What's It Like To Be Here?

For several months now, this blog has been languishing as we post less and less frequently, our lives being overrun by new schedules and obligations. Simultaneously, our Facebook walls are flourishing. It's much quicker and easier to post quick, pithy updates there as interesting (or conspicuously uninteresting) things happen in life, and frankly, it results in way more comments. So if we aren't friends already, be sure to add us.

However, some things just require the scope and gravity of a blog post, and yesterday the Winter Olympics began in my hometown. How many people ever get to say that, within the entire span of their lives? For all our friends in Minnesota and elsewhere around the world, I feel a duty, nay, a moral imperative, to chronicle this event; to convey what it's like; to transport you here as best I can. So read on, dear reader.

In the past few weeks leading up to the Games, the primary mood among Vancouverites has seemed to be skepticism. We had the warmest January on record, and rumours of dry, barren slopes at Cyprus had cynics fearing the worst. Thousands of protesters have been reminding us for months that the city of Vancouver has what some researchers believe to be the largest population of homeless children in North America, not to mention the sad and horrible problems of drug addiction and mental illness that plague the many homeless residents of the downtown and other areas. The out-of-control problem of homelessness in this city is one of its unfortunate but indisputably central facets.

Couple that with a growing number of embarrassingly underfunded schools, then factor in the usual budget problems of any major city, and you start to understand why a significant number of people have felt it strongly necessary to peacefully protest Vancouver's decision to take on billions of dollars in debt in order to host these Games. The money being spent just on security has outgrown the original estimate for the entire Games. The original budget alloted $175 million for security costs; about one billion has now been spent on security alone.

But none of that matters right now. It's finally time; the Games are here. In the last few days the entire city seems to have caught the spirit at last, and the streets are lined with proud, cheering Canadians, as the torch runs by. We took the kids to see it as it passed through White Rock on Tuesday morning, then yesterday it came right by where I work and we all hurried down the stairs to be there to cheer it on. This was the longest 'domestic' torch relay of all time, apparently. Only makes sense, since we have more land to run across than most. Finally, the city is excited and ready to host the greatest sporting event known to man.

Then Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed near the end of his final training run, just hours before the opening ceremonies yesterday.

I can't explain how deeply I was affected by this. I felt anger, sadness, bewilderment and shame. This from a guy who laughed when his family's dog drowned in the backyard pool twenty years ago. I've definitely changed over the years. When I saw the footage of that accident, I wanted everything to stop. I wanted the torch relay to be halted in respect. I wanted the Opening Ceremonies to be postponed. I wanted to know whose job it was to make sure the luge track was safe, and see that person personally apologizing to Kumaritashvili's family on live television. If that job didn't exist, I wanted to see the organizers apologizing to the family that it didn't. Instead we got two grey-haired men looking very sad on TV for five minutes, stammering that this was a tragedy.

We already knew it was a tragedy, but is it only sad, or is it disgraceful and reprehensible? There had already been "several," we are told, previous accidents during training runs. A former gold medalist had wiped out. A Russian competitor had said the track was dangerous, too fast. Was there no one capable of saying that the track should be closed before someone died instead of after? Or how about at least some netting? Maybe even some pads on the steel poles right next to the track? Between 10 AM yesterday and the time the Opening Ceremonies actually began, I couldn't stop these questions from running through my head.

The luge competition will probably not begin tomorrow as scheduled, but I imagine they will still have it. And Kumaritashvili's family and teammates will receive plenty of condolences, but no apologies. It's almost enough to make me want to join the protesters.

But once the Opening Ceremonies got underway, the excitement was undeniable nonetheless. A grand spectacle as it always is, the Vancouver version featured some amazing musicians and dancers, surrounded by a spectacular, constantly evolving set, creating many incredibly memorable scenes and images. I could almost feel proud to be a Vancouver resident again.

And today and for the next 16 days there will be a lot of cool games on TV. Good competition, friendly smiles, exciting and bizarre sports like curling and the biathlon. Everyone knows the summer games are better, but these ones are at least happening less than an hour away from me, and that will be exciting to know as I watch them on TV exactly like I would any other year. I hope you'll be watching too.