Olympics | Being Emme

And with the hint of an accent it all flooded back … Vancouver 2010

February 14, 2011 By Emme 1 Comment

Funny how history repeats itself. A year ago, I was somewhat blassay about the Olympics being in this fine city of ours. The Olympic Committee had not been especially warm or welcoming to locals, but a few of the Houses changed all that for me, especially La Maison de la Suiss and Saxony House. Oh and how did I love the music at the Saskatchewan Pavilion and all the fantastic Arts at Atlantic Canada House! Well, I’ve been feeling a little the same way as the one year celebration got under way this weekend, that is until a heard a German accent yesterday and then I was taken right back, burning red face and all.

You see for me the Olympics weren’t really about the games or sport at all. They were about the people I met, both local and from around the world and in sharing in our traditions from music and celebration to food and beer. Oh and there were some fine beers – thank you Saxony House, I get teary eyed just thinking about those tankards. I’m happy to provide you with an address for a care package.

Saxon-Canadian Relations (aka Being a good Canadian Diplomat.)

So we all need goals, especially around games, and that I had, just like any of the athletes. My goals were two fold.

Enjoy as much food, drink and music from all around the world, as possible.
Encourage International Relations by hosting a little competition of my own against my darling hummingbird604. How you ask? Well, our own Olympic Sport of seeing who got more Olympic dates.

Now, this really set a great purpose and tone to the Games as things got off to a roaring start in our Olympic Event. The Opening Ceremonies alone I had three dates. Needless to say, despite the odds, I was leaving Raul behind in a white wash.

Olympic Dates 2 & 3 (Yes, they happened at the same time, as did Date 1 - he's taking the pictures. I'm not a girl that wastes time.)

That was until this Saxon fellow got in the way, and turned me head over heels in a hunt for unrequited love.

Stealing a Kiss

Not wanting to lose though, I tossed my heart aside and still managed to get in a kiss or two:

Thats when Raul pulled off the mittens and started playing dirty, deeking me out and landing me a very real Olympic romance and case in International Relations in my lap. Now, I’m not one to smooch and tell, but lets just say that that German accent yesterday was all I needed to take me right back to Vancouver 2010 and turn my face as red as a beet.

Faced with nostalgia, I think I’ll dig up a bit of our unused footage to share with you in the coming weeks. Who knows it might even help to me cure of this past year’s weakness for foreign men.

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Altlantic Canada, Canada, Contests, Events, Germany, Meeting Mr. / Ms. Right (or Right Now), Olympics, Perfect Dates, relationships, Saskatchewan, Switzerland, The Tube, Travel Tagged With: 2010 Olympics, atlantic canada house, beer, Canadian Ambassador, competition, cultural houses, food, german, German-Canadian Relations, houses, hummingbird604, International Relations, La Maison de la Suiss, music, Olympics, Raul Pacheco, Saskatchewan Pavilion, Saxon-Canadian Relations, saxony house, sport, Vancouver 2010, winter olympics

A Van Sexy Review: Nixon in China

March 16, 2010 By Emme 2 Comments

I have always loved stories! I love all parts of them.

As a kid, that is what I did all day. I came up with different stories, in different ways and enticed my buds to act them out by turning them into games. No scripts were handed out, as then they’d realize what I was up to, plus to be frank, as an actress I prefer improvising. So there was me and my little gang of boys and without them realizing that we were actually putting on a play, I’d get them making costumes or puppets, and building sets, props and puppet theatres and acting out the play itself, all unaware.

Walking on to the set of Nixon in China at the Vancouver Opera the other night took me right back there, to my childhood. And that, my friends is a very, very good thing, as I had an absolutely grand childhood filled with stories and imagination. In fact I think being taking back to my roots is exactly what I needed to refocus myself on what I truly love about storytelling as opposed to the confused spiral of not being sure which direction I’ve been heading in as of late.

On the Set of Nixon in China

Why did it take me back to the carefree days of my childhood? Well, initially, it was the set. The set of Nixon in China is in essence a giant puppet theatre – like the magnetic puppet theatres that you had as a kid. You know the one that you could lower different cardboard cut out scenes into. Well these were huge cardboard cut out scenes with high tech apparatus for getting them to dance into the scene at the click of a button – literally. Can we say kid in a candy store? My eyes were hungrily popping out of my head.

Nixon inChina Set - A life size puppet theatre!!!

And the performance itself, only excited my mind with storytelling bliss that much more! The toys and storytelling elements they had to play with were awesome! I was so completely jealous of the storytellers, and they did such a good job of marrying the elements together. They had giant screens to project moving pictures and scenery on to, movable 3D scenery, an actual working and filming camera that was seamlessly worked into the story, and then, of course, the players themselves.

