We use to walk by stores that sold apparel with our the Canadian maple leaf on it and we thought it was lame to wear any “Canadian” gear. Now with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I’ve never been so proud to be Canadian! I honestly didn’t care nor felt any excitement for the Olympics until the morning of the opening ceremony on Friday and now I’m beaming with Canadian pride. It`s amazing how your perspective can totally change in one day.
My favorite quote so far is by Walter Gretzky when he said his parents were European commoners and back then, they would’ve never been able to participate in an Olympic torch relay. But here in America, everyone can because we are all equal.
Like Becca said, our opening ceremony cannot compete with Beijing because we don’t have over a billion people to tax nor do we have such a rich and awesome history like China’s to brag about but I think we did a good job [displaying Canada's culture and history] …except for the girl who butchered our national anthem. Anyway, I doubt anyone could beat Beijing (they rocked it!) unless the Olympics were held in North Korea where Kim Jong Il would imprison his people if they don’t give a spectacular performance. 
It’s true, we live in the best country in the world and the most livable city in the world. 
Sure, we have a retarded prime minister and an extremely expensive real estate market but at least we don’t live in a place where there are constant terrorist threats and a smoggy skyline. We are surrounded by clean air, beautiful nature and lots of opportunities.
I think the Olympics is what every city needs. Beijing made me proud to be Chinese and Vancouver made me proud to be Canadian.
That’s it! I wanna visit your city. Heard so many good things about it. Be my tour guide?:D
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kudos for being proud! =]
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“Beijing made me proud to be Chinese and Vancouver made me proud to be Canadian.”
Exactly how I feel! I’m so envious of everyone in Vancouver right now.. can’t wait to go home ! At least I have my Canadian water bottle
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Can’t believe you were there!! My mom’s half Canadian and still has tons of family in the Vancouver area so it was kinda cool for me to watch.
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awesome photos, i’ve been following the winter olympics a little, it looks amazing. I couldn’t do the things they do- totally out of ordinary.
The london olympics is next!
My city. [logo was not promising at all...]
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Katy
February 16th, 2010 |
You’re going to have sooo much fun at the London Olymipcs!! Make sure you get some tickets to Olympic events even if you’re not into the sports… the atmosphere is amazing!
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I have never been more proud to be canadian either.
I am so glad the world gets to visit our city.
My co-worker told me that when he was out for dim sum with his family, he over heard some of the Chinese athletes and they said that they don’t want to leave our beautiful city. Wow.
Vancouver is the best city to live in.
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Katy
February 16th, 2010 |
That’s awesome to hear!
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I have never been more proud to be canadian either. I agree with what you are saying. Every word.
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Love our city to bits! Great post and tribute to Vancouver.
I think everything about the Olympics just highlights how proud we should be about our city!
It’s also such a privilege for BC to be able to host the games and have the world come over. This weekend for me has been amazing!
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I sadly missed the opening ceremony but I have been watching the winter olympics lately since I’ve been sick in bed. I was so happy for Canada when you guys got your first gold metal on my home soil. The guy was so sweet about how he works hard for his brother who has cerebral palsy.
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Katy
February 16th, 2010 |
Watch here: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/collections/collectionid=40427/index.html
Aw I hope you feel better soon!
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Thao
February 17th, 2010 |
Thanks for the link. And I just realized my typo. “My” home soil should be “your” home soil. -__-;
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aahhh, i love our city
you’re right though.. funny how everyone would ignore canada shirts or even places like Roots but now…they’re all sold out! haha! I also know a lot of people who were anti-Olympics but now, seeing everyone come together has changed their minds!
You’re right as well that we’ll never compare to Beijings opening… our little blooper at the end made it worse. hahaha! and it sucks too that everyone was lip-syncing… even the orchestra was pretend playing!
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Katy
February 16th, 2010 |
I can’t wait to see if people will still be wearing their Canada gear even after the Olympics are over.
I thought the ceremony was good but boring at times so my mind wandered during the slower performances. I prefer fast-paced and lots of action.
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I’ve never been to Vancouver but it looks amazing!
