Citius, Altius, Fortius

I have accomplished and experienced many, many wonderful things in my life. But I can count on one hand the moments in my life that have really changed me as a person. One of those experiences was volunteering for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics. I am not sure I can even articulate how much this experience meant to me. I worked very hard to be a part of it for one...12 months of training, language tests, background checks... all while working and going to school full time. I worked before, during, and after the Olympics for a total of about 23-25 days of volunteer work. I even spent the night in an Olympic vehicle in a parking lot so that I would make sure to be awake in time to drive a double gold medalist to the airport on time. As a side note, you really can accomplish hard things if you have the drive to do it, no matter what your circumstances.

Maybe it was because these Olympics were just months after 9/11 or maybe it's just the Olympic spirit in general (I suspect it was both), but these games were blessed. I know they were. I could feel it all around me every day, with every interaction.

The City of Salt Lake has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of the games this month, and it has given me a moment to reflect on what was in every aspect a beautiful and deeply fulfilling experience for me.

I thought I would share some photos from 10 years ago (again with the scanner), and some from a few days ago as my small tribute.

"The Olympic symbol, better known as the Olympic rings, consists of five intertwined rings and represents the unity of the five inhabited continents (America, Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe). The colored version of the rings—blue, yellow, black, green, and red—over a white field forms the Olympic flag. These colors were chosen because every nation had at least one of them on its national flag. The flag was adopted in 1914 but flown for the first time only at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It has since been hoisted during each celebration of the Games." ~ Wikipedia

My almost all access pass.


My pass to the Closing ceremonies. I was an athlete escort.

A lot of the tall buildings in SLC had these incredible banners draped over them with different images of Olympic athleticism.

The flame.

The Olympic Athlete Village Avenue of flags.

My spotlight in the Volunteer newsletter. You probably have to double click to be able to read it. There was also a spotlight of me in the Swiss Olympic committee newsletter, but the picture is hideous so I can't share it here. You will have to come to Utah to visit me to be able to see it.

There I am posing in front of the Swiss House (each team establishes a few restaurants/meeting spots around the area where their people can congregate) in my lovely Norwegian SLC 2002 Olympics sweater.

My boy Simon Ammann, double gold medal winner in the Ski Jumping events. Lovely, lovely young man. I got to drive him around to all of his press conferences. He even gave me flowers.

The letter Mitt Romney sent to all of the Volunteers after 9/11. Not one person quit their volunteer spot after 9/11.

Speaking of Mitt Romney, here is a very blurry picture of him speaking to the crowd last week at the Stars on Ice tribute to the SLC Olympics. Say what you will, but this man is very likely to be the next GOP nominee for president, so that he took precious time off during his campaign to come to SLC for this occasion, was very much appreciated. I have met him, and I can say with authority he is a very nice man. And no matter what anyone has said in the news about his Olympics time, he absolutely saved the SLC Olympics, which were the first Olympics games to actually make money in decades and decades. Also, the Winter Olympics that almost everyone who would know, says is the best they have ever been to. So kudos to Mitt for that.

This is me trying to photo bomb former Governor Mike Leavitt. (wearing my uniform jacket)

Finally shaking hands.

The mascots amuse me; look at the expression on the rabbits face. So silly.

I love this quote by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics.

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

I think that is a good motto to follow in life as well.

My People

As I was perusing the newspaper on Friday looking for fun and interesting things to do, I noticed that there was a new IMAX movie in town, called ‘The Alps’. Be still my beating heart. You already know how I feel about cinema, but what you may not know is that I just adore IMAX. I think it started when the IMAX movie ‘Everest’ came out. I had read the book ‘Into Thin Air’ a couple of months before, and I was very touched and moved by the story. I became a little obsessed with Mount Everest and learning about Nepal and Tibet, and with prayer flags (thank you Matt for hand carrying some back from Nepal for me), and with mountain climbing in general. Odd, considering I have a very real fear of heights. But anyhoo, at the time Utah did not have an IMAX theater and I was just so tingly with excitement to see this movie that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was SUPER excited when I went on a trip to Washington D.C. that year and saw that ‘Everest’ was playing at the Smithsonian: National Air and Space museum. My friends and I planned to see the movie on the only free night I had during that trip. The day came, and we drove into the city, walked up to purchase our tickets, and were told that the museum was closed for a wedding reception. WTH! Who do you have to be to get the entire National Air and Space museum to shut down for your wedding reception? I mean geez. I was bitterly disappointed. Anyway, to make a long story short, they finally opened an IMAX in Utah, they re-released ‘Everest’ in the theaters, I went to see it, LOVED it, and went to see it again at the very next showing. It was just as compelling and heart wrenching as I had imagined it would be.

