Back at it

Wow, that was a long day.
Those are the first things that cross my mind as I climb into bed at 2 a.m. on Monday, about 3.5 hours before I have to be out of bed again to get back to the gym and back to work.
The day was Sunday and it essentially lasted 38 hours. In South Korea on Sunday morning, I slept in a little bit and was off to breakfast before finishing up packing up all of my clothes and other belongings in preparation for leaving the place that I've called home for the last few weeks.
At 10:40 a.m. I was on the bus to the train station in Gangneung, where we were greeted by volunteers who helped get us to the proper train platform. The train took off for the Incheon Airport and a few hours later, I was stepping off the train and into the airport. After a quick lunch, I was able to find my way to the departure area and then a very nice young woman directed me to the Air Canada desks, where I checked my bag and headed to the right gate. My Olympic credentials got me in a shorter line through security and once through, it was easy enough to find the gate and eventually, board the flight.
The 12-plus-hour flight from Incheon to Toronto was much more successful than the flight from Toronto to Incheon, which was delayed by two hours on the tarmac. We landed in Toronto on time, weirdly enough not too long on the clock after we took off. After grabbing a little dinner, the next flight heads to Boston and home. But not before a moment of panic when I realized I didn't have my backpack on. I was able to track it down before someone reported it to airport security as an abandoned suspicious bag, which is good, since it contained pretty much everything I needed to get home.
We landed in Boston just after 8 p.m. and after I got my bags (which all arrived as well) and got to my car, it was after 9 p.m. and I was heading north toward Meredith and the office. To my pleasant surprise, the code on the door still worked and I walked into the office to find one of the packages I had sent from Korea already awaiting me.
But, that will have to wait to be opened until the next day. I got the work done and headed home after what surely was the longest day I've ever had.

On the way home

We’re climbing past 7,000 meters, I have my headphones in listening to Rob Has a Podcast as we head out of South Korea toward Toronto.

Looking at the map on the screen in front of me, it makes me realize I am a long way from home and I have been a long way from home for a long time. This is obviously the second time I’ve been away for that long, coming after Sochi four years ago.

So, officially, as this gets posted, South Korea is in the rearview mirror and I’m either on my way home or already home when I post this.

There were a lot of things in PyeongChang that were different than Sochi four years ago, many of them good. As I fly away, I wanted to reflect on a few of those things.

One of the biggest differences was in my accommodations. In Sochi, I stayed in what was essentially a hotel, with a bed and a bathroom to myself. This time around, the accommodations were a bit different and it wasn’t really a bad thing.

Looking to make the trip as least expensive as possible, I booked a room in a three-bedroom apartment in the Gangneung Media Village. This meant that I was sharing an apartment with two other guys and was sharing a bathroom with one of them. I was a little concerned about this, because not knowing who I was rooming with made me nervous. When I checked in the first Friday night, there was nobody else there. I headed out to find the media work room and when I returned, I met one of my roommates. His name is Jeff Cable and he is a photographer from California who works for USA Hockey, taking pictures of the men’s and women’s hockey team.

It took me a while to meet the other guy in the apartment. His name is Ken and he worked at the sliding center mostly, running a blog on the sliding sports. However, back in the United States, he is also the track photographer for Martinsville Speedway.

They were both nice guys and made the accommodation situation easy. Like me, they were both pretty busy so there were very few times when we were all in the apartment at the same time.

Another good difference in South Korea had to be the distances to the venues, which was significantly shorter than in Sochi. While there were a few long bus rides, getting to and from locations took a lot less time, which meant that I actually wrote less on the bus than I did four years ago.

Perhaps the best different was the internet situation. I was able to do work from pretty much anywhere in PyeongChang, be it on the bus, in the Main Press Center or outdoors at the venues. I think my Instagram photos from all over the Olympics probably showed that, as I was able to post photos from pretty much everywhere. In Russia, it was pretty tough to get access to the internet, even sitting in the media center with the Ethernet cable plugged in.

Korea is officially in the rearview mirror and leaving is disappointing, but all good things must come to an end.

What an ending....

