What a performance, Team Canada! The theme of downtown’s party was that the USA got pucked : ) Gold Canada, Gold!

Olympics and the Cauldron remind me of going to a Hindu temple during a major festival. Lines everywhere and you see a glimpse of the sacred. Same thing here. The Olympic cauldron has been fenced off. Last week there was a thick cloth covering the fence. It was kept quite secretive. This week there is a slightly better view, but still there is a huge fence.

The design of the cauldron is beautiful. In the night, it has the icy blue feel to it and it is so Vancouver, transparent glass. I love it!

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This is the Canadian Beer Company, Molson. It is in my neighborhood and this poster was under construction for months. It is made up of photographs of athletes taking part in the Olympics. If you click on the picture and zoom in, you can notice that. I think this is very creative.

Check out the blue skies! It should be called Spring Olympics.

At last, the day that I had heard about for months is here.  Vancouver 2010 is upon us. The Olympic torch relay went through my neighborhood last night. This really was a first for me. It was amazing to see so many people on the streets. I was so thrilled to know I was not the only Olympics fan around. It is just that I had not met these people before who were for the games.  Here’s Boston’s The Big Picture.

Go Canada!

This is what I would call “Best place on Earth”.  This is the Vancouver Public Library. What an amazing design! It looks quite new, but I read on wikipedia that it was built in 1995.

Just like a lot of buildings in Vancouver, it uses a lot of glass. I guess it is because of the constant grayness of the winter. It has six levels filled with tons of books.  It is so spacious and designed so well. Even if someone is on the phone, it does  not feel very loud.

Just like any other library in the west, it is home to homeless people, the unemployed, the old, students, immigrants and the book worms.

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True story. I was at the Mail boxes etc, a few days back faxing my yoga certificates to apply for insurance to teach. There were two men at the shop, both of them worked for the shop. One of the men was saying that he just got back from south, meaning the US. He said that he could not believe how fat people were at the airport in the US. He said, “You must have seen them. So fat, all of them, the entire family. And, not just that family, almost the entire airport. Yikes.”.

Winter Solstice is upon us. I know this is a very good thing. Even though I had never paid attention to winter solstice ever, this year is different. Living in Vancouver makes me look at things very differently. This day will be the shortest of the days. After the solstice, the days  grow  longer.

With an imperious swirl of her ermine cloak and a hiss of ice crystals in glittering hair, the Winter Queen officially resumes the throne in her icy palace at 9:47 a.m., Monday. In truth, this is just the culmination of a long coronation processional through the province. An irony, though — the formal commencement of her reign also marks the beginning of its end, for the days grow longer and the world begins to warm from the moment she ascends her throne.

The darkness is done with. I am not sure about the rain though. It seems like a permanent feature in this part of the world. I am hoping that I may be able to make peace with the rain and simply ignore it.  It takes a bit of training to look at the cold rain and say, it does not bother me. Last week it snowed for a couple of days. It was so beautiful to see the snow and for some reason, the sky is blue after the snow. Not the case with the rain. Rain makes everything grey and wet.

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Faster, stronger, higher — but not that high.

I feel like I am the only one excited about Olympics in all of Canada. Until now, I had never paid any attention to winter Olympics. When I notice the mammoth effort that goes into putting on a show like this, I am so impressed. Most of the locals I speak with seem to complain about this event. Road closures, budget cuts, yada yada yada. I believe some sacrifice is always needed for great things to happen. Anyway, I am looking forward for some Olympic fun.