The highlight of the Olympic Academic Experience is the day of giving that is held in conjunction with the World Olympian Association. We set out at 9 am to shop at Oxford circus because people needed to get more formal attire. I bought a black cardigan and a tie. I had McDonalds for lunch with a couple guys. Coca Cola is activating their sponsorship of the games with a limited edition glass available only in London with a large meal. We the headed to the Wellington barracks to play games with children from East London. I was on Team Thailand and competed in the standing broad jump. I left the limbo contest for others. In the beginning, the kids were soft spoken but by the end, they were laughing and having a great time. Throughout the day, former Olympians came and spoke to us about their philosophies. They also inspired us with their stories and advice. After this, we got dressed up and headed to the reception. We all looked like a million bucks, or British pounds I should say. We had a delicious meal and I of course got seconds. We had a medal ceremony. After this, we celebrated our classmate Chris' birthday. We later went to House of Nations, a dance club. Luckily the DJ mixed up the Euro house music with some Urban musical stylings featuring US lyricists.

Day 4

I was out late the night before at Fabric nightclub with a couple guys on the trip. For a Sunday afternoon, I figured heading to Camden Town would be a great time spent. To get there, i walked for about 30 minutes along the shores of the north London canal. It looked like people have houseboats docked up but I did not see a yellow submarine. Once I happened upon the first market, I was in for a good afternoon. Camden Town is a hip, bustling shopping area unlike any other typical tourist shopping district. MTV has their Europe studios in this neighborhood. The streets were packed with shoppers, local and foreign. The stores were just as multicultural. Food carts and stands provided a diverse choice of food as well. I snacked on an authentic bowl of Chinese food. I looked around many shops and picked up an Indian 'paper star', I'll find a light to put in the paper star for my room at college next year. I also picke up an Olympic flag for 5 pounds. A perfect souvenir for this experience. I later finished my afternoon by having a beer in the 'world end pub' this watering hole was established before the black plaque swept through London. Fascinating to think about...I got caught in a rain storm and sought cover under an awning over an Indian food stand. Whatever it was that I had for dinner was really good. I headed back down the canal having had a great afternoon in Camden Town.

Day 2

Let the games begin! The energy filled the city as the opening ceremonies welcomed the world to London. We set out to watch a round of Olympic arching in the morning at the Lords Criket Grounds. After walking about an hour, we unfortunetly found out that a 'non ticketed' event means there is no admittance at all for spectators. Oh well. Some in the group had to pick up their tickets, some of us who had their tickets shipped split off to explore the town. A group of four of us made it around town and eventually ate lunch near our Hostel. Even found platform 9 3/4 too. We're near the British Library where there is an Olympic artifact museum that is free to peruse, I got a picture with a replica of the 2012 Olympic Torch. We met back up with our group and headed out to where the Olympic Park is. There is a big shopping center there and it was MADNESS!!! There were Olympians walking around, TV people filming segments. We almost got on one for SKY news but their camera wasnt working. After a while we went to Victoria PArk to watch the Opening Ceremony. We talked to locals and found out you needed to print a free ticket to get in. However, once we got there, Lori, one of the chaperones and myself, went to check out the 'queue'. Tickets were needed but not to worry, we walked up the line asking for extras and within five minutes we had 12 tickets for the group to get into Victoria Park to watch the games. It was incredible, we were so close to the stadium I actually saw the people who jumped out of the helicopter! The atmosphere was one of a kind. After the ceremony ended we stopped in a pub and had some good fun.

Day 3

We woke up to late and weren't able to get the breakfast at the Hostel. There was a group of 6 of us who decided it was time to see the historical,famous sights of the city. Right away, the exit out of the underground let out literally right under Big Ben. Amazing. We found lunch at a pub and walked along the South Bank of River Thames. We happened to stop by a street magician and I got dragged into the performance for being the 'tall america'. I was wearing a shirt with stars & stripes, I stood out like a clown at a black tie event. It was low key though. After a while people got tired and we almost made it to the tower bridge, where the rings are hanging on the bridge. A couple guys went out to FABRIC, maybe the best nightclub in town. My internet is running out of time but that is where the story of DAY 3 ends. I'm off to check ou

After many uncomfortable hours of trying to sleep on airplanes, we landed in London at 10am local time. Things were strangely unchaotic at Heathrow Airport, I was expecting chaos. After we got our bags, we hit the underground and made our way to our hostel near Kings Cross. My flight group of 6 was the first to arive, the later group got in 20 minutes later. Once we got settled we headed out to find lunch. After 3 tries, we found a great pub. I ordered the English favorite, fish and chips. After our class ordered a round of a fruity shot, not my choice, we headed out to Hyde Park. Our instructor bought us tickets to the Coca Cola torch celebration concert. I'm glad I came, thanks to the british pop band The Wanted, we got a taste of British pop culture. Check them out, cant get the paste function to work on this computer... Anyways, the concert was great and the beer was nice and cold. It was amazing to see the Olympic torch come out. An unreal sight to see. I got some great footage on my camcorder. We met some fun English people and had a lot of fun. We made it back to the hostel and after a doner kabab, hit the hay. There is 18 of us in one dorm style room, it is funny sight. Thats it for now. Cheers!

