look at and purchase....rocks and gems. My personal favorite rock/gem to buy? The Rock Person.

2) Bancroft is not only home to the most talented people and rocks, it is also home to a special place in my heart, Moose FM radio. Some may have even heard my voice, promoting a little thing called Can-Aqua Day Camp on there during the long summer days of 2007. The Moose plays amazing tunes day and night while also keeping you in the loop of who got parking tickets that day. First name basis only. I think they only have about 1 mix tape though because the songs do get repetitive. Shockingly their website is fairly extensive. They even release mix tapes cleverly named "Moose Trax". They're up to number 5 now!

3) Moose Tracks. Not the CD, the ice cream. I don't care how often you tell me that you know the best ice cream place. Unless it's Kawartha Dairy, you are wrong.
Moose Track is possibly the best flavour ever, Vanilla ice cream chocolate ribbon and Reese Peanut Butter Cups... don't even pretend you don't like it.


4) Cardiff. Not exactly Bancroft, but a good 15 minutes down the road there is a small, town about the size of an intersection...but it packs quite the punch.

There is a place in Cardiff, not far the general store that is the reason for my frequent visits to Bancroft.






Camp!
For some camp is just a place they go to once maybe twice in their life for a few days or weeks during the summer. Not for me!
Camp is what I waited for all year. It was and still is one of the best places I've ever been too!

I'll be honest, I didn't like camp my first year in 1994. At the age of 7 I was the youngest camper at camp. I was in the Robins. For any Can-Aquaers - there was no Pelicans cabin and the Doves were older than the Robins.
My sister had already been to camp the summer before and knew what was going on, so my parents decided I was going too.

Everyone in my cabin that year in '94 was at least 9 years old and already knew each other. It was a pretty lonely two weeks. I can remember standing at the sink outside brushing my teeth just WAITING for my parents to drive into the parking lot to pick me up and eventually they did.

I don't remember being asked if I wanted to go back, I just did. I went back and camp was a completely different place. What had changed since the year before? probably nothing, but I was 8 and there were more 8 year olds, including my friend Marge.

Camp became the best place imaginable! Recess 24/7 for two whole weeks! I loved it.

There were always times when I missed my parents, but you get over it pretty quickly. How can you miss your parents when you've got Air Bands to prepare for!?

Camp changed as I worked my way up through the system. No longer was it a place I spent two weeks during the summer. It was quickly becoming, as lame as it sounds, a second home. Tears were shed when I had to go home in August, not when I got to camp in July.

I became an LIT, JRC and staff until I was spending my entire summer there, from early May - end of August.

You never realize the lessons you've learned at camp until later. I don't mean lessons like, how to steer a canoe or how to start a gimp bracelet but lessons that help out and keeo you goin' in everyday life, like the things you use to describe yourself on your resume.
I won't go into a long and complicated list of the lessons learned at camp, we'd be here for years. I can go on and on about the positive impact camp has on everyone, young and old, but I won't do that here. I'll save it for another time. For now you can just have a look at the Embracing Ideals on the camp website.

I wen to camp every year from 1994 until my last year at camp in 2007. I've been back to visit everyone summer (and winter!) since. You only realize how lucky you are to go have gone to camp, when you go back and visit.

Not physically being at camp does not mean that camp is gone and done with. Now camp isn't so much a place but it's a way of living. I honestly have no clue where I would be today if I had not gone to camp. Sure I would have probably learned some pretty valuable things at home during my summer, but it would have been different and I for sure wouldn't be surrounded by the amazing people I have in my life now!

Where else would I have met these guys:


Or this great team:


I love camp a lot and I know I haven't really done it justice on this blog. It's hard to write a few all encompassing sentences to describe something so huge, so I'll give it a go with some pictures.







Want to help send a kid to camp? http://kidsincamp.com/