The 2010 Winter Olympics starts soon. In 1994, 16 years ago, my husband and I traveled to Norway to witness this multi sporting event. When we walked off the train and a reporter asked me who I worked for and about fell over when I said we were on our own dime, I should known something was unusual.
The Olympics is not just an athletic event for the athletes, but for fans like us it was an endurance event. Bracing the cold to stand on top of the snow for hours as a skier swooshes past. Up predawn to take a series of buses to sit in a cold ice arena, or to climb to the top of the luge or bobsled course. How about sitting outside in the cold to watch award ceremonies and then getting back to your room at midnight with a predawn trek the next day? It was the one vacation when I wore all the clothes I packed and actually tried to wear them all at one time it was that cold. It was also the one vacation where I lost weight not even watching what I ate because of the physical exertion, the cold or the fatigue, or all together!
The Olympics are exciting and I am glad we did this once in a lifetime vacation. This year in Vancouver, the weather may not be as cold as Norway was but the logistics will be the same. Getting from point A to point B on time is an Olympic achievement. The excitement is always there and seeing great athletes is a wonderful treat. In Norway they opened up one side of one of the mountains for skiing to the public and we rented skis and hit the Olympic slopes. It was a humbling eye opener to ski down and see 10,000 people milling around and looking at you. I have skied the mountains in Vancouver for this Olympics and hope they open some runs for tourists to get the first-hand thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.
This year like most people, I will watch the Olympics from the warmth and comfort of my home. I will be judging the skaters costumes, make-up, as well as their skills on the rink. I will be listening to the commentaries on the skiing events and cheering the underdog teams, or participants that always arise from the winter Olympics.
As far as the kiss and cry corner for the skating events, I think it is just another aspect that makes the winter Olympics so special. Waiting to see your scores while trying to catch your breath with hundreds of cameras trained on you could make anyone cry. Sweating while everyone else is trying to stay warm while maintaining a cool confident manner sounds like menopause.
Yes one more example of how menopause symptoms can be found anywhere to anyone, even Olympic athletes!