Well, here we are in Vancouver! Yesterday, Jasmine, Kendra and I drove up from Oregon and settled in to Fraserview Mennonite-Brethren Church, our gracious hosts for the next nine days. Our first full day started with a tour of the local area by Eric, a church staffer and longtime youth worker. We took the sky train into Vancouver from Richmond. The activity and buzz was definitely in the air, creating an electric calm before the Olympic storm. In addition to the Olympic Village, we saw the German House, Russia House, and several other venues.
After seeing the city and all the great opportunities available to the group, we decided to make some adjustments to our schedule for the next week. We are confident the youth attendees will like the improvements! In the afternoon, Kendra and I headed to the BC Museum of Anthropology to prepare a scavenger hunt for our group’s visit there next week. The museum is home to a huge collection of artifacts from many cultures. We were only there for a short while, so I’m looking forward to going back and taking more time to learn about the meaning behind artifacts and traditions featured.
While we were bust at the museum, Jasmine and Dr. Ungerleider were at the Richmond City Hall. The city hall is hosing an art exhibit presented by Global Sports Development. This exhibit features artwork selections from our current book, Culture, Education and Drug-free Sport at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Jasmine and Dr. Ungerleider were training local high school-aged volunteers who will be working at the exhibit.
Today was VERY exciting and busy. We eagerly await tomorrow’s arrival of the 50 program youth attendees and the other six mentors!
More tomorrow!
