The London Olympics are over.  What a ride it has been!!!  I thoroughly enjoyed watching the closing ceremonies last night, but I could not help but feel sad.  It's always sad to see the Olympic games end after 17 days of non-stop activity.  This year felt much different, though.  I feel a strong bond with these games, which is likely a result of going to see them in person.  A few weeks ago, I was right in the heart of it all.  I witnessed four different events on five different days.  I experienced a good portion of London (although there was definitely a lot I did not see).  I interacted with the natives and enjoyed the cuisine and the culture.  I also spent time with eighteen other people during these games, gaining their perspectives and opinions of the Olympics and forging lifelong friendships.  Yes, the 2012 summer games will always hold a special place in my heart, and to have seen them up close and personal was an incredible blessing.

There are two things that really separate the Olympic games from any other sporting event.  The first deals with all of the athletes and their storylines.  There are thousands of athletes hailing from over 200 different countries.  Some are extremely well-known and recognizable, such as American basketball player LeBron James and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.  Others have names that you would likely be hard-pressed to pronounce correctly (example: weightlifter Saeid Mohammadpourkarkaragh from Iran).  Some of them, like LeBron and Bolt, are so incredibly gifted athletically that the way they dominate the competition seems almost unfair.  Others have had to endure the heaviest of hardships on their way to the games.  One of the most inspiring stories of the London games revolves around an athlete from South Africa that had both of his legs amputated below the knee at a very young age.  This man, Oscar Pistorius, became the first disabled athlete in Olympic history to compete against able-bodied athletes in the games.  He was initially denied participation in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but he fought hard to earn his position in 2012.  Pistorius ended up qualifying for the semifinals in the 400 meter, and his team made it to the finals in the 4 x 400.  Other athletes have gained attention through their actions during the games.  For instance, an American sprinter named Manteo Mitchell broke his fibula during a semifinal heat of the men's 4 x 400.  He felt a pop in his leg about halfway through his leg of the race, but instead of pulling up, he decided to grind his way through the rest of the race.  He helped his team qualify for the final heat, where they finished with the silver medal (without his participation, of course).  It's stories like these that cause the Olympic games to transcend all other sporting events.

The other thing that makes the Olympics special is the raw emotion that comes with the games.  Because the Olympics are held every four years, the pressure that comes with each event is absolutely immense.  In American professional sports, players typically have a 10 to 15-year window to compete and accomplish their goals as athletes.  In the Olympics, there is more of an all-or-nothing feel.  The luckiest athletes have managed to compete in maybe three or four different Summer Olympics.  For many athletes, the amount of training and preparation that goes into these four-year periods would be enough to physically and mentally break many people.  I can only imagine the intense emotion that these athletes feel when all of their training pays off in their pursuit of Olympic hardware (or when it doesn't).  When I saw table tennis, I witnessed an incredible comeback from a South Korean singles player, who trailed 7-1 (winner is first to 11 win by 2) in game five of a best-of-five singles match.  This woman, who had blown a big lead in the previous game, looked so defeated and frustrated.  After she won a furious rally, she reeled off a huge comeback that won her the match and helped her team advance to the semifinals.  She collapsed on the ground after winning the final point, overcome with emotion after he incredible victory.  I've seen many other athletes in these Olympics in tears following their events, overcome with joy and happiness over their successes.  I have also seen the opposite.  When I was at Wimbledon, I saw Serena Williams completely overwhelm one of her opponents by a score of 6-1 6-0.  The Russian woman (NOT Maria Sharapova) was so upset over her match that she threw a temper tantrum, throwing her racket and kicking the tennis ball every which way.  During the timeouts, she would drape her towel completely over her head as if she were crying.  One night, I watched the women's 1500 meter final, where an American woman named Morgan Uceny got tangled up in a large crowd of runners at the start of the final lap.  Uceny fell down like a ton of bricks on the track.  She slammed the track in frustration and proceeded to cry for about twenty minutes.  She was inconsolable.  I almost felt like crying myself after watching this poor girl.  I have never seen a sporting event where family support was as large as it was in the Olympics.  It's so heart-warming to see these super-human athletes embrace their moms/dads/husbands/wives after their events.  It makes these sporting icons appear human and much more relatable to spectators.  These reasons all contribute to the extraordinary nature of the Olympics.

In my London travels, I also gained the knowledge of a much different culture than what is found in the United States.  I always believed that London was a very ideal location to travel to and see the Olympics.  Not only is England a lot different from the United States, but there is also no language barrier.  I almost never had any trouble understanding anybody during my stay.  I never had trouble asking for directions or deciphering the metro system.  Aside from the language, there was a lot to discover while in England.  I absolutely loved the accents that I heard on the trip.  I kept telling the others that hearing children talk with these accents would make me very happy.  We also heard a couple of people with Scottish accents, which I also enjoy hearing.  I really enjoyed how friendly and helpful everyone was in England.  Sometimes, I tend to assume that other countries naturally hate Americans and want nothing to do with them.  I found that a lot of British people were naturally fascinated with Americans.  They would get so excited when we said we were from America.  They would ask all of these questions about our country, such as the sports culture and the musical artists.  As for the city, it was much different from any I have experienced.  For starters, London has been around since the Romans ruled throughout Europe.  The earliest American cities have been around since the 1700s.  The biggest cities that I have been to, including New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, have healthy mixes of old things and new things.  In London, I felt that the scales were tipped more toward the old.  I saw a ton of churches, the Westminster Abbey, the London Tower, old-fashioned telephone booths and cars, a variety of old-fashioned pubs, and a ton of other historical sites.  London appears to be a city that is extremely proud of its history, and tourists from all over the world seem to have no problem with that.

In my travels, I have also found that people in London appear to be working hard toward cleaning up their image as a non-enviornmentally sustainable location.  I learned prior to the trip that the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) had pledged for the London 2012 games to be the most sustainable and most eco-friendly.  I was very impressed by their noticeable efforts in this area.  Each of the main Olympic venues I went to was very neatly organized and categorized.  All the toilets would be in one area, all the food stands would be in another area, and the waste receptacles were color-coded and categorized so that people would be aware of what goes where.  I remember traveling to Rome, Italy, five years ago and being unimpressed with how dirty and litter-filled the city was.  I did not have these same impressions with London, and I believe London is supposed to be much bigger than Rome.  Add in the fact that millions of people from around the world had flocked into the city to see the Olympics, and the pledge really starts to look like a reality.  Another thing that me and the rest of the group would notice is how quiet some of the cars and buses ran.  I have always wondered about how difficult it would be to drive in a foreign country because every country I have been to outside the US has had some fast-moving traffic flows.  Cars don't wait for pedestrians nearly as much as even the most impatient American drivers.  This made crossing the roads even more dangerous when you take into account how quiet some of these vehicles were.  Apparently, the UK is not against using vegetable oil and other more sustainable fuel sources to power their automobiles.  I just wish that the United States will one day adopt this mindset instead of depleting the planet's natural resources by the gallon.

