KEEP CALM and CARRY ON

The British wartime poster is what greeted me when I first set foot inside the Vancouver Olympic Village. Of course, it is no longer about air-raids anymore. The occasion is that as assistants to foreign officials we will have to put up with people who do things differently. So the golden advice is supposed to keep us from raging and embarrassing ourselves (and possibly by extension, Canada) in front of Very Important People. Well, it is more than that. It is also supposed to ineffectively ward off the anxiety – Oh My God I already forgot the layout of the... What's it called again? – and the excitement – I wonder what those athletes look like, I guess I can't pet them, but at least standing close is okay? Right? Right?

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