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awesome pictures katy!
i just went out to buy the olympic gear today…. man the bay is hella busy.
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Katy
February 15th, 2010 |
Thanks! Check out the other Bay locations. I went to the Metrotown location on Saturday and they still had a lot of merchandise left (although probably not as much variety)… I can’t justify lining up that long for anything!
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what an amazing place!
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I loved our ceremony! It embraced the First Nations and all the cultures of the settlers. I too hate what that girl did the anthem – I think the original one would have been much better. I wish I attended so I could get that drum…
I still have to buy my Canadian sweater! So far, all I bought was a Mukmuk keychain for $10 (holy, they’re making a profit!)
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wow, it really looks amazing in canada!
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I haven’t been watching anything with the Olympics, but you make me want to come visit. The city is really pretty!
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Katy
February 16th, 2010 |
You should! Well our downtown is nice… the suburbs aren’t really but there is a lot of good restaurants here and tons of stuff to do especially in the summer with the mountains and the ocean all around.
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Long time reader, first time to comment. But I definitely agree with the opening ceremony. In my totally unbiased opinion, I think our opening ceremony had more heart to it. Sure it may not have been as incredible as Beijing, but there’s just something so special about the opening ceremony where you just feel so PROUD to be a Canadian.
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Katy
February 15th, 2010 |
Hey Izzy and welcome! I love it when my readers “come out of the closet.”
Yes, our opening ceremony definitely felt “Canadian.” I loved how we gave tribute the First Nation tribes because I grew up with a lot of them back in Saskatchewan and we studied them extensively in school. My favorite parts were the snowboarder, the punk fiddlers and the slam poet.
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Its amazing! Usually, people are so closed off & angry towards eachother. We just keep to ourselves, listen to our I-pods, and avoid eye-contact.
But, with this contagious excitement and spirit, strangers are socializing, smiling and even dancing.
I just bought my “Canada” sweater today, & Im wearing it with pride!!
-Jess Mai
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I wish I was in Canada for the olympics!!!!
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I totally know what you mean! I’ve never felt prouder to be a Canadian and a Vancouverite than now. Downtown is electric and even now I can hear roars of people cheering (from where and about what) through my apt. window. It’s such a great time to be in the city!
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go canadians & olympics!
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ditto what you said about beijing olympics making us proud to be chinese, and vancouver for canadian. i wasn’t excited either until yesterday too! looking forward to the games
<3
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I wanted to watch a replay of the opening ceremony but to no avail, so I just saw clips here & there. I liked when that snowboarder jumped through the rings! That was pretty amazing & I agree…after seeing so much effort being put into this yr’s Olympics, it makes me proud to be Canadian too!
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Katy
February 15th, 2010 |
If you’re still interested:
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/collections/collectionid=40427/index.html
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Can you tell me the last time we didn’t have a moron or a dictator for a Prime Minister? The ability of politically polarized people to ignore the shortcomings of PM’s from their favoured party always amazes me.
As far as our anthem singer, I don’t think you’re placing the blame properly. The young woman sang in tune, did not forget words and followed instructions as how to sing it. Fault lies with the organizers for allowing our anthem to be butchered through a major slowdown and U.S. style ‘diva’ism’.
One thing you did not touch on that upset me greatly is how ‘most’ of our country speaks English, yet the games began with French language narration. Neither by alphabetical order, nor popularity, is that language first in the hearts of Canadians. The only thing it represented is how this country continuously bends over backwards to attempt to please a portion of the population that contributes little and demands much.
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Katy
February 15th, 2010 |
There were a lot of things I didn’t touch on about the opening ceremony that bugged me because that wasn’t what my entry was about and I wanted to keep the wording to a minimum. I noticed the French thing too and was quite puzzled about it.
I know it’s not the girl’s fault that she sang our national anthem like that (I tweeted, whose idea was it?!) because VANOC probably made her. I know it didn’t sound like that in my blog, but it’s just for humor and effect since I never take my blog seriously.
No doubt her voice was amazing though!
But anyway, I’m really proud for all Canadians and I’ve never seen so much patriotism in the city before, especially displayed by young people and I hope it lasts even way after the Olympics!
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