The Village has been steadily filling up with athletes from all over the world and with them came the decorations. Now every block of apartments is draped with their country's flag. The Koreans with their GIANT blue banner emblazoned with "Team Korea London to London 1948 to 2012" celebrating the fact that their first Olympics was in fact the last time London hosted the games.
The Australians have decorated their apartments with Kangaroos and the Canadians have brought a giant red moose. Not to be outdone, we at Team USA had a box of flags along with a box of leaflets on how to respect the flag and we weren't afraid to use them! The only problem was the lack of tying holes and cable tie with which to tie them onto our balconies. Cue trip to local hardware store and confusing the shop assistant before returning with flag installation materials. It was an interesting trip particularly as we ended up picking up a Russian delegate outside the village who was lost trying to get into the Olympic park...my Russian is non-existent and his English wasn't much better! After safely depositing said Russian delegate to a secure location for pick up, we continued on to get on with the important matter at hand. However, with the lack of grommets to insert into the holes we had made (whilst fully respecting the flag), some good old fashioned resourcefulness had to be employed. Out came the superglue, some medical gloves, a pair of pliers and some brass washers. I didn't think I'd be performing surgery on a flag but there's always a first time for everything!
Turns out performing surgery on a flag wasn't the closest I'd get to the "day job" during my time here. That night I got a call to say that the medical team wanted me to be their assistant for the rest of the games time. Such a great opportunity for me as a medical student to be working directly with the US medical team! Since then I've been taking them to hospitals to see the facilities and trekking out to the venues. Finally getting to have a look around the Olympic Park this week really was special. It's an incredible place - we should really be proud. The buildings are impressive and the park itself is vast, I was shattered after walking around it! During my time with the medical team I've been stunned by the level of energy the team has and how they manage to keep going from 7am right through to 11pm just so they can be there in case any athlete needs their services in the clinic as well as getting on with all the administrative work that needs to be done.
Preparations are almost complete and athletes are pouring in. Team Welcome Ceremonies where every country is officially welcomed to the Village by the Village Mayor, invited to sign the Truce Wall and have their National Anthem played and flag raised are in full swing. The National Youth Theatre has done a fantastic job of creating a truly imaginative performance which has been really well received by the NOCs. There really is an excitement building in the village and I was lucky enough to be at the Team Welcome Ceremony for Team GB. The Village Plaza was full of athletes, officials, and high profile guests - Dame Kelly Holmes, Tessa Sanderson, Jonathan Edwards, Lord Coe, HRH Princess Anne to name a few. However it was the number of fellow Games Makers who turned out in force that I felt generated the electric atmosphere and sense of anticipation and expectation of what is to come over the next few weeks.
Next stop Opening Ceremony rehearsals... I and the rest of the team of NOC Assistants have been drafted in to march through pretending to be athletes so if you're lucky enough to have tickets, give us a wave! Unfortunately the parade won't be going all the way down to the U in the alphabet so we'll be standing in as Cote d'Ivoire. Hopefully we'll get to see some of it as on the night itself I'll be making sure the real athletes of Team USA get from the Village to the stadium for their welcome parade.
I really hope it doesn't rain...