Today we woke up at about 11:30 our time... and after going to bed around 4am, this was by far the most sleep we've gotten during our entire trip... 

Around 2 o'clock Allie and I ventured out to Olympic Park.  I cannot even begin to explain the incredible atmosphere that we experienced there.  Everyone was just so excited and cheering and in the spirit just at all times.  We shopped in the Olympic Megastore, and there is also the world's biggest McDonald's in the Olympic park.  We didn't go in, but from the outside it was huge. 

We hung out in the park all day, ate food, watched the games on the jumbotron, and got absolutely soaked from the rain.  But it was a blast all the same.

Our tickets were to Great Britain vs Russia then Argentina vs Lithuania.  Both games had surprisingly great atmospheres.  The Great Britain game was obviously packed and then most of them didn't stay for the second game since it didn't start until 10 at night but there were insane amounts of Argentina and Lithuania fans and literally all of them had flags, posters, horns, you name it, they had it.  They were also dancing in the stands and chanting, it was so fun.

Then during the Argentina game, Allie and I met some Argentina handball players (who were extremely good looking by the way) and they had asked us to sit with them and that was cool.

After the game we made our way home to go to bed, Monday is another early day.

Today was my first Olympic event!  Had to wake up at 6:30 AM which is literally 1:30 AM for everyone back home... I'm still not used to the time change.  

Anyway, Allie and Leslie and I headed out to Horse Guards Parade to watch the men and the women play.
First up was Women's Russia vs China.  China was dominating Russia to start but in the end, Russia pulled it out to become the first winners of the 2012 Olympics! Then was Germany and Czech Republic.  The Germans won it in two and they were beastly! And I don't mean that in a negative way, they were just crazy good.  

Side Note-- List of things I've learned in London:
-Everyone knows everything about EVERY sport.
-Always mind the gap on the tube.
-And stay behind the yellow line

After the games we shopped around piccadilly circus and found a pub there to eat and hangout.
From there, we headed back to the hostel and took a group trip to get some fish and chips and all hungout together and bonded.

This morning we woke up early and headed out to archery... Unfortunately we didn't realize that the event was "not ticketed" instead of free... so we walked... a lot.... all morning.

Eventually we made our way to cosport to pick up the tickets we had purchased which involved waiting around for 2 hours.. which sucked.  But at least it wasn't 7 like one of the other guys with us had said he had to do. 

On the way to Cosport we saw a street market and alot of the stuff had big signs that said one pound.  So one of the extremely mature guys on our trip (cough Rocky cough) decided to call it Pound Town.  So while it line the joke became to see how many jokes you could come with about Pound Town.  It was actually pretty amusing.  

We also learned of people selling the tickets through CoSport but were selling them all at face value and not technically through the company... It's basically legal scalping.  So we picked up some Men's football (soccer) tickets for Wednesday August first.  

After Cosport we went split up, Allie, Derek, Frank, Zach, Rocky, and I headed to pound town and then to Baker street.  Yes, THE Baker street from Sherlock Holmes and ate at a pub there and had a great time laughing and eating.  

After the pub we went to a few shops where Allie and I decided to get tickets to see Wicked for Tuesday.

Tonight is the Olympic Ceremonies and we are about to head out to Stratford to the Olympic Park and then the group has free tickets to an Olympic themed night club tonight.  So who knows how tonight will end.

Will write more later!
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Just got back from a ton on crazy stuff going on.  

Went to the Olympic Park in Stratford just to see what we could without tickets to the opening ceremonies.  Allie and I met about 15 athletes.  Unfortunately we did not meet any US players.

*Pictures with said Olympians will be up later when I actually have time*

We then headed over to Victoria Park to watch the opening ceremonies, 20,000 people were said to be there but the concert we went to yesterday had 80,000 people there... This event  easily had twice the people as yesterday.  It was INSANE. Allie, Colleen and I were overwhelmed with people and left early and picked up pizza and drinks and headed back to the hostel for the Olympic games.

