heil

I miss a lot of things about home. I miss my favourite restaurant. I miss going to record shops and shows with friends. I miss hanging out with friends in Richmond. I miss my family. And since Christmas, I miss ping pong. I miss the rain. But it took something else to make me really wish I was at home (at least for the next couple weeks). That something else is of course, the Winter Olympics currently being held in Torino. Or Turin if you’re American. I kid!

I won’t dwell on it TOO much, but the television coverage of the Olymics here in Sydney is really terrible. Coverage started at 9:40pm tonight, or about the time live events are actually underway in Torino. Instead I have to watch events that happened yesterday. Of course due to time zones I know seeing everyhing live would mean broadcasting all night but it’s worse than simply taped events. For instance, tonight the men’s downhill was on (of course this really happened nearly 24 hours ago) and it took me a couple racers to notice what Channel 7 (the official Olympic network here in Australia) was up to. In order to pack the race into a half hour, they edited the skiers runs…but didn’t tell us. You had to be watching the clock to notice that when a skier went around a certain bend the competitor’s time suddenly went from 32 seconds to 1 minute and 04 seconds. Over 30 seconds lost! After the gold medal run the commentator exclaimed something to the effect of “That is one of the all-time great Olympic runs!” And you didn’t even let us see it all you jackass! We missed 25% of it because Channel 7 wants everything to fit in four hours.

Not for the first time I feel the pangs of missing the CBC. I miss Brian Williams’ over-the-top cheesiness. Does anyone else remember this little gem from Nagano (I think?):

Brian William turns to camera: “How do you spell courage? E-L-V-I-S.”

I laughed so hard…not that I have much against Elvis Stojko. Anyway, I digress.

So while the coverage of the event is terrible, that in itself is not what makes me miss Canada. Instead it’s the feeling of missing out, of not being a part of a shared part of my culture. Very few events really get people all across the country excited at once. Very seldom am I permitted to get excited by women’s freestyle skiing. But every four years it’s wonderful to be able to go into work/school the next day and discuss the finer points of last night’s short-track speed skating final and not look like a freak.

With the next Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver it seems like I’m missing out on a little bit more this year in particular. If I’m in Vancouver for 2010 will people be recalling events from Torino that I just won’t remember being a part of? Maybe not, but I really do feel a tad farther from home this week. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if the Vancouver Canucks won the Stanley Cup while I’m here. I’m not sure I could ever go home again. Home would be too different. These Olympics are making me realize that when I left Canada behind in August I hadn’t really thought about what home would be like when/if I come back. If I could I’d freeze Canada exactly how it was when I left so when I return I’d fit right back in my place.

Everything in its right place…

So it is with a slightly saddened heart that I watched, nearly 24 hours later, Jennifer Heil win her gold medal in women’s moguls. But it’s not all that bad, I’m sure I’ve made this more than it is. One thing that certainly does provide a little comfort is that the Australian commentators have wonderful turns of phrase (much like Mr. Williams!). Tonight during the men’s luge finals I overheard from the kitchen, “He’s a quiet man, but he speaks loudly with his sled.”

Only every four years is such a statement permitted to air on television.

Photo courtesy of the AP


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