Dagenham, A Reprisal

TODAY WAS THE GREATEST.

And I can't even talk about the things I saw! But I WILL tell you that I was in the vicinity of four major musical talents, and today's rehearsal was only for the first half of the ceremony. So there's that little nugget of awesome.

Dagenham is a hike even from Mile End, which is a hike from where I currently am. So to get there at 9:30, I left at 7:30... but I woke up before my alarm went off today. I think that means I got an appropriate amount of sleep, but judging by the way I have to stop myself from nodding off every time I'm on the tube, I highly doubt that's correct information. But anyway, things at Dagenham have really changed since I left! There are tons of huge new props that I hadn't seen yet, and the costume department has taken over the old workforce volunteer break area -- I walked in there and was confused out of my mind. But the check-in tent is still the same ol' check-in tent, and that's where I found (and surprised) a handful of volunteers and found Sara B., the lovely organizer of this little rendezvous. Then I got to put on my vest and get down to NOT work, because that would be illegal. :P

I had such a good time! There were some great reactions to my return, from Glenda staring at me suspiciously for a few seconds before deciding it was okay to give me a hug, to Solomon's "wha- oh my god!" to Jo's stressed out glare turned shriek. :) It was really fantastic, especially because it was all happy surprise! And they were all perfectly okay with me... not working. Because working would be illegal. Hah.

I love everyone there so much, and it's really weird to think that this all ends when the Paralympics are over. Usually when you leave a job, the most of the same people are still around in a few months' time. But with London 2012, once the final closing ceremony is finished, the office gets dismantled, everyone disperses, and London 2012 Ceremonies Ltd. is no more. It won't even exist. So this amazing team won't just be changing over time, it'll suddenly blip out of reality. I can't even plan on visiting again in the future because by then the 3 Mills Studios offices will either be a barren wasteland or filled with the people of an entirely different production. It's really kind of depressing to think about.

But what's not depressing was all the stuff I got today! Laura -- the lovely, lovely, LOVELY Laura -- gave me an opening ceremony program from her stash, another ceremonies t-shirt (teal green this time!), a Games Maker pin, and my 25 volunteer sessions pin. So now I'm all swagged out, and get to stop by 3 Mills tomorrow to pick up my certificate!

That's probably all I can really say about today without spoiling the surprise and ruining a future blog post, so let's suffice it to say that I was at Dagenham for a full 12 hours, and after my half-day shifts of yore I'd nap the second I got back to my flat. So right now, sleep is far overdue.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to the men's triathlon and try to get into Olympic Park with Jo. I'm actually really optimistic. There are reasons for this that I won't talk about in fear of jinxing it, but the Olympics gods have been on my side for every single second of this trip and I see no reason for that to change tomorrow. So let's go. LET'S. GO.

(Also, the photo at the top is the actual Dagenham site. Allow me to introduce you to the circus tent, rain clouds of doom, and concrete as far as the eye can see. Isn't it glorious? :P I found it on this blog, Life Begins @ 40, written by one of the Pandemonium drummers from the opening ceremony. He wrote a fantastic three-part recap of his time working on the ceremony, including banging on buckets and "bang the drum so your mum can see you on TV." It's a great read, and I highly recommend checking it out if you want to hear about things from a performer's perspective!)

Of Public Transit and Olympics Feels

So, today. What can I say about today?

Well, I got to sleep for slightly longer than I had the night before, which was cool. But now I knew how early people start arriving at these road events, so I decided to make into central by 9 to stake out my territory for the women's marathon that started at 11. The course started at the Mall and wove through the city, and I got a suh-WEET spot on a barrier in Trafalgar Square, right across the street from Nelson's Column. It was seriously the coolest setting for a race ever. I wish I could've been at all the other landmarks simultaneously!

The crowd was really sparse when I got there which meant that I could sit down during the first hour or so of the wait. There were about seven people in a row that decided to follow my lead and sit down too, which kind of kept other people from lining up behind us for a while. But then a lady decided to encroach on my territory, so I stood up to stake out my space and she tried to elbow her way in between me. Just as I was grumbling to myself about her, it started drizzling and she went away. Woo! The rain, however, did not go away. With about half an hour before start time, it started pouring and it was on and off from there. It ended up being fine, though. I hate rain SO much, but I had my umbrella and the people around me were all talking and laughing and made it very bearable. And then the sun came out! And went away again. But then it came back! Sort of.

