I’m a Londoner born and bred and being British, wasn’t looking forward to The Olympics descending on my home town this year. I grumbled quietly about the road closures, complained about the parking restrictions, worried about the transportation systems imploding, feared overcrowding throughout the city and, found the whole idea of weeks of sport featuring athletes I had never heard of – one great big yawn.
I was the kind of girl that always had a note to get me out of sports lessons. I have some horrible affliction that means I can’t judge the speed of any ball headed towards me, shut my eyes when firing a gun, played hockey once or twice but “retired” once I received a black eye and find that due to an over abundance of mammary glands that all kinds of running just hurts!
Then having witnessed the 2011 London Riots, I had grim forebodings of big,big trouble once London was on the world stage…not to mention our ever growing enclave of potential, if inept, terrorists.
Our newspapers stoked the gloom. Security was a nightmare, troops were called in, unpaid volunteers were going to be used as slaves, London was going into meltdown, it was all costing way too much…
The Opening Ceremony
I was prepared to watch this through my fingers given the embarrassment of the London Bus sequence at Beijing. As the ceremony started, I was gripped in a mixture of horror and fear. Sheep? Peasants? Huh?
This is what I posted on Facebook:
Possible foreign misconceptions following the opening ceremony:
1. The British are a large sheep rearing nation
2. The English peasantry haven’t changed much in 100 years – they seem to be high on something, possibly involving apples?
3. The British particularly like children
4. We are very proud of our steelworkers
5. British businessmen still wear top hats and frock coats just like in the movies
6. The old fashioned women in sashes are our beauty queens
7. Mary Poppins features in a Harry Potter story
8. The British worship something called NHS
9. The Queen is actually a transvestite stunt-man
10.French is their first language
And by the closing ceremony, I wrote:
1. It didn’t rain that much.
2. Team GB were sweet, funny, talented, humble and inspirational winners
3.Terrorists failed
4. Transport worked
5. Schedules kept
6. A unique opening ceremony
7. London looked amazing
8. We got to see the Camerons and Boris dancing!
9. TV coverage was great
10. We’re so proud of them all
Just two weeks to turn a cynical, sport hating Brit into a fan. Some kind of miracle?
ahhhh not me, transport did not work for me whatsoever …. a 40 minute bus drive became 1h and 30 mins …. if I have gained anything since moving to Britain, it is cynicism, and I think I like it ….. and by the way totally had the same view on the NHS …. we all hate what it has become and agree that it doesn’t work so what happened there?
Hey Angelique, thanks for reading! Yep – there were some transport issues ( a friend of mine got stuck next to an empty Olympic lane for 2 hours) but it was not the usual Brit meltdown we expected, ever seen what happens when it snows here? Everything and I mean everything stops!
Looking into the NHS thing, it appears it was a left wing political jibe at the government, Danny Boyle is a typical Champagne socialist – hence the emphasis on industry ( we have none) and the NHS (on its poor knees) and a nod to early feminism and immigration.
Talking to friends outside GB most countries could not make any sense of it!
Ha ha. Good post. The opening ceremony was a bit oddly put together, I agree with you there. What I enjoyed, though, was the sight of eager, elated faces everywhere — athletes and the volunteers. I loved the human aspect of the entire games. I was not very excited at first, but now I really miss them.
By the way, I don’t live in the UK but made sense of nearly all the points made in the opening ceremony. So, as much as I would like to, I don’t think any foreigners should pick on it for not making sense at least. What i drew from it is that the biggest export Britain gave to the world is popular culture =)
Nice to hear you ended up on the positive side – by all accounts I’ve heard, London did a great job s a host city!
Absolutely brilliant post, congratulations! I too had my reservations about the opening ceremony, and needless to say it made me a believer too.
I have to admit I thought is was going to be a disaster, but then I remembered it cost £11bn quid! And I think that’s what everyone else will remember when the next phase of government cust kick in and the recession starts to tighten it’s grip around they’re neck again. That said, being a natural cynic I did get all mushy about it my damn self… so I wrote a little post – it might explain Danny Boyle’s ceremony a bit better too!
http://beasleygreen.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/team-gb-from-riots-to-victory-were-all-in-this-together/
I am glad to read that you have changed your mind.
I am from Slovakia and I must say that the it was just amazing and Great Britain made every effort to do it perfectly. 
very very interesting points
quite a read, haha!
Do you mind checking out my blog? its new and id really appreciate your opinion!
Thanks so much and great blog!
Yeah, I was very curious when I read NHS,lol. If it fails there ,you shoul take a look at SUS in Brazil.
The public money is being spend for the glory of the politician, and the CONTRACTORS.
Nice your post.
missing the olympics so much already!
