Greetings!  Before I begin my blog, I just want to apologize for not having a post yesterday for everyone to read.  Our schedule was packed and didn't allow for me to sit down and type, so I will summarize a few things from yesterday in this blog.
 
Yesterday morning was our last session in the lecture hall, but it was individuals presenting on their experiences as Olympians or in the Olympic Movement in a different way.  Adam, the swimmer from Australia, was the first to present.  It was pretty interesting to hear him say that the most important thing he's gained while competing in three different Olympic Games is the friends.  He has one gold and two silver medals from the Olympics, yet the medals he's won were his fourth most important thing – that truly is an example of the Olympic Spirit.  He also told us that he was the oldest swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games since 1930.  Crazy, because he was only 32 in Beijing. 
 
Adam was asked by Professor Gangas about what his most memorable moment of the 2000 Olympic Games.  Being that it was a home Olympic Games for him, I can imagine how special that would be.  But the best moment was when he was there when fellow Australian Kathy Freeman struck gold in the 400 meter run.  He and about 150 of his Olympic teammates didn't have tickets, so they had to crash the party.  The funny thing is that was not the last time that Adam had to sneak into an Olympic venue.
 
The next presenter was Vatche Zadourian, who competed in the 1992 Barcelona Games in cycling as a teenager.  Vatche is from Lebanon, where a civil war was fought from 1975-1990.  When Vatche was 14, his brother competed in the 1988 Seoul Games, and that is when he dreamed of being an Olympian.  Imagine cycling in a nation where a war was being fought … as a teenager.  Every morning before training, Vatche would put in his cassette tape listen to "Barcelona," the duet by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe.  We all know of people using music to motivate themselves, but I found this to be a great story.
 
After our last group discussion yesterday, we had a competition that is modeled after the Olympics.  Each discussion group (mine was English Group 8) was a team, and we had 10 events to compete in.  Each team could have one member compete in each event.  We had a sprint (about 90 meters), 1000 meter run, 500 meter relay (with six members), standing long jump, standing tennis ball throw, and arm wrestling.  I was able to stave of the requests of my group to have me do arm wrestling, so I was able to do the tennis ball throw.  I came in third, behind Solvi (Iceland) and Lazcur (Turkey).
 
Under the full moon late last night, a few of us upheld a tradition of participants at the Session for Young Participants at the IOA and ran on the track on Ancient Olympia.  It was truly an awesome experience for the 14 of us who did this, as we were the first ones to do it this year.  It was simply 192 meters down and 192 meters back, but it was incredibly memorable.  Fortunately, it wasn't cold. 
 
Countries were allowed to show videos to the group last night, so it was cool to see footage from places like Malaysia, Iceland, the US Virgin Islands, among others.  The video we played was a highlight video of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, but even though it was an American video, the audience liked it.  Of course I liked the video, too.
 
Tonight was our Arts Happening, which was a show of acts (dancing, singing, poetry, etc.) that have been worked on this week.  I actually was part of three dances, and all were entertaining.  The dances were traditional dances from Russia, Italy, and Greece.  The sirtaki (I swear that it's pronounced tsiltaki) was the last part of the evening for everyone.  I mean, it was the last item scheduled for the Arts Happening.  After we performed the sirtaki, everyone who had a role in the show tonight came to join us on the "stage." 
 
Tomorrow morning is the last session at the IOA.  The discussion groups will be presenting our papers, so I put together our PowerPoint presentation that we will use.  After the session, which will also serve as the closing ceremonies (I think), we will have time to head to Olympia to further explore the town.  I've been to town a handful of times, but I think the feeling of accomplishment and the lack of looming tasks will change the atmosphere for us, and town will be even better.  I need to find the post office to put some postcards, as I have yet to do so. 
 
I realized that this experience at the IOA is difficult to put in words, and has been all along, but I know that it has changed me.  I guess I equate it to when people talk about athletes who have "it." No one can define it, they can just identify those people who have it. Similarly, I just know that I'm changed.  In addition to that, I have certainly met some great people who I hope to remain in contact with.
 
Citius! Altius! Fortius!
 

Greetings from day 8 at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece. Today was the last of our lectures (we had two this morning), and now we have group discussions as we prepare for our second presentation.
 
Our last lecturer this morning was HRH Prince Faisal Al-Hussein from Jordan. Yep, the Prince of Jordan was the last lecturer of the Session for Young Participants.  He flew in a helicopter to the IOA, so it sat on the football field all last night and until around 2:00 PM today when he left.  He's the President of the Jordan Olympic Committee, so he is very involved in the Olympic Movement. 
 
