The Spirit of the Olympic Games

A number of people have asked me this week about my Games Maker experience which has triggered my process for reflection.  On a day to day basis I enjoyed myself about 40% of the time.  I think the reason for the low score is that I was disappointed that I was not able to contribute more and use my skills and abilities.  I was so caught up in Olympic fever and the spirit of the Games that I wanted to work hard, to feel that I was doing something valuable and worthwhile and never quite reconciled the fact that I wasn’t expected to do anything other than to just stand, smile and greet the public pleasantly and not see any sport.  I had not anticipated that there would be a lot of inactive down time, standing around doing nothing for hours.  But when I was busy, giving useful advice to spectators, helping people on to mobility buggies, I did get a buzz from it.  I worked with a handful of interesting, fun people but mostly there was little humour.  So it was a mixture of highs and lows.

Much of the positive feedback and appreciation for the GMs was very gratifying and did give us a boost but the reality of daily life was very different.  The outward appearance and willingness of the GMs helped to mask some of the chaos and poor organisation under the surface.  I found it remarkable that there were  no seats next to the mobility stops and no shade for anyone in the Park.  The general public were irritated by the empty seats in the venues and there was confusion over the process of the recycling of seats.  Granted it was a formidable logistical exercise, imposing incredible organisational demands particularly in the deployment of 70,000 volunteers.  In that context I had to remind myself how extraordinary it was that so many people were willing to give so much time and energy for a common goal and for no reward.

What kept me rising at 4.45am and retiring at 2.00 am (not on the same days), working 11 hour days, was the bigger picture. It is what I have been referring to as the spirit of the Games.  The spirit of fair play and competition, the spirit of the home crowds cheering on not just British athletes but those of all nations, the good natured spirit of all the international visitors and volunteers with their abundant enthusiasm, kindness , politeness and joy.  The athletes themselves encouraging and supporting each other.

Most importantly,  it was the sporting events that marked the triumph of the human spirit.  There were extraordinary feats of skills and endurance.  All the athletes were inspirational, demonstrating their courage, flair and passion. And in some cases it was simply the taking part, such as the female athletes from Islamic countries where it is unusual to see women have a prominent place in public - notably Sarah Attar from Saudi Arabia wearing her hijab. Even when faced with disqualification, like Victoria Pendleton, they were graceful.  Almost every event was contested honourably.  There was honest competition and the pursuit of excellence.  It has been amazing for sports lovers everywhere. Team GB did astonishingly well with its 29 gold medal tally and 65 medals in total.  There are now a host of golden post boxes throughout the UK, including one outside Chiswick Town Hall, commemorating each British gold medal performance. The legacy of the sporting heroes will carry on - Bolt, Farah, Hoy, Ennis, Ainslie,  Wiggins, etc.

On top of this there were the stunning ceremonies.  Britain didn’t try to compete with Beijing - instead we did our own thing with history, humour, culture, style and a touch of eccentricity, ending in a huge, music party.  The  venues were both attractive and practical. The army managed security with good humour and added to the atmosphere and success of the event.

I am not the most patriotic of people but I did feel proud that our country could host a world event in an environment of such strong political and economic headwinds and to do it so splendidly.  It has even made us recalibrate our views of London.  The public transport worked faultlessly, disruption on the roads and overcrowding on the Tube was minimal. And people started talking to each other.

The Games turned even the most cynical into complete addicts. It was euphoric! They were the Golden Games and I do feel privileged to have played my very small part.  

The Closing Ceremony From The Bleak North

I feel disingenuous writing about my disappointing, last day working on the closing ceremony after just watching the play back of the Closing Ceremony itself.  Thought the show was fabulous and it did make me cry!  It made me feel proud to have been a part of London 2012 and proud of everyone who had contributed and participated.  Truly glorious!  Will write a blog in a few days when I'm less tired and can be more considered with a reflection and overview of my life as a Games Maker.

In the meantime, back to Sunday.  Much of the Park was closed so there was little choice over roles.  All my first choices for posts had been taken (and I was half an hour early). I was put on the black team for the first time - Eaton Manor Gate - it was even more remote and further from the stadium than Greenway. Should have realised there would be a reason it was black.

The shift began in the usual fashion - a briefing in a room near the canteen for all the EVS Games Makers in the Common Domain.  But as it was the last day, we all had to sing  a song to the head of EVS for the Common Domain Team,  to the music and most of the words to the Beatles song - Let It Be.  I so wanted to!  I had written three emails to her in as many weeks and had no response.  Then we sang Happy Birthday to three working volunteers.  We were told that we were to be segregated into north and south and couldn’t mix for the rest of the day then duly tagged.  Au contraire! I had spotted Lisa (she has appeared twice before in my blogs) who was in the opposite sector so we texted during the song, planning our rebellion. Much of the feedback and appreciation of the GMs has been very gratifying but the reality of life as a GM has been different. The outward appearance and the willingness of the GMs to help has masked some of the chaos and poor organisation under the surface.

