Taekwondo and Flying to Ireland

I'm sitting on a bus to the airport in traffic near Baker Street. Hopefully the traffic will go away soon.

I got up early this morning after about six hours sleep, made some last minute packing changes (though I'm still pretty sure I've forgotten my camera and my glasses...), decided I had no time for breakfast and ran for the bus, only to find it absolutely full at 6.50 in the morning. It was a double decker bus. So I had to wait for the next one.

When I got to North Greenwich Station I began to realise that this is the last time I will see soldiers and police and purple-shirted games-makers and tourists wandering around for the Olympics, and felt a bit sad. There's still the Paralympics, but that's in a few weeks and I don't know if it'll be the same. I've enjoyed living in Olympics London - there's a kind of excitement in the air, and the predicted transport apocalypse never eventuated. In fact, my trains and buses were pretty empty.

I guess I know why: everyone had packed onto buses at 6.50am.

Now I'm at Lord's Cricket Ground. I'm amazed at how many statues and sculptures I'm seeing as we wend through the streets of London. Of course I knew there were lots, but on this particular route there seem to be hundreds.

When I boarded my tube train, it hit home that this actually wasn't that early in the morning - even though I still felt half asleep and I hadn't had any breakfast (I always have breakfast), these were normal commuters on their way to work. They got up this early every day.

So really, you probably want to know about the Taekwondo. It was really good, despite the changing of the draws so I wasn't watching any New Zealanders and the terrible directions and fences everywhere. Okay, so maybe some of me getting lost was due to specifically passing through the 'no exit' signs and refusing to do what everyone else was doing, but there was one very important place where there should have been a sign and THERE WAS NOT. After a ten minute detour and a pause at security (apparently my glasses case looks like a bomb when it's empty), I got into the ExCel Centre, which is ginormous but has no Olympics shop where you can buy T-shirts. I know, I walked its entire length.

This may be a ranty post.

I'd taken the gondola/cable car across the river from North Greenwich (after standing in two consecutive queues to get a ticket and then board) which was amazing, and not as scary as I'd been led to believe. You get beautiful views of the O2 and the buildings of Canary Wharf and The City, as well as the Olympic Park and a whole swathe of London. If you can, take your pet dog with you - it means you get an entire car to yourself.

Next came the journey from the station to the ExCel, to which I have already alluded.

Once I got into the Taekwondo arena, it was great. Apart from the unenthusiastic family beside me, where the father was at times reading the paper. There were a few seats empty so I moved closer to the action halfway through, and sat among much more interesting people who shouted and cheered satisfactorily.

We saw a demonstration from WTF, the World Taekwondo Federation, where the group of them did a few fighting patterns and broke lots of boards, sometimes three held 1.5m, 2m and 2.5m off the ground in one go. I feel I should learn to do this. I wondered if the floor was bouncy, considering how high they were jumping, but it didn't look like it was.

Then the actual fights started. The officials and athletes were announced, and they all marched out from the backstage area looking very impressive to music. The fight is held on a raised platform in the centre of the room in three bouts of two minutes with a minute's rest in between. The athletes were mostly using kicks to get points, each kick resulting in 1-4 points depending on complexity. I don't remember them mentioning that a spinning kick to the head gets you four points when I was in a tournament, but possibly they didn't want lower-belt teenagers trying to spin-kick each other in the head.

I was watching the quarter-finals and the semis. Some of the opponents were very closely matched, and two fights ended in sudden death rounds, but others were decided almost from the start. It was actually relatively relaxing having no Kiwis to watch - I could pick and choose who to support and not be too invested when they didn't win. The semi-finals were exciting: they decide who will go through to the gold medal fights, so 75% of the athletes we were watching would get a medal. As the pressure built, there were more and more appeals from the coaches or the athletes, asking for a kick to be reconsidered by slow motion video. At this point, the Who Wants to be a Millionaire music came on while the judges deliberated, and the appeal was deemed successful or unsuccessful.

Tied at 10 points with 4 seconds to go...

I should really check up on who won the Taekwondo, seeing as I've actually seen it all now.

You've probably guessed from the title that I'm spending a few days in Ireland. The flight wasn't all that interesting, so I'll put the rest in a future post.

