Volunteering: Feb. 11 - Podium Finish

Countdown to Start of 2010 Vancouver Games: 21 hours; 28 minutes

Today, I was my much feared wet and miserable human being.

First of all, I was severely lacking in the sleep department, thanks to arriving back at Whistler at midnight following the dress rehersal of the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver. And now this is where I thank the heavens and the west coast's addiction to all things caffienated. The volunteer break room supplies free coffee and cookies at pretty much all hours of the day, and I exercised my full right to exploit that perk on this day.

Second of all, there was some kind of precipitation falling from the sky up at Whistler Olympic Park all day long. The mornings saw very wet snow that would melt on first contact to anything that is not also wet and cold. Which was mostly everything in the region except the snow beneath us, which meant that it still seeped into the fabric of our outer coats. However, that was preferrable to the fat and frequent raindrops that pelted us into the afternoon, turning everything beneath us into a brown, wet sludgey, slushie mess, if it wasn't already as a result of the wet snow from the morning.

I had to stand outside in both weather, and for long periods of time to boot. I was at ski-jump trial runs in the morning that saw the papers I held in order to help keep track with the event for the press that was present reverse back into its pulp form and my pen deciding to become picky about the quality of the paper it wrote on, prompting me to rid myself of the primadonna. I was then placed in cross-country in the afternoon to try and help out Reuters.

At first, it wasn't so bad. I had come well layered beneath my jacket. But after five hours in wet and wetter conditions, my "water-repellent" suede boots finally declared defeat, and turned my socks into cold, miserable sponges. Then there was the wool, and so therefore "non-waterproofed" gloves that gave me problems.

Honestly, the highlight of my day was getting the chance to act as a stand-in for flower ceremony rehersals at the cross country venue at the end of the day with my fellow blue jacket volunteers. It meant that I was given the chance to stand on the podium and act as if I won an Olympic medal. Yes, we were allowed to act like idiots, although we had to be reasonably "realistic" as well.

While it was a time-eater outdoors in miserable weather, it was still fun, especially when I was grouped as a "silver medallist" in men's cross-country teams representing South Korea. Even better was the hilarious names that the annoucer came up for us during the trial run.

I wish I had a picture. I may yet get one from a fellow volunteer. But I didn't bring my camera up with me for me to have my own record of my silver-medal performance as a representative of Korea in men's cross-country.