I sought out to see what was going on with my neighbor as a vicarious escape from the woes of the United States. I heard through the grapevine that they were hosting the Olympics.

I’m generally an Olympics enthusiast, but rarely tune in until the end of the countdown. When I found out that Vancouver was hosting the 2010 Olympics, I was envious.

Enviously, I started paying attention to my northern neighbor.

It would be magnificent if Seattle hosted the games during my lifetime, or if we still had the Sonics instead of Clay Bennett swiftly stealing the now-defunct team in the heat of the night.

While my grudge is of the sulky and immature kind, some constituents in Canada have a genuine axe to grind — they are advocating for social justice issues affected by the games.

While I am tempted to hurl a Starbucks Vanilla Latte on the Olympic torch, some activists in Vancouver threaten to raise anarchy. There have been numerous cardboard signs with the words “2010 Riot” written on them and left in public spaces. Protestors chant “No Olympics on stolen native land” and “F*** 2010”.

Key concerns are that the environment is being destroyed to build venues, a lot of the costs are at the expense of taxpayers, funds are being diverted from social services such as poverty and homelessness, and that cost of the Olympics will leave Vancouver with a debt that will take decades to recover.

There have been several demonstrations against the games, with protestors and supporters clashing with each other. Protestors have blocked children from getting autographs from Olympic athletes.

Harriet Nahanee, a respected First Nations elder, was protesting the expansion of highways because they were destroying wetlands that serve as crucial sources of herbal medicine. She contracted pneumonia while spending time in jail for her activism, and died shortly thereafter. Her story has become a rallying point for activists ready to converge on “2010” once it nears.

However, not everyone is against the Olympics. Some are mad that these protests are destructive, bordering on terrorism and generally embarrassing Canada.

I recently looked at panoramic pictures of Vancouver at night and I nearly turned green with envy. While Vancouver probably copied Seattle with an overt replica of the Space Needle, I sobered up and took sadistic satisfaction in the fact that my neighbors are sometimes just like us: a dysfunctional family.

Reach columnist Julian Estrada at opinion@dailyuw.com.