After 2 hours at the most northern part of the Park, having only one very nice conversation with a guest of Cadburys and a free crunchie bar, I told the Team Leader I would move to a busier post in the Park.  For an hour I wandered around taking more photos on the small old Pentax stuffed in my red and purple Games Maker bag.  Also, had it in mind to visit all the marketing venues such as the Coca Cola Beat Box that had missed previously due to the busy lines but disappointingly, they were all shut.  Felt very conspicuous as there were so few people around and with the segregation issue.  It's not easy to blend in wearing an unusual, bold colour mix uniform.   Called Elaine (orange hat) to see if she wanted to meet for a drink, had previously established she was also working at the OP today.  Headed towards her in Corporate Hospitality only to find the three first bridges blocked by huge, dense, lines to go into the stadium, they were half an hour late on entering in order to allow the acts to rehearse.  Seemed Elaine was going to be too busy.  Found out later that she managed to get into the stadium by pushing a client in a wheelchair and been allowed to stay and watch the show.  SO lucky!  Lisa and I had actually conjured up that idea but when it came to it we didn’t quite have the nerves to carry it through.  I should emphasise that Elaine's was legitimate or she will be cross.

Called Lisa who was drinking with some friends who invited me to join them.  A lovely lady from Lisa's home town had won an amazing package for the day - best seats in the stadium, lunch with Carl Lewis, after show party and a hotel room - all for a £20 raffle ticket .  SO so lucky!  Her and her handsome male friend invited Lisa and I to join them in the champagne bar.  Just what we needed - our own celebration to finish.  Had such a fun time.  Then they headed off to their swanky seats while Lisa and I went for our chicken pie and soggy veg in the canteen.  Back to reality!

It was to be a long evening with hours of nothing to do, but we did meet up again with the maverick, avuncular, Keith.  We had gone full circle - this team of three had been the first team for all of us at the rehearsal for the opening ceremony.  Keith had talked his way to into the north section and by coincidence I found myself standing next to him.  Annoyingly, 60 of the south section GM's had been invited into the show if they had a different top to change into .  The north side GM's, got to watch the non famous athletes parade into the stadium and much later dribble out.  Including the very famous, and very normal, looking Chris Hoy - who could not thank us volunteers enough.  Keith tried really hard to get us into the stadium but it was not to be.  We did get to hold a rope for a short while to keep the volunteers out and the athletes through and that was as close as we got.  Hmm - wonder which side got the best deal?!

The army forced us to the sides of the Park for the fireworks and we stood scarily close underneath them.  They were amazing!  And especially up close!  Left the park at 1.00 am with my battered silver baton (it kept falling out of my full bag) and certificate from Lord Coe for Keith to drive me scarily, home as we narrowly avoided hitting cars and buses.

day and night

Thursday, 9th August, was swelteringly. I did not want to be standing outside in the sun all day with my delicate, pale, English skin, so negotiated hard to be inside an Information Point tent.  Seems everyone had by now realised this was the most interesting role and everyone wanted to be there, plus you got a seat and a PC to watch the events in any downtime.  However, some people had specially trained to do it, making it a harder bargain with the Deputy Head.  So she put me in the area called Greenway Gate (the green team - my least favourite colour) - better known as the back of beyond.  It leads to West Ham tube where the park managers have been trying to persuade all spectators to use rather than Stratford Gate but not  informing them that’s it’s a 30 minute walk.  So quite a number arrive disgruntled, sweaty and tired.

Walked into the park and picked up the baton from Alan and Helen Bancroft with Henry and Laura  who were just leaving through Stratford Gate in willful defiance of the park managers' attempts to direct traffic through Greenaway. Good to see British contrariness is alive and well and boosted by the Olympian spirit.

I handed on the baton to my cousin Amy, and her family, Paul, Joshua and Daniel Smith over a Macky D drink - cheapest in the park.  Amy deserved a gold medal for travelling from Nottingham on such a hot day with two young children and in her eighth month of pregnancy.  They justly deserved to see to see Usain Bolt and David Rudisha win their gold medals - what a night!  And they stayed to the end!

 

For the remainder of the day three of us Games Makers sat in the tent scrabbling around for things to do - chasing the shade at the edge of the tent, attracting punters of which there were about three an hour, getting pathetically excited over lost and found items that could be inserted into the PC.  The big plus was going home at 20.30.

Friday, 10th August

Greenway Gate

Another negotiation to get into an Information Point tent with success but again assigned to Greenway.  But what a contrast - a much better day!  The Information Point had been moved outside under an umbrella and there were many more spectators using the Gate.  My stalker found me in the briefing session on arrival and by coincidence (really!) was also on the Green Team.  He walked me along the pretty river bank to our station and actually turned out to be fun.  We returned to the canteen together about an hour later for the "party" for volunteers of cakes, ice cream and speeches -that was how it was sold to us.  Arrived with half an hour still to go, after a 15 minutes trek in the sweltering sun, to find that everything had gone!  Could they not at least have organised another Cadburys, purple (like the GM shirt) trolley of ice cream?  Still, gave me another opportunity to meet up with the very nice Jane again, the publicity lady from neighbouring Kew , who I hope to meet for coffee soon. 

