You might assume all Vancouverites will be cheering for the Canadian team during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, but given Vancouver’s multicultural makeup, other countries will have their fair share of local and vocal supporters.

Germany

• By the numbers: In the 2006 Canadian census, 203,720 residents of Metro Vancouver indicated German as their ethnic origin.
• In the city: German influences can be found everywhere, from the fine bratwurst and Wiener schnitzel available in Lonsdale Quay and the Granville Island Public Market to the German sandals for sale on Robson Street. Bavarian-born pastry chef Thomas Haas creates to-die-for sweet delicacies while Hamburg native Manfred Scholermann of Rockwood Adventures takes nature-loving visitors on rainforest walks, then feeds them a gourmet lunch (Scholermann is a former member of the Canadian Culinary Olympic team). For a full-on dose of German-Canadian good cheer, visitors may want to check out the Vancouver Alpen Club, a social club established in 1935 and dedicated to fostering German culture, customs and language – plus hosting a beerfest or two.
• During the 2010 Winter Games: Rockwood Adventures’ Manfred Scholermann expects German fans to be “very supportive and very knowledgeable.” As for which team Scholermann (born in Germany, now a Canadian citizen) will support during the 2010 Winter Games? “I can really cheer for either country. This is the advantage of being a first generation immigrant. I can choose to cheer for Canadian hockey and I won’t be upset if a German wins the downhill.”

 

The Netherlands

• By the numbers: In the 2006 census, 71,715 Vancouverites indicated Dutch as their ethnic origin.
• In the city: There are plenty of Dutch treats in Vancouver, from local Dutch newspapers and a radio program, to platter-sized Dutch pannekoek at local pancake houses and shops selling wooden clogs, salty licorice and other Dutch favourites. No doubt Netherlands’s Princess Marilène and her husband, Prince Maurits van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven felt right at home when they visited Vancouver in May 2009 to attend the opening of the Vancouver Art Gallery exhibit “Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art.” Proof that the 2010 Winter Games are going Dutch: The graphic identity of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games – best seen in the various sport-specific logos of athletes performing in undulating collages of mountains and trees – were designed by Irene Jacobs of Rotterdam, Holland-based I’m JAC Design.
• During the 2010 Winter Games: The Dutch fans will be “fun, boisterous and very, very orange” according to Miriam Edwards, a native of the Netherlands and the Chef Concierge at the Pan Pacific Hotel. She expects most Dutch fans to be in Vancouver in 2010 to cheer on the Dutch speed skating team at the Richmond Olympic Oval. As for Edwards’ allegiance? “Even though I have been a Canadian since 1979, I will be dressed in Orange. I will cheer on the Dutch Team.”

 

 

Australia

• By the numbers: A small (but no doubt vocal) 5,530 Vancouverites checked “Australian” as their ethnic origin in the 2006 census.
• In the city: Connecting with Australian culture in Vancouver can be as easy as chatting with the young Australians who work as ski lift operators on our local mountains each winter (they’re the ones who greet you with “G’Day”) or hoisting a Coopers Lager or Pale at Moose’s Down Under (owned by an expat from Western Australia). Or you may like to check out The ANZA Club, a social club with a Down Under flavour established in 1935 by a group of Australian and New Zealand businessmen living in Vancouver. Just how much Down Under flavour? The vending machine in the club’s Tiki Lounge is sometimes stocked with jars of Vegemite.
• During the 2010 Winter Games: “I’ll be cheering for the Aussies,” says Nigel Tearle, an Aquabus driver born in Toronto but who grew up in Melbourne, Australia. “I figure there are enough Canadians here to cheer for the home team.” As for what we should expect from the Australians, Tearle suggests: “All Aussie fans will be cheering for anyone out there doing a Bradbury.” A “Bradbury” is a reference to Steven Bradbury, an Australian speedskater who in 2002 won the country’s first-ever Olympic Winter Games gold. Bradbury was in dead last coming into the final corner of his speed skating race when all his competitors crashed allowing him, the last man standing, to win gold.