Gymnastics, Athletics and Triathlon

In twenty years I will look back on these blog posts and say "Why? Why didn't I write more during those heady days of the London Olympics?" Answer: hmmm. Have been spending all my time watching the Olympics.

So a return to blogging! I haven't actually been to see any ticketed events yet (that's tomorrow) but I have wandered around the North Greenwich Arena while the gymnastics was on, and I saw the cycling leg of the men's triathlon today.

I went to North Greenwich firstly to go on the bouncy castle Stonehenge that looked like it was life size, but IT WASN'T THERE. I was very disappointed, but decided to make my way through security and into the arena anyway. The North Greenwich Arena is also known as the O2, and I have mentioned it before. It's the giant white circus tent that James Bond once slid down. The actual seats and stage are in the middle, and there are lots of restaurants and a cinema around the outside. You can get to them without a ticket, but you have to go through x-ray machines and have all your water bottles, hair gel and deodorant confiscated.

The elderly lady after me had a walking stick that set off the beeper, so they had to search her with a wand. One of the soldiers on the x-ray machine got out the rubber gloves and Vaseline, then murmured to me that she probably wouldn't appreciate the joke and put them back. The next guy through the x-ray was wearing jandals/flipflops and the soldier told him he wasn't allowed open-toed shoes and was very convincing for at least a minute. The x-ray soldier confided to me that they were a bit bored.

Inside the arena it was packed. I've never seen so many people, and Olympics signs and t-shirts were everywhere. I wandered through, enjoying the atmosphere, and came right to the end where guards were stopping people going behind the scenes. I heard one tourist talking to a security guard, asking if there was something going on in here. He seemed very surprised to find out the Olympics were on.

I was looking for a big screen, but there wasn't really much. The screen outside by the queue shows adverts and nothing else. Apparently there'll be a festival on there soon, but it hasn't started yet.

On Saturday we went to Blackheath where they do have a big screen set up, and watched a lot of sailing (a big cheer went up when they finally changed the channel) and then the Super Saturday athletics with its three British Golds. So much cheering my ears were hurting.

And then today the triathlon was on! It went past Buckingham Palace at lunchtime, so at noon I ran (literally) all the way to Buckingham Palace and joined the crowds standing around the track. I got a really good position right by the fence, and ate my banana while I waited for the next lap.

First came the whistle. The stewards who were lining the pedestrian crossing hurried everyone to the sides, and the first two motorbikes came past, followed by the breakaway group moving very fast and a few more motorbikes. Everyone waved their flags and flashed their cameras and cheered. A minute later the peloton arrived in the same way and then we were back to waiting for the next lap.

It was a lot of fun, and great to actually see all those athletes close up. When the last lap had gone past, I ran back to work to catch the end of the race on the BBC live video. I was afraid that the triathletes would be able to run ten km faster than I could run two, but I was back in time to see the last lap of the running track Unfortunately the New Zealanders weren't quite up there with the medals, but it was fun to see it anyway.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Taekwondo. They changed the draws of the matches so I won't actually see any kiwis, but I guess it will be good anyway. I will report back!

Ollllllllympics!!! The Opening Ceremony :D

I love the Olympics. So many amazing people trying so hard, making their countries proud, flags and anthems and surprise victors coming from behind. And this time around I'm right in the middle of it all!

We had a table booked at a bar near London Bridge with a huge projection screen to watch the opening ceremony, so I turned up there at 6pm to find that one of our party had managed to scrounge a ticket to the actual ceremony. So we all complained about that for a while but decided that we'd probably get a better view, what with the cameras showing it all in close detail. I found a drink on the menu called a Pan-galactic Gargle-blaster, which was chocolate rather than lemon-flavoured and tasted like someone had shaved dark chocolate into it, though it looked like white wine. The bar also had a really good vegetarian platter with mozzarella and olives and sundried tomatoes and risotto balls which were absolutely delicious.

The place began to pack out and we fiercely defended the space in front of our chairs when people tried to block our view. At last the countdown started.... Fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight... We were very impressed by the visuals for each of the numbers, and the air was tingling as everyone shouted the countdown along with the screen. There were at least two hundred people inside, and more outside. You could hardly hear the commentators for the noise.