Then for the unrivalled drama of the day - found that something had been stolen from our lost property site.  It took an hour of bureaucratic endeavour and four people in the hierarchy to deal with it, only to be told to write a report.  Still, managed to leave at 21.30, waving goodbye to Jane as she climbed up the Orbit.  The day had gone fast, I had actually enjoyed it, had some good conversations with a number of people, I had laughed! But home too late for a Friday night curry!  

Finally, the uniform!i

Olympic Action

So this was the Olympic Games - faster, higher, stronger and definitely louder. With the cauldron to our left and the Olympic and British flags flying straight in front of us we were ready for the action. And who knew that women hammer throwers could be so graceful and athletic - the combination of speed, balance and strength is amazing. Then it was Mo time. We all know that he's cool but just to prove the point he ran in his shades. In spite of a few rough house tactics trying to trip him up he did what he had to do. A leisurely mid morning jog to qualify safely and then go and rest up ready for the final.

The final track event of the morning was the heats of the women's 800 metres and this was when the Olympic spirit came to the fore. There were the girls from Pakistan and Palestine, no doubt overcoming great obstacles simply to compete. There was the girl from Turkey who pulled up with an injury with 300 metres to go but was determined to finish and in doing so was applauded all the way to the finish line. And finally Sarah Attar, the first woman to represent Saudi Arabia in athletics. The rest of the field had finished but she still had over 150 metres to go. The whole stadium recognised the significance of her simply being there, encouraging and cheering her all the way home.

We left the stadium with the buzz of witnessing Olympic action at first hand to explore the park. It's difficult to say whether the number of people, the sense of enjoyment or the general goodwill are the biggest impressions. The deisgn of the park is wonderful and the buildings, particularly the velodrome and the aquatic centre are a triumph. 

Amongst the colours and nationalities the Dutch were always visible through a combination of unnecessary tallness and top to toe orange decor. Swedes and Danes were searching for handball tickets, Kiwis were decked in all black, including some questionable Scouser style jet black curly wigs and the Aussies were keeping a low profile. And NBC have opted for the full cliche quota with a union jack decorated mini and a red phone box on the concourse outside their studio.

Park Life!

Hurrah!  At last I find role that is more stimulating.

Yesterday began at 6.20 am with a good morning from behind me as a lined up to sign in for the day. Yes, still on time!  It was the northern guy who had pecked me on the cheek last week.  Is he stalking me? Strange that he is directly behind me out of 70,000 volunteers.  He then came and sat by me as I had coffee to wake me up.  I made my excuses quickly as he told me he would come and find me later!

I had asked to work in Information today as Mobility was not really getting me anywhere!  I had to do some negotiating with the staffing team (of which I was meant to be a part) because I had not been trained!  Was told to go to Britannia Row, opposite Park Live (the big screen) where I had been before.  But this time in a nice white tent away from the sun, sand, wind and rain - it just gets better I thought, especially as I was to work with two nice, young, friendly guys.  They quickly showed me the ropes and I jumped straight in.  We were quite busy with most people requesting maps (despite the fact the same ones were sent with their tickets) until the events in the  venues began at 9.00.  We then had about 2 hours with little to do so we sat and watched the games on the PC.  From 11.30 the crowds began egressing (official Games Maker terminology), so much so that I found it difficult to go and have lunch with Elaine (sporting her increasingly battered orange Panama hat) who treated me to a salad on her EDF vouchers.

 I had progressed from "where are the toilets?" to how do I get the recycled tickets, which incidentally they have stopped issuing because they deem the Olympic Park to be too crowded.  They do change the rules almost daily!  No wonder the public get confused and annoyed at times.  I assisted a father and son from abroad get to see Stamford Bridge, gave out info on the Leonardo exhibition, helped many people plan journeys to other venues,  completed a number of lost and found reports (no children today, thankfully), advised on what could be seen for free in the Park, as everyone had been advised to come 2 hours early and as a result had plenty of time to kill and a lesser quota of "where are the toilets?"  My Park knowledge, gleaned from being posted in different locations, came in very useful.  Being mostly busy of course meant that time went faster.  I finally felt I was doing a more worthwhile job and actually helping people.  Everyone was nice and friendly.  A better day! 

And aren't Team GB doing brilliantly!  There is a great spirit in the Park which is a joy to witness.  Came home and watched the Games on TV.  Seems I can't get enough!

Had scheduled day off today and won't be working tomorrow  because we have tickets to the Stadium - Mo Farah in the 5000m heats. Hurrah!

Keep moving - Mobility is the key

But will it provide access to a venue?

Friday was a good day.  I was excited going into work on Friday morning to witness the opening of the Stadium to the track and field events and the buzz of the Park.  I caught the bus at 5.00 as it became light.  The night bus had other Games Makers on it so didn’t feel alone with drunks as had expected and very surprisingly, felt awake.  Caught the Javelin for the first time at Ben's favourite station - St Pancras -  he preferred it to Paris! It was full of the purple and red army.  Met a lovely physio based in the Velodrome - how nice! It’s a very fast way to get across town.

