Sochi Volunteers
Just arrived in my inbox:
Dear Sochi 2014 Volunteer Candidate!
This is to inform you that previous letters in Russian with an invitation to the distance learning portal were caused by a technical error; please ignore them. We will inform you about any further changes separately.
Please take our apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for understanding.Kind regards,
EXECT BUSINESS TRAINING Team
Venue change - never going to happen
IOC doing something - never going to happen
Bejing wouldn’t have had the games if IOC was concerned about human rights. Same with Sochi; the law may be new, but persecution existed in 2007 when they awarded Russia the games.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/28/russia.gayrights
Venue change - never going to happen
IOC doing something - never going to happen
Sad but true.
This is the total truth!!
Well Rob and I had an interesting 10 days at the Sledge Hockey Test Event.
We met up in Moscow and traveled together to Sochi.Rob arrived without his luggage. We later figured out that that his luggage was searched (?FSB) We were met by the Manager of International Volunteers who had arranged a bus to the accommodation.
The place we stayed was a Sanatarium called Znanye, right on the beach (very pebbly). The rooms were basic, I shared with my adult daughter in a room with a single bed and a chair. I thought there was some mistake until the maid came in with extra blankets and towels. Surprise!!! the chair fold our to a platform as hard as a rock. Tash lasted one night on the chair then we resigned ourselves to sleeping in the single bed together. We did have a beautiful view from our room. We were staying with approx. 100 other volunteers plus regular holidayers. Did I mention that you could get a gyne exam while you waited for the elevator.
Rob had a bit of a more “Special ” experience . He got his first room similar to ours and thought great! An hour later when he went back to his room he discovered he had 3 new roommates. Interesting sleeping arrangements!
After 3 more rooms and loosing a roommate they settled into a one bedroom with a king bed , a sofa bed and a roll away. The unfortunate part of this story is although the boys (22 and 19) were nice they turned out to be party animals. Drinking and debauchery till 4-5-6-7 in the morning, also Russians don’t like to sleep with the A/C on….........Rob was a puddle most days.
Our training was Event Services in “Shayba” arena in Russian. We had to find other volunteers that spoke English to translate.
Try to get some Russian language under your belt before Feb.
Our day began with a Choreographed dance number and ended with a touchy feelly session before heading back to the Sanatarium for dinner.
Let me describe the food situation. BR 0730-0800 lunch: 1300-1330 dinner : early: 1930-2000 late: 2230-2300
Breakfast consisted of Kasha (porridge both watery and lumpy) weiners, baked egg omelet, mystery meat, potatoes, Blini stuffed with more mystery meat, pickles, salads, seaweed and grated carrots. There was bread but no butter or toaster on the volunteer side.
Lunch and dinner :Boiled liver, potatoes, dry pasta, liver cutlets, liver in cream sauce, gizzards in veg and occasionally fish.
Salads, seaweed, and pickles were a staple. Dessert was cake and jelly cubes.
Rob got mild food poisoning the second day and although he was managing fine , the venue manager insisted a ride to the hospital with sirens was in order. Yes he had FP and should not eat may of the food being served. The day after the hospital visit, he was pulled out of the chow line and given a Russian version of Hard Tack to eat. EYES WERE ON HIM at all times.
We even made an unexpected friend who was told to be our guide when we left for any excursions. We dubbed him the “SPY” because our conversations and activities were always the topic of conversation the next day.
Our day off dining was McDonalds, Cinnabonn and Subway.
We totally blame all of this on Rob the “ugly American”.
The events had it’s good and not so good jobs. For the most part the Team Leaders were pretty flexible and you could request some time to watch the hockey games if you were on outside duty. The least exciting job was guarding the laundry door as an access control point. No internet to surf on and no tv screen to watch the game. You were doomed to the hot basement.
The weather for the event was in the high 80’s-90’s F (28-32C) and very humid. We lost A/C 3 days and have been struggling with sleep.
All of this sounds pretty unappealing but let me tell you, these volunteers and staff really cared and were very appreciative of having us here. They almost had Rob in tears with the “Thank You’s” and “Please can we keep in Touch”. We were placed in EVS even though our Functions are in other departments. The manager of the EVS group asked us to consider changing our function and joining the EVS group.
Amazing People….... This event will be the perfect PR campaign for Russia to boost it’s image with the outside world. The International Volunteers would spread the word that this can be a fabulous Games with us along side the Russian Volunteers.
Rumour has it that EVS and Sport Sochi Da letters are a bit delayed and will be out next week as contracts and acceptance has to be back by Sept 15. Schedules may take longer till Oct. or Nov. They don’t make this easy.
You can see some of the photos on instagram : volhockey
If any of you are accepted and what to know specifics please ask.
Cheers!
Lois
Thanks Lois for the update. I can’t say it sounded too appealing, but I guess that’s what the test events are for.
But I’m sure it was still pretty cool to have been there.
After some serious Google searching, I found this document that might help you all decode your “Volunteer Code”
Identifier Description
ACM Accommodation
ACR Accreditation
ADM Administ. operations, Sochi
ADP Arrival and Departures
ATD Antidoping
CER Ceremonies
ESO Event Services (Olympic)
ESP Event Services (Paralympic)
FAB Food and Beverage Services
IOP IOC/IPC relations
LAN Language Services
MED Medical
NNS NOC/NPC Services
PRO Protocol
PRS Press operations
SPT Sport
TEC Technology
TRA Transport
VIL Village Management
Ozzy, TJ, I think you dodged a bullet 
Liver liver liver. erk 
Ozzy, TJ, I think you dodged a bullet
Haha definitely stoked I’m going to Canada now!
Though it would have been an experience to go to Russia…
Hey folks, for what its worth, I received a reply to the inquiry I made asking what the f**% is going on with international applicants.
All successful candidates will be notified by the end of October. We have had an overwhelming amount of highly qualified applicants. If you are not chosen, we wish you every success on your future volunteer adventures.
Sochi Vol. Office
It started with we’ll know by May, then July, then September, now end of October. We’ll see if its another deadline that passes, but for me, I’m out if I don’t hear by then.
Thanks for the update…. But I have been out for ages now…
The flights became way too expensive….
Well, its November, and no real surprise, I haven’t heard anything. Thanks to everyone on this thread over the past year, its been fun. Good luck to Rob and anyone else who did get picked; I hope you have a great experience.
There is always Pyeongchang in 2018!
Maybe see it as a good thing…did you see the uniforms ? 
