Thursday, February 27, 2014

Things I didn't miss....


One of my blog posts while in Sochi was about things I missed about home. So now that I’ve been home for a few days, maybe it’s time to write about some of the things I certainly didn’t miss about being home.
I certainly didn’t miss putting gas in my car and truck. This afternoon I had to put more than $60 worth of gas in my truck after just two and a half days of being back in the States. That is certainly not much fun. I am happy to be driving again, but it would be great if gas was a little cheaper. Though I know I’m not the only one with that problem.
I definitely didn’t miss paying bills. I went to the post office in Ossipee on Tuesday afternoon to pick up my mail from the two-plus weeks that I was away. Besides the magazines, the main thing piling up in the mailbox were the bills. American Express, Visa, Master Card, PSNH and insurance bills. Way too many bills to pay and it took me a few hours of time on Wednesday to get all caught up on those.
I certainly didn’t miss doing grocery shopping. I purposely let the food in my apartment run down before I left so that I wouldn’t be letting anything go bad while I was away. Of course, that meant that when I got back there was not much food left in my refrigerator and cupboards. I usually try to go shopping every couple of weeks so that I can keep the bill down, but by the time I got around to shopping upon my return, it had been more than a month, so it was bound to be an expensive trip to restock the apartment.
I didn’t miss my cell phone. For more than two weeks I didn’t even need to think about my phone and where it was and if I had forgotten it somewhere. It sat on the desk in my hotel and didn’t move. It was great to not have to even think about it. Though in its place was my passport, something they advised not to go anywhere without in Russia.
But overall, I guess it’s good to be home. It’s much easier to get some Mountain Dew.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Making the way back...


I am writing this entry as I sit in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. It’s currently 1:45 in the afternoon here, but barely quarter of 8 in the morning in New England. And where I started this morning, it’s 4:45 in the afternoon.
Needless to say, it’s been a long day. My first flight left Sochi at 2 a.m. and made its way to Moscow, arriving before 5 a.m. I then had a long wait in the Moscow airport, as my flight to Paris didn’t leave until almost 11 a.m. And here I sit, waiting once again.
But, I have to admit, the process has been pretty seamless so far, despite the long waits in terminals across Europe. Security in Sochi was relatively simple and again in Moscow, there were volunteers there to greet us when we got off the plane and lead us from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, where again, security wasn’t too bad.
Getting off the plane in Paris was a little sketchy for me, since I didn’t have a boarding pass for my next flight, as the ticket agent in Sochi could only book me on my first two flights, not the third.
However, I got off the plane, found the flight board and figured out where my flight was leaving from. I then followed the signs and there was an Air France desk right along the way. The woman at the desk got me my boarding pass and told me to hop on the train and go one stop to reach my gate.
Soon enough, here I was, sitting in the terminal, surrounded by a bunch of French kids who I am guessing are going to America. The sun is shining in the window and although it’s a little chilly outside, there’s no telling that from here.
I slept a little on the flight from Sochi to Moscow and again on the flight to Paris, but I am operating on little sleep and it’s pretty obvious that my eyes are getting heavy. Thankfully I have a seven-plus hour flight across the Atlantic to maybe catch some shut eye.
Between my trip to LA for the Survivor event a week before I left for Russia and this trip, I think I’ve had more airplane food in the last month than I did in my entire life before that. Every single one of my flights on this trip so far has featured a meal of some sort, though I don’t eat a lot of it, since it often features some sort of sushi or something like that, which I am not touching, even when I’m not on a plane.
The flight from Sochi was jam-packed, but the flight from Moscow had plenty of room, room enough that there was nobody in the middle seat between me at the window and the guy in the aisle seat. It was the same way coming over, with the flight between Paris and Moscow having the most space.
Of course, I expect the plane to Boston to be the biggest plane, so there’s no telling how many people I’ll be riding along with.
Whatever the case may be, if you’re reading this, it means I did make it back to the United States. And that was the objective when I started out early this morning.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

A world away, friendly faces emerge


Believe it or not, it does seem hard to believe, but this is my final day in Sochi.
It has been a fantastic journey over the last two-plus weeks, but the time has come to bring this adventure to a close.
On my final blog from Sochi, I thought I’d touch on something I noticed here, something that made me realize just how many people there are in the world.
While around the world, I started noticing people that looked a lot like people who I know at home. I know it’s strange, but seemingly every day there was someone that I ran in to that reminded me of someone who I already knew.
On the final flight here, from Moscow to Sochi, the guy sitting next to me with his son looked just like Kingswood boys’ soccer coach Mike Best.
I was at the women’s ski jumping competition and one of the women in the group of American fans looked exactly like my Village Players friend Lisa Rose Penny.
The first time I went into the gym here at the Main Media Center in the coastal cluster, a guy that came in after me completely reminded me of former coworker Jim Shilander.
And the other day, it happened twice, both within the same day.
I was riding the bus up to the extreme sports venue and I looked across the aisle at the girl in the next row and from the side, she looked exactly like my friend Vanessa Nelson.
And later that day, on the way up the gondola toward the Laura Cross Country and Biathlon Center, the girl sitting next to me with her friend looked exactly like my friend Kim Johnson.
There were others too. It hit me that with so many people in the world, that there is likely to be people out there that look a lot like one another and if you go to different places, there’s a good chance you’ll run into someone who reminds you of people you already know.
It also made me realize, that there is a part of me that misses the people at home and the people I usually spend my time with. While I am not thrilled that my time here is over, I do think I am just about ready to come home. It has truly been an extraordinary experience and I can’t be thankful enough to all the people who helped me make this a reality.
Even if I saw some of their twins walking around the sidewalks and venues of the Sochi Olympics.
This is the final post from Sochi. I am heading to the airport in a few hours to get on the plane and eventually make it home at some point on Monday. There will be more updates to this blog as I readjust to driving, covering high school sports, watching television (Survivor starts Wednesday) and figuring out when to sleep.
Thanks to everyone who has followed along on this journey so far. While it’s not completely over, the part of my journey in Sochi is coming to a close and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to be here and share this experience.