I’m writing from Vancouver, Canada. I can’t discuss what happened directly in London, but I can say, it reminded me of how special it was for two glorious weeks in my host city. I love the energy the Olympics brings to town. When you live through it, see people strive to be more than they ever could imagine, for one instant in four years of their life, it’s a little humbling. Regardless of the marketing and corporate presence, at it’s core, the Olympics is still about people who strive to make a dream come true, and are willing to risk failure in front of billions to do it. It’s human drama at its best; positive, uplifting, and filled with a sense of hope that I adore. It changed our city, and our country in an amazing way. You were great hosts. Thanks so much for bringing back the joy of 2 years ago.
“Regardless of the marketing and corporate presence, at it’s core, the Olympics is still about people who strive to make a dream come true, and are willing to risk failure in front of billions to do it”
Well said, Michelle. There is just so much at stake. Many athletes couldn’t contain themselves even after a good performance! The job of a host is to welcome and entertain the guests, and on a national level, the citizens become the host. It is all such a warm thing.
Funny as. Having lived and worked in the USA I found this post particularly amusing. Many of the points that you made before the olympics are so true along with a great deal more. BTW as a Londoner they would probably all take you as Australian like they did my daughters or perhaps Irish as that seems to be the only part of the UK they think we all come from.
Great post.
Australian, Kiwi, South African, Norweigan …and Irish. Being Irish gets you free drinks though!
Norwegian? Never had that one but yes Kiwi & S African. I hope you milk the free drinks option regularly.
“Scandaweigian” they call me – in Wisconsin anyway! As for the Irish thing, I maintain the myth that I’m Oscar’s great grand-daughter and boy that opens doors! (Might be a grain of truth in being vaguely related but nothing proven!)
Caroline’s iPad
Brilliant!!
We are the same! but this olympics was really awesome I cant help it. Congratulations, London!
Thank you very much x
My hand is up. It was a great 2 weeks with London and the Brits on show.
Thank you…now onto the Para-Olympics …which there’s lots of talk about..
It must have been a huge relief for London, the instant that giant torce was extinguished. That being said, London nailed it! I absolutely loved the British flair that was infused into the opening and closing ceremonies, and I believe that the games as a whole has effectively quickened the pace of my growing anglophilia.
Unfortunately the coverage broadcasted in the US was horrible. NBC’s coverage of the games may have been botchy, but the whole experience has me seriously considering a visit to London. Cheers!
http://blog.enhancedviewhd.com/2012/08/16/nbcs-2012-summer-olympiad-keep-calm-and-tape-delay/
Well if you do – look me up! I heard that bits of the ceremony/coverage were cut in the US, but that’s probably just gossip!
It’s not, unfortunately. They cut a good bit of the closing ceremony toward the end, but cut back in for the Who.
It was available online, any event, full length. You just had to have a cable provider and your account information to log into all of the full length broadcast material.
I love those bags. Although I’ve never lived in the area where the Olympics took place (well, at the time) when I lived in Lake Placid (home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics) I used to have to plan ahead during Iron Man. Some people do rent out their house for thousands of dollars for the week, and so many streets are closed, it takes hours to get there, and literally impossible for find a parking spot.
You might be able to get a souvenir here:
http://thatbigeventinlondon.co.uk/
Thanks for your comments
Your list of possible misconceptions about made me pee in my pants. It’s so true!
Also, the games truly were amazing! I loved every minute of it!
Ha ha. I think one of our athletes who didn’t make it this time was known for peeing in her pants – Paula Radcliffe – inspired a generation!
Great post, I too was not looking forward to it but ended up mesmerised cheering for Britain in Weymouth in the sailing and generally looking forward to see what was happening each day! My husband even switched off TV in the morning after the closing ceremony was he so disappointed! I can’t say I understood the handover to Rio part, so I reckon it’s the job of the opening ceremony to confuse the living daylights out of everyone except the host country ;o)
The Rio handover made me think what the original pitch must have been: “Look we’ve got these chicks from a blaxploitation movie in the 1970′s dancing with lights on their heads, then they’ll be joined by one of the banana splits, a dancing security guard and a caretaker – then the climax is..Pele”. Gawd knows what that was about!
I loved every minute of the Olympics and I am not a sports fan at all! It also encouraged me to start exercising again. Well done GB!!!
Ah nice! Thanks
love the bags at the top of the page
Me too ^^ Somehow, it makes me laughing.
It was funny – I’m sure even funnier if the commentator wasn’t the BBC!
They are from a cool little shop in Shoreditch http://maiden.bigcartel.com/
Over here in the US, I was impressed with both ceremonies and the overall hospitality shown through the Olympics. Also, Mary Poppins is in Harry Potter as Professor McGonagall.