I've been going to the dance workshops in between the last two days, which, as those who know me can attest, is fairly out of character.  At yesterday's session, we learned a traditional Greek dance called “tziltaki.”  I'm sure the spelling is incorrect, but it's a fun group dance.  Unlike the dancing that I am used to, that you can count either 1-2-3-1-2-3 or 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4, there is no counting for the difficult part.  Well, I guess you can count to 13, but it doesn't repeat itself, so it was good that we practiced it again today.  Actually, it was good that I practiced it again today.  I'm not sure, but the 10 people or so that have practiced the dance are going to do the dance in front of the entire group tomorrow night, so if that's the case, I will try to get the video up for people to see.
 
I was thinking about the group of friends I have gained over here, and I can't help but be amazed at how well I have connected with some of the people.  Of course I will forget some, but Denis, Fergus, Emily, Sarah, Jens, Jerome, Megan, Tiina, Adam, Florian and Jesper, and Anne all come to mind. 
 
Certainly I need to mention Murod, too, as part of my group of friends. His English has really improved and we're able to talk to one another now.  From time-to-time, we have to write down the word(s) we're trying to say, but we're able to more freely communicate.  And to think, English is Murod's third language, as Tajik and Russian are his first two. Rafiqi mon Tojik.
 
Last night was another social presentation, and there were about a dozen countries who presented.  The Estonians had a great presentation that tied their Olympic past with a game.  Estonians are traditionally strong in cross-country skiing, wrestling, and cycling.  20 pairs of people were needed, so I was one of the 40 people who went in front.  It was a great game that wound up with just one group left – not mine unfortunately. 
 
I think that there are different mosquitoes in Greece than what I'm used to.  I have 8 mosquito bites on my left arm, but none of them itch at all. I'm certainly not complaining about that, but I am confused.  And the second difference – they don't make noise when they're flying around to give warning.  So each day I wind up with more bites, but I have no idea when they're attacking me!
 
Quick update on the tennis.  I won my first round match against Qiu, but haven't played since.  I'm not sure how it worked out, but the posting for the semi-finals came out about three hours ago, and I wasn't one of the semi-finalists.  Hmm…not sure how that worked, but it's fine.
 
Tomorrow morning more of my contemporaries are going to read their essays, so I'm looking forward to hearing what people have to say.  I always enjoy hearing about other people's journeys in the Olympic Movement.
 
Citius!  Altius!  Fortius!

Greetings from Olympia, where it is a little cooler than it has been.  There is a breeze today, so the heat isn’t quite as stifling.  That will come in handy tonight, as I have a tennis match against Xiu from China at 6:00 PM, and a football game at 7:00 PM.  I have been placed on Team Zidane, which is named after former French national team player Zinedine Zidane, who is most famous in the US for being sent off in the final game of the 2006 World Cup.
 
Yesterday the main speaker was Irena Szewinska, a 5-time Olympian (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980) from Poland.  All told, she took home 3 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze medals from the Olympic Games.  During her career, she set 5 World Records.  No big deal, right?  She spoke briefly about the terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, and said that the athletes were hoping that the Games would not be called off.  When asked about other political activities, she said “In Mexico City, we could see the black hands of the two athletes but that was related to something in the United States.”  I have seen the famous act by Tommie Smith and John Carlos many times in pictures, and heard them speak about this on ESPN’s Sports Century, but I was a little surprised that this was seen by other competitors as a big deal.  I fully admit my naivety to the brevity of the situation, as Irena made it known that it was a big deal world wide.
 
Last night I was following the Twins-Phillies game on ESPN GameCast while sending e-mails back and forth with my brother.  I went to bed when the Phillies went up 8-3 in the 3rd inning, so I was pumped to see that the Twins came back in the 9th with 5 runs to force extra innings, and then finally won in the 11th.  I was given a piece of paper with the Twins’ schedule, so I always know when to check the results.  So far, the Twins are 3-2 since I left.  Go Twins!
 
I was ambitious this morning, as I decided to go on a run into Olympia and back.  Our schedule is pretty much booked during the day, and it’s way too hot to run outside at that time anyways, so I knew that I had to run this morning in order to get my workout in.  I wore just my shorts, and when I got back to the IOA, I joined the morning exercise group.  I was the only one not wearing a shirt, so I asked one of the coordinators (supervisors) if it was okay that I didn’t have a shirt on.  His response?  “You’re in Ancient Olympia – you don’t have to wear shorts if you don’t want.”  Ah, that’s okay, I will keep my shorts on.
 