This trip has also done a lot to affect my professional development and future career ideas.  This trip has made me realize how much I love the Olympic games and the ideals that they promote.  I am fascinated by different cultures and the many aspects of each culture.  It is amazing to think that thousands of people from hundreds of different countries all converge in the same location to represent their countries and compete for Olympic glory.  The stories, drama, dialogue, and emotion are all incredibly palpable to those who follow the games.  I still desire to be a minister of the Christian faith, but I believe the Olympic games provides an incredible opportunity for athletes to learn about and accept Jesus Christ.  I believe that the high-emotion atmosphere of these games creates a perfect environment for athletes, their families, and spectators to repent from their previous lives and accept the gift that Jesus has given them.  I am also a huge proponent of the Olympism ideal.  I think that it would be great to work in a position with the Olympics that allows me to enforce and promote this ideal.  This trip has also allowed me to network with different students across the country.  Since we are all in similar fields, we can keep each other notified of certain positions or opportunities that emerge in various locations.  All of my experiences in London have made me more confident and more bold in my pursuit of a future career field. 

Day 1: Wednesday, July 25
Day 13: Monday, August 6

Hope that helps!!!

I woke up to the sound of someone's phone alarm going off.  It was 5:30 a.m. London time.  Bonnie posted a sheet of paper yesterday with information regarding today's travel.  The part of the group flying from London to Chicago had to be on the metro by about 6:15 to make it to the airport with plenty of time.  I gathered all of my things and prepared to leave the hostel for the last time.  I said a final goodbye to everyone flying to Newark (their flight left a little later) and to Laura, who had decided to stay a while longer for a job interview.  I traveled with Rocky and Colleen toward the metro station, where we boarded the Piccadilly line and began the slow journey to the London Heathrow airport.  We had to switch trains along the way to get to the correct terminal, which caused us to meet up with the rest of the Chicago group.  After about 30 stops, we finally made it to our destination.

We learned that the airline we would be taking this time around was American Airlines.  We checked our bags in and printed our boarding passes, and I managed to fit my new basketball in my red duffle bag so that I would not have to carry it on the plane with me.  We ventured toward out gate, and along the way, we passed through a segment of the airport with Duty Free stores (with lots of tax-free alcohol and cigarettes) and fancy-looking lounges.  London Heathrow felt more like a Macy's than an actual airport.  While we waited for our gate, I ate a couple of small things to hold me over.  I had a Nutri Grain bar with peanut butter before we left, and I followed that up with some orange juice, milk, and a fruit & almond bar at the airport.  We found James and Leslie around the lounge; they actually managed to beat out the Chicago crew despite a later start.  Our gate finally opened after a short delay, so we said another goodbye to the Newark group and made our way over there.  We had to wait in line for a bit to finally check in to our gate, so I bought a bottle of water with the last of my pounds and pence.  After another short wait, it was time to board the plane.

The plane was a little bit smaller than the one we took to get to London, but not by much.  I sat by the aisle again, with Chris right across from me.  The flight lasted for about 8 hours, but this time, it went backwards in time.  We left around 11:00 a.m. London time and made it to Chicago around 1:00 p.m. Central time.  The flight back was much better than the flight there, in my opinion.  The food was much better.  I had some scrumptious mushroom ravioli for my early meal and some Chicago deep-dish pizza for my later meal (I would end up eating four meals that day).  The plane was much cooler inside than the last one.  In fact, it might have been a little too cool.  I had to cover up with a blanket and wear my USA jacket the whole time.  I did not watch any movies, but I listened to different types of music and played Tetris on the entertainment system on the back of the seat.  I also started to read my Gospel book by J.D. Greear, the main pastor of the Summit Church in North Carolina.  So far, it has been an extremely enlightening book that has taught me to separate religion from a healthy relationship with God.  I also tried to sleep a little bit, but that was largely unsuccessful.

Eight hours later, we arrived at the Chicago OHare airport.  I took my backpack and customs form with me and reunited with the group outside the airplane.  We had to wait in line for a long time before we finally made it through customs.  We also had to reclaim our luggage for the next flight.  In the meantime, Frankie, Derek, Colleen, and Rocky all left the airport to head home by themselves.  We said goodbye and then continued toward our gate.  Allie reminded me as we were going through security to head back and check in my bags again.  I caught up with them shortly and found the gate for our flight to Toledo.  We had to change our gate about a hundred times before we finally boarded the plane.

The ride, like last time, was extremely short.  I got a window seat, so I got to see the plane fly over Lake Michigan again and see it fly over rural Michigan and Ohio.  I also got to sit next to Katie Tiell, who entertained me with some interesting dance moves while she listened to her iPod.  We landed around 6:30 p.m. Eastern time (for reference, 11:30 p.m. London time) at the world's smallest airport.  We grabbed our luggage very quickly and proceeded toward the Dragon Wagon, which would drive us back to Tiffin.  Chris and Katie Scheff met up with their significant others at the airport, so they broke off from the group and said their final goodbyes.  I helped load the bags onto the wagon and then found a couple of seats on the spacious vehicle to lay down at.  I tried to sleep, but was a little restless for some reason.  I decided to call Stewart, the basketball coach that I work with, to give him some last-minute advice before our team, the Sixers, played their regular season finale against the undefeated Bulldogs.

We arrived at Tiffin after about an hour of driving.  Once we unloaded the luggage, I said goodbye to Bonnie, Katie Tiell, Beth, and Allie before getting into Lori's car.  On her way to Clarion, Lori would take me back to Hermitage, where I would stay the night with my Aunt Kim.  I helped Lori with directions, and we managed to find our way to a Wendy's to grab some good old American food for the road.  I offered to drive for Lori if she got too tired, but as the trip wore on, I leaned back into my chair and fell asleep.  I woke up when we were about ten minutes outside of Hermitage.  I made a quick call to Kim and told her that we would be at Sheetz very soon.  As Lori was pumping gas in her car, Aunt Kim and my cousin Trevor entered the parking lot.  I embraced them both, loaded my stuff into Kim's CR-V, and said goodbye to Lori.  Aunt Kim drove me home, asked me a couple questions about the trip, and then headed off to sleep.  I read a couple passages of my bible and then drifted asleep around 12:00 a.m.

I had been up that day for almost 24 hours.  In that time, I had traveled thousands of miles to make it back to my hometown in Pennsylvania.  I had also said goodbye to 18 new friends that I really wish to see again someday.  This was simply a magical experience.  God has been so good to all of us throughout this trip.  I have grown so much in my relationship with Him during these past thirteen days, and as a result, I have grown tremendously as a person.  I may never experience another trip like this one, but I'm ok with that.  I will never, ever forget my time spent in London for the 2012 Olympic games, and I will tell this story to my children, grandchildren, and any generation interested in hearing a

I woke up around 9:00 a.m. to Chris tapping on my foot.

"Hey man," he said.  "Do you want to go see the women's marathon this morning?"

I thought about it for a couple of seconds, but then I declined.  Don't get me wrong; I love distance running.  I have been in love with running ever since I participated in cross country  during my junior year of high school.  I just did not feel like racing back and forth between different parts of the city to follow these women and see them for a couple of seconds.  To top it all off, unlike Chris, I did not know anybody participating in this race.  It was different when I watched the high school state cross country race in Pennsylvania back in 2008.  I had run all over Hershey Park looking for my dear neighbor, Morgan Richards, as she finished in sixth place as a freshman.  I did not feel that same motivation this morning.