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go. OK, enough with the sappy John Denver music. I don't know why I am still up... it's 1:30 am local time and my dad is going to be mad at me for not getting any sleep. Oh well, my itinerary is condusive to sleeping, I'll be leaving the US to head to London Heathrow Airport at 10:00pm eastern time. 

I'll miss my family, friends and pets back home. I'll miss the California sunshine. I'll miss home cooked meals though I am excited to explore what new food London will open my tastebuds to. Still, to re-iterate my point, I don't know why I am still up at 1:30 am. Up to this point it has been what I like to call, 'organized chaos'. 

Between finishing the requirements for the course, visiting my grandparents and playing fetch with my golden retriever, it has been a busy week. But now is the time, London is calling. It'll be awesome to get into London and start exploring. Our first activity is to attend a Torch Run Celebration concert in Hyde Park, the next day is the final torch run into the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. 

So let the games begin!

Preparations for this for this trip have been ongoing upon admittance to the Olympic Academic Experience in October of 2011. Some parts have been easy while some aspects have been time consuming. Dont' get me wrong, I love to elarn and this course presents an amazing educational experience but the course has been time consuming. I have to find time to enjoy my summer while satisfying the requirements for this course. It has been awesome to dive into the subject of the Olympics, and with my academic focus at Oregon being Sports Business, I am consumed and enthralled with the course. To support the academic writing this course entails, I'll refer to my favorite academic texts such as the Writers Reference - Sixth Edition, They Say I Say and Writing Logically, Thinking Critically. I am learning a lot about the theory and organization of the Olympics. 

This will be my third time traveling to the European continent. I am lucky and grateful to have been to the great continent as a young adult. Being experienced with foreign travel will bode well for this trip. I already had my passport and ordered an International Student Idenitification Card. I look forward to traveling through the London Underground with ease and confidence after a few days in London. I purchased a Lonely Planet guide book on London and have spent time going over its pages and trying to figure out what sites I want to see in London. One day, some of my fellow classmates and myself will board a train and spend a day in Paris. It'll be nice to get out of London and explore the great city of Paris, cue the 'Tale of two Cities' jokes. 

Currently, I'm trying to get a sense of what free Olympic viewing opportunities there may be. I was in Germany during the 2010 World Cup and there were opporuntiies to view the games at restaurants and on city blocks. It will be amazing if there are opportunities like this in London. Tickets were available on the ticketing website 'Cosport' and I purchased a ticket to see a boxing event. I chose boxing because I've never seen a boxing match live and want to experience this sporting event. It is the only Olympic competition I'm going to, the tickets were rather expensive due to market demand and supply economics for Olympic sports. However, I do plan to spend time at the Olympic Park and will make it a point to see the cycling and marathon road events. 

I look forward to forging great bonds with my classmates while we are in London. It'll be great to meet my crew in the Newark airport and hop across the pond to London. I also look forward to meeting people from all over the world and to catch the Olympic Spirit. Go Team USA!!

I'm a big believer in the power of a well set goal. I've always tried to set goals before a academic term,or big experience begins. This trip is no different.The many opportunities offered through the Olympic Academic Experience  should be enjoyed and pursued actively through experiencing culture and professional/intellecutal development. 

1. To gain a high level of understanding of how the Olympics benefit the host city from an economic, cultural and environmental development standpoint.

2. To gain a high level of understanding of the organizational structure and purpose of the IOC, international governing bodies and national governing bodies.

3. To further develop my storytelling skills through blogging and writing the comparative essay.

4. To become a citizen of the world, tolerant and appreciative of other cultures and to explore the city of London to the fullest extent possible.

5. To develop life-long connections with my classmates and instructors in the Tiffin University Olympic Academic Experience.

 

I heard about the Tiffin University Olympic Academic Experience last summer, around late July. I remember checking my e-mail one summer day and got e-mail from the club advisor to the Warsaw Sports Marketing Club. It is exciting to get these e-mails, as you never know what amazing details are enclosed in the unread message. Obviously, when I saw the word ‘Olympic’ in the subject line, my heart skipped a beat. I was surprised. From the basic information about this program, I knew it was an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity to dive further into the subject of the Olympic Movement.  I soon closed my MacBook and went on with the rest of my day of sports and homework. But I wouldn’t let my mind forget about the e-mail and took down the application deadline. About 5 days later, I talked to my parents about the e-mail and asked them if I could apply. I made the decision to apply after reviewing information online and once I had the realization that there would be no language barrier, albeit a slight linguistic deviation from American English, in traveling to London. So I applied, and originally made the waiting list. Through attrition, I registered for the class and am here explaining how I heard of the Olympic Academic Experience. It all started that fateful day when an email was sent out to the Warsaw Sports Marketing Club.