Side Note: We have become pros with figuring out the tube... The streets of London? not so much...
 
Tomorrow is the first of the Olympic tickets that I have!
Men's Beach Volleyball here we come!

LOTS to say and not much to time to really write it.  So I'll try and write as much detail while still getting everything in, so sorry if it's spurratic.

The flight to London was relatively uneventful, all I can say is the nerves and excitement were almost too much to handle! But I made it safe and sound and spent my first day running on maybe 2 hours of sleep.

after making it to the hostel we headed off to a local pub for lunch, and I can't lie, I took advantage of the fact that I am legal to drink here.  At the pub, a guy came up to a table of four of us claiming to recognize us and wanting photos and autographs.  When he "realized" I was a soccer player on team USA he almost gushed... He kept shaking my hand and telling me he hopes I make it to the finals... I didn't have the heart to tell him I only play NCAA division 2 soccer!

After the pub we headed out to the final torch lighting and The Wanted concert.  By then exhaustion had begun to sink it... And my buzz was wearing off.  A total of about four of us ended up falling asleep at the concert but waking up in time for the final torch lighting.  It was amazing to say the least.  Getting to see it in person was just too cool.  Then, the same four that fell asleep on the ground (Derek, Allie, Frankie, and I) were able to take a picture holding the Olympic Torch!

after the wanted performed, who was really good by the way, we went to Buckingham Palace took some pictures and came back.

I would write more but I am absolutely EXHASTED. 
more later!

It is exactly one week until we set out for London! I am getting so excited I can't stand it. 

The packing frenzy has begun!  I am trying to get all of my clothes together, my passport, and anything else I might possibly need.  I also just recently realized that London will not have the 90-100 degree weather that Michigan has had the pleasure of experiencing all summer. The temperature there is about mid-60's on average... This means I need to start digging out my jeans! I was not prepared for cooler weather! At least I checked before actually leaving!

This summer has just flown by! I feel like it was only 2 weeks ago that I found out I was going on this trip! I am just so excited and feel so blessed to be getting to do things at 20 that many people go through their entire lives not being able to do.

I don't even know how to put my excitement into work

Still counting down for my departure to London, 31 days by the way, and the Olympic time trials have started! My past few days have consisted of watching insanely buff women run track, the men's decathlon, and men and women's diving.  The athleticism of these people is absolutely mind-blowing to me... My sister made a pretty good point while we were watching, we both went to a division 1 high school, and were arguably one of the most overall athletic girls in our class, but the women in these races just absolutely put us to shame.  It just really put into perspective how huge a feat it really is to just be involved in the time trials.

Watching the trials was awesome, there was drama, excitement, and I even witnessed men doing gravity defying stunts off the diving boards.  I think that was the craziest thing to me.  One dive maybe lasts 2 or 3 seconds. I play soccer which is a 90 minute game.  I have 90 minutes to prove my skill and show that I am the better athlete in the situation, but these divers literally have 2 seconds to prove that they are the best in the entire world! It is just unfathomable to me, especially when they all contort themselves into these amazing tricks and not a single one of them belly flops! I also love the sound when someone has a perfect entry and the water almost looks like jello because they dive in so perfectly and the water barely even ripples let alone has much of a splash! 

As an athlete that has only ever competed in team sports, I just find individual sports like track and swimming absolutely incredible.  For example, winning a soccer championship feels amazing, to know that a team came together with a common goal and to show off what they can do as a unit to be the best.  Whereas in a sport such a track, when you win, you are solely the best.  No one else carried you, or made up for when you made a mistake, you were perfect in every way to win it all.  Some may call sports like that selfish, and I guess in a way it is.  But any athlete can agree that perfection is something we all strive for.  Individual sports really showcase physical perfection and I just find it so captivating.  It really is upsetting that I will not be able to watch the races while in London, and that I won't even be there anymore for those.  