After sleeping for another twenty minutes or so, I decided to wake up and grab some breakfast.  The only plans I really had for this day, the last day that I would be in London, were to go to church and to pack/organize my things for the LONG travel day looming ahead.  Before Leslie and Laura had left to see some of the marathon with Chris and Colleen, I asked them if they wanted to meet up for church.  We decided to convene around 4:30 p.m. in the hostel before heading over to the Westminster Chapel, the church that I visited last Tuesday.  In the meantime, I did a little more blogging during the morning hours.  During this time, I saw the sky grow dark outside and the floodgates opening from the heavens. 

"I guess I made the right decision," I whispered to myself.

Around noon, I decided to get a shower and get dressed up for church (I just wanted to look fancy, alright?).  I went into the room to see if anyone was around.  James was just waking up.  I told him that I was planning on finding a pub to watch tennis at.  Today was scheduled to be the last day of Olympic tennis.  The bronze and gold medal matches in men's singles were scheduled for today.  For bronze, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic from Serbia would take on Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina.  For gold, world No. 1 Roger Federer from Switzerland would battle world No. 3 Andy Murray from Great Britain, a rematch of the Wimbledon final from 28 days ago.  James decided to come along with me, and we ended up going back to the Euston Flyer, the pub that we visited two Fridays ago.  James got an English breakfast and I got a club sandwich with some chips and a milk.  During this time, we watched both the finish to the women's marathon and the women's doubles final in tennis.  In the marathon, two women from Africa finished in the top two: one from Ethiopia and one from Kenya.  In tennis, the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, won gold by defeating two Czech girls.  This was Serena's second gold medal, which she won the day after STEAMROLLING Maria Sharapova for the singles gold medal.  We left at the end of this match, with James planning to seek out some museums to look at for the rest of the day.  I headed back to the hostel and camped out in the basement to watch the gold medal men's singles match.

I used this time to continue catching up on my blog (I would forget about it at times), talk with some friends who were hanging around, and watch the match unfold.  The match started out even, with each player holding as expected.  Leading 3-2, Murray finally broke through and put Federer in a tough spot by breaking him.  This was the beginning of a 9-game streak by Murray, who was playing inspired tennis.  Granted, Federer was not at his best, and at times he looked disinterested in this match.  Still, it felt like Murray had an answer for just about everything the Swiss threw at him.  Murray ended up winning 6-2 6-1 6-4 in what was probably the greatest win of his career.  All of the Team GB fans were going wild after Murray's triumph.  As a Federer fan, I was not entirely thrilled with how he performed, but overall I was very happy for Murray.  This was a long time coming for him, and to do this at the Olympics in front of his home crowd must have felt surreal.  As a side note, I was updated at one point in the match that Juan Martin Del Potro had defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the bronze medal in singles.  Djokovic definitely hasn't been the same dominant player that he was in 2011.

Following this match, I went upstairs to wait for Laura and Leslie to return from being out and about.  A couple members of the group were already in the room, talking and laughing about their experiences on this trip.  They were playing a game in which you go around the room and pick one word to describe everybody.  I threw in my lot for this game, and I also received some very positive, encouraging words from everyone else.  As we were playing, Laura, Leslie, and Laura's friend Jared appeared.  I learned from Leslie that they had already attended a church service, but they were still going to go along with me.

We made our way toward the metro station when I noticed that the service was set to begin in about half an hour.  I tried to get in line for a day pass (should have done this earlier), but the line was not really moving anywhere.  Out of nowhere, this guy came up to Leslie and I and gave us passes to use.  They worked for both of us, but Laura could not get through for some reason.  Leslie told Laura to use the pass that was just given to her, but that did not work either.  Eventually, Laura just took my pass and I received Jared's oyster card to get through.  I had felt lots of pressure and acted a little out of character, so I went into a corner on the metro and said a quick prayer to collect myself.  I spent the majority of the ride getting to know Jared and talking about his faith.  We ventured all the way back to St. James Park, where we made the turn toward the military barracks and eventually found the Westminster Chapel.  Leslie and Laura had made the last-minute decision to not attend the service (not too sure why they even made the trip in the first place...), so Jared and I were left to check it out together.

The main sanctuary was closed off because the church receives a lower attendance during the later service.  We had to sneak through a back door to get to the worship hall.  As I expected, the service was set up in the contemporary style, with contemporary worship music followed by a lengthy sermon.  The pastor talked about the future and about where and when we should expect to see the return of Christ.  The answer to this question is that only God knows when this time is.  In the meantime, we are called to live each day like Christ and to anticipate his return at all times ("be on watch.")  It was a powerful service with an important message.  I'm beyond impressed with the level of kindness that people in London have exhibited throughout this trip.

Jared and I exited the church feeling uplifted and refreshed.  Laura and Leslie were waiting right outside for us after doing a little bit of shopping and sightseeing.  I took a couple of pictures before we headed back to the metro toward King's Cross.  Back at the hostel, we went downstairs to find some of the group.  The semifinal heats for the men's 100 meter dash had just ended.  The final would feature a trio of Americans, including Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, and Ryan Bailey.  It would also include a trio of Jamaicans: Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, and defending gold medalist Usain Bolt.  The race would take place at 10:00 p.m.  In the meantime, some of the group went out to the Irish Olympic House to get dinner.  I decided to just grab some Subway nearby and get an early start on packing.

After eating, I went upstairs and began my packing adventure.  The room was a complete and total mess, so I had to unearth a lot of things before I finally got all of my stuff together.  I also used this time to get some laundry done.  In addition, as I pulled out my camera to pack it up, I made the decision to take pictures with everybody on the trip.  I went downstairs to get pictures with Brenda and Phil, and from there I took pictures with whoever I came in contact with from the group.

As I was packing and taking pictures, Katie Scheff reminded me that the 100 meter final was starting in ten minutes.  I took a break and came downstairs to find a spot by the TV.  There were a ton of people waiting in anticipation to watch this race.  The buildup was absolutely immense.  There were a lot of questions surrounding Usain Bolt, from his poor starts to the fact that Yohan Blake flat-out beat him in both the 100 and 200 at the Jamaican qualifying meet.  The field that Bolt contended against was extremely strong, featuring four of the fastest 100 times ever run.  The race seemed like it could belong to anybody.  The room grew eerily silent as the sprinters squatted down by their blocks.  There was an eruption of sound once the runners took off.  Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay of the US got off to a terrific start.  Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt closed in on them quickly, and with about 40 meters to go, Bolt kicked it into overdrive.  His stride took over as he blazed past Gatlin, Gay, and Blake for his second consecutive gold medal in the 100.  He ran a time of 9.63, the fastest Olympic time of all time and the second fastest 100 time of all time (he has the fastest time as well).  Bolt did his characteristic showboating antics after the race.  The crowd was absolutely thrilled by the race and by his performance.  Blake ended up placing second and Gatlin just edged Gay for the bronze medal.

