At the age of 10, senior Lera Medvedeva joined her family in celebrating the fact that Sochi would be hosting
the 2014 Winter Olympics. They had been waiting and anticipating for a while and the very essence of hosting the Olympics was very emotional for all involved. Which explains the excitement when the Olympics started Feb. 11.
“The Olympics united the whole country and families, we all cheer for our country it’s a big holiday for us the atmosphere is great during these day,” Lera Said.
Lera is from Sochi and will return to her country this summer. The foreign exchange made her realize how similar, yet different Sochi is from the US. According to Lera it isn’t a matter of good difference or bad difference, it’s just different. The thing she noticed most different was our sports.
“In Russia we play soccer and that means the same to us as football means to Americans but I think in Russia people actually have more fun with sports even at school it plays a pretty big role,” Lera Said. “I even said ‘I can’t believe you guys don’t have any Friday games, that’s what get me through the week.’”
Along with soccer, hockey is another huge sport for Russia, it’s also the most.
“Hockey and Figure Skating are my two favorite sports, Russians are really good at figure skating but we care more about hockey, if we win hockey, we’re good at everything, if nothing else it’s all about hockey,” Lera Said.
Although there are celebrations and lots of happiness, according to Lera the downside to the Olympics is how the news says false things about her country.
“I know 85% of the facts from the news is fake about Sochi and the Olympics, my aunt who is the director of equipment set up for the Olympics emails me a lot and I always ask her stuff from the news and she says it’s mostly false,” Lera Said.
With the opening ceremony and her country being the host, she couldn’t be more happy to represent her home.
“I was really proud to watch the Olympics on tv, my city and also watching videos before the pre opening almost made me cry, I’ve always loved Russia but it made me love it even more,” Lera said.
