A taste of Olympic glory

How much would you spend to watch one of your favorite events at the Summer Olympics?  $50?  $100?  $500?  $1300?  What about for an event you don't really care about, but you feel like you should go to, because it's the Olympics?  And what if an all-time great would be competing...like Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt?  These are questions I asked myself when I was submitting my ticket application for the 2012 Olympics in London.  The applications were due over a year before the actual games, which meant I had to plan ahead. 

I've always loved the Summer Olympics.  I have so many great memories of past American Olympic heroes like Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, wearing my 1992 Dream Team basketball t-shirt (I still can't believe Christian Laettner was on that team), Greg Lugainis hitting his head on the diving board in 1988, and Kerry Strug sticking the landing to clinch a Gold medal on a sprained ankle, then collapsing to the ground in pain.  I also had a huge middle school crush on Shannon Miller.  During every Olympics we adopt heroes, we hear their names repeatedly on TV, and read about them in the newspaper.  In the course of just a couple days, they turn from unknowns to heroes we feel that we know personally.  I have no idea what they are doing these days, but the names Dominique Dawes, Karch Kiraly, Janet Evans and Florence Griffith-Joyner bring with them a sense of pride and accomplishment.  And of course, every Olympics has its feel-good stories that make you proud to be a human, like these from 2012. 

Since London is only a 2 hour flight from Warsaw, and Mike and Patty were going to be living there, there was no way I was going to miss it.  The only question was how much I was willing to spend. 

 

I had to be here!

I sat down with my schedule of events to pick out what I was going to apply for (it's like a lottery, where you apply for a bunch of events and get a notification later if you've won the right to purchase them).  I wanted to pick events concentrated in the same time period so I could go for a week and attend as many as possible.  The tickets to preliminaries were always cheaper, but I thought paying a bit more for finals would be worth it (where winning actually matters).  I made my initial round of selections: Gymnastics, swimming, and athletics were top priorities...they were always my favorite events to watch.  And of course, they are the most expensive.  I didn't want to sit in the nose-bleed sections so I was looking at at least 80-150 GBP per ticket to some of the prelims, and double or triple that for the finals.  I applied for a couple of each, just to be safe.  Then I added other events I never watch normally, but thought would be fun, because, hey, it's the Olympics.  I considered events like diving, beach volleyball, badminton, tennis, speed walking (just kidding), and water polo.  I applied for one of each of them as well.  Finally, the sports I wanted to see the US play in...soccer and basketball.  The tough part about these is you apply for dates and times without knowing who is playing.  So I just picked random dates hoping for the best.  The US men's soccer team didn't even qualify in the end, so obviously I didn't get to see them. 

After entering all of my selections, the website added up the total potential cost, and came with a warning: "There is a chance you will get all of these tickets, so you better have enough money to pay for them" or something like that.  That scared the crap out of me, because the total cost of all my tickets was 5,000 GBP.  That's almost $8,000.  What the heck was I doing?????  I even submitted for a 450 GBP ticket for the 100 meter final to see Usain Bolt (the most expensive seats were 750 GBP!).  Secretly I was hoping I didn't get them because that's way too much money.  

Finally, the tickets were awarded.   Patty, Mike and I were in touch with each other about which tickets we got, and for a long time the news was not good.  I finally received my notice...and I was the proud winner of...men's soccer quarterfinals for 45 GBP.  So rather than spending 5,000 GBP, I spent about 100 on 2 tickets.  They have 80,000 seats in the stadium, so it was actually easy to get tickets. Luckily, as the event got closer, they released more tickets (presumably because people were selling their tickets back to the London2012 website).  I checked back quite often, and in the end, also got gymnastics, beach volleyball, and through Mike, the women's soccer finals.

***************************************************************************

Warsaw recently opened a second airport for the low-cost airlines (Wizz Air and Ryan Air), which is a bit outside of the city.  I had to take train to Modlin, then a bus to airport, which was much slower than flights from the main airport, where the bus from my apartment goes all the way to the airport. It took about 2 hours to get from home to gate, and I was at the mercy of the train schedule. So I arrived 2.5 hours before flight because it was the only train that would get me there in time.  Normally I would leave for the main airport 2.5 hours before my flight, so in this case, it took an extra 2 hours to get there.

