I'm so Canadian, eh?

For 17 days I lived and breathed Olympics. CTV was the only channel permitted to be on and I scheduled appointments around events. I lifted the “no eating in front of the TV” ban. And after practicing my ski jump techniques on wii fit, (while wearing my Canadian flag) I convinced myself that 35 isn’t too old to start an Olympic career.

We stood for our national anthem during the opening ceremonies and sang along with excitement and anticipation. And when our 2010 Olympics came to a finish Sunday night we stood again as a nation and sang louder and prouder than we have ever done in our history.

I think the closing ceremony was brilliant. The failure of our fourth torch to rise during the opening ceremony was mocked by press, and it was even said that the Vancouver Olympics would go down in history as the worst ever. Most countries would be embarrassed and redeem themselves with an elegant and posh ceremony of perfection to close the Olympics. But we are Canadian.

Having a clown pop out and pull up the fourth torch acknowledged that Canada had some glitches in our turn to host the Olympics, but we aren’t going to dwell on them and become defensive.

The parade of Canadian clichés such as lumber jacks, moose and beavers mixed in with Mounties, bear and table hockey players was hilarious. Our ability to recognize the world’s ignorant preconceptions of Canada and laugh about them shows our temperament as a nation. In fact, it may seem that we were poking fun at our own expense, but truly, we were poking fun at those stereotypical misconceptions and how we have proved Canada is not just, as Catharine O’Hara said, “one big frozen tundra”.

Listening to Michael J. Fox, although he lives in the U.S., say “If I am watching the U.S. and Canada play hockey, I’m sorry, I’m wearing a maple leaf on my sweater” had me in tears. Being Canadian is in our hearts, no matter where we are globally.

There were joys, angst and sadness at these Olympics. The horrific death of Georgia luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili only hours before the opening ceremony was a reminder that the games are tough and dangerous. The world felt Georgia’s pain and applauded the teams decision to keep competing in honour of their fallen athlete. The world cried watching Joannie Rochette’s emotional skate after her mother’s heart attack only days before. We were amazed by the will power of Slovenian Petra Majdic who crashed, broke several ribs and still went on to compete in her event; and even obtain a bronze medal. And one of Canada’s proudest moments was watching Alexandre Bilodeau stand on the middle podium to receive the first gold medal won on Canadian soil. It is Alexandre’s medal, but he belongs to us.

Canadian athletes and Canadian fans were the first to acknowledge the strengths and hard work of other nations, and offer kindness when they had mishaps. We had disappointments and losses, yet we did not boo other athletes winning medals just because they were missing a maple leaf on their hat. We gave them our politeness and helped them celebrate their accomplishments, which must have been bittersweet. They were winners in a foreign country, but Canadians let them have their moment and applauded for them.

Historic moments were made in the 2010 Olympics, but some of my best memories happened away from the slopes of Whistler and the stadiums of Vancouver.

I watched my children become fascinated with their culture. They saw Canadian athletes work with dedication, beauty and grace under incredible pressure, and saw how hard work can be rewarding. I listened to my four-year-old sing “Oh Canada” day and night, and loved her announcement that she is going to be “a grown-up Olympic hockey girl!” My son let it be known that he is going to become a gold medallist, but he isn’t sure which sport to pick because there are too many “cool“ ones.

I will never forget those intense moments of over-time hockey for the final gold of the Olympic games. I screamed. I cried. I could barley breathe. I was on the brink of passing out.

When Sidney Crosby scored the “golden goal” our family ran outside to scream and wave our flag and shout “CAN-A-DA!” as loud as we could. We even got a yahoo back from across Woodlawn Park.

The most amazing moment from these Olympics can not be pinpointed. It is a combination of our anthem being played a record breaking 14 times; and the beauty of red and white taking over the streets of Vancouver (and our entire country). It is the joy and tears and applause we allowed our selves to give to our selves. These Olympics gave us permission to yell, scream, have fun and be proud…and maybe now we realize, as Canadians, we don’t need permission, or a reason, to stand proud and sing our anthem.

And, sure some of us are lumber jacks, and some of us keep beavers as pets. And perhaps we keep a parka handy year round in preparation of a snowstorm. But that’s what make us Canadian….eh?

Welland Tribune - March 11, 2010