I'm feeling very Olympic today

Earlier today Becca, one of my friends here, posted the Cool Runnings clip "I'm feeling very Olympic today" in honor of the beginning of the games. Today I felt particularly olympic as I attended my very first Olympic event:  Women's Fencing. I know that you're probably thinking "what's so cool about fencing?" but let me just say, the event was engaging and the atmosphere was full of energy in and around the ExCel Arena. Even though it wasn't swimming, I was hooked. 

This is a match between USA fencer N. Prescod and Hungary's A. Mohamed. Prescod did not make it past this round. 

It was so fun seeing different nations represented in the arena. Jane (who I attended the match with) and I met a variety of people from all over the world!

This is Jane. Follow her at janeloveswords.blogspot.com! This man from Thailand said that he loved her and from the looks of it, the guy in the back did, too!

This is the Queen and Mr. Bean, what an honor to meet them ;).

These are some very colorfully dressed men from Brazil and me. 

Here is a French mom helping her daughter paint up!

Tonight also had its share of adventures. We met a man who takes pictures of his stuffed animal squirrel and rat around London for a Facebook page. It started out strange and turned towards creepy but fear not, we are safe. We also were eating dinner at the mall's food court because everything closes so early here when the security alarm went off and partitions started coming from the ceiling. The automated voice eerily told us to get out. Panicked, we ran. After finally finding an exit (they are not marked as well here), we got the all clear signal. Don't worry Mom, we are just fine!

Also, a Lexingtonian, Lee Keifer fenced today and I got a shot of her and Jane wrote the short copy. Check it out here!

Tomorrow we may go to John Wesley's church for a service. Makin' my Methodists proud ;)

Hillary

Momentum

You know the the little torch-chasing thing I told you about? Well, it's up today! Check it and some of the other stuff out on LEX18's Asbury University at the Olympics page. It's cool to see our packages come to life. 


Today we focused on completing packages and writing articles. After a long day of staring at our computer screens, we tried to catch the Opening Ceremonies at Trafalgar Square. However, the screen that we thought would be there wasn't there, so we enjoyed the patriotic atmosphere surrounding the countdown clock that was at the square. A large group of rowdy Americans were shouting "USA! USA! USA!" with their red, white and blue garb and Budweiser products in hand. Nearby the French sat posed with their Flag and a group from Mexico was cheering and dancing. As I was getting a sense of everything going on, the clouds opened up and we started to get really wet. (Not as bad as Kentucky rain, though, or Florida's thunderstorms for that matter!) We ended up taking the tube back to our cute house and turned on the BBC. I'm still waiting for the Americans to walk in!

Here is a poor, unsuspecting man in front of the countdown clock in Trafalgar's square.

And for the big exciting news.....

                

I get to see fencing tomorrow!! Our school got us tickets. I am so excited!

Day 3=productive and exciting. So fun.

:) Hillary

Catching the torch and some fish

Today we started with a goal:  find the torch. It was paraded around London today and ended up in Hyde Park because the Opening Ceremony is tomorrow. We caught the torch at two stops: Sloane Square and Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives). At the first stop, we just saw it go by but at the second stop, we were surprised by the wealth of knowledge that a very patriotic man dressed up on the street gave us like the fact that U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney was behind the very gates we were standing across from. Who knew?

This is David Weeks. He dresses up in honor of all of the major events in England. His last trip up from his home several hours away was for the Royal Wedding. He likes to share his joy and knowledge of England with others. 

After catching the torch, which you can see on our WLEX site when it's posted, we worked on a bunch of human interest stories around downtown London. It was really cool to see the iconic structures in real life. 

Here is my team working on a video package for WLEX.

We finished up our day with a meal in Borough Market and of course, we got fish and chips. It. Was. Yummy. 

Bottled coke, fish and chips with salt and vinegar. Mmm.

Thus concludes day two. :)

Hillary

We made it!

 Yesterday my group left Lexington, Ky for London! For me it was more stressful than normal because in addition to packing, which I hate, I also had to move out of my on-campus apartment that I had been living in this summer. Luckily, I was blessed by being able to move directly into my dorm room. Phew!

My friend Courtney and her mom, Alesia picked me and Phillip up to go to the airport. On our way to get food, a member of our group who was at the airport called to inform us that our first flight from Lexington to Chicago was delayed due to weather, making it nearly impossible to catch our international flight. The airline had switched her flight, and after calling the airline, the airline had agreed to switch my flight too. Courtney, however, was not as successful with her airline operator. Because of this, we decided to wait to switch our flights until we were at the airport and after the kiosk clerk switched us, we were good to go.

This is Courtney and me on our international flight before we were squished by the people ahead of us.

On our first flight, we found a friend who was an incoming UK freshman going to see the equestrian events in London. She joined our group as we got lost in O'Hare and even took turns as we went off in small groups to get food and use the restroom. We lost her after customs in Heathrow.

Here is our group +Ali, in baggage claim in Heathrow.

While getting our bags, the Olympic team from Croatia was getting theirs!

We then were joined by our Prof and took taxis to our cute house in London! I swear that the taxi ride took an eternity. We were all so tired and hungry that it was an adventure, to say the least. While on the way, we drove through downtown and saw some sights. Here is a pic from the cab. Better pics to come, I promise!

Left is Big Ben, right is the London Eye. Taken from taxi cab.

We finally got out of our taxi! (to the right)

Our humble abode complete with pretty flowers!

That's all for tonight, folks! It's late here and I am so, so jet lagged. 

See ya later!

Hillary

Hello, world!

 After spending my formative years being dragged to the beach as a part of my mom's to-the-beach-once-a-week plan, seeing the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid, changed my world. Ariel made life under the sea glamorous, with her flowing red hair and fun fish confidant, Flounder. Instead of dreading the goopy sunscreen application, I was strapping myself into my car seat with anticipation hours before it was time to go. (Don't worry, my mom humored me and opened all of the doors of our minivan while I did this.) I wanted to be a mermaid.

Pre-K Halloween photo by my dad

Now, after years of beach-going, swim lessons and swim practices, I am about as close to a mermaid as my Pre-K self could have imagined. While the seaweed is definitely greener in the movie than in the competition pool, I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

So here are the over-chlorinated musings of a journalism student whose life is spent in two worlds. I hope you enjoy!

-Hillary