My Trip To The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games

Scanned Original Document

MY TRIP TO VANCOUVER JOURNAL BY JONATHAN KLASSEN

Friday, February 12, 2010 

We just got off the Kitchener to Calgary plane and are waiting to get on the plane to Vancouver. Basically, for the whole time on the plane, I watched Olympic things on TV. The parade of athletes at the Opening Ceremonies just ended with Canada when we got off the plane. I can't wait to get to Vancouver. Oh yeah, today I heard that a luger from Georgia died in a crash during training.

We've now arrived in Vancouver. My uncle and a few of my cousins came to pick us up. Earlier this week, my grandpa had a heart attack and had heart surgery today. We've heard that he is doing fine.

Saturday, February 13, 2010 

Today we saw all our cousins in Vancouver and met my cousin's new son. For most of the day we've been just sitting around and watching the Olympics on TV. We also visited my Grandma today.

Sunday, February 14, 2010 

Today we got to visit my grandpa in the hospital. He is doing okay. We've also been watching the Olympics on TV a lot again. Today Canada got its first gold medal won on home soil. It was by moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau. Canada also has a silver medal (won by moguls skier Jennifer Heil) and a bronze medal (won by speed skater Kristina Groves). Tonight our whole family (except my grandpa) went to The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Monday, February 15, 2010 

Today was a good day. At about 11:30 this morning my family and a few of my cousins went downtown. We saw the Olympic cauldron, some street entertainers and we were going to go in some of the pavilions but the line-ups were too long. After that we visited my Grandpa in the hospital. Then we came home and had supper for my sister's birthday. Tonight we played lots of games with my cousins and had lots of fun.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 

Today was good. We went downtown again today except my mom and my sister didn't come this time. We went in the Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario pavilions. The Ontario one was the best because it had a 4D movie about Ontario (it was 3D with special effects such as, when it showed Niagara Falls the chairs vibrated and water squirted at us). Then we had lunch. After lunch we went to visit my grandpa again. He is in a different room now. Tonight we went to my cousin's house (the one who had the baby) for supper. Today the men's hockey team beat Norway 8-0. Mike Richards scored and Roberto Luongo got the shutout.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 

This morning my family and I went to the Royal Canadian Mint pavilion. We were in line to see the Olympic Medals up close but we heard it was a 3 hour wait, so we just went inside. Inside there was a $1 million coin. It was cool. We then had lunch and after went to the mall. At the mall they had some Bell exhibit. In the exhibit we got to take pictures of us holding the torch and we sent a picture and message to the athletes on some computer thing. Then we were going to see the BC pavilion but there was too long a line-up. So then we went to see my grandpa again. He wasn't doing the best today because he had fallen out of his bed last night. When we got back home (I forgot to mention that we are staying at my aunt and uncle's house) we watched some women's hockey (Canada beat Sweden 13-1) and then had supper. After supper we played some games with my cousins.

Thursday, February 18, 2010 

Today we were going to go to some Richmond O-Zone exhibit thing but it didn't open until 3:00pm so we just looked around the Richmond mall instead. Then for lunch we went to this awesome restaurant called White Spot which they don't have in Ontario. After lunch we visited my grandpa again. My uncle said that he had got about 1 lb of fluid out of his lungs, so that's good. When we got back from the hospital we watched a little bit of the Canada-Switzerland hockey game (which Canada won 3-2 [SO]) and then got ready to go to our first Olympic event... Curling! So my brother, my dad, my uncle and I went on the bus to the Vancouver Olympic Centre. When we got there we had to go through security just like an airport. After we finally got in we sat down in our seats. My cousin and her husband were there also. There were 4 games going on at once: Canada vs. France, Norway vs. Switzerland, Great Britain vs. Denmark and Sweden vs. China. Canada won 12-5, Norway won 7-4, Great Britain won 9-6 and Sweden won 6-5 (11 ends).

Friday, February 19, 2010 

Today we went to our second Olympic event which was a Sweden vs. Belarus hockey game. So we left at 9:00 (for the 12:00 game) on the bus and then walked to Canada Hockey Place (GM Place) from the bus stop. We had one extra ticket for the game, so when we got our picture taken by someone and they asked where we were from and we said Kitchener. Then some guy heard that we were from Kitchener and he said he was too, so my mom and dad talked to him a while and they told him we had an extra ticket, so they bought it from them. So my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, 2 of my cousins, the guy from Kitchener and I went to the game. At the game Sweden scored 3 times in a row to make it 3-0 but then in the third, Belarus scored twice to make it 3-2 and almost came back but Sweden scored with 10 seconds left to make it 4-2. Daniel Sedin (assisted by Henrik) scored and Daniel Alfredsson scored 2 for Sweden. A few hours after the game my brother and sister and my cousins went over to my other cousin's house to stay over night.

Saturday, February 20, 2010 

We stayed over night at our cousin's house last night, so this morning we went to a park that was near by. It was really warm like summer. We were out in t-shirts. At 1:00pm we left to visit my grandpa. He is doing much better. Then we went to a family gathering.

Sunday, February 21, 2010 

Today in the morning we visited my grandpa for the last time on the trip. He is improving every day. After that we came home and started to get ready for our third and final Olympic event... Canada vs. USA hockey game!!! So my brother, my sister, my mom and four of my cousins left for the game. When we got there we walked around a bit and then went through security. There were so many Canadian fans wearing red and white and cheering and singing O Canada. My cousin wore a shirt that said on the front "Eh O Canada Go" and on the back "Kick USA A**", it was pretty funny. At 3:30 they finally let us in. We waited for a while and then Team Canada finally came on the ice for the warm-up. It was awesome! Crosby, Nash, Iginla, Richards, Heatley, Brodeur, Luongo, Toews, Staal, Perry, Pronger, Niedermayer, etc. I can't believe I was so lucky I was so lucky to see all those good players on Team Canada vs. The USA. Anyways, when the game started, one minute in the US scored. It was embarrassing. Then later in the period Eric Staal scored but then less than a minute later Brodeur tried to be a baseball player and hit it out of the air right to the USA player and he scored. So it was 2-1 US after the first. Dany Heatley scored in the second period. Then near the end of the second the US scored again. In the third Canada got a lot of penalties and the United States scored on one of the Power Plays. 4-2. Canada then had to make a big comeback. With 3 minutes left, Sidney Crosby scored to make it 4-3. Canada then got so many chances and almost came back but they pulled their goalie and the US scored and won it 5-3. After the game we went home and played with our cousins for the last time. Tomorrow we fly home.