Saturday was my last full day at the PyeongChang Olympics. My last blog post was written on Saturday shortly after I left the Big Air competition at Alpensia Ski Jumping Center. I am writing this one about seven hours later as I sit in my apartment waiting for the laundry to finish up.

When I left the Big Air competition, my plan was to come back to the apartment, do the laundry, finish packing and then go to a curling match tonight. However, not long after I threw my laundry into the machine, I realized that the US men’s curling team was playing for the gold medal in just a few minutes and why would I not go to that?

So I left straight from the laundry room, bringing only my phone and my credentials and hopped on the bus to the curling center. I got there in the second end and was able to watch an incredible match and got to see the US win its first ever gold medal in curling. It was a great atmosphere and I thought it was a pretty fitting way to end my Olympic experience this time around.

I should note that today I seemed to have a stalker. When I arrived at the jumping center for the Big Air competition this morning, Matt Pepin from the Boston Globe told me that he heard Ivanka Trump was going to be at the event. I’d seen her all over the Korean news when I was riding the bus, so I knew she was around. Sure enough, shortly before the competition started, she emerged from near the top of the bleachers and took a seat along with a few other dignitaries and what looked like US Olympic Team members (though I can’t be sure of that). While she stepped out for a brief moment, she remained for the entire event and got to see American Kyle Mack win the silver medal.

Of course, her presence made getting out of the jumping center a bit of a pain, as security cars were parked everywhere and our bus could do nothing but sit for a few minutes before finally the cars were moved and we got through.

As I was arriving at the curling venue, I noticed a big security presence around one of the doors and as I was walking in, a motorcade pulled up, so I guessed that there would be a dignitary in the house at curling as well. Not long after I walked into the press area, Ivanka came out and sat in the seats above the center of the rink. Again, though she stepped out for a few minutes, she remained for the entire match and got to see the historic gold medal win for the John Shuster rink.

Tomorrow morning, I head for the train station, which takes me to the airport and then eventually to my car at Logan Airport and home. It’s been a good ride.

Winding down

I’m sitting in the Alpensia Resort Grand Ballroom, which has doubled as the Main Press Center’s workroom for the past two weeks. I’ve spent a lot of time here over the last 15 days, but as I write this on Saturday afternoon, I will be heading out of the resort for the final time.

I still have another 20 hours or so before I have to get on a bus and then a train and then a plane back to the United States. I still plan on seeing at least one more event, hopefully two if I can swing it. But those events will be down in the Gangneung Area, meaning I will leave the mountain cluster in PyeongChang for the final time when I board the TM26 bus in a short while to head back to my apartment.

The PyeongChang mountain cluster was a great location for the Winter Olympics. While two of the venues, Phoenix Snow Park and Jeongseon Alpine Center, were a good distance away from the Main Press Center, most of the venues were a short bus ride away and the mountain cluster itself was a much shorter bus ride from the coastal cluster than we had in Sochi four years ago.

It’s been said that this was the most compact Winter Olympics on record and I’d believe that, at least from my small amount of experience. I spent less time on the bus here than I did in Sochi, and I count that as a win.

As I prepare to leave the mountain cluster for the final time, I should note that this was the site of some of my favorite moments of the Olympic Games. Seeing Red Gerard throw down a monster run on his final chance in the snowboard slopestyle. Watching Annalisa Drew finish just short of a medal in skiing halfpipe. Watching the shocking performance from Ester Ledecka winning the downhill. Seeing Chloe Kim absolutely blow up the competition in her qualifying runs. Seeing Sean Doherty compete in three different biathlon events and put up an impressive performance in his final event of the Games. Watching Sarah Hendrickson jump in an Olympics for likely the last time, a pioneer of the women’s ski jumping movement taking one more run down the ramp. And of course, seeing Lindsey Vonn, the greatest female alpine skier of all time, do her thing in likely her final Olympics.

There were many great moments here in the mountain cluster of PyeongChang and I’m glad I had the chance to be here and experience them all. This experience I thought was once in a lifetime four years ago was even more incredible the second time around.

Now, it’s off to catch TM26 and head back to the apartment. Maybe do a little laundry and get some dinner before another event tonight.

 The Main Press Center has been a large part of my life the last few weeks. Today was my last day there.