After the race, I put in another load of laundry and went back upstairs to pack.  I tried to deflate my new basketball, but it was much harder than I predicted it would be.  The room was starting to become filled up with the entire group doing the same thing.  We thoroughly enjoyed our last few hours in each other's company.  We played the word game again and I made a quick run out to the convenient store after asking everyone what they wanted.  Easy way to get rid of the last few pounds.  Everyone in the group wanted to hear me sing a song.  I had told everyone that I was a music minor that sang, and they wanted to hear something.  I sang a couple of songs by James Taylor, "Carolina In My Mind" and "Sweet Baby James."  The group enjoyed the songs, but then they wanted to hear me do something more recent.  I think Katie was the one that suggested that I sing an Adele song.  So, I looked up "Rolling in the Deep" on Youtube and sang a little bit of it.  I got a very good reception despite this being the first time I sang Adele in front of people.  We continued to chat and we ended the night with me asking James (who had been drinking a bit and giving some interesting speeches) to predict where we would all be in five years.  He said that I would be at the University of Central Florida studying coaching.  I don't know if that will be in that exact time period, but it's definitely something that I hope and pray is in my future.  After this, we all drifted off to sleep, knowing that we would be scrambling to leave London in a few short

I woke up around 9 a.m. that morning feeling perfectly fine after drinking a bit last night.  Some people in the group commented me on my dancing skills (ha...ha...ha) and the "fanny pack" that I wore to conceal my wallet (it's a necessary evil, I'm afraid).  I ate some breakfast and proceeded to catch up on my blogs for the past couple of days.  I went out for a long run around 11 or so and despite my arm being a little sore from basketball yesterday, I was still able to do some push-ups.  I cam back, showered up, and then went back to Steak + with James to see my friend Eniko and eat some more delicious food.  I got a lightly breaded chicken breast with some house wine and asparagus.  James was a big fan of the place as well.  Eniko could not talk to me as much this time because the place was busier than it was a week ago.  She gave me her full name, however, so I could add her as a friend on Facebook.

I returned to the hostel and proceeded to post up in the basement for the next couple of hours with Darci, James, Zack, and Chris.  We watched Olympic tennis and some other events while I continued to blog.  Around 5 or so, I gathered my things and prepared for my last Olympic event of this trip:

Table Tennis

I ventured toward the metro station and found out where to go to get to the Excel center, where my matches would be.  I took a couple of trains to get to a DLR station.  The DLR was some sort of overground rail service that took people to the outskirts of London.  I boarded the train and traveled toward the Excel arena, eagerly anticipating the high-octane action I was about to see.  I got off at the correct station and walked toward Excel, which was like a huge convention center (think IX center near Cleveland).  I grabbed some fish and chips at a nearby food vendor before entering the center to increase my energy level.  I also took lots of pictures of the surroundings along the way.

The Excel center featured some of the more obscure Olympic sports.  These included weightlifting, boxing, table tennis, judo, fencing, and others.  I found the correct area where my match would be and made it to my seat.  The arena featured three different platforms with blue table tennis tables and virtual scoreboards for each court.  The announcer got everybody excited for the upcoming matches and then introduced the teams.  The matches that I watched were called team matches.  This involved teams of three female players and a coach.  The matches were set up in a best 3 out of 5 format.  The first two parts of the match would be singles matches that featured each team's best two singles players.  The third part would be a doubles match.  If necessary, the last two parts (or just one) would be two (or one) more singles match.  The two matches that were going on at this time (the same time) were Hong Kong-China (this was a nation, I guess because China is just too big) vs. Korea Republic and Democratic People's Republic of Korea vs. Singapore.  Before I entered the arena, I looked at the brackets for team matches and for singles and saw that the VAST majority of teams still alive hailed from Southeast Asia.  Can't say I was too surprised...

As I expected, the matches that I saw were extremely entertaining.  The high-speed rallies and the type of strategy employed in these showdowns were truly something to behold.  The players were so skilled at keeping the ball on the table, no matter how far it drifted away from the table.  The serves had a ton of spin and a lot less velocity than I would have predicted.  I just kept imagining myself out there playing against these super-human females.  I would probably find a way to lose every single point.  Doubles was also very interesting.  I originally thought that each player would just stay on one side of the table and hit the ball back if it came to their side.  Instead, one player would play behind another for a while as if she was delivering a surprise attack.  The players would separate if they needed to track down a wide shot to put the ball back in play.  They moved with so much coordination and timing, it was almost like they were executing some complicated dance routine.

I also found it a little funny how serious all the players took this sport.  There were timeouts for each team, which gave the players a chance to talk to their coaches about strategy.  There were towels available in nearby bins for the players to wipe their sweat-glazed foreheads.  I honestly can't remember the last time I broke out into a sweat from playing table tennis.  There was also a ton of emotion involved.  The players would yell in triumph after just about every point.  I vividly remember the second singles match between Hong Kong and South Korea.  The woman from South Korea had won two of the first three games (the winner of each individual match must win three out of five in games to eleven (win by two)), with the games she won being in convincing fashion (11-4 11-3).  She was CRUISING in the fourth game, up 6-1, and it looked like this match was about to be over.  However, as the great Lee Corso would say:

"Not so fast, my friend!"

The woman from Hong Kong came alive, winning eleven of the next fifteen points to win the fourth game and tie the overall count at two.  Time for game five.  The woman from Hong Kong carried her momentum from the previous game to take a 7-1 lead.  Dating back to the last game, she had won eighteen of the last twenty three points against the woman from South Korea (I couldn't pronounce any of their names correctly).  The woman from South Korea looked frustrated, anguished, defeated.  It did not help that the vast majority of the crowd was pulling for Hong Kong.  At 7-1, the next rally lasted for a long time, but the woman from South Korea finally got a break by returning a shot that just clipped the net and threw off the woman from Hong Kong's timing, causing her to miss the shot.  Following this fortuitous bounce, the woman from South Korea seized back all of her momentum by winning ten of the next thirteen points to win the fifth game 12-10.  The sports concept of momentum was on full display throughout this entire match.  After hitting the winning point, the woman from South Korea, who had looked so upset just ten minutes ago, collapsed on the floor in extreme jubilation.  She managed to swing the match at exactly the right time, outsmarting and outhitting the woman from Hong Kong while fighting off the crowd in the process.  Even though it is table tennis, these are still moments that any true Olympic fan lives for.

I managed to see Singapore defeat North Korea three matches to zero.  South Korea was leading Hong Kong two matches to zero as their doubles match was getting underway.  This was about the time that I decided to leave.  I had seen plenty in the hour and a half that I spent at this arena.  I couldn't wait until the next time I would play table tennis.  Perhaps I could use some of what I learned to help improve my game!

I left the Excel center and (slowly) made my way back toward the DLR.  The volunteers had to direct a lot of crowd traffic along the way.  I switched to the Northern Line after about twenty minute of DLR travel to re-route me toward King's Cross.  Back in the hostel, I met up with Chris, who told me last night that we would be going out for the night with Laura and Leslie.  According to Chris, they were at the Irish Olympic House at that time.  We went to the house and stood in line for a bit until we were admitted inside.  It was absolutely PACKED with people.  Everyone was drinking, talking, watching the Olympics, and dancing to the music of a U2 cover band that was playing live.  Chris and I each ordered a beer (I tried Heineken for the first time; much better than I thought it would be), and we searched the place for the girls.  No luck.  After finishing our beers and watching a little bit of boxing, we left toward the hostel to see if they were there.  We ran into them on the way, and I got a chance to meet Laura's high school friend, Jared.  He seemed like a very nice person.  We decided to go to House of Nations again to spend our evening.  I grabbed some money from the ATM across the street and reconvened with the gang just as Jared was leaving.