Then the race started, and... that was it for a while. The runners did four (I think?) loops of the course, so they came back, it just took a bit. There was a LOT of waiting around, but again, the crowd was really great and even the cycle of less than stellar people shoving in next to me didn't dampen things because they each left after a lap. Psh, amateurs.

I'd told myself that I'd only stay for the beginning and maybe a lap or two, but who was I kidding? Once I get on a barrier I do not let go, come hell or high water. So I hung around until the runners made their last pass by us, and then I walked to Leicester Square and had a late lunch in Chinatown, basically because I wanted bubble tea. My next stop from there was the CoSport will call office to see if I could pick up the tickets that had been bought on Chandini's credit card. It's up at Edgware Road, which is a complete hike and close to nothing significant. But I've been using public transit SO much and I didn't want to spend the money on a tube fare, so I decided to walk it. I went from Leicester to Piccadilly to Oxford, walked Oxford Street all the way down to Marble Arch, and then north to Edgware Road. It was kind of a lot, but I wanted to see all the flags on Regent Street anyway!

When I got there, I told the man at the door what my problem was, and he said I could pick up the tickets with 1) a letter from Chandini requesting I pick up the tickets for her, 2) a copy of her passport, and 3) the order number. I, of course, had none of those, so I decided to head to Victoria Park's London Live screen and use the wi-fi at Mile End station to let her know what I needed. At that point, I still wasn't sure if I'd be visiting Dagenham or not, so I figured I'd get everything from Chandini at some point tonight and go pick up the tickets in the morning. However, I checked my email and found out that a) I AM going to visit Dagenham tomorrow, and that b) it's an all-day thing. So I won't even get to go to the event the tickets are for, but hell if I was gonna give up getting my hands on them now that I knew I could! In the fastest get-something-important-done-via-Facebook conversation ever, I got a hold of Chandini while crouched against a wall in Mile End, got the necessary documents, and immediately swiped back into the tube to literally retrace my steps. They were really, really long steps, too.

The office closes at 7 and I started my return journey at 5:45. By the time I got there it was nearing 6:30, and I had to restrain myself from running flat out to the office. But I made it there in plenty of time, and voila! The tickets are now in my possession! My hands were literally shaking when the girl handed them to me. Maybe it was the excitement, or the relief from the intense anxiety of the previous hour, or the fact that I was getting really hungry. Maybe it was all three. But I was legitimately flipping out! I can't even go, but the fact that I have tickets to an Olympic event is beyond words. And now, of course, there's the possibility of getting into Olympic Park. I've been told to arrive at Dagenham at 9:30 am, and the rehearsal itself doesn't even start until 4 pm. Depending what time I get out of there I MIGHT try and go at night, but I'm not holding my breath. My plan right now is to try and sneak into the park with my ticket on Tuesday afternoon; if someone stops me, I'll flash my ceremonies volunteer badge and tell him/her that I missed the event because of a dress rehearsal (which isn't even a lie! YAY!) and just want to walk around the park and spend money. Hopefully this doesn't have to happen, but if it does, let's hope they take pity on me. Because legitimately all I want to do is see things, buy some international food, and watch live coverage on the screens. And probably cry a lot.

After becoming the proud owner of two tickets to synchronized swimming at London 2012, I decided I really did need food, so I came back to the flat to eat dinner. This was when I found out that the men's 100m final would be taking place tonight and I decided that I wanted to watch it at Victoria Park's London Live. Because dammit, I was determined to get there eventually! I ate super fast and ran out again because by now it was 8 pm and my travel time to Mile End is kind of ridiculous. Victoria Park is also not really close to the station, and they stuck the screens back in the middle of freaking nowhere, so after all was said and done I was there for about 20 minutes, tops. I got there just as the runners were warming up on the track, and then saw the race, the thousands of replays in varying speeds, and the medal ceremony for the women's 400m. And then I turned around and did the whole long commute over again. Sigh. Probably not the most worthwhile thing I've ever done, but watching this race with a crowd was really memorable and definitely a cool experience. There were also no wood chips at this location, so that was a plus. But I think I spent more time traveling today than I did actually doing anything; I'm pretty sure my entire trip out to Victoria Park (the second one) was free because I'd hit the daily fare limit. OH, and we get travel cards with our event tickets that are good for the entire day of the event, so tomorrow I travel for free! God, my bank account is so happy.

