Olympic Fever

After not giving the Olympics a care my entire life, I find myself smack in the middle of all the action, and completely obsessed with the 2012 Games! How things change.

I don't know how I am going to get anything at all done in the next two weeks with all this going on!
When I'm not watching live, I am checking for updates on the Olympic App, and checking for ticket updates every 30 minutes - desperately trying to get a ticket to the swimming so I can be in the same room as this guy...

TEAM USA Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Lochte

Do the Olympics award Gold Medals for being the most attractive athlete at the Games? If not, they should, and give Lochte the Gold, Silver, and Bronze. This American has made swimming my favorite Olympic sport.

Lochte won the USA their first Gold in the 400m yesterday. If you look close enough at his pictures  with the medal you may notice he's sporting 2 pieces of bling. His medal, and his American Flag grill.

That's right - Lochte put on a stars-and-stripes, jewel-encrusted grill across his top row of teeth for photos. He wasn't allowed to wear it during the awards ceremony on the podium, but popped it on afterwards - making all the other Olympians even more terribly jealous - particularly the English with their infamous dental impairment. I can just imagine them all thinking - "Bloody Hell, that lad has got a Gold Medal AND diamond teeth!"

I think the mania began for me when I realized this Friday night when I watched the Opening Ceremony projected on a huge screen on the Kensington Roof Gardens among a lot of drunken Brits.

 I had my doubts about Danny Boyle's £27 million spectacular, but overall I think it went down as a success (ish). Which is a pretty good review for something executed by the English. 

The criticism I've heard is that the rest of world didn't "get" a lot of it,  but I would blame that more on people for not being aware of important moments in English history and culture, than on Britain for attempting to pay homage to it. 

And anyone who doesn't know who Mr. Bean is - well that's their loss. 

When the lights came up on the Maypole dancing and grazing sheep I was worried, but by the time we'd reached the NHS tribute and the enormous Lord Voldemort materialized, I was won over. 

Despite some rather odd moments, like the one pictured above - I think it was a good show. And what's most important is that it really portrayed the English - a bit strange, a bit charming, a bit silly, a bit mental, a bit organized, a bit chaotic, and a bit cool. 

I think watching it among the English - in an English garden, in the city where it was all happening made it extra exciting. I couldn't tear myself away from the screen, and when Team USA finally appeared - I went bananas along with the few other Americans in the crowd. 

Friday afternoon I got invited last minute to the Beach Volleyball by a client and was thrilled! I had wanted to go to something but tickets were impossible to come by and rather pricey, so imagine my glee when I was asked to go, and treated to lunch before!

I guess there are some perks to the working world. I was wined and dined pre-show at The Massimo Oyster Bar inside The Corinthia Hotel, which was a quiet a treat on it's own because it is gorgeous inside and my peppered tuna with fried courgette blossom was heavenly - and that was just the appetizer. Yes, I think it's fun to be corporately spoiled every once in awhile.

 Walking around Westminster towards the game, I literally got goosebumps as I looked around and realized the entire city was transformed in Olympic glory. The volleyball took place in an enormous stadium built in the middle of The Horse Guard's Parade, and the entrance was from The Mall - closed down to traffic and covered in Olympic Flags and Union Jacks. Walking around there you really felt like you were witnessing something big, and it looks amazing!

I checked who was playing the match beforehand, and sadly Team USA was not in my block, but Team GB men's was playing Cananda in the third match, so since I was going to the games with Brits, I decided to support them - and had the perfect handbag to do so. I had quite a lot of people stopping me and telling me how "smart" my "little boxy bag" was. 

Supporting team GB at the Beach Volleyball Match with my Union Jack Timmy Woods.

Inside the stadium was amazing! While the Beach Volleyball is not exactly one of the main events, the venue built for it has been named the coolest of all the Olympic venues. It is literally smack in the middle of London. From my seat I had the London Eye on my left, Big Ben straight head, and the buildings of Parliament off to the right, and to top it all of, the sun was actually shining.

The Volleyball was surprisingly exciting to watch. I saw China loose to the hunky men of Switzerland first, then the girls of the Czech Republic beat Austria. The men of Team GB lost to Canada next - which was very sad, and then the Brazilians clobbered the poor girls of Morissius, who were at the Olympics for the first time and had the unfortunate luck of playing Brazil in the first round. It was all very exciting, and after leaving I was officially hooked. 

Today I rushed home from pilates to catch the girl's artistic gymnastics and was in awe as Team USA dominated without so much as a quiver! Team GB won their first medal this afternoon in the women's cycling, and their second later in the swimming. But the surprise of the swimming was the Frenchies. France has never won the Gold Medal in swimming before, so it was quite a victoire when they suddenly inched in front of Lochte to finish first!  It's fun having 3 teams to route for, because your odds are much better for winning! Although American lost - I was very happy for France. I literally leaped off the sofa and screamed "VIVE LA FRANCE" to the surprise of my flatmate. 

It seems that London is such an international city that while Team GB is obviously the top team to rally for, there are several people - English and not English, cheering for other countries too. 

While I thought this was a sign of sure commradary, today I learned about this commemorate tote bag for sale in several shops and online. 

That's right - it says "I'm renting my flat to a fat american family."

They are currently sold out, so put your wallets away Londoners. 

While I do find this tote completely hilarious - like, milk coming out of your nose hilarious - it is a bit offensive.  These are apart of a small collection called the "Reality Check Souvenir Bags." Well, I've got a reality check for you Britain - you're not exactly the fittest race on the planet either. That fish and chips diet comes with a price! I've definitely seen some British bellies that would win Gold in the Fat Content Competition if there was one. At least some Americans go to the gym on a regular basis and eat vegetables, which is more than you can say for yourselves. 

So the 2012 games are off to an exciting start! I'll try to not reveal any results for they hit America - but I can't help it that I'm 5 hours ahead and have a hard time keeping my emotions in. I'll try to offer a bit of English insight into the events, and continue to cheer for Team USA, GB, and France while trying to get my hands on one of those tote bags....