So the Torch is here; The Olympics start today. Its certainly brought out the passion in folks; some love it and some hate it. I have friends who have personally carried the torch, and I have others going in the Anti-Olympics protests. My feelings lie somewhere in between. I am happy for the athletes, and interested in watching the hockey, figure skating and skiing events (on TV of course: I can't afford to actually go to a game).
However, I am upset at how much two weeks of sport is going to cost. The cost of living in Vancouver has gone up massively. We have least affordable housing in the world. The budget overrun for the games is something like six billion dollars. We're already suffering from cutbacks in Education, Healthcare and Housing, and if the province is now bankrupt, it's things like Holly's public schooling that's going to suffer.
Security sounds like it will be a nightmare, so it's well good I'm not going to any games or having to commute to work during the events. I do worry about us being a terrorist target, though I hope those fears are unfounded.
I hate to sound like a Cassandra, but seven years ago I thought it was tenuous to have the winter Olympics here as we don't always get a good snowfall. Ironically, the past six years have been great for snow in the winter. Right now, everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere is coated in unprecedented amounts of snow. And here? it's like spring! I've never seen the flowers bloom this early, and they're trucking snow to Cypress for the skiing and snowboarding events there. My wish for the weather? That it doesn't rain the whole time. Vancouver is wonderful, but the rain can be dreary.
Still, it's lovely to see so many people from around the world visiting us here in Vancouver. Its great to see such patriotic spirit. Let's hope Canada does better this Olympics than the last.
So it's true, we're paying for the them, we might as well enjoy them.
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