Hah, I won't even get to say anything about what I do tomorrow. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy my last week or so of keeping ceremony secrets! :)

In Which I See My First Olympic Events In Person!

Guess what has sore shoulders, wood chips in her clothes, and saw some Olympians today.

Oh, right. Me!

After going to bed around 2 am last night (er, morning), I dragged myself up at 6:40 so I could go see the women's triathlon in Hyde Park. Woo! I still hadn't gotten food for myself, so on the way to the bus I got fruit for breakfast (super filling... or not) and a triangle sandwich to have for lunch later. Oh, how I missed triangle sandwiches!

I got off at Green Park because it's right on the Jubilee line (which I was already on) and I didn't want to transfer just to go one stop. So by the time I took the bus and the tube and walked, it was probably after 8. The race didn't start until 9, but the Serpentine (where the swim and the run were going to take place) was already full. I decided to just pick a spot along the cycling route so I could have a front row seat. There was a decent amount of waiting time before anything happened, since not only did we have to wait for the start time, we had to wait for them to finish swimming. But it was really, really cool! They did seven loops of the course so we got some pretty good action. Everyone was so excited and cheering and waving their flags the whole time! :)

When the cycling was finished, I allowed myself to get shunted along with the crowd to try and catch a glimpse of the run. The best I could do was from really far away, but I heard them announce the finish -- did I hear correctly that it was a photo finish?? -- and made my way over to the BT London Live screen. That's where they're airing live coverage and, since I had some time to kill before the next event in the next park over, I figured I'd lounge around and watch a bit. It turned out that we weren't allowed to bring food inside (it's more like a festival than a park atmosphere), so I sat under a tree nearby and ate and people-watched until I was ready to go in.

Security at this place was like an airport -- they actually went through people's bags, not just poked them. But once you're in, it's pretty much a free-for-all. There were four screens airing Olympics coverage, plus tons of food vendors, a Cadbury House (not sure what that even is, since I didn't go in), little sporting activities, etc. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. You could just pop a squat on the ground wherever and watch what was on. The ground was covered in wood chips, though, and I was seriously missing grass. But I braved splinters and dirt to watch some athletics; the javelin for the women's heptathlon and a couple of heats for the men's 100m. I got to see Jessica Ennis do her thing, and Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay. It also rained for a few minutes while it was sunny, so I used my umbrella and sunglasses at the same time, so there's that.

After track ended, I moved to a different screen to watch trampoline gymnastics. I don't know if I've ever really watched it before, so that was kind of cool. I was super tired by then, though, so I fought really hard against dozing off while I was lying down. I think I succeeded, and stayed until the event was finished before filling up my water bottle and walking over to Constitution Hill to see the men's 20 km race walk! It's one of the more bizarre sports I've ever seen, but the commentator said these guys walk a mile in 7 minutes and I can't even RUN a mile in 7 minutes... so they have my respect! I was actually shocked by how many people there were to watch a bunch of dudes in short shorts walk, but I was happy for the racers. The crowd was actually awesome, just like it was at the triathlon; even the person in last place got huge cheers. One of the later-finishing walkers appreciated it so much that he smiled and waved. It was such a feel-good thing! Is it British? Or a byproduct of the Olympics? Or do people actually do this?

Well, whatever. I'd gotten there pretty close to the start time of 5 pm so my spot wasn't great, but I saw enough to be satisfied. One guy actually collapsed, I'm pretty sure before he got to finish the race. It was rather sad, but we cheered for him as he was being put into the ambulance. :P There are no heats for races like this, though, so on my first real Olympics day I got two see TWO event finals for free!

By the time the race was over, it was after 6 and my back and shoulders were in incredible amounts of pain, so I decided to head home and BUY FOOD! Finally. I made myself dinner, wrote a story for a deadline, watched the BBC stream of Team GB dominating athletics today, and now I'm showered and ready to pass out on the keyboard!

Tomorrow I'm going to try to pick up my and Chandini's tickets at the CoSport will call center -- wish me luck!

Hello From London!

This is ridiculous. I'm actually blogging from the Olympics. Well, not REALLY, but I'm in the city for the sole purpose to do Olympic things, so let's pretend!