As my first blog post and with 56 days until my departure for London, yes, I'm counting, I have decided to create a bucket list.  Attending the Olympic games itself has always been on my actual bucket list, but I've decided that since I'll be there, why not make the most of my experience and make it into almost a little game.  I plan to do my best to do everything on this list. Yes, a few things are farfetched, and no, I didn't include my "brilliant" plots that could very possibly get me arrested.  International jail is definitely NOT on my bucket list.  

1.  Watch the English soccer team play while in a pub.
This was what immediately came to mind when I thought of the Olympics.  Sitting at a bar stool with a bunch of other crazy soccer fans is one of my ultimate dreams.  I can thank the movie "Goal" for most of this fantasy.  For those of you who have seen this movie, I'm talking about the part where Santiago's dad happens to see him on TV playing and everyone in the pub welcomes him and cheers right along  with him.  That moment literally melted my heart.  I, however, do not have any family members to beam over while they score the game-winning goal, but I have an almost insane love for soccer and I like to yell the TV, so I guess it evens out.  

2. Try the local cuisine.
Clearly while in London I will have to have fish and chips.  I would be crazy not to!  But I plan on trying something a little outside my comfort zone.  I will, however, NOT be trying black pudding.  For those of you who don't know what it is, black pudding is also called blood pudding... I think you can understand my objection to trying it then, yes? 

3. Meet and take a picture with an athlete.
I can't imagine why this wouldn't be on anyone's bucket list.  I would preferably like to meet someone I have heard of or is really famous; but hey, an Olympic athlete is an Olympic athlete.  Everyone at the games clearly has incredible talent and dedication and I will be honored to be in the presence of anyone with that kind of passion.

4.  Get a picture with a mascot.
Have you seen those little one-eyed buggers?  They're adorable! I don't exactly know what to call them, but they are the cutest little things I've seen and I want to meet one.

5.  Watch an event on the jumbotron.
I call it the jumbotron for lack of a better term, but as far as I know, Olympics always have areas where you can stand in like a square or park or something and watch the games on the screen.  It would be so cool to stand among all those people and just be with sports fans from around the world.  

6. Dress like a tourist.
When I say dress like a tourist, I mean dress like a USA uberfan.  I want to deck myself out in red, white, and blue and be the ultimate fan!  I would be so disappointed in myself if I travelled all the way to London and dressed like a normal person the entire time.

7. Try and make a palace guard laugh. 
Here comes the generic "things you must do in England" part of the list.  This one is practically self-explanatory.  No, I don't expect myself to actually get him to laugh.  But how can you go to England and NOT try? Seriously!

8. Ride a double decker bus.
I'm pretty sure this one doesn't need to be elaborated on... This is a literally one of the first things I think of when I think of London.  No it's not the queen or the royal family or big ben... don't ask me why... It just is.


9. Stand in a red phone booth.
Clearly I've seen the parent trap too many times... 

10. See Buckingham Palace.
From what I know, Buckingham palace is only open to the public at certain times of the year.  I have not yet looked into it, but I most definitely am a princess, so therefore, I need to go to my future home: a palace.

11. Take a picture at Platform 9 3/4.
I recently discovered the hostel I will be staying in is very close to King's Cross train station, which is the location of Platform 9 3/4 in the Harry Potter movie.  Apparently, they have a luggage cart sticking out of the wall like you are going through it as it was in the movies.  I want to take a picture of me "pushing" the cart through the wall, and yes, I will be wearing the Harry Potter glasses.

12.  Stand on an Olympic Stadium field.
This one is pretty farfetched.  I am pretty sure no one will allow me to just stand in my own personal glory staring at an empty stadium, imagining myself in a game with millions watching me, cameras flashing in all directions, but hey, a girl can dream right?

13. See David Beckham in person.
Bonus: Shirtless...
IT COULD HAPPEN!  


Pay attention though, I will be revisiting the list throughout my trip and hopefully being able to cross things off as I go.