Walking into the Olympic Park at 6.15 was actually quite moving with the early morning light and lots of red and purple movement.  I asked to be moved into Mobility into what is known as a Stop with a walkie talkie - definitely a promotion! Would not be doing any driving, however, not because they had heard about my driving record but due to not being trained to drive the buggies that go 3 mph. I was positioned in the area right by one of the entrances to the Stadium known as World Square.  Immediately met two more interesting girls who I could tell were more fun than anyone previously.  Their mission was to get into a venue by pushing in someone in a wheel chair every day and so far they had achieved it.  Who knows if they pushed each other? Within minutes our post of 3 were asked to do things by our very effective team leader. Then it was quiet while we waited for the huge crowd to start pouring in. Whilst we waited a TV crew arrived and asked one of the young, attractive girls to pose for the camera - a Locog shoot for the closing ceremony.  She declined and as a last resort they asked me.  Having been involved in TV production I know what it's like to try to get people to do things so I agreed, possibly out of boredom.  So I walked into the camera and posed as she had requested - sadly, minus my hat and shades.  Oh no!  What was I thinking?  I had had no time to get my hair cut or do my roots but worse than that  I had got up at 4.45 and had no time to shower, wash my hair and put on make-up.  Apparently there was no budget for costume and make-up.  Now here I was potentially exposing myself in this raw state to the world.  What was to be done?  Well obviously make myself look such an idiot that no-one would ever believe it was me so when she asked me to look cheeky I went along copying her movements - she was really quite engaging, cute and impish.  She should have been on camera!  I am relying on the fact that 50% of what is shot ends up on the cutting room floor but if it doesn’t - I will deny it's me if anyone asks!  Would be incredibly ironic if I am shown on screen as representative of the enthusiastic, role model, Games Maker when I am probably the least enthusiastic cheerleader/Games Maker.

My role as a Mobility Stop consisted of assisting people to get on and off mobility buggies and sometimes helping them into wheel chairs.  Within a short while I was busy and became more so when we had a lost teenager who had become separated from her school teacher whilst taking a photo for them.  It took half an hour for them to realise as we kept calling the emergency contact mobile that was switched off.  Just as we were calling the school the teacher appeared.  The lost teenager was quite anxious so I spent time trying to tell stories to keep her occupied such as my getting lost story -aged 4 on Blackpool beach, being taken to a lost children's caravan, waiting what seemed like days to be collected and being anxious that my nan wouldn’t be able to afford the half crown to buy me back.    A few minutes after she had been found, I noticed she had left her information sheets with me - notices about 4 days worth of tickets.  Lucky girl! Needle in a haystack to look for her? - Possibly, but I managed it against the odds!  Actually felt like I had played a role and done something worthwhile - hurrah at last!  But not for long as I was then sent to Victoria Gate, also known as the back of beyond, and sat in the wheel chair talking to the friendly security guys and another EVS Games maker clicking everyone in to count numbers because the ticket scanners throughout the park were not working.  Stayed for about an hour and a half before lunch at 11.00 (oddly).  On my return I was posted on the opposite side of what is known as the spotted bridge (due to the circles of colour in the middle) of World Square with the Gloriana (the Queens boat for the Jubilee) below me.  Took lots of pics of people with it and had much more interesting conversations with people as they waited for the mobility buggies to arrive because just like proper buses, they arrived 4 at time after a 10 min wait.  No-one had previously had the ingenious idea to provide seats at the pink mobility points so it was another day of standing and chatting to occupy the time of the disabled passengers standing, waiting, patiently.

Saturday - not so good.  Same early start but weather cold and dull with imminent rain.  This time met another lady similar job to me but based in the Stadium.  Able to watch everything.  The Olympic Life really isn't fair!  Offered to do Mobility again thinking this was  more interesting but not today!  I was out at The Aquatic Centre near the Orbit which had few spectators until 1.00 when it opened.  Was partnered with a lady who was used to bossing people around.  Nice enough but not really fun.  However, my friend from the BBC, Elaine, came and entertained me while my partner was at lunch and for the first time I laughed as a Games Maker!  Thank you Elaine!  She is working for EDF, getting paid and having a hard but jolly time working there.  The Next plastic poncho got its first outing.  Think I helped one pregnant lady onto a buggy and helped get off one wheelchair other than that it was the usual yes toilets in front of you, water fountains next to what looks like the wailing wall and photo in front of the Orbit and stadium? Sure!  Left cold, wet, miserable and tired!  Then what a great night to be home watching the sensational Team GB win so many medals.  Completely moved me and turned my mood around.  So maybe I will give it another shot on Monday.

Pics and positivity

No time or inclination to write about yesterday's dull day.  Day off today - great to have Ben home. Have been working on my positivity.  The Olympic Park is amazing.  The buildings are fabulous - especially at night.  More pics of those another day when I have mastered downloading from my mobile.  The atmosphere, incredible and the spectators very enthusiastic.  The gardens, gorgeous.  So I must try harder to enjoy the boring job!  I must remember where I am and it is an extraordinary event. Off to bed now - have to leave at 5.00 am tomorrow for a 9 hour shift for the opening of the Athletics in The Olympic Stadium.  Have offered to drive the mobility buggys for a change but doubt they will let me (NOT because of my driving skills).