Friday, February 21, 2014

That Olympic feeling


One of the great pleasures in being a writer who covers mostly high school sports is getting to see the sheer looks of joy that kids tend to get on their faces when they accomplish something unexpected or reach a goal they have been working for their whole season or even their whole career.
That moment when an underdog team lifts a championship trophy over its collective head, surrounding the team captain who’s been there through the good and the bad and serves as the beating heart of his or her team, that moment is hard to beat. You see the relief, joy, excitement and thrill, all in one simple look, all in one simple motion.
Often times, words can’t express what they are feeling, but that look on their face pretty much says it all.
As an athlete, you go through a large range of emotions in the course of a season, or in many cases, in the course of a game or match.
I’m not going to pretend I know what it’s like to win a championship in anything, but I have seen many kids win championships in my many years doing this job. I’ve seen kids that have done nothing but win championships most of their careers and I’ve seen kids who sneak up, surprise the world around them and take something that wasn’t supposed to be theirs. It’s always fun to see, no matter how it happens.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the chance to see a lot of people perform on the world’s biggest stage. I’ve seen the best US alpine skier of all time (Bode Miller), I’ve seen the next big thing in alpine racing (Mikaela Shiffrin), I’ve seen the tried and true Olympic veteran (Kris Freeman) and the girl continuing to climb in the ranks in her second Olympics (Leanne Smith). But I have to say, the thing that I get the most joy out of, the thing that makes me realize just what an experience this must be, is the people there for the first time, the people that may not have medal chances, but are competing in the Olympics, competing on the biggest stage in the world, competing to be the best they can be.
The smiles on the faces of those athletes can’t be erased. They are beaming ear to ear, excited to be across the finish line in their first ever Olympic competition.
I saw that in alpine racer Julia Ford of Holderness and freestyle skier Annalisa Drew, a New Hampton School grad and Loon Mountain skier. They didn’t win medals, but you couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces. They were at the Olympics, competing under the bright lights of the Olympic spotlight, representing their country and having the time of their lives.
In many ways, I feel like I identify with those type of athletes. This is the first time I’ve ever done anything of this magnitude and the experience is all a bit dumbfounding. The fact that I am here, in Russia, watching the best athletes in the world compete, is truly amazing to me. So when I see those smiles, those wide eyes, I imagine that’s a little what I look like… Or at least a little what I looked like when I first got here. My eyes aren’t so wide anymore, mainly because they keep falling asleep.
But either way, this experience has been for me a lot like holding that long sought-after championship trophy, the crowning moment of a season (or career) spent working hard and pushing oneself. And it’s a wonderful feeling. I know the smile will be there for a while.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Just can't hide those tired eyes


I have found myself consistently tired pretty much the whole time I’ve been in Russia. I have taken a few mornings to sleep in, but for the most part, the alarm clock goes off at 5 a.m. and I hit the shower and head off to the media center to get started.
This is really no different than my normal routine when I’m at home. At home, the alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m., but for some reason, I feel much more tired here than I do when I’m home.
Then again, the reason is probably due to the fact that I am staying up fairly late most nights, not getting back to my hotel room before 1 a.m. and maybe that’s catching up with me.
The problem lies in the fact that a number of the events I’ve been looking to cover happen in the evening hours. All the moguls, aerials and halfpipe events often don’t start until after 8 p.m. When they finish, there’s the hour-long ride from the mountain cluster back to the coastal cluster and then the 15-minute ride to the hotel. That time all adds up.
I’ve been good about trying to get some sleep on the long bus rides to and from the coastal area. This morning I slept most of the way up the highway as I get ready for a busy day that will include an interview with Conway’s Sean Doherty and seeing Julia Ford of Holderness make her Olympic debut.
But, being as I want the most out of this Olympic experience, I wanted to get to the mountain cluster a little early so I can go see some skicross action. I watched the men on television yesterday and want to check out the women’s race this morning.
Part of the tiredness could obviously be from not sleeping terribly well in a bed that’s not the most comfortable piece of furniture ever made. Or maybe it comes from not being able to take a shower with the full water pressure I usually use. That is a big part of what wakes me up in the morning and the low water pressure doesn’t always have that effect.
Whatever the case may be, as my experience here in Russia draws to a close, I know I am looking forward to maybe getting a little sleep at some point.
Until then, I will carry on. And find some sleep when I can.