The Life of a Pin Trader

On the seabus and downtown was the journey yesterday in hopes of getting on that popular Robson Square zip-line. Eight hours was what the sign next to us read, and I wasn't willing to wait in line 8 hours for a 20 second ride, so we opted out. As cool as it would have been to have a birds eye view of the city, I don't think I could have wasted half of my day in that line-up.

Instead I used the day to live the life of a pin trader. I learned all kinds of stuff and it was a neat experience. I talked to many of the pin traders, some were quite cranky and others were very friendly, but they were all interesting people. One guy I talked to has been collecting pins since Calgary '88 and has been at every Olympic Games since. He knows pins like the back of his hands, every night he checks each and every one of his pins' values on EBay, and I tell you that can't be an easy job judging by the numbers. This man in particular was so negative towards the Beijing Olympic Games, he said he was there trading pins but he couldn't stand it so he didn't even stay for the whole time. He said he didn't like how dirty it was and the people were so rude. It was really interesting because to this day, he still won't trade anyone for a Beijing pins, to him they are worthless. I can understand if he didn't enjoy the Beijing Games but does that really have any effect on the pins?



I couldn't imagine how pin trading would give them enough money to fly to an Olympic and Paralympic Games every 2 years. I was tempted to ask him if this was his job or if it was just a hobby but I was afraid I might sound offensive in some way. I find it unbelievable that selling and trading pins would make someone enough money to live off of; but then again they are out there every single day of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and taking it very seriously so it makes you wonder? The pins range in price from about 3 dollars to 100 dollars, can you believe it, $100 for a single pin? These traders say it's just like alcohol or gambling, it's an addiction.

I will admit it was fun and interesting to spend a few hours as a pin trader, but I couldn't imagine doing that all day, every 27 days of these Winter Games.

The People not the Place

Vancouver; known for it's lush forests, vast mountain range, our friends the black bears, the beautiful coastline, and now for the 2010 Winter Games.



Tourist who were here for the Games and even the local Vancouverites said that they love this city. They say that it is the only place in the world where you can see forest, ocean, wildlife, mountains and sky rises in the same snapshot. It is just like we say "The Best Place on Earth".

But I think the thing that is loved the most about Vancouver is not only the scenery, but also the people. The citizens of Vancouver are some of the most interesting there is, we are so diverse in culture, race and religion. We are accepting of others and open minded to differences.

Some tourists from London were saying that when you walk down the streets in Vancouver everyone smiles and says "hello", and that is something you don't often see in London. They said it made them feel really great; tiny gestures like that go a long way.

Here are some examples of the interesting people you find in Vancouver.


Some Canadians showing their love for every stranger.









A new charity campaign.









A guy with his goat.

Tour of the Press Centre

You think that a lot of work goes into the Olympic and Paralympic Games. That is a huge understatement.

I don't even think I understood how much time, effort, money and planning went into the Winter Games until I got a first hand look at the Main Press Centre at Canada Place. You'd wonder how much space people need to write an article or edit a photo, but the entire Canada Place is all taken up by media. Not only is the media provided with stations for their journaling or blogging, but they are also provided with food courts, lounge areas, merchandise stores and even massage therapists! I was blown away by how massive the centre was; we got to visit 2 floors of the centre, but there were at least 2 more. And to organize the building they had it themed as the West Coast, with the main hallway names the "Straight of Georgia" and the rooms with names of islands such as Galliano. I can't remember the number of people they said were employed at the Press Centre, but I know it was a massive number and would have blown your mind. And the amount of money they must spend on uniforms alone for the employees, must be outrageous. I asked our tour guide whether all the TVs and such were donated by sponsors or if they were bought. They said that all the TVs were bought by VANOC and after the Games will be sold for cheap prices. It was crazy though how many TVs there were in the centre. They need to have a lot so that the media can be watching several events at once to cover all the necessary events, but I was just amazed at the numbers (and the size). Our tour guide said that the sponsor companies which have separate little booths in the centre have a contest to see which company can get the best quality images up the fastest onto the TV screen in front of their office. Apparently at the Beijing Olympics they could get the photo of someone winning gold up on the screen within 5 seconds. Impressive! It just shows you how great technology is getting these days, and how much they are affecting the Games.



Now I thought the Press Centre was amazing, and I couldn't imagine the organization and money involved in it. But if you think about it, that is only one small aspect of the Games. And then you start looking on the big scale of the Games and if they're spending that much money on media alone, think of every other aspect of the Games, and that is what blows my mind!