The Olympics are over, everything is getting torn down at the international broadcast center, and Vancouver is quickly reverting back to its non-Olympic form. We have just one more day left, and then it’s flight time back to Atlanta.

I wanted to just take a moment to say some (quick) final thoughts. This has been an exhilarating experience, and I truly hope you all have enjoyed reading about it and seeing it from afar as much as I enjoyed experiencing it in person. The goal with any story like this is to try to take the energy, excitement, and atmosphere of the event and bring it to your television set or computer. It’s a tough task, especially with an event as broad in its scope as this one. I hope you all enjoyed the stories and moments, and I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to bring them to you.

In a few days, I’ll be back at work at WXIA, and you can continue to follow my work through my Twitter account: MattPearlWXIA11. In the meantime, thanks so much for following along with our Olympic coverage — it was our pleasure to provide it!

And I have fallen off.

Maybe it’s because, every time I eat Chinese food, it’s either at the end of a 13-hour workday or in the middle of a 13-hour workday — ergo, not much time or energy to be writing blogs about cuisine. But there’s a brief window now, as I’m waiting to receive the feed of my 1-on-1 interview with USA Women’s Hockey silver medalist Angela Ruggiero. So here’s a quick rundown of where I’ve eaten so far:

Fisherman’s Terrace: I profiled them in the first blog. Since then I’ve been back for dim sum, or a special lunch-type meal filled with delicious, unique, smaller dishes. The food’s so good I’m planning on renting an apartment in their kitchen. NINE out of ten forks

Red Star: This restaurant’s key advantage is that it’s connected to our hotel, so it’s a short in door walk away. I had a beef dinner that was quite hearty, too hearty in fact considering how late in the day I was eating it (10 pm). Definitely a strong showing, but not Fisherman’s Terrace level. SEVEN forks

Sea Harbour: The only real dud of the trip. They were sold out of half the dishes by the time I got there (this time only 8:30 pm), and I wound up ordering a chicken dish that was far plainer than I had anticipated. Perfectly fine, but not at the level I had heretofore witnessed. FIVE forks

Hot Pot One: So, I have a little story about this one.

I ate dim sum Hot Pot One Sunday morning, before departing to meet the family of Elana Meyers at the airport. Between the airport meeting and live shots later that day, I had a lot on my mind. And as a result, I committed a bit of a boo-boo.

I left my credit card there.

Luckily, the restaurant is close by the hotel (noticing a theme there?), so I was able to hop back the following night. And sure enough, they not only hung onto the card but called up the Credit Card Center and reported it had gone lost. I was so touched I stayed for dinner, where I experienced the curiosity known as the Hot Pot.

Hot Pot?

Naturally, my first image took me back to those things they don’t let you have in college dorm rooms. But this was a little something different.

A Hot Pot set-up involves a giant wok-sized (but not a wok) contraption filled with a boiling broth of your choice. You order the broth and whatever meats and vegetables you like, and then they bring out the Hot Pot and your ordered ingredients … raw.

Now I was cool with the raw vegetables. But the raw beef slices I ordered? A little odd — or, at least, that’s how it looked.

But then I learned how the whole dinner works. You cook the slices in the Hot Pot broth one at a time, so every slice is piping hot when you eat it. It also bears the taste of whatever broth you chose, which creates a truly unique eating experience and a delicious meal!

(Could this ever catch on in the States? I doubt it — we’re generally not really fans of paying to cook our own food. We’re more of the “I’ll-pay-you-and-you-make-the-dinner” variety.)

And the servers were so friendly to me — they walked me through the process and even gave me free red bean soup for dessert — and yes, I know that sounds like an odd dessert choice, but it was actually quite sweet and quite good.

Of course, at meal’s end, I called up my credit card company to find the card has officially been deactivated. So there’s that. At the end of the day, I’m walking around Vancouver without a working credit card … but of course, if I hadn’t left it at Hot Pot One, I don’t know that I would have gone back for dinner.

So, in the end, I’m pretty happy with the deal. EIGHT forks

Don’t get me wrong — it was still cool seeing all the Today Show anchors up-close, and it was still wondrous checking out their phenomenal Vancouver set atop Grouse Mountain. But I was there for one purpose, and it had nothing to do with Matt, Meredith, Al, Ann, or Natalie.

It was all about Elana Meyers.

Georgia’s lone born-and-raised Olympian was just nine hours removed from winning a bronze medal with the USA-2 women’s bobsled team. She was also running on no sleep — not unlike myself, incidentally, after again incurring the mockery of the hotel staff for requesting a 2:30 AM wake-up call. (Quick side note: it’s never a good sign when someone who logs hundreds of wake-up calls a day tells you he “noticed that one” when he saw what time you requested.)