It was quite ironic that my playlist this morning was all Eric Church, as I just saw him in concert two days before I left.  When we were out to eat before the concert, our server noticed two of my friends’ cauliflower ears.  She asked if we were boxers, so Sam Barber, the assistant coach at the Air Force Academy, without missing a beat said that we were members of the Arkansas River Boxing Club.  That being said, any guesses to what the morning exercise was?  Boxing.  Only fitting.
 
When I went back to my room to shower before breakfast, I noticed that I had an e-mail from a very well respected man in the wrestling world.  He is following this blog, so he had some advice for me: Work hard, carry the colors well, soak up the Olympic Spirit, make friends, but don't forget to shower.  Great advice.
 
Our lecturer this morning was an archaeologist, and he spoke about the idea of the Olympic Truce.  I was sitting next a Swiss participant, and she said that she was going to have to look up the word “truce,” because she thought all along he was speaking of “truth,” but she was mistaken.  I wonder how many other people that speak English as a second or third language think the same.  I forgot to say that the professor was from Austria, so I thought that he sounded just like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The professor pointed out that the Greek words for peace (eirene) and truce (ekecheiria) are not the same, as truce was only a cease-fire during the Olympic Games.  I have a feeling that this will be discussed a bunch in the next week-and-a-half.
 
The World Cup is really drawing the attention of people here.  Last night, as Denmark and Cameroon were playing, many of the participants were fully engaged in the game.  Daniel, one of the Danish representatives, was draped in the Danish flag and wearing a red Viking hat.  Needless to say, he was just a little excited when the Danes went up 2-1.  If you watched the game, you saw that there were many times when both teams had great chances to score, so the crowd was very raucous.  I will video tape the crowd one of these nights and try to post the video on our YouTube site.
 
At the end of our lecture this morning, Weipang Lu from China came over and we traded pins (a common practice here).  I asked him what his American name would be, and he said that it is Kevin, because he is a big Kevin Garnett fan.  He said that his e-mail address and Facebook are both Kevin, so I guess I tend to believe him.
 
We brought some gifts over to the IOA from the USOC (basketball, football, volleyball, swim goggles, among other items), so we had to speak to the dean and ask when he would like for us to present to him.  Well, when speaking to him, we found out that Angie and I are scheduled to read our essays used in the application process aloud.  Wow, neither of us knew that was coming, so now it’s time to read over my essay so I’m prepared tomorrow morning.  If anyone would like to wake up in the middle of the night to check this out, go to www.ioa-sessions.org at 4:00 AM  Eastern Time to tune in.
 
Citius!  Altius!  Fortius!
 
UPDATE: I held on to defeat Qiu from China in tennis tonight in the first round.  We played to 3, and I won 3-2 (7-2).  I seemed to pour it on in the tiebreaker.  I think I was playing uphill, which seemed to work perfect as I normally hit balls long when I try to hit the ball harder.
 
Well, the votes are in for Man of the Match in our football game.  No, there are no votes of such a thing, but I can tell you that I definitely would NOT have been voted such.  My team lost 8-1.  No joke, 8-1  Hopefully I’m not too sore tomorrow or Tuesday from running and cutting. 

It's Thursday, which is the first day of group presentations.  I put together the 22 slide PowerPoint presentation, so I was glad when I was able to knock that off of my list of things to do yesterday.  There were 12 groups who presented (2 French, 10 English), and each presentation lasted about 10 minutes.  Each group had the same compulsory topic to present on (what is the purpose of the Olympic Movement), and then we were able to come up with our own questions for the last two.  After hearing the same lectures this week, there wasn't a ton of variety in the questions, but everyone had a little different take on them.
 
During the two presentations that were in French, I found it funny that when the speakers changed, they still sounded the same.  Of course the speaker didn't sound the same, but the translator in my headphones sounded the same!  Maybe I was more amused by my revelation than everyone else.
 
An interesting item was the use of "handicapped" instead of "disabled."  That was hammered home during college at Wisconsin, as I had an Adapted Physical Activity concentration, so every time I hear the word handicapped, I automatically want to tell the person talking that it's disabled. 
 