Day 2

Better! Met an interesting lady, Jane, who is a successful freelance publicist and we chatted for pretty much 8 hours.  We did answer the occasional question from a spectator like where is the basketball entrance - right in front of you sir!

When I arrived I had asked the work force person if I could have a more interesting shift today.  She looked at me confused.  It seems the job is the same, it's just a question of where you are positioned.  I had previously asked around and it seemed Street Market was quite well liked so asked for that - Orange.  It was the quietest and easiest job so far.  You could see the BA monitor through the trees in Park Live and was stationed by the basketball arena which looks good - especially lit. The people were friendly. 

Highlights of the day - other than meeting Jane - being shown our patch by the group team leader (that's a first) and pointing out all the relevent things like toilets, watching Team GB receive their silver medal for the Equestrian and   watching a swimming medley race on the BA screen, having a Big Mac, watching the 7 minutes BP show about how they were trying to be sustainable, observing how the self appointed, senior team leader handled another team leader going AWOL for 2 hours, meeting a lovely couple on the train home who had been to the beach volleyball.  That’s about as exciting as it gets!

Day 1

So my first proper day of shifts as an EVS (Event Services) team member is over. I feel like an athlete in training.  Can't say I really enjoyed the day.  The shift began at 2.00, after the usual queuing to find out our teams for the day (and to be given our first gift -they think such things as a little black book will motivate us to keep coming back) then a hike through the Olympic Park which is vast to be briefed by the team leader (missing most of it).  I was in the blue team which I think is the largest.  Our star jumping, group team leader led us off, back to Stratford Gate where we had entered the Park.  The team leaders stepped forward and shouted out roles and requested volunteers.  Those who had worked the previous days knew the best shifts and took those immediately but when photography was called out, of course, I leapt at it.  From 3.00 until 6.00 I stood at the main, Stratford Gate, on the Bridge, in the lane assigned to sponsors and corporate hospitality guests, asking everyone who walked in and immediately began taking photos of the Olympic sign and the stadium, if they wanted me to take a photo for them with them in it.  I must have used every type of camera and phone to do this.  Nothing memorable to report. Everyone was very nice and happy to be there and trusting to hand over their camera to a stranger.  I saw one girl who was throwing herself into the job and welcoming everyone into the park and was also accumulating phone numbers from the army staff. One American guy said if the rest of the day continued with people like me then it would be the best ever.  At 6.00 I was allowed a one hour meal break with the others in my team - two who barely spoke and a guy called Justin who is called Jane at weekends; he had lived around the world, trained as a medic and spoke fluent French but please don’t get the wrong idea - I am not with interesting people. 

We diligently reported back for duty only to find most people had disappeared into the venues.  We suggested the team leader find us other duties.  So two of us were assigned to ticketing.  I had not had the scanning training due to changing roles and actually was not very good at it.  It was really hard turning away many people, often from abroad with no more time, who had tickets for another venue, seen the event but travelled over specially to see the Olympic Park.  At least we were all consistent in turning them away.  All of them wanted to complain to the team leader and many did.  One persistent couple complained to the Group Team Leader who then proceeded to let them in! As ever - those that shout loudest! So much for consistency.  At 9.30 the team leader went home leaving us alone.  As usual our shifts had been duplicated  with security (same top but black trousers) getting paid, so when one person was coming in every 10 mins I decided to leave the work to those getting paid at about 10 pm.  Took an older guy with me who had travelled from Derby to do this and we walked out.  He gave me a kiss on the cheek as we said goodbye at the station - the nicest thing that had happened to me all day.  It would have been meeting up with Claire and Rob or Elaine whose texts I had unfortunately missed to say they were there and could we meet.

As for the weather, it started out dry and fairly warm then whilst we were on the main bridge taking pics, there was a sandstorm, the guests were entering, shielding their eyes whilst my hair was blowing around making me look like Amy Warehouse.  Then it became very cold and Stella obviously had not anticipated a cold  British summer night designing little wind breaker jackets.

Will I last? I doubt it.  Especially as this morning someone who is following my blog sent me another to read about how they are meeting famous people and athletes, getting into venues and having a great time.  I feel like I'm in the Rank and File and easily replaceable.  Hard to push yourself to do 14 hours with no fun!   

The Opening Ceremony - the best kept secret

…and its best kept that way! Danny Boyle made a plea to all the volunteers privileged to see the show on Monday and Wednesday to keep it a surprise for the rest of the world and he did ask so nicely!  Also, it would be a real shame to spoil the impact for you.  All the screens around the stadium were emblazoned with the hash tag #save the surprise.

I can give  you a few snippets which you may have already read about. It's called the Isles of Wonder.    The pre show is a grand theatrical production on a scale the likes of which have never been seen before.  The theme is England's green and pleasant land set to Jerusalem, emphasising the enormous historical and social change from the idyllic, tranquil, green, pastoral, land of cricket matches, maypoles, picnics, livestock and religion to the noisy, aggressive, protesting,  dirty, dark, factories and foundries, finishing with the forging of the steel-like Olympic rings - all very impressive. 

The second part is all about the NHS and Great Ormond Street Hospital with plenty of spare hospital beds!