During the trip I didn't have much time for fun, other than the events, some dinners, and work.  Yes, I worked during the day.  Sure, I took a couple days off, but it wasn't a full holiday.  I just have the flexibility to work remotely sometimes.  

On the first night I met with Chen and we watched some events on a big screen TV in the park next to the PwC office. It was nice atmosphere, there was good food and beer available, and was just sat and enjoyed the games.  Afterwards we went to a food event, featuring Iron Chef Morimoto.  At this event, we had 30 minutes to eat and drink as much as we wanted; food ranging from sushi to dumplings to noodles to meats, including beer, wine and soft drinks.  It was quite delicious...and in the end, Chef Morimoto showed up and we got to take a picture with him!  And did I mention it was free?  Awesome. 

Watching the games in a park next to the Tower Bridge

Me and Chen with Iron Chef Morimoto

The next day I went to beach volleyball with Steph, a friend I met when living in SF who is from UK.  There was a sense of excitement around city, but somehow the city didn't seem that crowded at all.  I think all the Londoners were told to get out of the city to avoid the crowds...which they did...and in the end, it seemed like there were fewer people leftover than normal!  It was great to not have to deal with the crowds that I had expected. This article talks a bit about how tourism actually suffered a bit during the games.  We got to watch Latvia v Norway men (Latvia went on to win bronze) and Brazil v Netherlands women (Brazil women also won bronze).  

 

Me and Steph

 

With one of the Latvian v-ball players (the Dutch girls were too popular for me to get a picture with)

Next was the soccer game...going to Wembley was pretty cool, but honestly not as majestic as I expected.  It's a nice and very big stadium, but I expected some magical place for some reason.  James (friend from Zimbabwe who worked in Seattle with me, and now lives in London), came with me.  We enjoyed a Mexico victory over Senegal (although we cheered for Senegal the whole time).  Mexico went on to win gold, so it was a good game for us to catch.  One thing we noticed is that when they do the wave cheer inside the stadium, they call it the Mexican Wave.  We thought they did that because Mexico was playing...but then we noticed that during every match they call it the Mexican Wave.  I don't know if I (or other people) should feel offended by that.  The Brits are definitely not as sensitive to using "PC" terminology the way that we are in the US.   

James in front of Wembley

80,000 people walking to the subway afterwards - surprisingly it was very organized and quick to get out

The premier event for me was the gymnastics finals in a suite (yea, in a suite) with Patty for men's floor and pommel and women's vault.  At first I thought that the pommel would be the most boring, but it ended up being the most exciting.  There were 2 Team GB gymnasts who medaled in it, so the atmosphere was very exciting.  A Hungarian beat out the Brits on a tiebreaker.  Even with the "loss", the GB fans went crazy. Throughout the entire games it was clear that they LOVED their athletes.  And they didn't always care if they won or lost...they cheered for them no matter what.  Everyone, including the TV announcers, calls the GB athletes by their shortened first names, often not even saying their last names (Jess, Mo, Vicky, Lizzy, etc) as if they are all friends.  Even when they finish 6th or 8th or 199th, everyone is so proud of them for doing their best.  In the US, if an American is 6th, we're disappointed and angry, or we just don't acknowledge it and focus on the next person who will undoubtedly bring home a gold.  I really enjoyed this GB attitude and I found myself cheering for all of their athletes.  People would get emotional with every GB win, cheering as if it was their home team winning the Super Bowl.  I guess we take our success for granted in the US...as long as we beat China and Russia in the medal count.  

Brits cheering on their Silver and Bronze medals on the pommel horse

On my last night, we went to the US-Japan gold medal women's soccer game.  I had already fallen in love with Alex Morgan when she beat Canada in the semi-final with a goal in the 123th minute, 30 seconds before the game ended (3 minutes into extra time of the last overtime period), and it was great to see the US take on the team that beat them in the last World Cup final.  It was a great game, and we were of course cheering like obnoxious Americans (especially Chen).  The US ended up winning a close one, and we ran around afterwards to celebrate the gold.  Unfortunately we were too far away to hand out flags to the players, but at least we got our Aussie friend, Suzie, to celebrate with an American flag with us. 

 

U-S-A! U-S-A!

