Monday, March 1, 2010

Olympics - Yap Style

Well, its Monday morning in Yap, (Sunday afternoon in Vancouver) and the excitement in Vancouver is being felt half way across the world to this little island in the Pacific... at least it has reached into our apartment. Outside, things are pretty normal... most Yapese haven't a clue what the Olympic games are, let alone where they are, or that the medal count is now ended. Life goes on as normal, oblivious to the tension I was feeling as I tried to follow the game on super slow speed internet... no video, no TV... just updates as the seconds ticked by! I have to admit, it was every bit as exciting to follow vicariously in my mind, as it would have been sitting in front of a high definition big screen TV.


I couldn't help but imagine my now American kids trying to keep their Canadian loyalties somewhat subdued as their fully American spouses and their families were screaming when the USA scored a tying goal in the last few seconds of the third period....


I imagined the excitement going on in the homes of my friends in Nanaimo, as they slouched, sat, stood and screamed as the tension grew to unbearable levels...


... then came the decisive goal in Overtime... I was there (in my mind) and very proud of what my home has accomplished in the last 17 days! Good job, Canada




It's amazing how close we felt to these games being hosted so close to our former home, in spite of the fact that we were unable to watch a single event, nor find anyone in Yap who really cared what was happening! We cared, and we loved it! It was as good as being there in person!
Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. mnmommyMarch 3, 2010 at 10:33 AM

    Lovely that you were able to follow along from afar! Vancouver was full of fun and happy people, and I've never been more proud to be Canadian. Winona looks very cute with her "medal!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. LeighSeptember 20, 2010 at 7:09 AM

    She looks very cute without her medal too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    oh wow the arrogance keeps coming from you...

    going back to your blog about the island people not having any idea what an olympic game is...are you serious???

    i take it that you just assumed by what you see outside your window.
    Yes the people of Yap island knows what the olympics are and Matter of Fact they have an Athlete from that island that has been representing them in the olympics. He competed in the last olympic games in China,2008.

    do your home-work before you start judging blindly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LeighFebruary 7, 2011 at 8:58 AM

    I stand corrected, but none of the several hundred people I have befriended on the Island knew about or cared about the Olympic games going on in my home town. It was a non-event in Yap. That was not really the purpose of this post anyway, but I still stand by my original statement that MOST Yapese don't know about and don't care about the Olympics.

    Not a judgement, simply another of the things that makes this island so unique. It truly is a "Don't worry, be happy" society.

    DISCLAIMER: All comments made by the author of this blog are not to be taken literally or as fact. These are simply my observations as an arrogant North American fool who has been living in one of the truly unique areas of the world. Take a look at the right of this message and you will find our evaluation of this island summed up in one word... "Paradise".

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)