WNCC assistant softball coach takes in Winter Olympics in her home country.

WNCC student assistant softball coach Natasha Dypchey was in awe over the the Winter Olympics which are currently being held in her home Providence of British Columbia.

Dypchey, from Surray, British Columbia, went home last weekend to absorb some of the pageantry of the event.

“This was my first Olympic experience.” Dypchey said. “In Canada the Olympics are a big thing. There is one channel that is dedicated to the Olympics and only runs Olympic coverage all day. It was a memorable experience and I want to go and see as many as I can.”

Dypchey was there for the weekend and didn’t watch any of the events. What she did experience was the atmosphere of the games.

“My best memory was taking in all of the events and seeing all of the people and being in the atmosphere for the Olympic games,” she said.

Dypchey, who lives an hour from Vancouver, said the closest event to her house is just 30 minutes away and that is the long track speed skating competition. Just being in Vancouver during the event was history in itself.

“The Olympics were amazing,” she said. “There were so many people everywhere and everyone was in great spirits and willing to just have a conversation with anyone.”

Dypchey said that they went to all the country pavilions, including having their picture taken with Russian sailors.

“We went to all of the pavilions for each country,” she said. “Some of the major countries host places that show you a bit of their own culture and they have food and give out free scarfs and pins, so that was pretty cool. Each province of Canada also has their own pavilion, too.”

The other thing that stood out for Dypchey was seeing the Olympic flame.

“Seeing the outdoor Olympic torch was the coolest thing that I saw,” she said. “Also the Russian pavilion was pretty cool because they are hosting the next winter Olympics. They had a lot of exhibits to show what their country is doing to prepare for the next winter Olympics.”

The Winter Olympics opened Feb. 12 with the opening ceremonies and will run through Feb. 28 with the closing ceremonies. In the mean time, there are a lot of people from athletes to media outlets to spectators that have come to Vancouver to watch the epic event.

“There are just over 2 million people in and around the city of Vancouver.,” she said. “The media was out in full force and they were everywhere you looked, just like the police and security force.”

The Olympic games started, however, with tragedy as 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died on a training run on Friday, Feb. 12. There is a memorial wall for Kumaritashvili at the luger site and there is a lot of heavy hearts over the death.

“I never saw the actual memorial on the mountain and by the track in which he died at,” she said. “But when the news came out everyone was devastated and it was hard to think about it.”

With Vancouver holding such a worldly event, there definitely are some bad things that come out of the event. Besides all the people, tickets for a lot of the events start around $75 and higher. Also, there are people that are against the Olympics.

“The Olympics are supported by almost everyone,” she said. “There were a few protesters that were from the east coast of Canada that are against the games, but other than that everyone has been very very supportive and are in high spirits. It is one big party down there that everyone is celebrating.”

Dypchey actually was glad to have the opportunity to witness the Olympic experience even though it was just for one weekend — she had to return to WNCC on Monday since the Cougar softball team, which she is a student assistant coach, opened the season this week.