Before making my way to B.C. Place, I went into our local store to purchase a big flag to wave at the stadium and an umbrella with Canadian flag in case I had to wait outdoors for a long time. I even ended up buying a Canadian jersey because it was such a good deal to add to my HBC Canadian Olympic sweater. The availability of Everything Canadian in my small local store surprised me but glad I could buy everything in one spot.
I arrived at the ceremonies 3 hours prior to the start of the ceremonies, the earliest I have ever been for anything. Having witnessed the torch relay in Richmond and Vancouver, I did want to take a chance getting stuck in crowds.
With all my new gear in hand, I got on the bus. When I arrived at the Stadium Station, there were a whole bunch of volunteers telling everyone where to go. We had to walk for a while but when I arrived at the stadium, the line to get in was almost non-existent. I even got through security quickly.
Once in the stadium, I was greeted by volunteers and then found my seat, which had a aboriginal themed box and book. The box served a triple purpose: 1. a container for a flashlight, torch, parka and a drumming stick 2.a drum to be used during the ceremony. 3. a countdown piece. An hour prior to the Opening Ceremonies to be televised to 3.5 billion people around the world, we were oriented and when to use the items in the box.
Attendants at the stadium counted down from 10 seconds, I was a 7. Then the event started.
I thought the top 5 moments of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies were:
5. Tribute: Standing ovation for the Georgian luge competitor, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in a practice run earlier in the day. You could feel the Human Spirit transcended in the crowd as the team for Georgia entered the stadium. Let's hope this is the only major accident of the Olympics.
4.Rising Bear Constellation and mountains: The polar bear looked great. It was made up of lights and it demonstrated the climate change problems faced by these beautiful creatures by the retreat of ice habitat.
3. Tribute to our Canada's aboriginals: The aboriginals had four totem poles that rose from the floor. They danced all around them as the athletes entered the stadium. The displays of aurora boralis and growing trees kept with the aboriginal theme. It reminded me of Stanley Park and Victoria where I see strong signs of the culture.
2. Lighting of the Olympic cauldron by "The Great One", Wayne Gretzky and other Canadian athletes, Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash, Nancy Greene.
1. Orca Effect: Wow! What was that? This effect looked so lifelike. The Orcas appeared to spout across the ocean which was the floor of B.C. Place. I have never seen such a cool effect performed in my life.
(No picture or video can do it justice...it was that good.)
I also enjoyed Shane Koyczan's poem "We Are More" ,however, it did not make it on my top moments because it sounded similar to "I am Canadian", which I found was more original. Also, K.D. Lang never appealed to me but after I witnessed her performance at these ceremonies, I will have to reconsider. Lastly, acrobats displaying people having fun in the mountains was aslo really well.
Apparently there was a "prop malfunction" however from the angle of my seats I did not see it. I was sitting in front of the projectors that were used to create the different themes throughout the night so I was happy with my seats since they provided a great view of the whole venue.
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