Olympic Expectations

As I have avidly been tracking the Olympics and Canada's progress to "Own The Podium" I wonder if the expectations created for the Nation were just too high.  I have always suffered from Olympic Fever but this year I find myself to be quite competitive about where Canada is in the total medal standings....I work with a Norwegian and they are still ahead of us.  I managed to create a situation whereby if we do not surpass Norway in the next few days I may be hearing about it for a long time to come.


The idea of investing in athletes is a good one but I think that there are many other places that the money could be spent.  That being said the sense of National Pride that is created from the Olympics, and specifically success at the Olympics, could perhaps justify the expense...


One of the amazing things about the 2010 games is that I find myself watching sports I have never watched before.  I have seen a lot of ski jumping and biathlon as they are events that take place in the early morning.  They are actually more exciting sports than I had though!  With an 11 hour time change I can't really pick and choose what I want to watch but have been happy with what I have seen so far.  The really cool thing is that I can track Canada's success through facebook - so many of my facebook friends have been making status updates related to the games.


I anticipate that I will have a few sleepless nights over the remainder of the week - tonight I will have to wake up for the Canada Russia game and also hope to see the women's bobsled.  (Heather Moyse - who in the past I have played rugby against  - is sitting in first place after two runs!!!).  Then there is the women's hockey final, the men's ariels, the women's figure skating finals and sooo much more that I will be waking up at odd hours to watch.


In non-Olympic news - all is well in Kla.  Another week gone by and another two restaurants tried out!  I ate Korean food for what I think is the first time and it was pretty good.  We also went to Le Chateau, a Belgian restaurant, for a really nice dinner.  Our Regional Planning meetings start next week so we have been doing some prep work.  The meetings also mean that a couple of people from Toronto will be coming so hopefully some treats from home for me:)


I have had a bit of a pitfall in my planning for my dad's visit - Air Uganda changed their flights to Zanzibar.  I think this was a terrible move on their part.  They used to have Friday and Monday flights...perfect for a long weekend but they have changed to Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday.  While this may sound good it is the timing that is the problem - you do not arrive in Zanzibar until 5pm on the Thursday and the flight out is at 1030am which really only leave you with 2 full days there!!  Luckily there are other options...just more expensive and involving Nairobi transfers:(


If you get a chance do check out RTPtv for some great stories from the Olympics!