The last sections were not revealed to us much but they are about culture and the arts with sequences about Britain's heritage from the 60s to present day - focusing on the best British films, TV, books and dance and I think will be more visual and digital for the TV audience.  The show begins with a quote from The Tempest read by Kenneth Branagh.  There's references to  Chariots of Fire, James Bond (I think he may drop from a helicopter),  EastEnders, The Beatles and an amazing contemporary dance routine plus much, much more.

The most striking observation is that it is all so quintessentially British, not sure of the appeal to the rest of the world.  It's clever, quirky, charming, funny, warm although a bit strange and even scary in one part, covering the whole spectrum from simple and down to earth to spectacular, awe-inspiring and inventive.  "Splendidly British and magnificently bonkers" was one quote.  Of course, it is the views and vision of a 50ish year old northern man if you asked him to describe Britain.  It didn’t reduce me to tears like the ones in Athens and Beijing but maybe tonight when it's for real it will as I stand with my beer at the BT concert in Hyde Park with my family and friends.  I do hope so!  I am positive you will enjoy it!

Go!

I am only just beginning to recover from Monday's shift - The first Technical Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony.  I can't help wondering if I will last the duration.

Arrived early to prove to Ian that it is possible - he inserted all those comments about my ability to win medals for my unpunctuality!  Only to find that no-one expected all the volunteers to be on time and to get through all the security checks promptly so we were left standing with nothing to do but chat amongst ourselves and watch the Team Leaders trying to assert their authority and compete with each other for two hours outside the Aquatics Centre.  However, prior to this came my rejection at security - surely they have not read my blog and fired me already I thought but of course not, my accreditation had been cancelled due to changing jobs.  So went through the security check twice and they still didn't pick up that I had a large, full, water bottle rather worryingly.

Eventually the group team leader (yes its unbelievably hierarchical - we had 12 in our team and 3 team leaders - too many chefs?) pitched up having been briefed (which it obviously wasn’t) to inform us of our role for the day - apparently it will change every shift.  We were to stand in the main square - World Square - and direct the Olympic Family to collect their packs - we never did establish how you could distinguish someone in the Olympic Family from the general public or indeed the reason they needed to collect packs or even what they consisted of - despite my frequent questions.  Lisa, an exbookmaker and I (and no, you are not picturing her actually - she is a sweet, mild mannered, smiley lady from a village in Cambridgeshire) could foresee all the questions we would be asked by the general public whilst still trying to grapple with the notion of guessing the Olympic Family but no-one had any answers for us.  Many of the abundant leaders with walkie talkies it seemed couldn’t use them.  So not, unsurprisingly when the crowds were let in 3 hours later we were bombarded with questions that we couldn’t initially give them answers to and a number were of course annoyed and irritated.   So what was the reason the largest McDonald in the country wasn’t open likewise, the special, huge, London 2012 merchandise store?  They certainly missed a trick -they would have made a fortune.  However, I did get to practice my toilets this way line and a number of times - that was once we had established some time later which toilets were open.  Although  It took another hour before all the teams were aligned as people were bounced back and forth like table tennis.  Our roles were also in triplicate as we stood alongside people wearing sandwich boards with coloured badges (I think, we were never told, that these were really the people directing the Olympic Family with some kind of code) and then there was security - same top as GM's, different bottoms - who remained in the shadows beside us -  seemingly doing  less than us, certainly showing less initiative but getting paid. So much to learn already for the many leaders - that’s if they ask for feedback.

Once the show commenced at 8.00 we were left again with nothing to do for 3 hours so our very nice team leader - not one of the loud mouthed, trying to assert themselves gang - very kindly bought our little team of 4, a beer.  We knew it wasn’t allowed - uniform staff can't buy with the general public but again - were they really going to fire us?  We sat around talking for a while, utilised our meal voucher in the huge canteen with two small monitors.  I had hoped to see outside, around World Square, enormous monitors in order to see some of the action while we worked but they don’t exist.  It had been tiring but at least we had been busy and much more interesting than standing around making polite conversation.  Besides, I needed a rest from the overwhelming heat and sun - there is no shade whatsoever. 

As we walked back to our positions we noticed that a line of people - mostly army and stage crew - were standing waiting to go into the stadium.  We overheard the impressive stage manager saying that due to a lack of numbers they would all have to go into the stadium a number of times.  Our lovely team leader jumped on this and offered us as new recruits.  So we were tagged and enlisted.  The army thought it was great fun to have 4 lonely GMs (Games Makers) in their ranks and used us to sharpen their tongues.  All going swimmingly until a rather cute guy asked if I was babysitting him - so much for the sharp wit!  However, he then proceeded to entertain me for the next half hour (and 50 Shades of Grey actually came in useful - no, not like that but the witty retorts.  Although we did share a rope as I was the front of Cambodia and he was the back).  We proudly marched into the opening ceremony behind our flag bearer to a twinkling stadium and at that point I WAS Miss Cambodia - shoulders back, head held high - the only time I'll ever be a world class athlete.  But more about the stadium later as I attend the last Technical Rehearsal this evening as a spectator.  So will shortly be able to reveal the big secret you all want to know -what will David Beckham be doing?!  I already know a fair amount about the show as I sat with two dancers on the tube home.