And players were wonderful! Robert Orth painted such a believable Richard Nixon that it was almost comical and Thomas Hammons as Henry Kissinger kept making me giggle. What great character actors! And they did it all whilst delivering their dialog in what seemed like ease in an operatic voice. Wow! Perhaps my favourite part of the action though was the Chinese Ballet in Act II. What an incredible treat! Not only Opera, but the ballet too! And despite the rather gruesome story that Fei Guo was telling, she was absolutely entrancing to watch. Brought tears to your eyes, it was so beautiful! And a laugh to my lips every time I saw the clash with Thomas Hammons’ antics in the ballet.

The Players of Nixon in China

Now at the end of the day, despite the quality of all the other elements, it really comes down to story. So was the story there for me? Yes. Granted it was a bit of a different story with no resolve in the end, but it made me think and it told a story of a time in history. I have always loved historical story. But damn! Now I have to read up on the politics of China and the US in the early 70s. Finally, despite the fact that Act III was my least favourite and reminded me somewhat of the drunken elephant scene in Dumbo, it brought up a very real question, one that I have been struggling with as of late. What is it all for? What have we really accomplished?

I highly recommend catching a performance of Nixon in China. It will certainly make you think. You can catch it in Vancouver – tonight (the 16th), Thursday the 18th and Saturday the 20th.

For more reviews from my fellow bloggers at the Opening Night of Nixon in China, take a read at:

Stacey and I at the Canadian Premiere of Nixon in China

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Olympics, Opera, Vancouver Events Tagged With: contemporary, cultural olympiad, Fei Guo, Henry Kissinger, nixon in china, opera, Richard Nixon, Robert Orth, storytelling, Thomas Hammons, van2010, Vancouver, Vancouver 2010, Vancouver Opera, winter games 2010

Super Human Feats Backstage

March 13, 2010 By Emme 2 Comments

Well you all already know that I love the Opera! So needless to say I am most excited to be going to a very contemporary political opera tonight – Nixon in China – as a part of the Cultural Olympiad. But I am even more excited after seeing this video of the rehearsals.

Much like the Paralympians, this cast and crew are everyday looking people capable of super human feats! Can’t wait!!!!

Filed Under: Olympics, Opera, The Tube, Vancouver Events Tagged With: 2010 Winter Games, cultural olympiad, nixon in china, paralympics, paralympics 2010, van2010, Vancouver 2010, Vancouver Opera

Who’s Watching?

February 28, 2010 By Brie 1 Comment

I spent nearly an hour with a huge crowd watching a man on a strange unicycle, waiting for something really big to happen. There was so much build up going on that it was like watching a bad movie where you feel you have to stick it out to the end. Meanwhile, I realized we were all missing the Olympics. Was this really more interesting?

The engaging power of a unicycle

We decided to leave and never saw the big finish. As we walked around, I started to think about all the things people are doing other than watching the games. Myself included, they are spending hours standing in line. The day before, I spent nearly 3 hours waiting to get into the Atlantic Canada House for their Kitchen Party. It was well worth it and I did make some new friends whom I’ll never see again, but it was 3 hours spent waiting, rather than watching.

Standing in Line-The new Olympic sport

There were hundreds of people that unicycle night drinking hot chocolate and ice skating at Robson Square. Even more were just sitting on the steps watching dancers perform. There were crowds waiting for balloon animals and my favourite all time non-game watching activity….the rice cracker maker! This machine would twirl around and shoot rice crackers out like fire works.

A delicious distraction

Wow

There were so many people just roaming the streets trying to be a part of the action. As I’ve had a chance to reflect on this revelation, I’ve realized that I have watched less of the Olympic games than ever before in my life because I live in the city that is hosting them. I have wanted to be with all the other excited people from Canada and all around the world and that has led me to downtown or surrounding areas where I have been nowhere near a television, but captivated by spirit. I have to admit, that as thrilled as I am for the amount of medals Canada is winning, I am most proud of the fact that I got picked up while filling up with gas the other day and invited out to party with some out of town boys! Of course, as a mom and wife I had to pretend I was unfortunately busy, but knowing you’ve still got what it takes is worth gold. I do enjoy watching our athletes, but given the chance, I can see how some might pick this alien dance party instead.

