Great to get news from the Olympic and this note from good friend Joy Fera and she received this from her Sister, Valerie. What a way to keep in touch with our Athlete’s!!!
Enjoy the read and thanks to Joy Fera for sharing.
Hello family & friends,
The owner of the apartment 4 of us are sharing gave me a ride into Gangneung Wednesday aft for the Canada Olympic House’s Official Opening Ceremony.
However, I soon learned that Koreans don’t go by addresses & with all the security around the Coastal Cluster, it took him an hour to locate COH!
We did the scenic tour of rice paddies & back roads! The red roof of COH & the red panels of AIR CANADA section were a welcome landmark!
We volunteers were outfitted with our stock: 2 t-shirts, a long sleeve shirt, a black hoodie, a toque and a nice red backpack!
This was all issued in the upstairs section of COH, which has 2 sections, one a lounge, the other the dining area. Pizza had been ordered in for us, so that was good!
Oh, 2 volunteers had been in Sochi, so it was great seeing them!!!
For the Official Opening, we sat on the risers, while Gov Gen Julie Payette cut the ribbon, flanked by COC President Tricia Smith (Joy’s rowing team friend of ‘76 Olympics) and others. As you can imagine, a big cheer went up once opened!
Then Julie, Minister of Sport, & Mayor of GangNeung were presented with CANADA jackets! Julie then addressed us, both in English & in French!
A memorable Opening of COH, as Her Excellency is such an accomplished lady!
As you can imagine, all sorts of Press were there! We were reminded that, if talking to the Press, to keep comments positive, as media can change things up in mere moments!
Oh, Canada’s youngest athlete, a 16 yr old snowboard halfpipe specialist, female, sat 2 away from me on the risers! She’s from the North shore of the St Lawrence!
Then it was time to leave. Today, at 11 am we have our Orientation of COH and our duties! There are 71 of us, of all ages!
Would you believe this, that one fellow who lives & works in Korea, spent his childhood summers in YAHK (south of Moyie Lake). AMAZING! And he & his Korean wife were visiting there in September, after the fires!
Our driver, Seong min, told me that there were more police than usual yesterday cuz North Korean delegation had arrived, so security is over the top!
While we were all packing up in COH, Tricia came through our area to thank each of us for volunteering! Such a nice touch! We hugged & shared a few words!
Now to prepare for Orientation at COH this am! Clear, with a cold wind here! Excitement is increasing as Opening Ceremony day draws near!
Go, CANADA, Go!
Vollie Valerie
