Addicted!

I never considered myself as having an addictive personality; although by the way the past week has shaped up I’m clearly going to have to revisit that self-concept.  Yes, those damn Winter Olympics! 

Surprisingly as they approached I had only shown a passing interest…at best, although a self-proclaimed sports nut, I hadn’t given the Olympics a second thought.  Personally I’ve felt disillusioned for the past few Olympics as there seemed just too over the top, even for me.  With the constant stream of drug cheats, the never-ending media hype and sensationalism and that’s before you even get to the actual sporting event.  I’m not naïve to think that to be competitive in today’s world class sports arena that you can do it without being supported or that sponsorships and endorsements aren't critical to getting the level of training required but at times you do have to wonder where it will all stop. Its certainly taken away some of the appeal of watching these hyped up sporting events, for me anyway where once upon a time I would have been completely enamoured.

However, my latest brush with the Olympics came innocently enough when I sat down on the couch with Zach last Saturday morning to watch the first couple of events, initially more to hang out with him than for anything else.   However, it wasn't long before I caught myself watching with excited interest the seemingly unending series of events – Women’s Moguls, Speed Skating, Hockey and dare I say it….Figure Skating.  And even more surprising was that we were both so into it.

Decisions - decisions...

Strangely, I had feelings of guilt as I sat watching the initial events, not wanting to be too obvious but I felt divided in my allegiance as to which country I was going to cheer for - Canada or Australia?  Generally it's always Australia with no questions asked, especially if they're directly competing against one another, but lets face it Oz isn't exactly known for its winter sports prowess, so depending on the event and the participants ultimately decided who I'd be cheering for.  

Fortunately for me there have only been a small number of events during this current Olympics where Australia was either directly competing against Canada or had even a remote chance at truly being competitive…except perhaps Torah Bright from Australia in the Women’s Snowboarding Halfpipe.  Strangely in this event the Canadian team weren't that competitive, which to be honest was a little surprising.  

Each time I check the results (perhaps ten to fifteen times per day conservatively speaking and that’s not to mention the times I then spend watching highlights or videos of the events, yes, always before or after work mind you) J.  The first thing I do is look for Australia to see if we've won any medals since last I checked, then run through the events to see if we've made it to a semi-final or final (which is rather rare I must admit). Then and only then do I check for Canada to see how they're doing?  I know, not a lot of respect for my adopted country, but what can I say except that I'm a bad immigrant!  

The bigger question here is will I ever feel truly Canadian? I consider myself Australian first and foremost, mainly because it’s “home”, and likely always will be. Although since Dad died in February 2011 it’s never quite felt the same.  With no surviving parents or family home I sort of feel "anchor-less" when it comes to Australia if you know what I mean.  Although, that being said with all my family (siblings and nieces and nephews) still living in Australia it’s hard to even imagine a life without feeling truly Australian, but disconnected nonetheless.

Interestingly the thing that I find most astounding is my accent, or should I say the lack of accent (well at least in my head anyway).  When I listen to others talk around me, it doesn’t sound any different to me, well at least in my head anyway. I think I sound the same as everyone around me, although when I tell people that they often laugh uncontrollably and ask me “what part of Australia are you from?” with no questions asked.  I suppose its that obvious?  

Hhhmmm, and here I was thinking that I totally blended into Canadian society.  I guess that myth is as broken just as my unbiased following of the Australian Olympic team in Sochi.

Zach and me on our recent trip to Los Angeles
(Oct 2013)

Clearly, the best thing about last weekend was the bonding time between Zach and I as we cheered on the competitors from our couch.  Well, I suppose it went a little deeper than that actually as we also critiqued their routines, gold medal runs and overall performance…often lambasting them for their poor form or missed opportunities that were just soooo obvious from the couch. J

However the pièce-de-résistance for me came just before bed on Sunday night when Zach said to me that he'd really enjoyed the weekend, and the time we'd spent together watching the Olympics.  It truly was one of those sincere and heart warming moments that have become so rare since he’s become a fully-fledged teenager. I’m happy to take these little moments anytime I can and I hugged him back and said "me too, mate, me too".

p.s. Happy Valentines Day!