Job well done, London.
The thought of Dame Maggie Smith as an elderly and cantankerous Mary P (retired) is good enough to be made into a movie! Thanks for commenting x
The list of misconceptions is brilliant.
Ha ha. I was on Facebook during both ceremonies and the reaction from friends in other countries was hilarious! Thanks for your kind words x
Reblogged this on doodlejuice.
Great! Very nice of you and thanks!
I’m still seething because they spent all that money on allegedly promoting the UK when they are imposing VAT on work carried out on restoration, cutting back funding,and causing redundancies, so that we’re losing the very heritage that visitors to the UK want to see. The Olympics is such a circus, it seems to be about anything and everything but sport.
It’s a rather sinister money making machine in many ways. I’m interested to see what transpires as “The Legacy” and how much of that money (particularly from corporates) finds its way into grassroots projects…
Interesting!
Thank you. Glad you liked it x
Nice Article
Thank you very much! X
Thank you for sharing ^^
Thank YOU! Hope you’ll continue to pop by. X
^^ I’ll try.
Has it genuinely cured the cynicism or has it momentarily distracted England from the monumental problems it faces – or, even worse, will it be the seed of a new wave of cynicism as politicians desperately try to revive the “Olympic spirit” in an embittered and disenfranchised population – particularly those outside London who got nothing from the Olympics
Hello thank you for reading and commenting. I think the suspension of cynicism is probably fairly temporary. There’s already a big row about schools selling off sports fields and a very divisive discussion on “Let’s get all the kids into competitive sports” vs “Kids shouldn’t compete because it damages their self esteem.” I tried to get a certain corporate sponsor into supporting grass-roots sport for kids during and after the games – to no avail, sadly.
Pingback: men will pause « My Favorite Spaces
Thank you for liking and sharing. X
It all was pretty amazing (including an astonishingly easy commute) – I have to agree – but now it’s over (more or less) and cynicism returns (albeit slowly)! Thanks for a great summary of how many of us felt!
And thank you for reading and responding
I wasn’t sure how well the ceremonies might go but figured the games are always amazing. London did an excellent job overall and many of the memories from those two weeks in time will stick with me for years to come. This is coming from one of your neighbors across the pong by the way – USA.
Thank you! You guys did rather well I believe
I remain a cynic. It wasn’t a miracle. It was a form of indoctrination. We were all suckered.
Well, you may be right…we’ll see if there is such a thing as a ‘legacy’ post games … And if not, we’ve all been suckered as you say…
I think Danny Boyle did a half decent job of reminding us what our real legacy is during his opening ceremony. Protest and solidarity.
good to hear tv coverage there was great, tv coverage here in Australia was crap. Mostly swimming and more swimming.
But the Oz male swimming team were HOT – so some consolation! Our boys not much to look at, sadly!
Outside of Daniel Craig and Mr. Bean, I felt the opening ceremony was quite lackluster. Now let’s just hope West Ham gets Olympic Stadium!
Thank you for sharing ,i like nice post
My Mexican grandma watched the opening ceremony with me and now has a crush on Mr. Bean. Unfortunately, she was confused about all the British children being nursed in hospital beds. She thought there was some pediatric epidemic hitting kids in the U.K. Othewise, I am so glad I didnt miss your post. Such enjoyable reading. Cheers from the nation of Southern California!
ahhh i miss London, it sounds that you have a lot of fun with these tourists haha
i came back to say congratulations on being freshly pressed, london born human!! ;0) i couldn’t agree more with you on the contrast between what was expected and what actually happened. from speaking to others, many londoners felt the same. i certainly was a big ol’ grumpy boots about the impending collapse of our tube system, that my council taxes were paying for everyone else to have a party etc etc. but it was great. it was awesome. london was buzzing and happy for two whole weeks. bring on the paralympics , i say!!
Great post – Still hanging onto those happy feelings – saw some Handball and Swimming at the Olympics. It all went really well as you said – your lists are spot on – i would just add that I think the opening ceremony showed our ability to laugh at ourselves too. Best wishes.
I felt exactly the same way! nice post
I love the English and Great Britain…a whole nation of grumpy cynics and they’ve proven that it’s not only ok but cool to be that way.
Which nation has the grumpy cynics? England or Great Britain?
great britain, but with varying degrees of hilarity across the composite countries… ;0)
It appears, in respect of the Olympics, the cynics lost this particular round. I don’t doubt there will be more battles to be joined where they will have the upper hand
Pingback: “Inspire a generation(?)” – London 2012 Olympics « Rachel Marsden's Words
Good post! It said what we were all thinking. I’m a realist more than a cynic but was incredibly proud with how the Games went!
Thank you! Me too…