My Olympic Dream

Today, it is accomplished. At 5 pm Pacific Standard Time (3 am in Germany) the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler will be opened. IOC president Jaques Rogge will proclaim: “Let the Games begin”. A huge festival for the world, 81 nations will compete in Downhill Skiing, Ice Skating, Biathlon, Ski Jump and for sure (Ice-)Hockey.

But there are not only athletes or sports officials – there are journalists, politicians, economists, doctors, whole sports departments and visitors from all over the world and for sure these huge money-making merchandise brands all over the place, and criminals. Almost every kind of society is represented in Vancouver. Almost everyone who still believes in the power of the Olympics.
Almost everyone. Except me. I am sitting in my students apartment in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany. A nice city in the green heart of our country. I usually like to study here. But today is not usually, it is the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Olympics, my personal dream.

Here is the story: I was pretty young when my father introduced me in the beauty of sports, I joined our local kayaking club at the age of 6 and started watching sports with him on TV. My first Olympic memory were the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. I was wondering why so many people were into that event and it took me a while to understand. Seven years and several local sports events later, I decided to spend some time after my High School graduation in Canada. The reasons have been clear: get out of home for a while, get to know another coutry, another kind of people, see some beautiful nature and earn life experience.

So, on August 11th 2008, my plane was landing in Vancouver, the pearl of the Pacific. I spent my first two month there, my first own apartment was not in Germany – it was in Vancouver, BC, Canada. My first period of more than two weeks without my mum preparing food me. My first months of finally growing up took place in Vancouver. In October, I left the city and traveled all across Canada, by bus trains, planes, ferries throughout the provinces of Canada. I have seen almost every corner of the southern country before my VIA Rail Train entered Pacific Central Station again in January. I was out of money and spent four more moths in Vancouver working as a dish washer and selling fries and pizza to hungry tourists up on Cypress Mountain – the official Freesytle Skiing and Snowboarding venue for the Winter Games. And I was staying at the apartment of Scott K., a broadcasting manager for all the international broadcasters reporting from the Olympic sports facilities and my host dad.

And so it was the time exactly a year ago when there was this dream growing in my soul, a dream of participating in the Games. Sadly not as an athlete, because hiking and Greyhound bussing is not an Olympic sport. Neither as a journalists, politician or economist nor as a doctor. I wanted to be a volunteer. Work there with all my power, not for money, not for reputation – just with my glowing heart and my passion for sports and for this extraordinary city.

So I applied for a volunteer position, and got an invitation for a personal interview on May 1st, 2009. I met the people from VANOC, the organization commitee for the Olympics and had a great great talk, my interviewer has been very excited about my enthusiasm as a 19 year old German to come all the way to Vancouver to volunteer for a big sports event. And I left with a huge smile on my face and the certitude: “You will definitely get a job offer in the next couple of months, until October”. But every volunteer gets only one offer, one opportunity. But I was sure – Whatever you will get, you will say: “YES!”.

So, I left Vancouver again, I traveled up North, have seen the lonlieness of Northern Alberta and and BC, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. And I flew from Yellowknife to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, the most special Canadian territory up in the Arctic with a really unique culture. My plan was done, I have seen every provincial and terrotorial capital of Canada, and I returned home in July 2009 with a backpack full of MEC cloths, souvenirs, memories – and a huge folder “My Games Training – Ma formation pur les Jeux”.

I was telling everyone: “Hey, I will go back to Vancouver in February for the Olympics”. I was looking forward, ready to go and wainting. And waiting. Waiting for an E-Mail from VANOC. And then I finally got it, in September, my one job offer: “Since completing your interview, we’ve identified you as a potential fit as a National Olympic Committee/National Paralympic Committee Assistant, given your fluency in another language. [...] The NOC/NPC Assistant role is an opportunity of lifetime to welcome the world in your second or even third language!” I was incredibly happy – until I read the last line: “Must be 21 or older for insurance purposes”. Well. I am 20. And I won’t be 21 until the Games are starting. So what the heck is that? A job offer for a job I can not take, because of my age? So I asked about the offer and their answer came right away: “Due to the age commitment and mandatory training that volunteers must attend we will be reviewing your application for another area.” So, start to wait again? In fact, now I know what they wanted to tell me: “Sorry, but as we said: You get just one offer, if you don’t take it, you are out!” What a great deal!

So I started to study in October in Weimar, Media Informatics. Learining programming, some Mathmatics – and the basics of broadcasting, Scott’s Job. And I always kept my Olympic dream in mind. Deep inside I was still waiting for another offer. Until Christmas. I realized, VANOC won’t need me, so I couldn’t go.

It was in the middle of January, three week before the Olympics are starting I got an enthusiastic message from VANOC in my inbox: “Congratulations! You have been selected to be a part of our “Volunteers On Demand Squad””. Translation: “Oh damn, we just realized that we still need some people to clean up the washrooms, are you interested?”. Yah, for sure I will book my plane tomorrow “on demand”, because I think I will be the only one with the idea of flying to Vancouver in February 2010. What a pathetic organization! And then I can read in the German newspaper: “Olympic organization committee still needs volunteers for Vancouver”. Oh, I thought they already had enough?

And today, there is the opening ceremony, and I will still sit here and watching my exams passing by. Next to my Maths stuff there is still the folder: “My Games Training – Ma formation pur les Jeux”. My chance of a lifetime. Must be a really short life. But despite my sadness of not getting the chance to participate in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, I will still watch it every night, and my heart will still glow for Canada. “Go, Canada, Go” – Go for Gold for your beautiful country! And don’t worry about the organization: VANOC got it down pat!

24 February 2010   Posted in: 2) Stories  No Comments

Test Post

This is the first post on my new web site – and even bilingual!

Hurra !!!

23 February 2010   Posted in: 1) News  One Comment