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Brie Mason, Olympics, Vancouver Events Tagged With: 2010 Olympics, 2010 Winter Games, crowds, cultural olympiad, hanging out, olympic spirit, Olympics, parties in Vancouver, street parties, van2010, Vancouver 2010, watching the Olympic games

Marius conquers the mountain

February 24, 2010 By Mario the Intern 1 Comment

I’m not a morning person. The sweet smell of napalm in the morning makes me want to go curl up in a bed. Emme kidnapped me at 2:30 AM to go up to Grouse mountain and investigate what fun stuff there was to do. I had never been up there before, and the sights were simply astonishingly beautiful, but it comes at a price: your calves.

The Today Show gathering - thanks to Emme for the photo

We got up there right in time to catch a couple of glimpses of “The Today show“, which to my sadness is not hosted by Katie Couric anymore, but Meredith Vieria who is so photogenic she should be studied. The whole crew was there: Matt Lauer (who has quite a fan following… mainly 45+ women who comment on how “young” his skin looks), Al Roker (who won’t stop smiling while he reads the weather), Anne Curry (who does most of the reporting in Vancouver not in Grouse, and who normally does more controversial topics like Haiti) and the beautiful Natalie Morales (who is eye candy). But as they posed for pictures and yelled behind the athletes, we asked people why there were there, and although some wanted the chance to be on television, some of them were actually ending their night after a Monster party. Emme actually kissed one of them for some bet, at which point I started wondering what I was doing there.

It ends up I was there for comical purposes as they knew I had no experience on the snow or ice whatsoever. They made me hold the camera, put me on skates and tied the camera to my neck, so I wouldn’t drop it. We met a fellow UBC student who was there for fun and a man wearing shorts because he felt Canadian. If you listened you could actually hear the pride on his voice, and deservingly so as Canada is beating the odds in the games. The man in shorts was interesting, but afterwards on the way down we met a man who trekked up Grouse mountain almost every day. He said he climbed up 594 times, but also timed himself and took notes every time. That sounds like obsessive compulsive to me, but that’s just my opinion. What surprised me about this man is that he said it like it was something as ordinary as going for the groceries. The mountain is HUGE and to climb it in 45 minutes is a super human ordeal. Even though it is illegal (in the off season), there are world records and everything (24 minutes and 22 seconds), telling me that there are a lot of these iron-man people out there. Do they all suffer from OCD or are they simply adrenaline junkies? Whatever the reason, they deserve as much recognition as the athletes because they accomplish the extraordinary. If the winter games are about the “amateurs”, then people like him deserve recognition as well. And for that matter so do the people that make it to the Olympics, because it is an amazing accomplishment and they should not cry when they don’t make it to the podium or say they have failed their country, because just by being present, they are making someone in the world proud. I think too much emphasis has been put on the medals, when we have to recognize everyone that makes it here to Vancouver. That’s what the Olympics are all about guys: amateurs who accomplish the impossible. And I am speaking as a person whose nation has three athletes, and for me simply participating here is way more valuable than a gold medal.

At the mountain top with Emme and Katie

Anyway, after skating for a while Brie suggested snowshoeing. I had no idea what this was, I thought we were going to put on those funny looking snowshoes and start walking. I was wrong: we started climbing. Now here lies the problem, I have climbed a lot of mountains before, but I use my whole foot. I have a very weird balance center, and I know it, so I need my whole foot to climb up anything. In snowshoes you use the bottom part of the foot (those little bumps) so you are essentially tip-toeing up a mountain. Let me repeat that: tip-toeing up a mountain. It’s brutal. I think its really cool that people do it every day and have adjusted themselves to it, but it’s definitely not for me. My calves are still hurting and my lower back is not functioning correctly. But the trip was worth it. The view of the mountain and the city is beautiful and like nothing I have seen before, its simply breathtaking. The day was perfect too, it was sunny and nice, the perfect day to tip-toe up a mountain.

Would I do it again? No. Maybe in the summer when I can wear shoes, but snow shoeing is something that everyone should try and then just leave it to the pros. I felt bad at myself because there was an old couple (and I mean old, like 70) in front of us (we began, and were immediately the slow group) that was just going at it like Speedy Gonzalez. We didn’t make it to the top, which was perfectly fine with me, but we still got a great view. I recommend it to the athletic people out there, not to the ones that prefer being taken up by a gondola, like me. Also, if you think you are going to be slow, don’t get Dawn as a guide as it was her first time up the mountain at sunrise and she was stuck with us, so just let her go to the top with the not so out of shape ones, although she was an AMAZING guide.

In the end it was a great experience that I will remember as long as my legs hurt and for a long time after that. For the younger folks I think the Monster party is fun if you snowboard and such, but I asked around and it doesn’t seem that cool. Everyone should experience it, and on a last note, help us find Saxel the mouse as he has been kidnapped. He is a really timid creature, and deserves better treatment.