Day three started with me and my sister getting up really early to get on a bus to catch a train to stand in line for Stephen T. Colbert. As we approached the stage, we saw that a line had started to form from the stage, going along the sidewalk to the science center. It did not appear that there were any barriers, but we were looking from above in the skytrain.
When we exited, we saw a couple of bobwheelers (bobsled on wheels)
and quite a few other characters. Our view of the stage at this point was obstructed by a hill. We were standing right in front of Science world, and the police asked us to be the corner as the line wrapped back around. We were, at the time, the furthest from the stage. As we arrived at our place in line, we stood for a bit and started chatting with the group around us. They had friends go off and get coffee as we shared stories of Colbert and discussed politics of Canada as well as USA. The coffee came back, and two of our new acquaintances decided to take a walk.
They returned after we had been standing in line for about 45 minutes and they announced that they were unsure WHY we were standing in line. There were no barriers, and seemingly, no organizers keeping order.
They were "just being good Canadians and creating order." They told us they would hold our place in line if we wanted to walk. Gabe and I walked to the top of the hill and noticed that there were maybe 3 volunteers, and no barriers. We went back to the line, but decided as a group that we would try and get closer.
As we stood on the hill, we saw a group dressed as polar bears with an anti-global warming message.
We decided that we should get a photo, and we moved closer to the stage. After we took our photo, we realized there was a crowd (25 people) around us. As we stood there, a guy on a bike asked if there was a reason we weren't closer. he then rode his bike to meet with volunteers in charge. They simply asked us to stay off the field. He rode back to a certain point, but stopped right below the hill. We all moved up to be near him.
A man then got on his cell phone and told his friend, "we are having a weird red-light, green-light game going with the volunteers." As they turned their backs we moved forward slightly, and then stop. AS we stood there, a truck pulled up and the volunteers began to unload traffic gates. They then set them up against the line on the sidewalk. I don't think it would happen in the US to see the barriers being put up after the lovely line formed.
Eventually a woman came over and announced to no one in particular, that "would you please get off the field, there is a line over there." The same man on the cell phone called his friend. "A woman came over and politely told us to get off the field, we were too polite to move, and she was too polite to tell us again." In about 10 more minutes, they opened the front of the line, and my sister and I ran to the front of the stage!!!
We were front row. We then stood there for 45 minutes getting to know the people around us. We got to watch the crew finish setting up the stage and watched a video about Stephen's ride to the olympics.
We then watched Michael Buble', Mike Eruzione, and Bob Costas be interviewed. I was the only USA chat starter in the crowd. During the Bob Costas interview you can hear my voice when Stephen asks if he is impartial or not. Pretty exciting.
We watched filming from 10 - 11:30. We then walked back to downtown and met up with the family. We ate sandwiches agian and then I went with Daimon and Kirsten to Granville Island, and my sister went with our parents to Stanley Park.
Granville Island is a small area that has a public market, and lots of specialty shops. During the olympics, there were lots of tents with food and drink and information. We wandered around and found a lot of different types of art. There was a crazy mime through a window, two welders dancing, an art studio in operation, and murals.
We walked around and shopped, found food, and listened to some music. We also found some tvs to watch the days events with a beer in our hand.
As the sun went down, we found our bus and went home. We had an early morning to catch a bus to the biathlon venue.
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