I am honoured and thrilled to be invited by Inside Vancouver to contribute to their blog from the perspective of a fan who will be attending the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.  I am from Toronto and will be travelling to Vancouver next year for the second half of the Olympic Games.

I have been a huge fan of the Olympics since I was a kid and it is such a dream come true to be able to go to Vancouver and watch events live, especially since its my home country hosting the Games.

The idea to attend the Olympics started to take shape  September of last year.  When I read on the Vancouver 2010 website that Canadians would be given priority for tickets I thought I may actually have a chance.

Many hours were spent consulting the Olympic schedule to put together a good combination of events at various prices.  I submitted my request and then waited with much anticipation for the results to come through in December.  The results, a disappointing two events out of 9 that I picked.  It was devastating.  I couldn’t justify going to Vancouver for two events.

Fast forward to June 6, 2009, Phase 2 of tickets go on sale to the public.  I was ready this time.  We had two phone lines going, I was on my cell phone and my mom on her land line, my brother kept an eye on the Vancouver 2010 website waiting for our turn to log in.  There was no way I was settling for a measly two events.  In the span of a few hours I had tickets to an additional 7 events, including the Closing Ceremonies.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be attending a Closing Ceremony.  It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

It funny because some people have told me that they tried to get tickets and couldn’t, which I really don’t understand.  It was so easy for me!  I wish it had been a bit harder; maybe I wouldn’t still be paying them off!  Oh well, I don’t care.  It will be worth it.  I don’t think I will ever have this opportunity again so I will make the most of it.

Stay tuned for more adventures leading up to my preparations for the Games including the fun battle of finding a place to stay!

See you soon Vancouver.

Christina Wallaert