 

A Japanese TV station wanted to interview us after this, but we don't speak Japanese

For me, it was great to watch the events, to see the Americans and Brits do so well, and to hear all of the great stories and accomplishments of all the athletes. There was a nice buzz in the city, but didn't quite match the level of excitement in Warsaw during the Euro 2012 soccer tournament.  We also heard about the athletes post-competition stress relief in the Olympic village.  Now when I see the athletes, not only do I think about if they are a fun/nice person or not, but I am also thinking about if they are a sleaze-bag.  Apparently there are crazy parties that go on in there, and lots of "college dorm" and "Spring break" activities.  I guess after training their whole lives for these events, they have to let loose somehow.  On my last day in London, I got a glimpse of the village (from behind the fence) when I visited the Olympic Park with an old UW friend, Mellanie.  The park was a huge space, with several big stadiums and arenas, an entire village just for the media (not as exciting as the athlete's village I imagine), super friendly people everywhere, athletes going for jogs (not the ones that are discussed in the article above), and we even saw Al Roker riding his bike to the Today Show set. 

It was my 4th trip to London, so I didn't really do much sightseeing, but it was nice to have more variety of food and quick takeaway options other than American fast food or kebabs.  Every day I looked forward to going for a jog around Regent's park or along the river and finding some nice takeaway lunch near Mike and Patty's place.  

 

Jogging around not-so-foggy London town

One funny thing about London is that many of the names of streets and other locations are hard to pronounce...some even harder than Polish names. I don't understand how this is possible, since supposedly we speak the same language.  I have to listen to the subway and bus operators to know how to properly pronounce them.  You have Leicester ("lester"), the mall ("mael", as in "malpractice", which makes absolutely no sense), Tottenham (tottenm), Greenwich (grenitch), Thames river (tims), and elephant and castle (lefan and cats). Ok, so I lied about that last one.  But, similarly, there are some very strange names as well.  Tooting, Colliers Wood, Shepherds Bush Market, and my favorite, Cockfosters.  It's always an adventure trying to say where you're going.

On my way home from London, I had so much stuff to carry.  I only brought a carry-on to avoid paying the checked bag fee of Wizz Air.  I managed to pack for 8 days (I did a load of laundry), and bring my computer...plus I forgot that I had to bring home some food Mike picked up for me in the US, a book that Patty borrowed in Croatia, and Olympic souvenirs.  In order to pack everything in, I had to wear lots of clothes to the airport.  All week I was checking the weather forecast for Friday, hoping it would be really cold.  The weather was generally good the entire time, but never too hot for jeans and a light sweater.  But of course, on the last day, it was hot...like high 80s...but in order to fit everything into my suitcase, I had to wear jeans, 2 shirts, plus a sweatshirt.  To make matters hotter, I had to find my way to the bus pick up point to Luton airport, which required a lot of walking (and running to chase the bus).  By the time I found it, I was dripping in sweat.  For some reason, nobody on the bus wanted to sit by me. 

In the end, it was a great trip, and I would really consider going to the 2016 games in Brazil (or the 2014 games in Russia).  They say something like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I hope that I get to see it more than once.  Next time I just gotta find a way to get into the Olympic village...

Remembering the Warsaw Uprising, 68 years later

From 1939 to 1945, Warsaw was occupied by the Nazis.  Unless you were there, you couldn't imagine what it was like...with the fear, the fighting, the brutal genocide.  Completely outnumbered, out-equipped, and supposedly inferior, the Nazis expected the Poles to quietly accept their fate.  The failed 1943 Jewish ghetto uprising, was evidence that the city wasn't just going to sit around and wait.  Much of the city was destroyed, but that didn't crush the spirits or the hearts of the people. They would fight on in the following year organizing a brave and heroic resistance. And we still remember this 68 years after the first day of the Warsaw Uprising. 

Memorial of the Warsaw Uprising

At 5pm on August 1, 1944, the uprising began as part of Operation Tempest.  Surprisingly, they didn't have cell phones or Twitter back then to organize the timing, so messengers had to run around the city in secret, spreading the news about the planned attack.  Tempest was designed for Polish resistance to try to take back various cities around Poland from the Nazis. It was meant to be timed with Russia's move to take out the Nazi forces.  But the Red Army stopped short of entering Warsaw, waiting.  Some think that Stalin designed the plan to make the Polish underground think they'd have reinforcements, so they would begin the fight, to ultimately be destroyed in Warsaw.  This would weaken any resistance to a future Communist Soviet-led regime in Poland. 

