Reposting this 2010 post 20 years after the Sydney Olympics.
Apologies that some links within the post are dead.
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Monday, September 13, 2010
Ten years ago - 13 September 2000
I have just been reminded on a current affairs program that ten years ago was a special time in Sydney. In September 2000 our city hosted the Olympics. It was a magical time in our beautiful city, there were crowds everywhere but the atmosphere was one of bonhomie.
At that time I was a teacher at MLC School in Burwood and had volunteered months before to chaperone a group of our students who would be performing in the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. Together with the students I gave up a number of weekends and evenings to attend rehearsals at venues around Sydney including an abandoned airfield at Schofields.
I had in 1999 entered the lottery to buy tickets for the sporting events. After the ballot we found ourselves several thousand dollars poorer but armed with tickets to athletics, hockey, water polo, wrestling, kayaking, table tennis, tennis amd more. The tickets were shared amongst members of the family ; we had what would today be called a staycation. Our youngest daughter had been lucky enough to get, through university, a paid position with SOBO at the Tennis Centre.
On this day 13th September 2000 I have written in my diary "to MLC to collect Opening Ceremony tickets". As a volunteer I was given two tickets to the Dress Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. Following that I attended a local Torch Relay Function "to Torch relay celebration at Pennant Hills. It's hot and dusty and we can't see a thing from the VIP area!!"
I had also managed to procure a couple of extra Dress Rehearsal tickets so with Mr Geniaus and a couple of our offspring we set off by train to the Opening Ceremony Dress Rehearsal at Stadium Australia.
I recorded my impressions of the Olympics in a series of posts on a listserv to which I belonged. In the coming days, as Australia remembers, I will repost these on my Geniaus blog.
At that time I was a teacher at MLC School in Burwood and had volunteered months before to chaperone a group of our students who would be performing in the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. Together with the students I gave up a number of weekends and evenings to attend rehearsals at venues around Sydney including an abandoned airfield at Schofields.
I had in 1999 entered the lottery to buy tickets for the sporting events. After the ballot we found ourselves several thousand dollars poorer but armed with tickets to athletics, hockey, water polo, wrestling, kayaking, table tennis, tennis amd more. The tickets were shared amongst members of the family ; we had what would today be called a staycation. Our youngest daughter had been lucky enough to get, through university, a paid position with SOBO at the Tennis Centre.
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| Mr Geniaus, Mate and Hornsby Mayor at Pennant Hills Torch Relay Function |
I had also managed to procure a couple of extra Dress Rehearsal tickets so with Mr Geniaus and a couple of our offspring we set off by train to the Opening Ceremony Dress Rehearsal at Stadium Australia.
I recorded my impressions of the Olympics in a series of posts on a listserv to which I belonged. In the coming days, as Australia remembers, I will repost these on my Geniaus blog.
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