Thursday, February 11, 2010

Early this morning

Excerpt from my journal
It's a quarter til 2 in the morning local time, which really means my body thinks it's almost 5 am. This might explain the tears in my eyes threatening to spill over. The last 24 hrs have been stressful. I had to get everything done and there simply wasn't enough time. I woke up this morning, long after my alarm had gone off (sorry Marie) to realize my flight was the only one canceled. I then spent 45 minutes figuring out a new flight plan. I should have gone back to bed after that if I was smart but I wasn't. I called different departments of the company I'm working for to make sure it would be okay to arrive at midnight and they assured me it would be okay. I arrive in Vancouver , exhausted. The accreditation place is closed. My professor (who is staying in Vancouver) isn't answering his phone (which is understandable) but leaves me unsure of what to do. My new friends, B...and R..., make sure I'm okay before heading off to the city. As of now, I'm sitting in the last shuttle bus for Whistler....all by myself. At least 60 seats and I'm the only passenger. Seems pretty ridiculous.
The worst part is arriving in a country as a lone girl and having no idea what to do and having no one to call/talk to. Luckily, B... and R... lend me their phone and help and then these nice Olympic people found me a bus going to Whistler so I wouldn't have to sleep in the airport.
I arrived at my hotel at 5 am local time (8 am Eastern time). I was up by 9:30 and off to get my accreditation activated by 11:20. The accreditation lets me into my venue and gets me free transportation/ other benefits. Before that I got my uniform and met up with various people.

Day 1
Met everyone on my crew. They are all very nice. There is one other girl from the states and she happens to be my roommate. The others are from Whistler/Vancouver, London, and Australia. I'm already picking up their accents. Our leader is from London so that's the accent I'm really picking up (just for you Katelyn haha). She says brilliant a lot.
Today was just setting up and learning our venue/responsibilities. The work and "fun" I believe will pick up as the days go on. Tonight was training for the broadcasters, crew, and even the athletes. So we got to see some of them go down the course. It was really neat.

5 comments:

Kate said...

Sounds like a rough transition, but I am glad you're safely there!
Miss you already!

amy said...

oh man!! i'll bet you were exhausted!! keep us updated on the fun (if you have time) and hope you catch up on some sleep!!

love you,
amy

Anonymous said...

I love you! I'm glad you made it to Canada safely, even if it was exhausting. Make a list of the words your supervisor uses alot for our future British speaking excursions. hehe... Can't wait to hear about all the awesome stuff you are going to do! -kdn

Anonymous said...

you poor thing. i'm sorry it was so exhausting and difficult. :( i hope the fun starts soon for you. love you,
katie

Leighann said...

i'm sorry your travels were so horrendous. hopefully the experience of THE GAMES makes you forget the rough start.