VANCOUVER -- The way Vancouverites embraced the 2010 Olympics surprised and impressed the International Olympic Committee. It certainly caught visiting countries off guard.
Nations from 82 countries brought their athletes and culture to the Games, and most set up temporary Olympic houses in Vancouver. The venues showcased their country’s music, food and drink.
German House was one of the most popular. It was just a big tent that covered a downtown parking lot, but it soon became one of the places to be for two-and-a-half weeks in 2010.
The food was a hit. The long tables with equally lengthy benches allowed guests to mingle and raise glasses across the room.
But managers of the unassuming venue soon realised they were in trouble. Within three days, they were running out of beer, and fast.
Canadians were celebrating the Games so much, German House had to fly in 300 emergency kegs.
They figured by the time the Vancouver Olympics wrapped up, Canadians would have consumed more beer than in Torino and Salt Lake City combined.
But managers were wrong. We broke the record within a week. Then came another call home: "send even more beer."
"In the evening, we have problems with the young Canadians to dance on the tables," the house manager told CTV News back in February 2010.
The joyous, party-like atmosphere was a theme throughout the Games, on the streets and in dozens of Olympic houses.
The IOC called the atmosphere "extraordinary."
