Before you ask, and I know you want to, the diet is frozen. As am I. We are currently experiencing temperatures well below zero and I need comfort. Like toasted cheese which is frowned on by SW. And Cadbury's chocolate. Ditto.
The day began with a dither. It being so cold I couldn't decide whether to drive to Wembley and face a £10 parking charge, or, take the tube to Wembley Park and have a walk that is just slightly less than comfortable for my poor wrecked knees. I drove. It was the wrong decision. I had thought that being an almost-local I would be able to find a convenient side street in which to park. Roadworks everywhere put paid to that. To cap it all whilst I was looking for a parking space I overtook a parked bus and inadvertently jumped a red light which the bus was concealing. You would know that there was a Police van immediately behind me. I don't know whether I have been done or not. The Police were very nice once they'd ascertained that I wasn't a boy racer and that I was properly taxed and insured but time will tell. If I have got 3 points then actually I can probably say goodbye to my Olympic career as an Electric Vehicle operative.
And so to the Arena. We were greeted by Wenlock and Mandeville, the 2012 mascots.
As an aside, the official Mascot song which is very catchy indeed has been composed by Tom from McFly and is sung by he and his sister Carrie Fletcher. I taught Carrie the recorder when she was in Year 2 - a tenuous claim to fame I know but we are still in touch via Twitter and I work with her mum!
The Arena was full. And yesterday was one of many Gamesmaker presentations so it really brought home the scale of the volunteering programme. Awesome is the only word that gets anywhere near doing it justice. And people came from all over the UK voluntarily, unpaid. The guy in front of me was from Northern Ireland, the Nigerian next to me ran an ethnic athletics programme in a poorer area of Birmingham. And there were whole families who had volunteered and been accepted!
We were entertained and inspired by Jonathan Edwards the triple jumper, Huw Edwards who reads the News (he was so good)!, Lord Coe and comedian Eddie Izzard whom I was fortunate enough to meet later. We saw our uniform (the jury is still out on the epaulettes and the colours), we received a workbook (and have to learn the British sign-language alphabet by our next visit), and plenty of instruction from videos and other Gamesmakers. We have to learn politically correct jargon - e.g Accessible toilets not Disabled ones (although I always laugh at the thought that a toilet is disabled).I could have done without the Cadbury's karaoke in the interval but we did get free chocolate! All the interpersonal skills will be the subject of our next training session in the depths of Hackney next month.
It was dark inside and my other pictures don't do the occasion justice but in my wildest dreams I don't think until yesterday I had comprehended just how huge London 2012 is going to be.
Bring it on I say!
And the diet? Well today it's getting back on track but I have a filthy cold and don't much fancy food anyway so that has to be A Good Thing.
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