It's already after midnight here, and there's a ticketless event I want to go to tomorrow morning at 9, which means I should probably leave here by 7, so I should really go to sleep now. However, I didn't bring a journal, and I'm determined to remember every solitary second of this trip. So. Fast-blogging time! (Photo-less, unfortunately. I'm on David's computer as I don't have Internet on mine, so my photos will be uploaded en masse when I get back home.)

I had an overnight flight here, and we landed at around 7:30 am. I don't think I slept at all (as per usual), but I started fangirling as soon as I got off the plane -- there are Olympics signs EVERYWHERE! "Games families" have their own fast track lane through customs, and when you enter the terminal area there are barriers with "Fan Zone" or "Media Zone" on them for when athletes arrive. It was so exciting!

Customs was really speedy, and then it was onto the tube! It's funny, I thought I'd be more excited for that than I was. And while I was excited, it was more of a relief than an excitement. Like, "Alright, sweet, this again." It was that "I'm home" sort of feeling. Comfortable. Normal.

The journey to David's place was sort of on the long side, but really easy. He wrote me really detailed directions so even I, with my complete lack of a sense of direction, didn't get even the tiniest bit lost. His place is really cool! It has tons of character and is super quirky -- I'd love to live somewhere like this one day. As soon as I got here, I decided it was nap time. I was expecting the customs ordeal and journey to take longer than it did, so I figured I had time to spare to sleep. And I did. For far too long. I also had a deadline I had to meet today, so when I got up I had to write. By the time I was finished with everything, it was 6:30 and all I'd eaten all day was a muffin and I was exhausted. But there was no way I was going to have spent an entire day in the Olympic city without doing anything, so I slapped myself awake and went to Westfield Mall to see Olympic Park, buy souvenirs, and eat.

I have to say, the color scheme of London 2012 is certainly growing on me. Having hot pink signs at each venue station is brilliant; they're impossible to miss. Stratford Station is completely plastered with them! Also, my first impression is that London is doing a fabulous job handling all the visitors. They have Games Makers literally everywhere, talking into megaphones and directing traffic. I was directed into the mall and suddenly realized something extremely important: LOCOG accreditation passes are extremely large and conspicuous, especially hung around the neck of someone decked out in official team gear. By the time I left the mall, I'd seen members of the following delegations: Argentina, Russia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Qatar, Mongolia, and Ireland. HOW AWESOME IS THIS?

My intended stop was John Lewis, for their official London 2012 shop and panoramic view of the park. I got myself two t-shirts (for like £40 total... Oops) and spent a while just ogling the stadium. I want to be in there SO badly! I played around with the settings on my camera a little bit, so hopefully one of those panoramic shots turned out okay.

By this time I was STARVING, so I had dinner in the food court. As I was leaving, I was stopped by a guy selling beauty products at a stand. I'm not sure why I stopped, but he was friendly and demonstrated his products on me. He buffed one of my thumbnails, and now it's conspicuously shiny. Actually, this is sort of a different train of thought, but everyone I've come across has been really friendly. There was an attendant at the Heathrow tube station who started talking to me about where I'm from and what I think of the tube; the guy who was at the cash register when I bought dinner had a conversation with me about America and how I like London; nail buffer guy; a friendly cop at the Stratford bus station; and some friendly volunteers at Victoria Park. I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I'm overwhelmed by the niceness of everybody. It's great!

But anyway, I spent too long getting my hands exfoliated and my nail buffed. I wanted to try to make it to Victoria Park's Live Screen -- where they air the Olympics for free for people to just come and watch -- to see Usain Bolt race, but I missed it. Kind of a bummer. I'm definitely going to go back, though, or to the one in Hyde Park. By the time I got there and then got back on the tube, it was pretty late so I started the trek back home. It was so weird being at Mile End and... leaving. But it meant I got to be at West Ham station as the crowds were leaving Olympic Park, so THAT was an experience!

Tomorrow I think there are two road events I'm going to try and go to. Operation Meet Apolo Ohno is also in full effect, so I'll also probably just creep around important places. :P Apparently the London 2012 "megastore" in Hyde Park is a place most Olympians go, so I might just hang out there for a while. Worth a shot, right? Hah.

Well, my shiny nail and I have to go to sleep. Hopefully I'll return tomorrow with some fun stories!