Hi everyone,
It's been a while since my last e-mail, but there isn't much to tell really. Over the last few days, we have started to get into our routines that will take us to our matches. The first few days in an Olympic Village can be overwhelming, but then you have to step back and be selective as to what you allow yourself time for. We start out having everything as a possibility and saying yes or no to each thing- mostly we say yes. Now, we have to decide what we need in a day, plan for time, and then the rest is dropped.
Yesterday I had a massage, got adjusted by the chiropractor, had three dinners (as well as every other meal like second breakfast), went to our flag raising and welcoming ceremony, had only one practice because there was not enough time to travel to make both, walked over some laundry to have washed, and had a security briefing with the RCMP. Each thing isn't too much, but you have to realize that each thing takes time. If we go to practice, we have to catch the bus one hour and ten minutes before practice and it takes 10 minutes to walk to the bus. We leave 15 or 25 minutes after practice is over and it takes 30 or 45 minutes to get back from the stadium. Trying to have two practices in one day like we did two days ago doesn't leave much time for anything else. It is so nice to have meals made for us and there is no clean up, but it takes 10 minutes to walk to the cafeteria. 20 minutes of walking and then we always take our time when we eat. At home, I can take 10 steps to the fridge and be finished eating in 10 minutes sometimes. For us, every meal takes time.
I was also thinking about how loud it is here. The excitement and commotion of the Games can be a lot. I have a phone here with no voicemail. When someone calls someone on our team, it seems like it takes 4 rings just for one of us to hear it. Lots of calls are missed. Olympics is bigger, better, louder, stronger. It starts to wear you out if you are not careful. I'm watching some DVDs just to get my own quiet time and to have a break from all of the stimuli around here.
Having said all of that, now that I am in my own routine, I really love it here. The food is great, and I am learning not to take one of everything. Have you ever noticed when there is too much selection all the time it becomes better just to take a few things you feel like eating and enjoy them. Too many tastes can be too much. It's hard not to take it all, but I just hope it shows up in the menu another day so that I can try it later. I must say the cheesecake I had for breakfast was very good. Breakfast is the best time to get a lot of calories too so maybe I won't need another piece for dinner. Still haven't had McDonald's yet but after my tournament is over, there will be a retirement celebration that may just include a Big Mac or 5. It's so fun just to get everything for free. I haven't even seen any money here yet. It's so nice to finish practice and just go and get an orange juice out of the cooler. The Snickers sitting there are also taken, but I'll let you decide how good that is. I evidently like it.
I can't remember what I've said in the e-mails before so I may be repeating myself. The Village is really nice. You can tell they had this ready well in advance. The trees are big, and the lawn was getting cut today. They have fountains everywhere, and the gardens are always being groomed. They have a lot of people working to make this the best. They are not my favourite looking buildings but everyone else seems to really think they look good. I haven't even been to the international zone yet. That's where you have a barber, general store, an official Olympic merchandize store, flower shop, post office and other things. It's normally the place you go to buy souvenirs. Since my family isn't here this time to get all the gifts for home, I think I may need another suitcase for the way back. I think that's their plan, train you to take all the food and then you can't say "NO" when it comes to buying things - very sneaky.
The hall is very good. I'm sure there will be a lot of great matches played here over the course of the tournament. Val and I had a good practice today. I hope we can keep hold of the way we played today. We will practice with the New Zealand team tomorrow before the opening ceremonies. We've played them twice already.
Ok, here are some pictures of the place. I have tried to make them thumbnails so they don't take forever to load (at least most of them).
Mike
(Click here to see pictures)
Previous emails:Aug 3, Aug 2, July 28
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