It was an extremely fun night.  Chris and I each bought the girls a round of drinks and we were all in a great mood.  We talked about our experiences during the trip and played some "around the world" ping pong (we had to hit the ball once and keep rotating around the table to get another chance to hit it).  I got to play Leslie one-on-one, and my inspiration after seeing the woman play earlier helped push me over the top.  We ordered another round of drinks and then played a couple rounds of foosball before I decided to take off.  I planned on going to church the next day, so I wanted to make sure that I would be rested and alcohol-free.  I made it back to the hostel just fine, did my usual pre-bed

I woke up around 8:45 a.m. to the sound of others getting up (as usual).  I asked around to see if anyone else would be interested in taking a train to Cambridge for the day, but everyone else was busy.  Therefore, I had to change my plans.  Without an event to go to for the day, I was forced to ad lib.

After getting breakfast, I had remembered that James Walton was interested in getting a pick-up basketball game going sometime on this trip.  I had found a basketball court in a park close to the hostel, so I ventured toward the court to see if there were any balls lying around.  No luck.  I went to the King's Cross/St. Pancras station to see if there were any sporting goods stores around.  I found out later that there was a JD sports store, but at the time, I could not find one.  So, I made my way back to Oxford Circus to look around the stores there.  I waited until 10 a.m. for Niketown to open up.  Inside, I found a high-quality collection of Air Jordan basketballs.  It cost me 30 pounds to get one, but I knew that this would be a trinket I would hold onto for a long time.

I returned to the hostel to tell James about my new purchase.  He and some others sounded like they would be up to playing later on in the day.  In the meantime, Leslie Greer told me that she was going to go explore Tower Bridge in London (it's actually not London Bridge...).  She offered for James and I to come along, so I took a quick shower, gathered my things, and took off.

We arrived at the correct station, and after a little bit of walking, we made it to the bridge.  It was across from the other bridge that we were standing on at the time.  I took a dozen pictures, honing in on the Olympic rings that were hanging off of the bridge.  We walked toward the other side of the bridge we were on and went down a flight of stairs to find a path that would take us to the bridge.  Along the way, we found the Tower of London, which was basically a medieval castle in the middle of a steel metropolis.  We took some great pictures and then headed inside the gift shop because it was starting to rain pretty hard.  I briefly considered buying a feather pen with ink in the store just to see what kind of reaction I would get from my fellow students.  Not going through with it, I reconvened with Leslie and James and we headed over to the Tower Bridge.  We got a couple more photos, then we headed into town to find a place to eat.

We found yet ANOTHER pub where we sat down and ate.  I had a delicious wrap with fried chicken along with some chips and milk (yes, I went there).  While eating, we all looked at a map to decide where we could go next.  We found an Olympic museum near Covent Garden that sounded very promising.  After lunch, we waited for a bus to take us to the Covent Garden area.  We boarded a one-floor bus, which we rode for about ten minutes until reaching our destination.  I did not have an Oyster card, so I had to pay straight cash (homey).  Once we got there, it was a short walk to the museum.  We had to wait in line for about five minutes until we could enter the museum.

The museum, which would only be around for a couple of months, was excellent!  It was highly virtual and highly electronic.  I could not take any pictures, however, because of the artifacts inside.  The first part of the museum talked about the Ancient Olympics and how these games were held to bring honor to the Greek god Zeus.  We were treated to a moving picture show on a virtual Greek vase before moving on to the next room.  This room talked about the beginnings of the modern Olympic games, including the vision of France's Baron Pierre de Coubertin to create a series of athletic competitions that all nations could participate in.  After this, we went through a hallway with all of the different Olympic torches over the years being displayed.  We then arrived in a large room with a lot of different things going on.  In the center, there was a display of Olympic medals, showing what the medals looked like in all of the different ceremonies.  The corners had little videos and displays of former Olympic athletes, chronicling their stories and struggles to become Olympic champions.  It was an afternoon well spent.

Once we exited the museum, we came across a busy little city square with a variety of shops and restaurants.  We found a place called NBA Town in the distance, and instantly, my eyes widened.  A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to go to a restaurant called NBA City in Universal Studios Florida.  It had games and NBA history pictures and movies everywhere.  NBA Town, which was JUST opening on this day, was a little different.  We waited in line for about a half an hour until it finally opened.  We were treated to the typical "cutting of the ribbon" grand opening scene.  The Chicago Bulls mascot, Bennie Bull, appeared from the store and gave away tons of free merchandise.  James and I managed to get free NBA caps.  It helped that I am 6 foot 2 and he is 6 foot 5!  Anyway, we proceeded inside and soaked in the surroundings.  In some ways, it was kind of similar to NBA City.  They had these basketballs with player's hand imprints on them, so you could place your hand and compare sizes.  They had a little hoops machine that you would find in an arcade.  I grabbed my place in line and tried my luck at the game.  At the machine that I was at, the high score was 67 points.  I got hot late and fell just short, at 59 points.  I took lots of pictures and got a photo with a member of the Boston Celtics dance squad.  We even had the opportunity to go into one room and skype with a current NBA player.  Our group of three plus one more person filed into the room to have a short conversation with Utah Jazz player Gordon Hayward.  For those of you who do not know, Gordon Hayward was a former standout player at Butler University.  He is famed for taking a last-second halfcourt shot against Duke in the 2010 National Championship, which hit the backboard but just missed its mark.  I asked Gordon about that shot, whether or not he felt like it was going in when he released it.  He said that he thought it wasn't going to be anywhere close, and the fact that it was still pains him to this day.  I also took a picture next to this fake Larry O'Brien trophy that, through technology, makes it look like I was actually with the Miami Heat when they were awarded the trophy.

After a while, we decided to finally leave the place.  We passed by a street performer who was on stilts and about to juggle some machetes as we ventured toward the metro station.  We also passed by the Royal Opera House and heard someone singing.  When we made it back to King's Cross, the three of us dressed up in athletic clothing and headed over to the park to play some ball.  To quote James: "The NBA Town did its job because we all want to play basketball now."

The court was packed when we made it to the park.  Leslie decided to go running instead, while James and I waited to play pick-up with some other guys.  I played in three pick-up games: two 4-on-4 and one 2-on-2.  My team won the 2-on-2 but lost both 4-on-4 games.  The second 4-on-4 game was very tough.  We played against a slew of terrific athletes and I almost tore a muscle in my left arm during the game.  Once we were finished, the three of us headed back to the hostel to change up.

As the others arrived, some of us decided to go to dinner at a fancy Indian restaurant down the street.  I had never gone to an Indian restaurant before, so reading the menu was like trying to read a different language for me.  I ordered the Euro Chicken Special with some garlic bread and some vegetables.  I was very impressed by the meal and the service.  Indian food is the kind of spicy that I like (i.e. it has a kick, but it's not scalding hot).