And then it was happening! I loved the dance moves from the men in top hats, and the huge chimneys rising out of the idyllic farms, and all the cameos from famous Britons. When Daniel Craig arrived at Buckingham Palace everyone was muttering 'please let it be the actual queen, please let it be the actual queen' and a huge cheer went up when it was. We sang along to the songs, clapped when Mary Poppins vanquished Voldemort and oohed at the fireworks.

And then came the teams!

There are an awful lot of teams. I love the opening ceremony procession, because everyone looks so proud to be representing their country, so happy to be actually at the Olympics after working so hard for so long, and so hopeful - everything is still to come, and anything could happen. I decided quite quickly that New Zealand should legally change its name to Aotearoa (see? Then we'd be almost first) but finally there was Nick Willis with the flag, and everyone behind him marching into the stadium to the roar of the crowd. Then we still had to wait for the other half of the world until Great Britain's entrance, which was pretty deafening in the middle of a crowd of English people.

It was awesome. I quite liked the fact that they said everything in French first, because I could understand most of it and I knew what was happening before everyone else did (heehee). I also liked the oaths from the representatives, some of whom looked extremely nervous as they did it and so relieved and proud afterwards. The lighting of the cauldron was beautiful. Hey Jude was the perfect song for the end, because everyone can sing along even if they've never heard it before and don't know the language (though I did think there were about four too many hey Judes...).

The whole thing finished at about one o'clock, which is usually too late to catch the tube home (stupid tubes finish at 12.45) but THEY ARE EXTENDING THE TUBE HOURS FOR THE OLYMPICS. This is amazing. They should do it every weekend. I'm also enjoying being able to grocery shop on Sunday evenings, which is usually impossible because everywhere shuts at 4 - but not during the Olympics!

It's the small things.

Margaret Mahy, the Olympic Torch and Horsies

This will be a double-topic post, catching up from the one I meant to do in the weekend but never really got around to.

I was very sad to hear of Margaret Mahy's death earlier in the week. My copy of A Lion in the Meadow has a very good picture of a lion drawn in by the lady herself, and I remember standing before the Wellington Library steps as a small child, entranced by her rainbow wig as she read aloud. I loved her picture books, especially Seventeen Kings and Forty-Two Elephants, and her books for older readers of which my favourite is Alchemy.

I keep hearing about how much people love The Changeover, and wondering whether I've read it or not - I thought I had, but maybe not. I must investigate further. I think I might have to have a go at reading all her books... And watching Maddigan's Quest and Kaitangata Twitch, which I never managed to catch for some reason. She will be missed! If you've never read any Margaret Mahy, go and find some now. It should be pretty easy in New Zealand, but you might have to search a bit elsewhere. She was incredibly prolific, so there should be something for everyone :)

Last Saturday saw the Olympic Torch relay come near me, so I woke up early and stared at the live video of the torch making its way through Greenwich, aghast at all the people who'd got up before seven on a Saturday to see it go past. Their commitment inspired me in the end and I dragged myself out of bed and out the door.

I wasn't quite sure where to go to see the torch, so I just ended up walking until I found the route and then walking a bit further until it seemed like I had a good spot. There weren't too many people at first, but there were quite a few kids waving torches they'd made themselves and lots of police stationed or coming past. My spot was right outside the entrance to the Royal Artillery Barracks, and I didn't realise how good this was until the horses appeared.

Horses! A huge procession of them, pulling carts with guns on them! Horsies with guns! And soldiers all dressed up in red uniforms! The procession strung out along the yard and the horses stamped and fidgeted a bit as we waited in the early morning sun for the torch.

First past were the sponsors, singing and dancing and giving out free drums and the smallest coke bottles I've ever seen (250mL). That was amusing, and I tried to decide how I feel about sponsorship. On the one hand, I think it's slightly evil that these huge conglomerates get to brainwash people all along the way, but on the other hand, they're running a business and they are making the Olympics happen, and I appreciate that. After the sponsors came the traffic jam of normal people who were just trying to get around on a Saturday morning. After that was a bit more security, and then the runner with the flame and his bodyguards!

