Today mark another milestone on the road to my Olympic Dream - I finally after a couple of reminder phone calls got the official email offering me my post as a National Paralympic Committee Assistants for the Slovakia delegation - while I had the offer from my trainers last week I hadn't gotten the follow up email from the volunteer office which was brought to my attention when I went to get my free ticket to the dress rehearsal for the Opening ceremonies of the regular Games - they didn't have me listed but allowed me to get the tickets today - and after an almost two hour wait in line -I wouldn't have been a happy camper if I was told to come back another day - so when I got home I phoned the volunteer hot line first and then my trainers who confirmed that yes I had the position but because of the delegations for the regular games arriving were swamped with problems and were behind on emails - so it arrived in the inbox this evening.
So now I can quit worrying and start planning things like what to pack for my three week stay - whether to come into Vancouver on my days off - there are few items that I need to buy - a proper alarm clock in case I have a 6AM start and yes we are expecting to star that early on some days.
I will be part of a team of Assistants - how many I don't know yet as I don't know how large the delegation is - there is a formula that is used for determining this and also determining how many cars each delegation has access too. Some delegations will also be asking for extra cars which they pay for. We will have each other email addresses so we can chat it up and get to know each other. I am planning on trying to try and learn a few words of Slovakia - found a free web site with a lesson or two on learning Slovakian
I also purchased one extra ticket and decided to treat my God Mother - MaryRosie to the event - she is a spry 81 year old and was very good to me when Mother was going through her final journey in life. When I called her and asked what she was doing next Wednesday - she hesitated but once I told her about the ticket I couldn't get her off the phone - mind you that often happens when I phone her.
Everyone who got a ticket today also got a bottle of wine - it was a funny sight of many of us volunteers who didn't bring a bag or backpack walking through downtown Vancouver at 10:30AM with bottles of wine in our hands or stuffed in a jacket pocket.
In concluding today - I intend to start posting a little more often about the Games and more about my job etc over the next month because exactly one month from today I will head up to Whistler and take up residence in the Athlete's Village for three weeks.
Cheers
Dennis
1 comment:
Congratulations, sounds like fun.
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