500 Days Until Summer

I let the 500-day mark until London 2012 pass by without a blog entry. Shame on me!

I’m REALLY excited for London. I can’t remember ever being this excited about an Olympics this far in advance, and I’m not really sure why I am now. The summer Olympics aren’t my favorite – I mean, I watch them 24/7, don’t get me wrong, but winter is my thing. But I think it’s a perfect storm of circumstances this time around; during Beijing 2008 I was in Italy the entire time, so all I saw were the opening and closing ceremonies, which means I haven’t watched a summer Olympics since Athens in 2004; I have a vested interest in Coach Deem, so I’m itching for track and field to start already; and there’s the possibility (which is mostly just hope at this point) that I could be working there.

I think London will be the first Games I’ve followed since before the host city was even chosen. That was way back in 2004; luckily that was a rather eventful year for me, and I have a surprising number of memories from then. My (Olympics-themed) Bat Mitzvah was on Feb. 7th, 2004. On my birthday (Feb. 21st) that year, a rally was held at Rockefeller Center to support NYC’s bid as a candidate city for the 2012 summer Olympics. It was a gray, dreary, snowy day, but my mom took me! The crowd was massive and I don’t remember a thing about who spoke, who skated, or what actually happened. But they gave out NYC2012 Candidate City flags, which we still have at home. :)



Obviously, NYC lost the bid that fall. But MAN, how awesome would it have been if it won?! (Of course, if I get the chance to work in London next summer, it’ll be better that NYC didn’t win. I want to go places!)

That summer, my grandparents took Molly and me to London. We used to go on a trip every summer, to places a few hours away by car. But this was our big present for our Bat Mitzvahs! It was my first time out of the country (other than Canada), and I was excited beyond excited. The host city for 2012 was chosen sometime in the fall, so when we were there in August, campaigning was in full swing. I clearly remember being in the restaurant on the top floor of a museum for tea time, looking out the window, and seeing a London 2012 sign on a nearby building. And, according to my grandpa's photographic evidence, they were just about everywhere else, too.





Won’t it be amazing if I actually get to go? Talk about coming full circle!

Honestly, I’m planning on getting myself there one way or another. Absolute best case scenario would be if I had the letters “USA” on my back and media credentials hanging around my neck… holy goosebumps just thinking about it, Batman! Second best case scenario? I’m studying abroad somewhere next spring, and a part of me wants to stay in a cheap studio apartment in London for the summer, work, eat nothing but Ramen for a few months, and go to the Opening Ceremony. That’s all I need. My goal is to go to an opening ceremony sometime before I die, and it’s GOING to happen. I have some friends who claim to be with me on this plan, so if four or so of us share an apartment, rent won’t be too bad. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Slight side note: while walking through JFK airport today, I saw a row of clocks on the wall that were set to the times in different cities around the world. The first two next to New York were London and Rio de Janeiro. Me being me, my first thought is “ooooohhh, the next two summer Olympics!” I then proceeded to look at the other cities… Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Sydney. Host, host, and host. Sad face for New York! Way to be the black sheep!

Otherwise, nothing too major to report. I potentially have stuff coming up, but nothing’s for sure yet, and I don’t want to jinx anything, so I’m biting my tongue for the time being. But until then…

495 days and counting!