We came back to the hostel around 10 p.m. or so.  I put on some khakis and prepared to go to a nearby club for the night.  Leslie, Derek, Frankie, Allie, Katie, and I all went to the House of Nations for a couple of hours.  I drank a decent amount and danced with the crew for a while, enjoying the house music and the atmosphere of the place.  It was very crowded and very loud, but everyone seemed to be having a good time.  Leslie and I also played some foosball at one point.  I left a little after one, drank some milk and water, and headed to sleep after another long, eventful day. 

I woke up a little after 8 a.m. or so.  I had remembered that Lori Sabatose pitched the idea of gathering in the lobby around 9 to go see Abbey Road.  I got out of bed and got breakfast, and our group formed shortly afterward to make the trip.  The group consisted of me, Rocky Sites, Colleen Oakes, Lori, and Beth Clark.  We took the metro out to the nearest stop (the name escapes me right now) and eventually, we stumbled upon the famed crosswalk.  I had half expected the road to be blocked off for pictures, similar to how platform nine and three quarters was blocked off for incoming tourists.  Not the case.  There was already a large group of people at the road, but they had to risk their lives dodging incoming cars in order to get a solid picture.  I could definitely tell that the locals despised driving on this road and seeing stupid tourists.  After the group ahead of us took about a million pictures, Lori, Colleen, Beth and I managed to create a Beatles-esque line on the crosswalk.  Rocky snapped a couple of photos before a bus crept up on him and forced us to scatter.  The buses in London are extremely quiet.  I think they run on vegetable oil or something like that.  It's a wonder more people do not get run over here.

After our near-death experience, we walked about 20 seconds down the road to find Abbey Road studios.  The studio itself was gated off, but there was a ton of writing and signatures on the bricks by the gate.  Lori whipped out her marker and we all found a tiny spot to put our names.  I snapped some photos and then we decided to head off elsewhere.

We found a large area known as Regent's Park nearby.  We checked out a map and decided to explore the area a little bit.  There was a large tennis facility within the park, and Lori and Beth, the tennis coaches, just had to stop by and check it out.  It was a beautiful day outside, so we saw a ton of people playing on the courts.  Next, we ventured off toward the Queen's Gardens.  Lori was excited at the prospect that the Queen could potentially be around these gardens during tea time.  She decided to give us all nicknames.  I was Sir Sean Leonard, as if I had been knighted.  To her disappointment, the Queen was not there.  However, we got to snap photos of all the beautiful flower beds and smelled some of them.  I could only imagine how beautiful the garden would look during the spring.  We also managed to stumble upon an amphitheatre where they put on live shows every so often.  We could not actually explore the theatre, but I managed to find out what was coming in the near future.  The next show that would be playing was A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I immediately thought of my older sister, who will forever be remembered as "Puck" for her rousing performance as the character in high school.

We made our way out of the park, looking for something to eat, when we found a music museum nearby.  We decided to stop by and check it out for a bit.  The museum had a large collection of singing and guitar books, as well as a cool display of older pianos.  Afterward, we found (surprise!) another pub, where decided to go inside and eat.  I ordered a chicken breast covered with cheese and tomato sauce, some chips, a small salad, and a half a pint of London Pride.  After eating, we all went our separate ways to other activities that we had planned for the day.  With tickets and travel pass in hand, I began my adventure toward Stratford, the home of the Olympic Park, i.e., the center of the sports universe.

The park was on the very outskirts of the city, with a couple of tall buildings in the distance (I assumed that this was where the athletes were staying).  Before I actually made it inside the park, I had to go through a huge shopping area known as Westfield.  I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that were there.  Flags, colors, and facepaint were all over the place, both in the mall and in the park itself.  As I made it through the gate, I took many pictures of the Olympic stadium, which was maybe a mile away.  It was finally starting to hit me:

"I am at the Olympic games!"

I followed the signs to the basketball arena, where I would be posting up (haha get it?) for the next couple of hours.  Thanks to Darci's Olympic app, I was able to find out beforehand what games I would be watching.  Unfortunately, none of them involved the United States.  Instead, I would have to watch Argentina vs. Tunisia and Russia vs. Brazil.  Along the way to the arena, I took lots of pictures and marveled at all the venues within the park.  There was an enormous Olympic Megastore that I made a point of visiting before I left.  There was an enormous McDonalds.  There were plenty of large booths and buildings dedicated to all of the main Olympic sponsors.  The whole area was action-packed.

After about a half hour of walking, I managed to find the arena.  I found my seat, which was WAY up toward the very top rows.  I could see the players decently; it's not as if they were some unidentifiable dots.  When I arrived, it was already late in the second quarter of the first game.  Argentina and Tunisia were locked in a tight contest, and they entered halftime deadlocked at 41.  I had heard from someone sitting near me that Tunisia actually had a 14-point lead early on.  This Tunisia squad surprised me; I watched them a little bit a couple of nights ago when they played the United States.  The US was a 55-point favorite to win that game, and although they came somewhat close to matching that number in the end, they struggled to pull away early on.  After an entertaining halftime show that involved male dancers, the second half was about to begin.  Argentina managed to blow the game open early on.  Manu Ginobili from the San Antonio Spurs was hitting just about every shot he took.  He had 24 points by about the halfway mark of the third quarter, and he sat for the remainder of the game pretty much (they brought him in for the last two minutes, for some reason).  Luis Scola from the Houston Rockets was having his way with Tunisia in the post, recording a double-double.  Carlos Delfino, currently an NBA free agent, was a little trigger-happy, but he managed to get his points.  I was very impressed by Argentina's point guard, Facundo Campazzo.  He lead an Argentina attack characterized by beautiful ball movement and wide-open shots.  It was like watching the Spurs play last season in the NBA.  Argentina ended up winning the game 92-69, and the whole crowd was treated to the passionate singing of the Argentine fans.  After the game, I decided to leave the arena and grab a quick snack before the next game began.  I stuck around my seat for a bit, though, because the guy sitting next to me forgot his bag.  Eventually, I went down to an Olympic volunteer and handed him the bag, but then the guy thankfully showed up and claimed his bag.

Outside the stadium, I stood in a lengthy food line to get a delicious chocolate muffin.  After devouring the treat, I went back inside to see both teams warming up.  I did not know a whole lot about Russia's team, but I knew that Brazil was solid and would probably go far.  Brazil had a handful of talented NBA players, including Nene Hilario from the Washington Wizards, Anderson Varejao from the Cleveland Cavaliers (aka "Wild Thing"), Leandro Barbosa from the Indiana Pacers, and Tiago Splitter (Stephen A. Smith's favorite player) from the San Antonio Spurs.  I had seen that Russia had a couple of recognizable players as well, including Andrei Kirilenko (AK-47) from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets, and Sasha Kaun, who currently plays for a team in Moscow but won a national championship with the Kansas Jayhawks in 2008.

