Cultural Care au pair, Lisa Boeck from Germany was lucky enough to attend the 2010 Vancouver Olympics this winter to watch her host dad, Todd Lodwick, win a silver medal as part of the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team! She wrote to us about her amazing experience below:

When I signed up for this program, I had NO IDEA what I would experience during this year and a half of being an au pair in the United States. I mean, I knew that I was going to live with an athlete who is pretty popular in the United States but I personally had never heard of him before and couldn’t picture living with a famous person.

When I found out that my host dad was going to compete in the XXI Winter Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver, I thought I was dreaming. The thought of it seemed unreal and far away but in the blink of an eye, February 2010 was there and I found myself on an airplane to Vancouver with my host mum and two kids.

When we arrived in Vancouver, we got picked up by my host mum’s parents and drove to Whistler where the Nordic events were going to take place and where we had rented a condo. Not having seen their dad in two weeks, of course the kids were dying to go see him and give him a hug. But since he was a competitor, he had to live in the “Athlete’s Village”, which was about 20 minutes from where we stayed. The security was pretty tough, so it was hard to get in. Also, the athletes had a strict training schedule and events they had to attend so we didn’t get to see my host dad very often; actually only during the competitions and one or two nights for dinner.

The day of the competition it was raining hard in the morning when we left the house. We took the car into Whistler to get on the bus, which took us to the Olympic Park. Everyone was bundled up in ski-clothes and outerwear, not to forget the umbrella! I carried my little girl in a carrier on by back while my host mum was carrying my little boy.

Everything was so exciting! I couldn’t believe that we were really on our way to an Olympic event where my host dad was competing! Fortunately we had support from my host mum’s parents and her brother and his family and two kids. During the event, I tried to keep the kids busy and entertained, so we built little snow castles and played in the snow. It was fun! After his jumps, my host dad came over to see his children. It was the cutest thing! He lifted them up, cuddled them and gave them big kisses. The kids were so happy and proud! You could feel their happiness by taking a look at their bright smiley faces!

After the jumping, we took a shuttle bus over to the cross-country course, where the second part of the Nordic Combined competition was going to take place. We used the almost two hours waiting before the race started to get a bite to eat and go sledding. The kids had so much fun and so did I! Then during the race, my little girl and I cheered her Dad on by waving USA-flags, ringing bells and yelling as loud as we could! It was really intense! I had goose bumps and felt like 10,000 ants were dancing mambo in my stomach. The kids seemed like they knew exactly what was going on. My little girl freaked out when she heard that her Daddy got a medal! She was so happy and kept yelling: “My Daddy got a medal!” It was the cutest thing! My little boy felt all the excitement around him and started clapping with a big smile on his face! It was an explosion of emotions, unbelievable and hard to describe!

I only went cross-country skiing twice, so I am not too familiar with this sport. I really enjoyed watching it though because it is so intense. Especially if it is like it was that day, on and off, leading and falling back again.

Those two weeks up there in Canada flew by like it was a dream. But when I look at the pictures in the newspaper, all the articles, the TV coverage and, of course, when I see the Silver Medal sitting on the mantel in the living room, then I realize that it was NOT just a dream! It was all for real and I was there! Lifetime memories that I definitely wouldn’t want to miss!