I dream of Sochi: January 2014

I would be lying if I said I will miss this weather. A fresh dusting of snow in Edmonton + icy roads makes going to a subtropical climate quite appealing! It's 4'C with rain there right now, but I've got Gortex and a pair of galoshes to protect me from the rain.

In preparation for this international whirlwind of a trip, I spent a whopping EIGHTY dollars at the dollar store on Canadiana. (Don't worry, I got the maple syrup and cookies elsewhere....I wouldn't trust dollar store maple syrup...)

Ready to represent Canada in Sochi!

As a kid, I remember going to the dollar store with a loonie and actually being able to buy something. You can probably count I don't have 80 items in the photo. That's because nothing costs a dollar at the dollar store. One item was, in fact, eight dollars! EIGHT! I might as well have got the water bottle from Walmart. I'd like to thank my mom for footing the bill. I'm sure all the russians that don a cheap bracelet or faded rub-on tattoo will truly appreciate the sentiment.

Two items were a dollar. The magnets were FOUR dollars each. Yikes!

Packing all the Canadiana was indeed a dilemma. My theory is: the more I pack to give away, the more room I have to return with trinkets. My pack is over half full of giveaways. I did have to leave a box of maple cookies and some frivolous items of clothing in order to meet the weight limit. :(

As I stood at the Westjet counter, a chill went down my spin. I did NOT want to have to wear seven layers of clothing on the airplane again! (My last Russian airport fiasco). Fortunately, my bag came in well under at 43 pounds.

Cross your fingers that my bag makes it all the way to Sochi. A fellow volunteer has had his bag delayed twice. I can't imagine not having my worldly goods with me. Losing my beautiful galoshes would be devastating!

My flight trajectory is: Edmonton-Calgary (3 hour layover); Calgary-Amsterdam (12 hour layover); Amsterdam-Moscow (3 hour layover); Moscow-Sochi. I was thrilled to find out a fellow volunteer will be greeting me at the airport and taking me to the hotel. I think she'll get one of the nicer Canadian trinkets :)

So long Canada. See you in the spring!

Goodbye Canadian winter.

Nearly two years since my last trip to Russia, I'm heading back to the motherland.

Hi, I'm Janelle. I'll be volunteering at the Olympic and Paralympic winter games in Sochi, Russia.

Between shifts I'm sure to happen upon adventures worth sharing, so I will use this blog to keep everyone at home up-to-date! My journey starts January 31 from Edmonton, Alberta. After a few long layovers, I'll start gearing up to spend almost two months in Russia!

I plan on trying all the strange food I can, stumbling my way through the Russian language and exploring the sites and sounds while I'm not volunteering. Another item to check off my to-do list is meeting my tutor Vladimir, whom I'm been chatting with online for almost three years. We have never met face-to-face. It should be an interesting experience all around!