Hello everyone! This is your Olympic Update! This post has been a long time coming, as the Olympics are taking up everyone's time and energy, and finding the time to write in between that and working my three little jobs is hard to do. The weather in Vancouver has been AMAZING for February, and the crowds of people who pack the city's streets are clearly very happy and impressed to be here. I feel a little badly for the skiers who are finding it difficult up at Whistler right now. With sunny blue skies and very little precipitation, they are having to race on hard packed snow and ice. But here in town, everything is alive and thriving. I personally have never had so much fun in this city. I wish it could be like this all year round!
Donna V. flew into town from Toronto for the week and I am very thankful for her company. How many single gal pals do I actually have to hang out with anymore who are really interested in doing the same things? Not very many, that is for sure. So her and I have been out and about having a ton of fun! One of the coolest things about hosting the Olympics in your own city is all the special "houses" and pavillions that each country sets up. Entrance is normally free, and they are a darn good time if you can hack the line ups. Well, on one such night last week, Donna and I tackled the frigid air and stood in line for an hour and a half to get into the Holland Heinecken House. And it was well worth the wait!
Thankfully we had our mittens!
Holland Heinecken House has long had the reputation of being one of the best parties at the Olympics, and Donna and I just had to find out if the rumours were true. After work on Wednesday, we took the Canada Line out to Richmond and then walked ten minutes to the Minoru Arenas and Richmond Oval. Outside there were various tents where you could buy food and drinks, or browse through exhibits showcasing Olympic regalia. Two guys on stilts dressed as geeky hockey players and were exaggeratingly Canadian, attracting a crowd of kids who wanted to play hockey against them. Holland and Canada had both just won silver and gold medals in speed skating, there was excitement in the air, and everyone was in a festive mood. It is a very cool thing to play Host to the world - I think it's actually forcing us Canadians to be even more friendly than we normally are. For the City of Vancouver this is a very positive thing, especially because Vancouver does not have a great reputation for being a "fun town". But that night, even waiting in line while our toes nearly froze off was a good time!
So the way it worked at the Holland House is that you had to pay for your drinks and food upfront, and in exchange they gave you a little "credit" card. Then at the bar you just simply slip your card into an interact-like machine and the credit comes off automatically. After that you collect your beer just off to the side, and voila! There you are happily and rather effortlessly drinking a Heinecken! It was all very organized and well run at the Holland House. Two thumbs up for the Dutch! And yes, everyone working there had flown in from Holland just to work during the Olympics. I'm sure they've seen some crazy scenes...
Our "credit" cards
Donna and I grabbed our beers and started mixing and mingling with the Dutch, almost all of whom were wearing orange. We had just enough time to check the place out and down a couple before the first act came on at 9:00, a house band who are well-known in Holland. "The Corona's" know all the lyrics and melodies to any song you request them to play. They capture everyone's attention by getting you to line up across the arena from where they're playing, and then you get to make a phone call to them on an actual phone that rings when you pick it up (you can hear it ringing), while the crowd waits in anticipation to hear what song the caller requests. This kind of approach gets everyone involved and has the entire place dancing and singing in no time. With that of course comes more beer swillin'...
By the time The Corona's had finished playing, everyone in the place was drunk and running on the kind of liquid courage that makes you think that you're the hottest babe in the place, and they should all feel privileged to party with you. Thankfully the Dutch are some of the most flirtatious people I've ever met, and they didn't mind at all when Donna and I boldly stepped up to challenge each of them on their height, accents, orange suits, or anything else that we could think of that seemed clearly "Dutch" to us. As a matter of fact, it seemed pretty clear to me that they loved it! Flirty, tall, blond, and friggin' gorgeous, all of them! They were coming out of the wood work by the dozens, and had us two Canadian gals swooning! Donna and I had an exceptional time and we gladly exchanged the Canadian boys in for the the Dutch boys, with their cute accents and orange attire. All inhibitions lost, we both agree that the evening turned out to be one of the most memorable ever!
At one point I lost my belt to a flirtatious Dutchman, Donna almost lost more! But we giggled and laughed all night long, and happily bounced from one Dutch man to another, the way a true Canadian girl knows how. After The Corona's, we were lucky enough to see another band who are (apparently) the superstars in Holland right now, "Nick and Simon". These guys had nice voices, but their stage presence sucked big time, and you could tell they were the latest in pop culture by their tight fitting shirts and pants. They kindof cheesed us out, but by the time they came on we were feeling no pain, and neither was anyone else. All the Dutch sang their songs out loud, knowing every word. The fun continued, the night got crazier.
I even took a video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCZ7hm8SgvU
There was a lot of Heinecken to be had! mmm mmm mmm!
A sea of orange!
...we have it bad for Dutch guys...
This one group of tall strapping Dutch men were wearing the print of the classical Dutch chinaware, the name of which I can't remember right now. (Donna, do you remember the name of it?) These guys were a riot! Very very outgoing and cocky, and of course Donna and I fit in perfectly with them! :)
Trouble with a Capital T.
Just keep on partyin'!
The last act of the night was a Dutch DJ whose name I honestly can not remember! At one point during the night I made friends with this Dutch gal who had come over to Canada to work at the Dutch House. She was in the middle of a conversation with some big, burly, dark haired guy and I dragged her away to come and dance with me. Later she told me that the guy she had been talking to was "very famous in Holland"... apparently there were quite a few Dutch celebrities in the crowd that night. But how could I have known? giggle...
We stayed right till the end and shut the place down at 2:00 a.m. Donna and I were the last two Canadians in the place, and we strolled out arms-in-arms, laughing and playing with a group of about 20 Dutch men, everyone rowdy and obnoxious by this point. Donna and I were screaming "We Love Dutch Men!" as the Chinaware guys hoisted the traffic gal in the air and wouldn't put her down until an easy-going policeman came over and said "Okay boys, put 'er down...". I drunk-dialed Ries in Holland, and started to leave him a voicemail message when one of them grabbed the phone and started telling Ries things that would have made any normal guy insanely jealous. I laughed the entire time because the guy was so outrageous and he spoke English incredibly well - some of the words he came up with were very...how shall we say? Descriptive! Oh yes, he had good vocabulary that one, along with many other, hunky qualities.
I have to say that I've never been to a party like that in all my life. They loved us and we loved them! Donna and I both agree that our trip out to the Holland Heinecken House was a night that neither of us will ever forget.
More to come soon on Olympic festivities in Vancouver, so stay tuned!
Charleen xo
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