Knock You Off Your Feet

I had finally settled into my room in the Olympic Village, and I was taking a moment to enjoy the view. The beautiful mountains where I would be competing loomed against the pale blue sky, snowy trails cutting through the thick darkness of the forests. The Olympic rings were lit up in the square, at the end of a path lined with flags from every country present. People milled around, some in their country’s apparel, some just in street clothes, and I sighed. It was perfect here.

I changed quickly into my most comfortable clothes – an old pair of gray sweatpants and a Batman t-shirt – and went to check my Blackberry for any important emails. There was one unread, from the coach. I opened it up quickly.

Hey girls, just wanted to let you know that there’s going to be a coaches-approved party for all of the snowboarders from the US and Canada. It’s in the conference room – we’ve transformed it. Go down about 7-ish if you’re interested. xoxo

I smiled. A party would help me destress and help me meet new people – something I desperately needed around here, especially with people thinking I was a traitor for choosing Team Canada.

I slipped out of the sweatpants and back into my jeans, but I left the Batman shirt on. Hopefully, these guys’ll think Batman’s awesome, too. If they don’t, well… they’re weird.

I didn’t bother to put any of my clothes into the dressers they had provided, but I did grab my black jacket I had customized back home. It had the words GO BIG OR GO HOME across the front in bright red letters, and it looked awesome. I threw that on over my shirt, took my phone in my hand, and flicked the lights off. With one last glance back, I smiled and closed the door.

Snowboarding teams, here I come.