The journey home was horrendous.  Left my shift at 11 ish feeling on a high from my show stopping performance only to come straight back down to earth as I hit the massive crowd waiting to get to Stratford Station.  We were penned in and released  in waves a few feet at a time.  It took 40 frustrating minutes to reach the station only to find that neither of my options  existed so had to travel by a different underground.  Needless to say, the trains were jammed to capacity but everyone was buzzing about the show.  The trains were like Friday night 11.30 party trains minus the alcohol reminding me of my EBN days.  Travelled on  three trains alongside volunteers and even got a hug goodbye from another dancer as he picked up his bike at Gunnersbury at 1.15pm. 

Overall, I would say it was a very mixed day with some significant highs and lows that left me exhausted as Ian's alarm woke me at 5.30 the next morning.

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity is the mantra Ian has been chanting at me for months as I have doubted my sanity at applying to be one of the 70,000 volunteer Games Makers at the London 2012 Olympics.  We want to know more about it so write a blog said Catherine and Annette over coffee together in Amsterdam. Even though they both thought I was mad to be doing this work for free, as most of my friends do (Claire especially). I barely know what a blog is was my retort.  Now here I am sitting on a beach in Turkey under a sunshade with time to kill, thinking about the three weeks ahead, writing what I think is a blog and entering the techie world.  Will it be Facebook next? Ann - you were my inspiration with the first of my friend's blogs arriving this morn.
My first shift starts on Monday evening, although I don't finish my training until Tuesday.  Yes, that is right but more of that later.  So the journey begins, as the Locog folk are fond of saying, as does the countdown.  This is my recap of the journey thus far for the benefit of the friends around the world who have not heard it, before I begin my (possibly) daily blog as a day in the life off an Olympics worker. 
First came the interview at London Excel - known as the Event Services Games Maker Selection Event. As an ex BBC employee I wasn't to be deterred by these fancy titles. I did my background research as I had advised countless HR clients in the past but found little to help about practical matters such as were jeans acceptable.  Made my first of many calls to the London 2012 team - no idea was the answer this time and plenty more. Decided to go for the professional, casual look with new blue suede boots and dress. Turns out I could have worn anything and didn't need to wear the too high heels. Still they looked good. Thankfully, Rachel, had previously been interviewed for a volunteer driver position so gave me a heads up with the questions.  Thank goodness she did - they were hard.  So as an ex HR person, I was impressed that they had good, standardised and fair questions.   Despite the early start to get Ben to his new senior school and travel over to East London in time, I took my first steps into the corporate Olympic world of sets and videos and SO many words and met a very friendly guy who made it more fun.  Good job - it all seemed so dry apart from signing my name on a sheet with thousands of others on a wall of messages. The interviewer was a bubbly HR person with children at school so we had things in common and carried on talking as we walked to the shop together to meet Lindsay, an ex HR colleague from Dow Jones, who happened to be the interviewer in the next booth.  Small world, we know, but I had already established she would be there when contacting her the week before despite not being in touch for about a year.  Had a sense she may be involved but no idea she would be in the next booth on that very day.  Those that know me well won't be surprised by this coincidence.
Heard quite quickly via email that I had been selected.  In the meantime, I began my endeavours to navigate the specially created website for the volunteers - have never made much progress.  Next stop, the Orientation Training Day, attending with Rachel.  Another early start on a Saturday morning of all things (should have seen the pattern) to another long distance destination - Wembley.  We had to separate as our numbers kept us apart and the first of the many lines, began, this time to get into the building.  I sat on a tiny seat between a very excited 30 ish year old man in an anorak from Plymouth and a very excited woman in her 20s from East London both of whom seemed happy to whoop it up at any opportunity, making me feel even more like I was missing something.  The lets get excited at anything gene?  Jonathan Edwards, the well known previous GB Olympic gold medallist and devout Christian, opened the morning with "this is the first of many Orientation days so we would be grateful if you didn't tweet, blog etc about it so we can keep it a secret".   However, he did say but you can tweet that I have a great butt - and indeed he did! That kept me amused for 5 mins  after our first Mexican wave for the cameras (who knew it was an Olympic sport?)…. followed by a lets all get excited now ……well there was an interview, conducted by Huw Edwards, with the just as I imagined Lord Seb Coe, followed by a Mexican wave (maybe we were trying out for the wave team), the Locog top brass - the CEO who tried to look casual and regular and the female head of HR - all corporately impressive. These were interspersed with imaginary running commentaries from a sports tv desk showing us different jobs for Games Makers.  But what was my role I wondered, not realising this would become a recurring theme.  I really hoped it wasn't catering, cleaning and waste as Jonathan Edwards had already made jibes about that group a few times followed by a Mexican wave (were we attempting the Olympic record for team waving).  Thank goodness for Eddie Izzard - my tiny saviour (yes not much bigger than me I noticed as we looked into each others eyes as he signed my sheet later and he clicked his heels).  His job was to teach us the mnemonic - I DO ACT and he couldn't remember it.  I love you Eddie!  I have practised it over and still forget it too.  And then a Mexican wave to finish, although by this stage my enthusiasm was under severe strain. Had they forgotten, we're Games Makers not competitors. We're not even to be allowed in the venues…but more of that later.  
