Jan. 31: The Job Starts Tomorrow!

(Weather update: Foggy and warm +9C today. Robins nesting, daffodils in bloom, warmest Vancouver January on record.)

We've been roaming around the region for 3 weeks now and have become pretty familiar with Vancouver, which can be strikingly beautiful in sunny times and yet dismal in the rain. You never know which city will show up tomorrow! But February 1 seems to be a major turning point for the Games and for me personally. In the big picture there are more uniformed Games staff on the streets, more road closures, and much more obvious security --- such as Coast Guard ships in the harbour and floating barriers around sensitive waterfront buildings.

For me, it will be the first day of paid work in a long time. I have my games credentials and my spiffy uniform and will report Monday morning for orientation and shift assignments. But because of security restraints, I won't be able to post any pictures or information that isn't available to the general public on the streets. I'll see what I can do....

In the meantime, here are some photos that haven't been posted in the past. They all reflect the mood here.

Language Lesson From the Street:LEVEL 2

The quiz two days ago was just a warm-up for more! Here are some that should be more challenging. Match today's "Welcome" signs with these languages:

Slovak

French
Greek

Lil'Wat (Host First Nation)

Cantonese

Korean

Japanese

Italian

Inuktitut

Bonus: My 2 personal favorites:

WITAMY (Polish) and BITAJEMO (Ukranian)

Language Quiz from the Streets

(Weather Update: A brutal coldspell is not predicted for this weekend, in fact it will continue to be around +10C. So this month will have been the warmest January in Vancouver on record. VANOC has given up hoping for snow at the snowboarding venue and has started to move and spread snow from an adjoining mountain. How do you say "overbudget" in the languages below?!? )

If signs were snow, Vancouver would be under deep drifts of the stuff! There are Olympic banners, fence wraps, transit messages, official vehicles and the ubiquitous "look" of the Games in green, blue, and white everywhere. But the simplest and most heartfelt signage may be the series of small understated ones that say "Welcome" in more than 60 languages. We spotted the ones below on a walk along Robson Street.

Suggestion: The signs should have said what language they were in, for those who aren't familiar. Then pedestrians could have had a language lesson on the street! See if you can match the pictures with these languages:

Hindi

Swedish

Spanish

Finnish

Russian

Dutch

Norwegian

Portugese

Jan. 27: Working Harbour: Distraction or Party?

Weather update: Fog in the morning, mostly sunny and warm +10C this afternoon. No snow, lots of tops down.)

Vancouver is in a jewel of a setting with mountains in the background and waterways bordering the neighbourhoods. False Creek is really a bay mostly filled with pleasure craft and their marinas. T'sawwassen is an open port and large ferry terminal to the south of town. But Burrard Inlet is the main access to and from the Pacific Ocean, and it is a very busy working harbour. What part will you see on TV?

For instance, wouldn't it be spectacular if the barge carrying the 40-feet high Olympic rings would float around the harbour ---- like those memorable and colourful fish that floated around Sydney harbour in the summer games of 2000? So far, they have remained at anchor. Can they be a hazard to the floatplanes that land and takeoff every half-hour?

And watch for the yellow conical piles of sulfur in the background of your TV views during the Games. The networks might try to minimize them. Why not call them the Party Hats!?

Jan. 26: Sorry, No Ad Space Available

(Weather update: No snow in sight or on site! But I got rain-soaked this morning with no umbrella, then had to squint by the afternoon because the sun was so bright...)

The Olympics couldn't go on without the major sponsors who pay very big bucks to be exclusive. The IOC is quick to take legal action against any others. In Vancouver some minor offenses are happening, like knock-off mittens or T-shirts that oppose the Games --- but catch your eye by including the extremely trademarked Olympic rings. The only high-profile "ambush marketing" so far has been by a major Canadian bank that is not RBC, the official bank.

In order to protect their $pon$or$, the IOC has required VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee, to buy up ALL advertising space on the area transit system. VANOC can then resell the space, but only to non-competitive advertisers.The result is that trains, buses, bus shelters, and some billboards on major roads all have the same ads wherever you go.

It's like those TV shows where they seem to have only 2 commercials but they show them over and over and over!

Jan. 24: Taking a Break to the Island

(Weather Update: mainly sunny +10 in Victoria, no snow yet...)

We are getting impatient to start our jobs here, so we took a weekend break by ferry to Vancouver Island. B.C.'s capital city of Victoria is just as British as the name implies, with gardens in bloom, high tea at 3 pm, and horse carts in the street. And of course, topdown convertibles cruised the streets for my summer dreams. A surprise, though, is that Victoria, like Vancouver, also has painted fiberglass eagles. Anyone out there for some pick-me-up bright colours??

Jan. 22: Lanterns Shine for Cultural Olympiad

(Weather Update: Warm +7C, some showers, no snow yet...)

All Olympic Games feature a "Cultural Olympiad" in the host city. In Vancouver, it's a 60-day festival of performing and visual arts that started today. For example, the art gallery has been wrapped in huge bright flowers to break up the grey columns. There is also a modern dance spectacle set to the music of Joni Mitchell. Take your pick of daily concerts, theatre, and whimsical exhibitions.

"Lunarfest" is 2010 (get it?) lanterns decorated by children from Canada and Taiwan. They are lit by LED bulbs and hang from 40 three-metre tall steel trees. The lanterns illuminate the significant Asian population in Vancouver, and the fact that the Lunar ("Chinese") New Year starts the day after the Opening Ceremonies Feb. 12.

Also on display are 5 "totem lanterns" that incorporate both nations' indigenous designs --- such as a killer whale from Canada and flying fish from Taiwan. If you can't find a lantern you like, you can make your own to hang, or see all the thousands of submissions at lunarfest.org!

Jan. 21: Fave Merchandise and Fake Mittens

(Weather Update: Very mild +10C, sunny and no snow yet...)

Despite the springlike conditions, official Olympic merchandise is flying like skijumpers off the shelves. Tourists, international backpackers, and even locals are slaloming through the half-pipe of clothes, toys, and souvenirs. The Games' biggest retailer, The Bay, has also come up with designer canoes and hundreds of variations on colours and logos.

The biggest rave has been the now-iconic red mittens worn by the torch bearers and featuring a white maple leaf so that when a mitten-wearer waves, the maple leaf waves too. Not surprisingly, fake mittens have started to appear in unofficial outlets. They don't have the rings on the back, only a generic inukshuk. Buyer beware!!

All A-boarrrrrd!

Vancouver's brand-spanking-new Olympic Line train had its first run today and we were on it! It runs from the Athlete's Village to the trendy Granville Island shops and multi-ethnic markets (guess who had perogies for lunch?!). The train is identical to the Bombardier "Flexity" now in use in Brussels, with the interior signage in French, German, English, and Flemish. Flexity = Flex City, get it?

Not often you get to board a train on its very first day. The driver was cautious, the passengers marvelled at the low flat floor, and trainspotters from all over the world were out in force photographing and tweeting this historic event. One guy couldn't help himself and kept yelling "All A-boarrrrd!"