Welcome Everyone!

I will be posting my daily happenings at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as I attend as a volunteer with Event Services as a Host at the Athletes Village in Vancouver.

I leave the Okanagan on Friday Feb 5th and begin my first shift on Saturday Feb 6th.

I have had a lot of people asking me about what I will be up to, the details of my job and what I expect so here is where I will post the details and experiences as travel along my Olympic volunteer journey.

One of the most common questions I get asked is "how did you get chosen to be a volunteer at the Olympics"?

2 years ago I applied online through the VANOC website when the put a call out for volunteers. I chose to volunteer as I dont fit well into one of those speed skating suits and volunteering is about as close to being an Olympian as I will ever get. After completing a long online application I simply waited for a response. Several months later I received a phone call from someone at the volunteer centre for a quick telephone interview. A few months after that I received by email an invitation to attend a face to face interview in Vancouver.

In March of 2009 I travelled to Vancouver prior to leaving with my family for a quick 1 week vacation to Mexico. I completed a quick orientation at the volunteer centre and underwent a 1/2 hour face to face interview with a volunteer recruiter. The interview went very well, many questions about customer service and I was asked to give an example of a time when I gave 'exceptional customer service'.

After the face to face interview was completed the interviewer advised me that the next step would be a group exercise where he warned me that there would be a few evaluators watching the group looking for leadership qualities and persons who stand out in the crowd. I took charge of our group and we had a lot of fun with our project. After what I fealt was a successful personal interview I simply waited for a call.

The funny part of the recruitment process occurred mid summer. On a Saturday after work and with all of my family over for a BBQ and after a couple beers I received a call from a very nice lady from Vancouver 2010. She said her name and advised me that she wanted to conduct a French interview with me over the phone...I was a little shocked and very unprepared. I studied french my whole life but I dont get a chance to speak it very often. When I filled out the application I apparently checked the box that said I speak fluent french when I should have checked the box that said I can speak 'conversational' french (basically enough to get by). I stumbled through the interview, my french was aweful. I could understand every question she asked me but when it came my turn to respond the words just wouldn't come to me. After about 10 minutes of torture she politely told me my interview was completed. I figured I had failed miserably and after the briefing we received after the face to face interview where the instructor advised us that several hundred thousand applications had been received for around 30,000 positions I figured that they would simply take my application and place it in on the bottom of the pile.

In August, I received an email from Vancouver 2010 with 'Job Offer' in the subject line. Before opening the email I thought to myself "they are going to offer me a position parking cars in some cold parking lot in Whistler"....much to my delight they offered me a job as a Host at the Athletes Village in Vancouver!

Prior to accepting the position I spoke with my manager at work, Terry, who very graciously allowed me to take a short leave of absense so that I could participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Askew's Foods truly is a great company.

I accepted the position online and started receiving training information. I travelled to Vancouver in mid January to pick up my uniform prior to my first shift. Last Tuesday, our community welcomed the Olympic flame in the torch relay. After the torch had passed we held a community celebration downtown and I attended wearing my uniform for the first time...pretty neat feeling.

So that's it in a nutshell.

The journey starts Friday.