But Meyers certainly wasn’t complaining; amidst the non-stop adrenaline rush, she was living her dreams — and the Today Show was part of that. “Oh, that was amazing,” Meyers told me a half-hour later. “It’s funny because me and Erin [Pac, her bobsled pilot] watched the Today Show every day in Park City while we were training, like, ‘Look at those people — those Olympians! That could be us!’”

Thursday, that *was* them. So was driving two hours south to Vancouver, doing boatloads of interviews, and then driving two hours back to Whistler to stand on the podium and officially receive their bronze medals.

In the broadcast center, Ted Hall and I kept marveling at how the one Olympian representing our state — considered a longshot to even finish in the Top 10 — found her way to a medal and the podium. For me, it was an even wilder feeling because I had covered Elana’s run to the Games since October, when it wasn’t even assumed she’d be here. I first interviewed her in Lake Placid back in October; I got to observe her during practice, and she didn’t exactly scream Olympic-ness. She mostly hung in the background, listened to music in her headphones, and just kind of chilled. She didn’t seem overly intense or focused; then again, that’s not really her style. And, as she would tell me later, one of her best strengths was her ability to not take everything too seriously — to stay loose and relaxed even in the tensest of situations.

The next time I saw her, she again seemed like an Olympic afterthought — even at the Olympics. I interviewed her at the Medals Plaza in Whistler Village. We were surrounded by hundreds of people; she was wearing her Team USA gear … and no one recognized or came up to her. She was virtually anonymous, despite standing one quick gondola ride from where she’d eventually compete and win a medal.

But if those externalities told the story of an afterthought, Elana was about to tell her own story. Teaming with Erin Pac for the USA-2 squad, they stood in second place through the first day of competition and then held strong to finish in third at the end. They were the top American finishers on a stacked squad, and they were the top non-Canadian finishers — and keep in mind, the Canadian sledders had extended access to the Whistler track while everyone else received limited runs.

Quite simply, this was a phenomenal achievement.

Getting to know Elana and her family over these past few months, I have been so impressed at how tight-knit and supportive everyone is — not just of Elana, but of everyone in the family. Needless to say, it’s celebration time for Team Meyers — and it’s absolutely well-earned.

And maybe somewhere in there, she’ll be able to get some sleep.

I’m not homesick, and I’m certainly not tired of Vancouver. There’s just something big going on Monday and Tuesday that I wish I could see with my own eyes.

Back in December I received a wonderful opportunity to follow a young local woman named Courtney as she flew to Los Angeles to meet an older man named Scott — a man whose lived she had saved a year earlier.

Scott was battling leukemia, had undergone chemotherapy, and had been placed on the bone marrow registry. Out of the 13 million people on the registry, Courtney was the only perfect match.

She donated, and she saved Scott’s life. On the weekend I followed them in December, Courtney and Scott got to meet each other for the first time.

Tonight on 11Alive News at 11:00, you’ll be able to see their story.

I learned so much from talking with and watching these two, but I think more than anything I came away with a renewed belief in what we as individuals can accomplish. I mean, Courtney’s bone marrow donation was a relatively simple process — much easier than the invasive surgeries of the past — and in taking part, she may have added years to Scott’s life. It’s inspiring because it’s so easy, and you can’t tell me one person can’t make a legitimate difference when you see the effects of what she did.

Courtney, meanwhile, continues to make a difference. Since her own donation, she has become extremely active in expanding the bone marrow registry list; she has organized several bone marrow drives, one of which will take place this Tuesday at Discover Mills Mall. I encourage you to attend and, more importantly, sign up; I have done it, and I only hope that one day I can be someone’s else perfect match and give the same gift that Courtney gave to Scott.

And in the meantime, I hope you get as much out of watching their story as I got from doing it.

When I actually take a moment and count the hours up in my own head, I internally gasp.

Sometimes it’s best just not to think about that stuff.

I don’t think a day has gone by yet where I have worked less than 10 hours; on average, they run about 12-13. Meals generally consist of scarfing down food at your workspace, hoping not to spill it on your tapes or computer, and in my case I spend several hours a day lugging around a 20-pound camera, a nearly-as-heavy tripod, and a definitely-as-heavy equipment bag.

Oh, and for three weeks, I won’t have a single day off.

And yet, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having an absolute blast.

This is one of those assignments where you know exactly what you are signing up for when you accept it. You know the days are going to be long, the free time is going to be short, and the days off are going to be none. But you also know you are going to have an amazing, unique experience and receive access most would crave. On Saturday I sat in the cockpit of a float plane — a plane that docks like a boat and takes off from the water — and got straight-ahead views of a perfect Vancouver sunset. On Friday I kayaked in Deep Cove, the world’s southernmost glacial fjord, where the trees are both plentiful and phenomenal. Since I have been here I have touched a gold medal, interviewed both celebrities and tremendous figures, and seen some of the most gorgeous views imaginable. I did it all for free.