The game was very close the entire way.  Just as it looked like one team would pull away, the other came storming back to make things even.  Russia led most of the game thanks to their size and penetration ability.  Brazil had a lot of point-blank opportunities early on, but could not convert.  They started to heat up in the fourth quarter, grabbing the lead and looking to run away with the game.  Barbosa, the "Brazilian Blur," was getting to the basket at will.  However, the 3-point shooters from Russia quickly became a factor late.  One hit a three to tie the game at 72, and after a Brazilian player made a basket with six seconds left, another Russian guard hit an off-balance three with the defender all over him with about two seconds left.  Brazil could not answer, and the pro-Brazil crowd fell silent as the final buzzer sounded.  Russia had remained undefeated in group play and had given Brazil its first loss, 75-74.  It was a remarkable game with a remarkable finish.

Afterward, I began the long journey back to King's Cross.  I braved the crowd of millions back toward the metro.  On the way, I stopped by the Olympic Megastore and managed to purchase a large USA flag for just 10 pounds.  Eventually, I found myself back in central London within the confines of Clink hostel.  I ordered a seafood pizza from a nearby parlor and sat down in the basement, watching Olympic events and blogging.  I got to see Michael Phelps win gold in the 200 individual medley, holding off his nemesis, Ryan Lochte, who got silver.  I also went down to the station to see if there were any feasible day trips that I could take tomorrow.  I REALLY wanted to see if it was possible to go to Edinburgh in Scotland, but it cost way too much.  I decided that Cambridge sounded like a fun, cheap idea.  I waited back in the room to see if anyone else would return or was interested, but nobody returned until late.  Therre

I woke up, alive and refreshed from the worries and trials of the past few days.  I went on a brief run in the morning, had some breakfast, and then gathered my stuff for the day ahead.

It was time for more Wimbledon!!!

Thanks to Darci, I was able to find out who I would be seeing in today's centre court matches.  The matches featured:

Serena Williams (USA) vs. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
Andy Murray (GBR) vs. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)

In other words: SOLID.

I got my travel card, my ticket, and my new camera and ventured off toward the metro station.  I took the same Victoria to District line switch and made it to the village with about an hour to spare.  I walked the same path and saw the same sights, but I took more pictures because of the camera that was now lost.  I checked through security and made it back to the same, great area that captivated and inspired me just four days prior.  Before entering the court, I scouted the area for food.  I bought a British Banger (a sausage wrapped in bread) and a vegetable pastry.  As I entered, one of the volunteers stopped me at the last minute to check my ticket.  He told me that he though I was a player at first.  I asked him which player he thought I looked like, and he said Roger Federer.  I took that as a great compliment.

I took my seat (a little closer this time) just three games into the match.  Serena was winning 2 to 1 in the first set.  Darci was sitting in the row right across from me.  For the next hour or so, we watched Serena put on an absolute CLINIC.  Since leading 2 to 1, she completely overwhelmed Vera in every way possible.  I did not see her lose a single game.  The final score was 6-1 6-0.  Poor Vera looked so defeated and emotional out there.  During timeouts, she would cover her face with her towel.  She would throw her racked against the ground about fifteen times before the match ended.  I almost thought the line judge was going to disqualify her.  After Serena's match, we had a little delay before the next match so the court could open its roof (it was raining earlier).  Once it opened, Djokovic and Hewitt came out to warm up.  However, in the middle of the second game, with Djokovic up 1-0 and Hewitt leading 40-30, it started to rain again.  Darci and I facepalmed, wondering why they bothered to open the roof in the first place.  After about 30 minutes of delay, the match began once again.  Hewitt managed to break Novak early and win the first set.  For being well past his prime, he was playing some inspired tennis against the world Number 2.  In set two (Darci had left around this time to get some food), Djokovic's two breaks outweighed Hewitt's break to win the set 7-5.  In the third set, Hewitt was clearly gassed.  Djokovic raised his level and pulled away from the Australian, 4-6 7-5 6-1.  I loved the support that Hewitt received throughout the match.  There were many chants of "Aussie Aussie Aussie!  Oy Oy Oy!" erupting throughout the arena.  He got a standing ovation from the crowd as he left the building.

Next up was Murray against Baghdatis.  The arena was (finally starting to reach capacity, as spectators poured in from left and right to see Great Britain's great hope in tennis.  Andy started off slowly, losing his first two games and then losing three straight after taking a 3-2 lead in the set.  He lost the first set 6-4.  In the second set, Murray raised his game to another level.  After he got an early break of Marcos' serve, I decided to take a quick bathroom break and grab a snack.  I ate a British ice cream cone with "exploding" candy inside.  Delicious!  I returned to my seat to find that the third set had already begun.  Andy won the second set 6-1.  He got an early break, but had to hold off Baghdatis every step of the way to finally win the match (4-6 6-1 6-4).  In just five days, I had managed to see Serena Williams and three of the top four men's players in the world all win matches.  I had an amazing experience at Wimbledon and I wish to return someday for the actual Wimbledon tournament.  Before I left, I took a couple of last-second pictures, including some of former women's Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who was making her way onto the court to play a late match.  Definitely not losing these...

After a long metro trip, I made it back to the King's Cross area, tired from all of my adventures.  I went to a fancy restaurant down the street, called Casa Mamma's, and increased my low energy supply with some much-needed carbohydrates.  Thank the Lord for Italian food!  I returned to the hostel afterward to blog a bit when Laura passed by and told me that she was going to Starbucks for a bit.  She offered for me to come along, and I accepted.  I used the free WiFi available there and she read her bilingual bible (she studies the French language).  We talked about a lot of different things, including our faith and how we came to know the Lord.  We went to the store and bought little containers of milk to drink.  We also checked out the train station to see if there were any feasible trips we could take in the next few days.  The station closed when we got there, however, so I decided to check back later.

Back at the hostel, I did some ab exercises and read the bible for a bit as I prepared for bed.  I did not actually get to sleep for a while, however, because there were some guys in the group that were pre-gaming.  Once they left, I managed to fall asleep, smiling at the thought of how wonderful God is and how He has blessed me and the others on this trip

After a very restless night, I awoke around 7:45 in the morning with one thing on my mind:

Gotta get my camera back.

I told Phil and Leslie that I would not make it to Oxford with them today.  Instead, I ate breakfast, got changed, and made my way down to the metro station.  Before I made it to the station, I went inside a couple of convenient stores that I was at last night to see if they had my camera.  No luck.  At the station, I had to purchase an all-day pass because I did not have an Olympic event that day.  I rode a series of trains to St. James' Park, the area we were at yesterday.  I found the nook where we met up with the soldiers before entering the barracks, and I explained my situation to them.  Unfortunately, they did not find anything last night in the mess.  I was given the manager's phone number and told to call back a little after noon because he was not there.  In the meantime, I explored the area a little bit.

I found a beautiful church that was a block away from the barracks.  I had caught a tiny glimpse of it yesterday, but did not see much.  With the time I had, I went inside and explored a little bit.  The sanctuary was gorgeous!!!  I learned from a pastor I met that hailed from Tennessee that the church had been around since the 1860s.  He said that people who preached in this church used to pass away at early ages because it took a tremendous amount of energy to preach loudly enough so that both floors could hear them.  I also learned from him about U.S. seminaries to do research on.  He suggested the California Master's Seminary and the Dallas Theological Seminary.  I learned from someone in the cafe that the services at this church were actually contemporary, which explained why there were guitars and microphones in the front of the sanctuary.  I checked out all of the posters in the sanctuary and learned about the history of Christianity in the UK.  I had an excellent time exploring and spending time in this church, and I look forward to potentially coming back on Sunday.