Murod just told me that he's been married for 6 months, and then he said that if I get married, I'm supposed to write him and he'll come so we can dance together.  I might have to take him up on that offer, as I think everyone would thoroughly get a kick out of him.  I had a tough time keeping a straight face, but I was able to respond.  Murod's English is getting a lot better.  Maybe it's the "Tony my brother, Tony my brother American" statements he says every time I enter our dorm room that has catapulted him forward in his quest to learn English.
 
On my last three trips to town, I have managed to jump in a car that has brought us to the IOA.  The road here is under construction, so it actually involves taking a detour on either a gravel/rock road or a detour on the road with the most potholes I have ever seen.  Fortunately the detours aren't long, but lining up a ride always makes for a good story.  Last night was the best of the three stories so far.  We were walking down the main street in Olympia, and there were seven in our group.  Three hailed a cab (it costs 4 Euro per fare, regardless how many people are in the car), so the four of us kept walking.  The ride should have taken about five minutes, so we figured if we really didn't want to walk, the taxi would be back in 10 minutes. 
 
About a block later, a guy was standing on the sidewalk between a store front and a car.  We just started asking "Taxi?" repeatedly.  The guy was clearly not a taxi cab driver, but he told us that if we helped him take down his jewelry shop for the night, he would give us a ride home.  Sweet! The four of us immediately got to work, bringing in the displays in from outside and setting the goods down on the counter.  We made quick work of the task, but we made sure to take some pictures of it all, as it looked like we were robbing the place.  One of the Swedish representatives, Sofia, was with, and her father is Greek, so she can speak Greek fluently, which eased our minds.  The driver spoke great English, too, so I figured we were covered. 
 
The drive took probably as long as it would have taken to walk, but what fun would that have been?  We learned why the Alpheus/Alfeios River is named so, and we stumbled upon a one-car accident about 100 feet from the entrance to the IOA.  More on that in a second.  Our driver took the gravel/rock road, and didn't go over 15 kph.  We came to two intersections on the road, so I made sure to say "clear" because no cars were coming.  Of course the three in the back seat laughed each time, as there wasn't a soul in sight!  We were probably the only car that drove on the road the entire day, so of course there wasn't going to be traffic to contend with.  I did this, though, because our driver put on his blinker both times and came to a stop (I shouldn't complain about his good driving habits, should I?).  After the second time, I was informed that I didn't have to say "clear" anymore.
 
Okay, now the car accident.  A little black Audi actually went in the ditch at almost a 90 degree angle.  His back right wheel was in the air, the hood/bumper at the bottom of the ditch, and the rocker panel resting on the edge of the ditch.  In other words, he was going no where quick.  When we came to the scene, the tow truck was there with the lights flashing.  A rope was already hooked on, presumably to winch the car out.  Nope, no need for a winch when you can just put the wrecker in first gear and pull the car out of the ditch.  Since the wrecker and rope was blocking the road, we sat and watched everything happen.  Once the car was back on all four wheels, they unhooked the rope and the car pulled ahead 50 feet like nothing happened!  We quickly took off, and as we drove by the car, our driver said "no damage, just grass."  Um, I don't think that's quite the case, but in the dark it was tough to see.  Nonetheless, it was a very entertaining ride home.  If you ever come to Olympia, Greece, be sure to pay a visit to the friendliest jeweler in town, Athanasios Fotinakopoulous, a visit.  In case anyone is wondering, I had to look at his business card about 8 times to make sure that I spelled that correctly.
 
Tattoos aren't nearly as common here as they are in the US, so Tony the Tiger tattooed on my right calf has drawn a lot of attention.  Most people say "Kellogg's," "Tony," or "Tigre."  I guess that Frosted Flakes are sold worldwide, and that Tony the Tiger is Tony the Tiger. 
 
We had an early morning today.  By early I mean that we left the IOA at 5:10 so we could walk to a hill that overlooked the entire valley.  Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the IOC and the modern Olympic Games, spoke of watching the sunrise from this point, so we trekked there in the dark.  I was the first to the top (it wasn't a race, I was just first in line), so I took pictures of my colleagues one-by-one as they summited the hill.  Unfortunately the clouds didn't lift in time, so we didn't get to see the sunrise.  From the hill, though, we overlooked the site of the Ancient Olympics, the International Olympic Academy, and the city of Olympia.  We did find a different route to ascend the hill, so a handful of us will organize another trip one of the remaining mornings.
 
Lastly, I just saw a funny sight.  The semi-finals for the football tournament are going on right now, and one of the participants (who plays in 13 minutes) just walked by my room smoking a cigarette.  Classic.
Citius!  Altius!  Fortius!