The Winter Games: It Goes Beyond Ice and Snow

The Difference

The Winter Games and Summer Games are incredibly different, and I love them both, but for very different reasons. The Summer Games are like attending a large university, with lots of variance in sport and country just like majors and the student population. They’re so large you cannot possibly take it all in, but nonetheless you get swept up in the never-ending opportunity to wave your country’s flag and celebrate your colors. It is the biggest party you have ever attended and almost nobody knows one another, yet you feel a bond with everyone through the love of everything the Games embody. The Winter Games are more like a smaller, “major specific” college where everyone is a tight community, bonded by their love of the elements and their sport. Let’s be honest, cold weather just brings people together … one glass of Glühwein (mulled hot wine) at a time. Winter sports just have a tighter knit group, and you often see the same people at many different events. It’s also usually held in a smaller area.

So there’s no way you’ll miss the Swiss fans and their GIANT Bells at the bottom of the ski hill, the Austrians and their flags both on their cheeks and in their hands, or the Norwegians running the cheer-show at the cross country venue and belting out their famous victory song. And after a day as part of the crowd, you'll find yourself humming along, even if you don't understand the words, with the melodies of the fan stuck in the head.

Preparing for a Winter Games

You would think I’d be packing more for a Winter Games than I did for say London, but shockingly that is not the case. At a Winter Games, you often end up wearing your work gear – big coat, hat, and gloves – to almost everything, so I’m not going to over do it. Talk to me after the Games . . .

Read the rest about the Winter Games on my Babble Voice blog: Semi-Chlorinated Life