Everyone cheered and waved flags and snapped away with cameras, and then ran to follow as he went past. There was a changeover right outside the Royal Artillery gates, with lots of good photo opportunities while they passed the flame from one torch to the next. The torches are very sparkly.

The next runner set off, and the Horsies with guns followed dutifully behind, along with about half the people who'd been watching (including me). It was a great atmosphere, and I can't wait for the opening ceremony which I'm sure will be even better.

Gridlock London, Spider-man and Comic Books

I know, I know, I haven't done a blog post in a while now. I have been trying to figure out the best way to get to work when they close half of a major tunnel for the Olympics and it backs up the traffic so that my bus takes twice as long to get to the tube station. The transport for London people were kind of helpful - they've supplied us with walking maps of the area - but even with the traffic I think walking would take longer than the bus. I could take the train and change to the tube at London Bridge, but London Bridge is pretty much my most hated train station and they've made it even worse at the moment by closing off the direct route from train to tube. Now you have to go out onto the street, around, and back into the station if you want to get on the Underground.

Ha. Rant over.

Another reason I may not have posted recently is that I have been watching Spider-man. I really like this movie. I have seen it in 3D, 3D-moving seats, and er, twice in 2D. It's free, okay?

I get like this with some things. You may remember my Merlin posts from last year. So I've been trying to figure out what I like about it. Secret identity? Check. Good acting? Check. Minimal plot holes? I think I've found them all now, and they don't bother me too much. I prefer the oh-we-can't-be-together ending in this version much more than the Tobey Maguire ending, which I thought was a bit unbelievable and faintly annoying (oh, I love you so much I'm going to stay away from you out of the amazing moral awesomeness of my heart. Come on. It's cliché). I also liked that Peter Parker wasn't that stereotypical geeky guy who always gets picked on - the character development was great. You can really see that pre-spider bite Peter could become Spider-man.

My slight obsession with the movie got me thinking about comic books, and why I love comic-book style stories but not comic books. Or manga or graphic novels. I feel I should like them. I like art, and I like stories. Graphic novels have both. So why can't I get into them?

Maybe it's because I feel I have to study the pictures in depth and really appreciate them and so I never get into the flow of things. Maybe I miss the description of books, and my brain isn't satisfied with pictures (though I did love the Hugo Cabret book, which is half in words and half in pictures). Whatever the reason, my brain just doesn't click with them. It's the same with video games. I like driving games and the flying bits in Spyro and Harry Potter, but anything else and I get bored.

I guess lots of people can't get into books the same way I can't get into graphic novels.

Oh, and by the way, if you can get to watch Spider-man with moving seats, do it. It's awesome. I thought it would be a bit distracting, but I missed it when I watched it again without the seats. I kept expecting to feel the explosions or rock back when Spider-man's swinging, and was disappointed when it didn't happen.

Is there a particular medium you get bored with?

 

Countdown to that big sports tournament thingy

It is becoming more and more apparent that the Olympics will be on in London in less than a month. All important tube stations have pink signs up advising which way to Olympic venues, which is very helpful in a vague sort of way, considering I am much more likely to be trying to get to work or home than Horse Guards Parade for the beach volleyball. I found out this morning that Bank Tube station has changed the direction of some of their escalators so that they ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE. This means I am less likely to get stuck in Bank Station for months wandering round and round, every so often catching sight of signs saying 'Way Out' but never quite getting there.

The Great Olympic Fence of St James's Park

Piccadilly Circus tube station was announcing everything in Italian the other day, which was rather jarring, and an enthusiastic young policeman tried to force an oyster card holder on me as I came through the barriers. Hmm. I wonder if it was a special Olympics one. maybe I'll take one next time.

I was on the Underground at 6.30 this evening, later than normal, but it was still completely packed, so much so that sometimes people couldn't get on. You also hear lots of foreign accents and languages.the tourist and athlete and support staff influx is beginning...

I received my Olympic ticket in the mail this morning from a very cheery postman. It includes my ticket, an all-day travel card (very handy... Now I have to figure out how to time it so I don't pay for my oyster card on that day), some cardboard punchy-outy things and information about taekwondo, the sport I'm going to see. It makes it seem a lot more real and close.

Not long now...