The fighting lasted 63 days, and the underground had little outside support, even from the allies.  They fought with makeshift weapons, were completely untrained, and even women and children took part in the fight for their freedom.  The British and US didn't intervene, mostly because the Soviets wouldn't let them land their planes on their airfields.  The Polish government in exile was located in London, and they couldn't do anything.  Finally they made some supply drops but it was too little, too late.

Although they fought bravely and tirelessly, they were no match for the Nazi forces.  Many people died; soldiers, members of the resistance, and regular citizens.  After the uprising was quieted, the Nazis decided to make an example of Poland and destroyed all of the buildings systematically with dynamite.  About 85-90% of the city was in ruins when they were finished, a city complete uninhabitable.  This video, which is shown in 3D at the Warsaw Uprising Museum (which by the way is one of the most interesting and moving museums I've ever been to), shows a computer generated fly-over of what the city looked like after the destruction.

How the city looked after the Nazi destruction

Because of this, the entire city had to be rebuilt, which happened under the Soviet occupation.  There are many "soviet-style" concrete buildings throughout the city, but the Old Town was rebuilt from scratch, to match the original design.  It truly reflects the spirit and desire of the nation to maintain its history and identity, thanks to the dedicated Polish residents.  It's a beautiful place and to imagine what it had gone through to be where it is today, it's very admirable. 

Every year the city pays homage to the uprising, remembering those who fought in the name of their country and to remember those lost during the war.  Flowers are laid out all around the city, and there are various celebratory events throughout, including a minute of silence to reflect and remember at exactly 5pm.  Some filmmakers captured this in a touching video.  Another of those events is the run called Bieg Powstania Warszawskiego (Warsaw Uprising Run).  Of course, WITC was there.

 

Remembering those who fought for freedom

 

Wreaths laid all over the city

This isn't the best quality video capture, but I just happened to be in Plac Zamkowy during the 5pm moment of silence.  It doesn't really do justice to the chill that went through my body as the entire square stood, froze, and remembered the fallen for one full minute (except some dumb lady in the video).  Even the restaurant customers, band, and horses stopped and stood. Here's my video.

Some of these events are captured in movies and books.  For example, the Pianist (the one in which Adrien Brody won an Oscar) is about a Jewish-Polish pianist caught in the middle of the Nazi invasion.  Another is the book The Zookeeper's Wife.  It tells the story of the zookeeper of the Warsaw zoo, and how he was secretly part of the resistance.  His wife ran the zoo, while he was doing business in the city, pretending to be sympathetic to the Nazis, fraternizing with those in Berlin, while the whole time secretly smuggling Jewish people safely out of Jewish ghetto and out of the city.  Obviously if he was caught, he would have been killed immediately.  It's a quite fascinating tale of a true hero (and it's a true story based on the memoirs of the wife).  Check it out if you are looking for an interesting book.

Being that it is still fairly recent, there are still a few first-hand stories about what it was like living in the city, or being part of the resistance during the war.  A friend of mine, Ola, had a grandfather who was 16 during the Uprising.  He has since passed away, but Ola told me about his being a teenage boy scout, who worked as a courier delivering messages to different resistance groups around the city.  Maybe he was even one of the people who delivered the messages about the start of the Uprising.  He was only a teenager, yet he was risking his life every day, fighting for his country and freedom.  Quite often they were traveling through the sewers to stay hidden. Her grandmother doesn't like to talk about it, even to this day, which is understandable.  But she still keeps the bloodied arm band that was worn to show his commitment to the cause. 

It's fascinating to know that this happened less than 70 years ago, and I live right in the middle of where it took place.  Being here has been extremely humbling for me to know that so much has happened in this part of the world that I never even considered before living here.  If you haven't visited me yet, I have to keep insisting that you make it happen...if nothing else than to learn a little more about this history and Polish spirit.

Maybe we can all take a moment of silence to remember what's important to us, and to realize how lucky we are to have something that's worth fighting for.  

 

I'd say this city is worth fighting for

I promise I was taking a picture of the flag

I apologize if something here is not 100% historically accurate, but I did my best based on my research, visiting museums, and from talking to locals.

Here's a bit more info if you're interested. 

http://www.warsawuprising.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising