Week 2 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics has officially started, and we`re still having fun! (Unfortunately I`m having difficulty uploading photos so I can`t show you all the fun, but once I figure it out I`ll add them all in.)

We`ve seen a ton of men`s and women`s curling, which has been great. I can`t believe how rowdy Canadian curling fans are! There`s chanting and stomping and tons of cowbell ringing. At one point the Canadian second had to stop his routine because the crowd was singing and chanting so loudly. Teams have had to start using hand signals because they can`t hear each other talk during the game. They`re also not used to playing in front of that many people, so it`s hard for them to adjust. And the crowds aren`t just chanting for the Canadians either. At one point yesterday we were chanting for Denmark, then Switzerland, then Great Britain, and finally Japan. We`re equal opportunity cheerers.

Last night was our first figure skating event, the ice dance Original Dance. It was a lot of fun to watch live, as I`ve never seen a figure skating competition live. The American`s Bollywood routine was pretty cool, there were a few country and western routines, and the Canadian couples did Spanish Flamencos. Very, very cool. And the Canadian couple of Moir & Virtue are in first place going into the free dance tonight! Can`t wait to see what happens then.

The trip up to Whistler last week for the cross-country individual classic sprint was good too. We had to get up at an ungodly hour to catch the bus, but it only took us about 2 hours to get there, and then we were walking in the snow and forest. Nice and serene. We had to walk 1.2kms to get there, which we thought was going to be long, but it turned out to be okay. As the weather was nice and sunny, the walk wasn`t so bad. (It was about -2C on the way in, +4C on the way out). We had standing room tickets, so we were able to scope out a great spot to stand at, on the final bend of the race into the finish line. And since it was the sprint, the races only took about 2 or 3 minutes to complete. We were able to watch all the men`s and women`s qualifying, and then the women`s quarter finals too. Unfortunately we had to leave early if we wanted to make it back to Vancouver to watch the short-track speed skating, so we didn`t get to see the end, which was apparently quite exciting for the men (there was a sprint for the gold).

All in all we`re having fun, enjoying the city and the Olympics. Next up is some aerials, more curling and lots of hockey.