And on top of that, I get to produce stories that bring the Olympics to people that aren’t there. If folks in Atlanta are able to get something out of my stories — get a feel for the electricity in Vancouver right now and the beauty that surrounds this city — then I feel I have fulfilled the privilege of this assignment.

I guess it’s not totally free — see the physical prices listed above — but it sure feels like a vacation even as I’m working.

On some nights the exhaustion sets in. And when it does I simply turn around as I’m heading out the International Broadcast Center, look behind, and see the Olympic Cauldron lit up on the platform over my shoulder.

And then somehow my energy just comes back.

It was a simple one.  Something I often think of when watching these athletes in the Winter Olympics here in Vancouver.

I think of it because I know how hard my kids work to reach a certain level of success.

My 17 year old daughter is in Dalls, Texas right now for a national championship in competitive cheerleading. Her team won it last year, if they do well this year they’ll be on ESPN again and get an invitation to compete in the World Championship in April. For her to reach that level takes serious dedication.

I’m proud when she reminds me that she can’t go to a movie with me because she has to practice. We ask her after each season if she wants to quit, she could get a job, have more time with her friends if she would just give it up. Each year the answer is “no”. It’s worth it to her.

As I sat with Evan, the thought hit me that he must have been asked that question his whole life. “Do you want to quit so you can have a life”?

Me: “What have you given up to win that gold medal”?

Evan: after a brief pause and a catch in his throat—”Everything”.

Let’s get caught up on some of the events over the last 2 days or so.

I told Shawn White he owed me 1200 dollars for customer loyalty fees. He said “You’re the one”.

I paid 105 dollars for a cab ride to Horseshoe Bay for a ride on the BC Ferry System.

Spent the day with a son of an Indian chief who carves totem poles. He asked me not to shake his hand, his art causes them so much pain.

Like many people here I’m a one man band, I shoot and edit my own video then do live shots back for 11 Alive. Some days I set up the live shots myself. The hardest part of the solo gig is finding time to edit the stuff that’s been shot.

People ask-  are you having fun? Yes it’s great. Are you tired? Yes but that’s fine. Get to go to any events?..Hockey games?..No not yet but I hope so eventually.

Trying now to set up an interview with Evan Lysacek right now.

Wish you were here!!

That was the view over and over and over again as I drove to — and then checked out — Whistler Mountain. It’s where the major skiing events are being held during the Olympics, and it’s a beautiful mix of green and white — snow-capped mountains and trees smothering the area.

Take a look:

We’re calling it “The Bingo Card”, and basically it’s a contest to see who can spot the most NBC personalities while we’re here in Vancouver. We all work in the same building; we all eat in the same commissary. And so, the game is on — who can fill out their Bingo card the fastest?

And just between us, I’m cleaning Ted’s clock.

It’s not even fair — mainly because I spent the early morning of Day 2 here behind the scenes at the Today Show. Since I’ve been here, I’ve spotted Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker, Ann Curry, Lester Holt, Natalie Morales, Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Dick Ebersol, Tom Brokaw, Maria Menounos, Scott Hamilton, Jimmy Roberts, Cris Collinsworth, Kristi Yamaguchi, Kenny Albert, Leanne Gregg … and there’s more, but that’s all I can think of at the moment.

All Ted’s spotted is the guy from Chuck.

That’s not true — Ted’s seen quite a few as well, but usually a day or two after the rest of us.

Sample conversation:

Ted: “I just rode down the escalator with Brian Williams.”

Matt: “Sorry, bud … I saw him eating lunch yesterday.”

Ted: (clenching fists) “I can’t win!”

All kidding aside, it’s funny because I really don’t get starstruck much — and I’m not really starstruck in this case either. I mean, Ted and I are in the same profession with these folks, and we have both interviewed enough big names in our careers that it doesn’t overly shock us anymore. But it’s still pretty interesting to see how different some folks look in real life.

And, let’s be honest, the whole thing’s kinda fun, too …

Then in line for lunch here at the IBC (International Broadcast Center)  a Turbo Tax commercial was on tv.  The star, Kristi Yamaguchi.

At that very moment she was standing right next to me and NBC’s Jay Grey waiting for stir fry.

Have a few live shots to do for 11 Alive this evening, then the first of what will be several interviews with some of the big wigs at USA Today. You’ll be able see those on the Olympic Zone show, weeknights at 7:30 on 11 Alive.

Alright, that’s my minute, back to work.