The First Volunteer Meeting in Burnaby BC

I had to go to Vancouver BC (Burnaby) to learn about my role at the Olympics. I had to drive up to Vancouver on a weeknight on December 15th. If you recall, December was actually quite a nice month, except for the day when I had to drive after work up to my first training session. The website with instructions stated that I was to meet others in my same position at BCIT, British Columbia Institute of Technology, from 5-8pm on that Tuesday evening.

Work was actually quite manageable that day, and I was able to leave the office at around 2:00 after buttoning up my responsibilities. I just happened to be lucky that day….because families generally want to be discharged from the hospital prior to Christmas, and since our team does a lot of work around discharge, I felt like things were generally working my direction to be able to leave as early as I did.

After hopping the shuttle to go out to my car, and fueling up the gas tank, I headed north to Vancouver. Most of the drive was pretty reasonable with the exception of snow over the pass just south of Bellingham. Crossing the border was really fast with no lines. But, it started raining and snowing, and pouring, and there was a lot of traffic. Usually, the extent of my drive through Vancouver is passing through en route to Whistler. You know, do not pass go, go directly to the snow. I was driving in traffic, with that nighttime glare that only happens when it is raining hard with low clouds, and couldn't decifer any lane dividers on the freeway there.

But, there I was, navigating, by myself, in the dark, with huge blobs of rain and snow pelting away at my windshield, making a very turbulent sound. It wasn't the most pleasant commute.

In order to find BCIT, I had to bring a map. I don't have a GPS yet. Maybe I should invest in one. I have to wear glasses, since I've become that delicate age of necessity. Mainly I need them just for reading and while on the computer. But, during my drive, I had to flip my reading glasses down to read the map, up to drive, down to read the map, up to drive….and each time, the little hinge would catch my hair and pulled a little bit out leaving little strands sticking up in the air. But I was determined to find my destination.....

After taking a few wrong turns onto dark dead end streets, I finally made it to BCIT, and to the assigned building arriving right at 5:00.

Inside the building, I followed the signs and checked in with a gal with a great big smile on her face.

“Are you looking for check in for the workforce crew?”

“Yes, I am. Am I in the right place?”

“Yes, just show me your ID, sign in here, and go back to the class room”. She smiled like she was genuinely happy that I had shown up. It was quite warm and welcoming. I liked this already. I felt my blood pressure and heart rate decreasing slowly with the transition between traffic/glasses pulling my hair out/cold wetness and my meeting.

I walked into a room where there sat 25 people in front of computer screens. The woman facilitator in the front of the room had the most pleasant smile and had just begun her presentation when I walked into the room. I smoothed my hair back where a few pieces still stood up.

“What is the most important thing that you will do as a volunteer for the Olympics?”, the facilitator with the beautiful teeth and blond hair blurted out.

People looked around the room at each other, and the room had that tense quiet when you don’t know anyone, and are afraid to say anything out loud. I was afraid to say anything, even though I’m usually not that shy, but I was in another COUNTRY, for heaven sakes. But, I was wondering what the answer was. I quickly thought of some "potentials" in my head. Is it to do your job? Show up when you are supposed to? Not spill any liquids on the computer keyboard? Stay off of the bobsled track when someone is running at 135 km/hr?

The pretty blond facilitator says, “Smile and greet people. Help them feel welcome. You will be greeting the workforce when they show up to the venue, and we want them to start their day out happy!! You are responsible for being smiley and happy and answer questions so people really enjoy coming to the venue”.

I can do that.

As the evening progressed, we went around the room and introduced ourselves and made a statement about why we wanted to be a volunteer. Most of the people were from the Greater Vancouver area and Hope (east of Vancouver an hour or so). Some volunteers originally came from other countries such as Scotland and India. There was a woman from China who was an exchange student at UBC (University of British Columbia) , there was an English bloke (an avid snowboarder, which I found out later) who had moved to Whistler for the winter because he could. There was a physician who said he had volunteered for missions in 56 countries, and a woman administrator from UBC. I was the only American in the room. It felt a little strange. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how Canadians FEEL about Americans if we are not buying lift tickets and food from them. I'm assuming we all get along quite well, for the most part, but you never know. I decided to adopt the smile and greet people technique as described in our lesson. When it was my turn to say why I wanted to volunteer, I told them that a man on a chairlift talked me into it.

Up in the front of the room was a perfectly groomed blond man with hair more styled than most of the women in the room. He was about 30 years old. When asked what is role is, he smiled with a Hollywood grin and with a twinkle in his eye, said he was handing out gold medals to the athletes. How in the world did he get THAT job? Not that I was ungrateful for my computer station to check the workforce in when they came in each day (with a smile on my face, of course). At the break, I had to go up and ask him not only how he got that job, and what venue he was at, etc. I was wondering if there was a way to exchange my computer screen check in responsibilities for velvet boxes with gold, silver or bronze medals in them.

He looked at me with a blank look and said, “I was only kidding. I thought everyone would get my joke. Didn’t you get my joke?”

No….I’m American. I guess I didn't quite understand this type of humor. But, of course I am supposed to smile anyway, so smile I did, and poured myself a cup of coffee. As it turns out, he had the same job that I had only at the Vancouver Olympic Headquarters.

We had a few breaks to mingle and talk, and the energy in the room was palpable. Most of the classroom time was learning how to work the computer system that would connect all the workforce crew throughout the Olympics from Vancouver to Whistler and everywhere in between. There is such an excitement around the games. For those of us behind the scenes who will be greeting staff, scanning credentials, making sure the break room is clean, maintaining the boards when people do an outstanding job, making sure that people who are supposed to be there are there (at the venue), and meeting people from all over the world, this is the start of a great experience. I can tell already.

At the end of the evening we watched a video. It was about how the Olympics can impact people's lives all over the world. This was the type of video where people explain the impact of the games and volunteering has on others. The music was classical and emotional and I could feel my eyes getting misty. I was really glad the facilitator didn't turn the lights on right away to save the dignity of those of us who had tears streaming down our cheeks. Thank goodness for that.

In summary, we where given the send off that we were a vital part of assuring things run smoothly for everyone, and that this is the one opportunity where many countries get together to rejoice and commune in friendship and competition. The Olympics can bring peace to a world where there isn't any, at least for awhile. We were sent with the gift of knowing that we are part of one of the most interesting experiences that life has to offer. We are the front lines of others who are coming to work at the Olympics. I have to say, whatever my hair was doing, and however the drive unsettled me, I was now ready to smile and greet the world. Yes…..I am a volunteer and I will smile just like the lady in front of the room. She knows how it’s done, and now I will do it too. Yes to the Olympics, yes to volunteering and yes to serving something so much bigger than myself. I thanked God for the opportunity that he had given me. I felt a gratitude and responsibility to do what I was meant to do.

After the meeting, I drove back over the border to my Aunt Jeanette’s place at Birch Bay, where my cousin Mitzi was also staying, and debriefed with them. I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face and prayed for God to guide my footsteps through this process. The next morning, I woke up, got in my car, and drove to work in Seattle in time to participate in rounds.