Couldn't help discussing with Rachel with all her science and nutrition expertise - was it appropriate for the main sponsors to be McDonalds, Cadburys and Coke.  All fine in moderation she assured me.  So when I come up for air at the end and you next see me, I may have become the super size me!
The third stage, the role training day, or should I say the EVS Staffing Team Member Role Specific Training (RST).  Hurrah! I was finally going to find out my role. I trek over for another early start at some long distance place - this time - Hackney (the Olympic experience is being shared with the far flung corners of London), to join the long queue to enter the building. You know the pattern. We sit down in a room according to our individual numbers.  We do a role playing game which I have now completely forgotten. Followed by a lecture on health and safety.  As I am washing my hands in the toilets, late morning, I ask the professional coach (who did seem quite good - on loan from John Lewis as a fashion buyer manager) the very pertinent question - so what is my role? Come and see me before we recommence and I will tell you she said.  You will be working at the Olympic Park in the common domain I was informed.  I had already established that much previously but what exactly will my role be? You will find out later I  was told.  I soon found out the reason they wanted to keep the information from us for as long as possible.  It was a difficult job that no-one would want to do - sitting in an office for 10 hours checking that people had turned up for their shift, finding replacements and looking for patterns of late attendance or no shows.  Fun!  Didn't they know that I'm far more suited to the turning up late than spending all day looking for other people who have and trying to prevent it.
I saw the penny drop slowly round the room as people began to ask more enquiring and increasingly concerned questions about the role.  So where was our training for this?  Well, we did receive good training on how to try and get into a venue and be thrown out - just in case we had the wrong idea that we were at an exciting venue with lots of activities and might want a glimpse of some of the action.  Of course, we should know that this wasn't possible.  We were only working 10 hour days, at unusual times, in an office for free.
Stage four - collecting the uniform or more formally - the UDAC Games Maker - Uniform and Accreditation Collection.  It began with the same pattern - early trek to the back of beyond, yet more lines, to collect the delectable Stella McCartney designed uniform. Now that would be a real treat if it wasn't for the colour combo, and the khaki slacks (yes that is the right word to describe them) which we most definitely can't roll up.  Who do you know who wears purple and red together?  That's obviously the point that nobody else will look like us! The morning however, goes quite smoothly with each individual uniform item  having its own dedicated person, with their own system about which they all seemed very proud and actually all goes quite smoothly.  The family can't wait to see me in it but am keeping them in suspense for a reason!  Maybe I will sell it on ebay afterwards or keep it for the grandchildren although the umbrella will probably be worn out.
Then came the release of the shifts.  Oh dear!  I had been given a shift pattern that commences at 5.30 am (Olympian levels of lateness are a distinct possibility).  Those that know me well will be coughing and spluttering at the thought. Requiring me to get up at 3.00 am to leave the house at 3.30.  Argh!  There were quite a few of these as well as a couple of late nights finishing at 1.00 to get home at 3.00.  Yes, I know I have done this many times but its usually helped by a number of pink drinks and fun company.  I called London 2012 for advice and was told that it really wasn't a problem as I could easily travel from West to East London by night buses (regardless of the fact this meant going without any sleep). I was told take it or leave it but did manage to eventually find a person, Debbie, who I could email more than once and receive a reply.  I suggested they might want to offer me another position with different hours as I had almost completed my training and received my outfit - it would be a waste otherwise.  I was told they could only offer me a more junior position as a host out on the grounds of the Olympic Park but even these shifts would start at 6.20am (we're probably now looking at silver or bronze level lateness performances now rather than certain gold) and end at 11.00.  Oh but all those extra minutes of sleep make such a difference!  So I took it.  More fun surely to be out with the excited crowds than in an office sorting out boring shifts that no-one wants to do and suggesting they might also turn up on time. Of course this completely threw the Games Maker computer system.  It put me right back to the start insisting that I needed to go for another selection event, role specific training, Mexican Wave practice, etc. Thankfully, my new contact, Debbie, was able to sort it.
And now my first shift is in a few days.  Don't tell anyone but I have not completely finished my training.  They have rostered me to work Monday but I don't have my VST - Venue Specific Training until Tuesday.  Debbie has sorted that too and said she thinks I can get a quick on the spot training for Monday before I attend the proper training on Tuesday. Phew!
So I have been through the hurdles, completed the 800 metres and now in the starting blocks, in my colourful, designer uniform, ready and set but for what?  I still don't know what my role is going to be.  For months I have joked I will be saying toilets this way - maybe I was right.  I know its going to feel like a marathon of 10 hour shifts, 14 hour days, with 2 days off a week (not together), all early or late starts and finishes.  YOU deserve a medal if you have got to here.  However, I have been invited to the technical rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony (they lied, we will be allowed in to a venue and what's the chances of a Mexican wave?) so will be one of the first to see it and will post my views here.  I AM excited about that!