So…when I saw that there was an IMAX movie called ‘The Alps’, of course I had to go. After all The Alps form a part of the land of my people. Ok, ok I know I say that a lot – “My People”. What does this really mean? Let me take a moment to explain. If I have ever communed in a place that brought me joy, then by default the people of that area become “my people”. So if you are Dutch, or Singaporean, or from New York City, or are from Washington D.C., or from Nashville, or if you are Irish, or English, or Californian, or German speaking, or wee little Scots, then you are my people. If you have ever been to Disneyland, worked the Olympics, or attended the Sundance Film Festival, then you are “my people”. But of all the people that are “my people” the Swiss have a special place in my heart. They can be hard headed, and proud, and when you first meet them they may seem cold - but you will never find a truer and more loyal friend than a Swiss person. And although I cannot say that I have seen every place there is to see in the world, I CAN say that I seriously doubt if there is anywhere more breathtakingly beautiful than Switzerland. There were times when I lived there when I would see a sight so lovely that it seemed like it couldn’t be real. One cannot look at such a landscape and not feel a divine presence.

So back to the IMAX, this movie is about a man who has come to climb the north face of the Eiger, the same mountain that had claimed the life of his father when he was nine, 40 years ago. The story is compelling, not just because of the personal aspect but also largely in part due to the mountain itself. The Eiger is one of a group three famous mountain peaks in Switzerland; its neighbors are the Monch and the Jungfrau. In German their names translate into the Monk, the Virgin, and the Ogre. At approx. 13,000 feet, the “Ogre” is not the tallest of mountains, but due to its strange weather, crumbly composition, and mile high rock face, it can be a dangerous mountain to climb. I lived for a short time in the shadows of these three great Alps, and to see their silhouette in the horizon is awe inspiring. What I loved most about this movie and the reason for the post I guess is that there are many lovely shots of Switzerland. It brought tears to my eyes and I felt homesick watching it. If you ever get the chance to go to Europe I highly recommend an outing in Switzerland, I don’t think you will be disappointed. But if you don’t get the chance and you just want to see some really beautiful scenery, I recommend a trip to your local IMAX.

And as the say in the language of my people – Tschussli, I hope you all have a place and a people that you consider to be yours.

Netherlands - Germany 2007

Tiny Pancakes and Palais Het Loo

These little beauties are the tiny pancakes that they serve for breakfast at my hotel. They are scrumptious!

You know what else is scrumptious? Getting out of training class early! After 5 days of 9 hour a day training sessions I would rather poke my eyes out than look at one more power point presentation. I think they realized this and they released us TWO hours early today. Which was early enough for us to actually do something in town since they practically roll up the sidewalks at 5:00 P.M. every night. (Well, except for Thursday nights. Then you just go downtown and watch the Irish and the Hungarians table dance, but more on that later).

Anyhoo, we got a chance to see the Palace today. It is still a working palace for the Royal family of the Netherlands. Here is a picture of me guarding the front door...

Here is a picture of my new boyfriend...

And here is the rest of it. Not too shabby, huh?

Tomorrow's agenda is to check out the Saturday Market in Apeldoorn, get on the train to Amsterdam, check out the Hague, and spend some time with The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

Sunday we are off to Dusseldorf to commune with German speaking people, and we're driving. I haven't decided yet how I feel about the no speed limit on the Autobahn thing, but one thing is for sure, there is no way in h-e-double hockey stick that I am letting anyone else drive. Wish me luck! Or as they say in the language of my people - Viel Gluck!