O Canada!

It is hard to believe that it’s over. The Olympic games are done. As I write this the Closing Ceremonies will start in a little over an hour and all the events are over. It has been amazing to watch. I have said before that I love the winter Olympics. That love has grown even more over the past 17 days. There is something about the games that brings out so much emotion and excitement and having them here in Canada, breaking the record for the most gold medals ever won by a country and of course winning the gold in both men’s and women’s hockey, has made them even better.
I have always been proud of being Canadian, but often that pride and our identity has been defined in relation to our neighbours to the South. During these games you began to see that change, that we were able to be proud as Canadians, full stop. Of course beating the Americans here and there didn’t hurt. Hearing crowds of thousands of people sing the national anthem reviving our collective patriotism. People in coffee shops and pubs cheering together over curling matches. The flag waving in the street and records being broken. But it isn’t just the medals that make the Olympics so great. Some of my favourite moments do have a medal attached to them, but it is more than just the medals.

Charles Hamlin and Marianne St Gelais:
She won a silver medal on her birthday and he leaves the games with two gold medals, but what I loved about these two is the way they cheered each other on. The footage of them, especially her, reacting as the other won their races has been played over and over again but there is such genuine joy there that you can’t help but cheer along with them.

Alexandre Bilideau:
I watched his race live and cheered loudly in my living room when he won. The first gold medal at home won by a young, humble and genuinely nice guy. The footage of him and his brother may have been over played and you cynics may say it was cheesy or gimmicky but it pulls at your heart and I still find it inspirational.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir:
I have long been a fan of figure skating, growing up watching all the greats. These two are so much fun to watch. I love the relationship they have with their training mates, and competition, the American team who won silver. Their relationship is fun to observe and you can tell they have been skating together from the time they were children. Their gold medal was well deserved, but my favourite moment was when Scott turned to Tessa and told her they had come in second – and for a moment she believed him. I also loved Scott’s older brothers watching in the crowd, in tears and then lifting him up from the stands in a hug.

And of course, there’s hockey. I still have memories of the wins in 2002. In case there was any doubt, it’s our game. I enjoy hockey, though I am not a die hard fan. During the Olympics however, I become very intense about our country’s #1 game, in case anyone missed my facebook statuses. I missed the women’s gold medal game because of work and I missed one of the men’s games, also because of work, but for the most part if we were on the ice, I was watching and cheering. The final game had me stressed out but of course we won. Was there ever any doubt? :)

Go Canada!

I am a bit of an Olympic nut. I love the Olympics - especially the Winter Games. There are so many incredible sports and I love the spirit of the Games, the challenge, the heart warming triumphs, the scandals and the victories. I LOVE the Olympics.

I missed the Turin Games in 2006. I was living in South Africa at the time, and really who in South Africa cares at all about the Winter Games? So there was no coverage on TV and with very limited internet access I could only keep a loose count of medals. So in my mind 2002 was the last Winter Olympics. In my mind Canada still has gold in both Women's and Men's Hockey. I like it better in my mind :)

So given how much I love the Olympics you can imagine how frustrated I was to be working last night during the opening ceremonies. I love watching the different teams coming in, critiquing and commenting on outfits. I love seeing what the host country puts together to showcase their cultures to the world. So I was a little annoyed to be working at the coffee shop last night. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun. We had permission to turn off the music and turn up the volumn on the TV. My coworker Sarah and I did most of the cleaning during the official speeches and other boring parts. We served several people during the pagentry, although I caught the whales and the tap dancing with the flaming feet among other peices. It was really cool! :) We had several customers who had come into the cafe to study or to hang out who ended up staying and just watching the opening ceremonies with us. There were people cheering and applauding when the Canadian team walked in. There was comments and fun conversation about the singing and dancing - a bunch of strangers hung out for the evening and enjoyed the spirit of the games together for the evening. We let them all stay until the flame was lit even though we techinically closed before that happened. All of that and Sarah and I still got everything done and closed in a very reasonable amount of time.

Now the Games are officially on and I will be spending most of the next two weeks watching and following the different events. I am especially looking forward to speed skating, figure skating, skiing and of course hockey! GO TEAM CANADA!!

Soon you will have to call me 'master'

I am currently in the process of applying for masters programs. This process is becoming more stressful and involved than I ever imagined! Part of the stress is my own fault - I let things go too long with the craziness that was the holidays this year so now my 'to do' list is long and time is short. But some of the stress is inherent in the process of application. What do I want to specialize in? What do I want to research? Who do I want to be my supervisor? In looking at programs and faculty members I am having trouble figuring out what I want to focus on. This has always been a problem since so many things about my chosen field interest me. I think policy and political economy are facinating and the glaring inconsistencies anger me so that I want to be part of the solution, or at the very least a voice of reason in the madness. On the other hand, community development at the grassroots level is in my mind the front line of development and where all the really exciting things are happening. I would rather be in a village in Rwanda than in an office in Ottawa, New York or Geneva. And still again there are subjects like peace building and reconciliation in the development context which, especially in light of my experiences in South Africa and Rwanda, really get me excited. So where do I focus my attention? I have been leaning more towards something with peacebuilding, reconciliation and the perceptions of "progress" in South Africa and Rwanda. I even found a faculty member at one of the schools I am applying to who would be perfect to supervise. Unfortunately she will be on sabbatical for the majority of my time there.
Even with all these stresses and the looming deadlines I am getting really excited about doing this next year. Getting back into academics, being a student again and getting to learn and read and study again. Really exciting! (I know I'm a geek) I have already gotten back into reading some journals and articles. So, hopefully I will get all my letters of interest and outlines and summaries finished in the next couple of days and the stress will subside. Then I just have to wait for the acceptance letters (or not...) which is also stressful....

Oh November, how we love you.

It is the beginning of November so of course this means the Christmas season has begun. This may seem early to some of you, but then you probably are not working in a mall. At the mall Christmas begins on Halloween. So I am already singing along to Christmas carols and helping people buy Christmas gifts. A little crazy, but to keep from losing my sanity I am having fun with it and have decided to enjoy it.

November also means that it is time to start looking at my applications to Masters programs. I am really excited about this, but am dreading all the paper work and logistics involved in it. Some programs only require two letters of recomendation, others need three. Some need only one copy of my transcript (logical) while others are insisting on two (why?). I think I have narrowed it down to four options, three in Canada and one in England, but this changes a little every day so we'll see. One of my top picks is Dalhousie but they only accept 15 people into the program every year. I mean, I think I am good and all but I can't exclude the possibility that there are 15 people out there better than me. :) So I will apply to a couple of different places.

I am also applying to the University of Sussex in Brighton, England but this is sort of a pipe dream. Even if I do get accepted I would have to win the lottery or somehow get a huge grant/scholarship in order to afford it. So now I am off to work, but I'll stop and get a lottery ticket on the way :)