English Bay

The Olympics are a year away. It’s too crazy to even think about.

I remember the summer of 2003. We were in Italy and they were going to announce who had won the opportunity to host the 2010 Winter Games. It was the middle of the day and I was having a nap when my Nonna phoned to tell us the news. We had won! We were all screaming on the phone and jumping up and down. Even our relative from Italy were excited for us. My Nonna had saved all the newspapers and taped all the TV coverage of the announcement so we could see everyone in the city going nuts.  I shed tears because I felt such pride for the city and Country I was born in and I was so excited for people from all over the world to see the beauty we live in.

The Olympics have already done more of me then I could have thought. With out going into too much detail, it has changed Chad and my life, and given us opportunities I would have never dreamed. It has also given us the opportunity to take pride in our city and has allowed us to become involved in some very interesting ways.

Of course I am bias when it comes to the Olympics because of what it is doing for me and my family personally. I automatically see the benefits rather then drawbacks. However, I am not completely ignorant. I understand that people have issues with spending this kind of money for a ’2 week party’. I understand that there are other things with in the city and Provence that need help. But what I find it hard to understand is the idea that the money that is going to towards the Olympics is being taken away from people who are homeless and in need. I don’t think that is the case. If the Olympics weren’t coming, do you ACTUALLY think the money they have allotted for it would go to housing and programs? If the government was so concerned about these issues, would they not have solved them already? Would they not have just taken millions and millions of dollars and used it to help these people? I think it has finally taken an event as big as the Olympics to make people see the issues and begin to solve them.

As well, as much as I have the opportunity to support and parade my excitement for these game, I think people who truly believe that they are a bad thing should have the opportunity to protest them. However, I do not agree with those people who plan on deliberately trying to make the games fail because they don’t believe in them. The Olympics are coming whether you like it or not, so why do you feel the need to try and destroy them. Organize a protest, start a website, get out there so people can hear what you have to say, but what good can come from people trying to harm the city. Flooding it so people can’t get around. Causing traffic jams on bridges so people can’t get through. Threatening people and places. This is not going to get your issues solved, it is just going to get people mad at you and will most likely get you a few nights in jail.

Now I am not the most educated person to argue these points. I just know what I believe and feel. There is so much that can be said on both sides of the fence. We could sit here and battle back and forth for hours. But the point is that the Olympics are coming and I truly can not wait.

I am proud to live in B.C. I am proud to call myself Canadian. I am proud that the Olympics are coming here. I am proud of the opportunities that are being given to us. And when the moment comes for the opening ceremonies and they play our national anthem I will shed tears thinking about all those people who have fought for our lives, for our freedoms, so that we could this moment to show the world who we are.

Plus, is Quatchi not the cutest damn Sasquatch you have every seen!?