When I left the church, it was about 11:30.  I decided to grab some lunch at a pub close to the barracks.  I got a burger with chips and an enormous pint of Blue Moon.  The meal was more expensive than I anticipated, though.  Afterwards, I found a nearby telephone booth and made a call to the manager to see if he found anything.  No dice.  He gave me his e-mail address and told me to e-mail him so he could send me updates on his search (BTW, his name was Nigel Turner.  That name just SCREAMS British, doesn't it?).

Running out of options, I decided to find the lost-and-found area in the metro station because I used the metro to return home last night.  I was guided toward Baker Street, which contained the lost-and-found office for the whole station.  Luck was not on my side, however.  I gave them my information and told them to contact me if they found anything, but all in all, my search was unsuccessful.

I returned to the hostel, defeated and disappointed.  With little motivation to do anything else, I whipped out my computer to continue with my blogging.  However, after checking Facebook, I learned that people in my family were able to see my Olympic Academic Experience group post that warned others about my lost camera.  Word had spread that my camera was lost, so I had to man up and admit this truth.  I even decided to go to a local internet cafe and call my father to tell him the news.  I broke down and told him how sorry I was that I let him down.  He was understanding and encouraging, and he told me to just buy a new camera and forget about what was lost.  Feeling a surge of enthusiasm, I decided to channel my newfound energy into a positive way.  I went to a board filled with black and yellow revolving circles next to the King's Cross station.  People had been using this board to create messages and pictures, and I had taken notice of the board every time I had passed it.  Therefore, I decided to create my own message.  I started off sluggish, but I quickly picked up the pace, turning circles with the speed of an Olympic athlete.  My message was simple, yet it held so much meaning:

JOHN 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life."

I had been inspired by my visit to the cathedral and my conversations with the luge athlete the night before and the pastor from Tennessee today to create this message.  I hope and pray that these Olympics will be a highly spiritual event that will help millions of athletes and spectators alike find Jesus Christ and proclaim Him as their King.

Next, after blogging some more, I decided to head back to Oxford Circus and shop for a new camera.  Remembering the HMV store we visited yesterday, I tracked it down to see if they sold cameras.  They did not, but I was pointed toward nearby camera shop.  I bought a small Sony camera with a 10x zoom and SD card compatibility.  It was a lot smaller than my older camera, which made it able to fit in my passport pouch.  I also proceeded to find a nearby souvenir shop, where I bought a collection of small gifts for my family.  Lastly, I went out to dinner at this sandwich shop called "Pret A Mancer."  I had a delicious toasted sandwich with pesto and a nectarine (first time!!!).  Nectarines are sweet and juicy, but they're also very messy.

I returned to the hostel pretty early in the evening.  I did some more blogging and watched some competitions with others in the group.  We watched Great Britain's women's football team defeat Brazil and we watched a basketball game where the United States played Tunisia.  The U.S. struggled early, but was putting together a run late in the first half before the BBC discontinued coverage.  I managed to spend time with a lot of people in the group and talk to one of the locals.  We asked him lots of questions about sports in GB, including whether or not people have gone on to embrace US football (doesn't seem like they have).

After this, I went upstairs, did my usual pre-sleep routine, and ventured into dreamland.  It was by no means a perfect day, but it ended up pretty well, considering all that I had been through the past couple of days.  Tomorrow, off to Wimbledon!!!

I woke up to the sound of someone's alarm clock around 6:30 a.m.  Knowing we had a full day of plans ahead of us, I decided to lace up my running shoes and fit an early workout in before people started waking up.  I ran for about half an hour or so and then I went back to that park off of Argyle Street to do some pushups and situps.  Then, I returned to the hostel, showered up, grabbed breakfast, and rushed out the door with my fellow students.

We were all wearing white t-shirts that said "Tiffin University Olympic Academic Experience."  Today was the day that was planned almost a year in advance.  Today was our "Day with the Olympians" program, which would give us the opportunity to work with impoverished children in London, participate in fun competitions, meet former Olympians and listen to their tales and speeches, and enjoy a high-class dinner banquet at the end of the day.  It's a good thing I ran earlier, because I needed all the preparation in the world for this day.

We took the train over to Oxford Circus, where we would be for about two and a half hours before meeting up to go to the Olympic Reunion Center.  This gave the guys an opportunity to purchase some dress clothes for tonight's banquet.  I bought a black tie and a blue and white button-down shirt from a place called H&M, and then I bought a V-neck sweater vest (Jim Tressel style) at another place called BHS.  Afterwards, I walked around Oxford Circus with Chris Wolcott and James Walton, looking at the different stores.  We went inside a sick-looking place called Niketown, which featured all kinds of state-of-the-art Nike merchandise.  It was awesome, but I chose to look rather than to buy.  Then, we went into an ENORMOUS entertainment store called HMV.  It was essentially the UK version of Best Buy.  We ventured into a couple of smaller stores until we decided to grab some lunch.  With little time, we went to McDonalds for some quick eats.  Afterward, we headed over to the center of Oxford Circus, where we reunited with the rest of the group.  However, after waiting for about half an hour, we never found Laura Jack or Leslie Greer.  The whole group was about to leave, so I volunteered to stick around with someone who would know there way to the center to see if they would ever come.  I received directions from Beth Clark and hung around the area for another fifteen minutes with Colleen Oakes.  We were making our way toward the steps of the underground station when Laura and Leslie crossed the street.  We got their attention, and Leslie said, "Great, we're exactly one minute early!"  Colleen and I told her that we were actually meeting up at 12:30, not 12:45 (easy mistake to make).  The four of us descended into the metro station and took the train to St. James' Park.  Following the directions written in the front cover of my new Gospel book by J.D. Greear, we were able to catch up with the rest of the group just in time.  How fitting for a book about the Gospel to be the object that guides us toward our destination!!!

We all stood in a line on the side of this plain-looking building.  This center was actually located in the heart of a military barracks, filled with plenty of soldiers and city officials.  We all signed in and received passes to enter, then we were escorted to a large room with lots of windows, couches, open space, and a TV.  This would be the room where we would spend time with the children and compete in our color-war competitions.  While we waited, Bonnie assigned all of us to teams and assigned captains of those teams (which were the grad students).  She assigned me to the red team, which we later decided would be the "Congo."  The team consisted of me, Leslie, Chris, Professor Hatlem, and Darci Santella (the captain), along with five different children. We competed against three other teams: Jamaica (black), Brazil (purple(?)), and Thailand (Blue).  We looked at the list of competitions and decided where to place everyone.  Leslie took the planking and pushup challenges, Darci took football bowling, Chris took the broad jump, and I was left with the limbo competition.  When the children showed up, we talked to them and got to know them a little bit.  We played some icebreaker games with the children in our group.  We also managed to assign our five children (who were actually between the ages of 13 and 18) to the six different events.  We began the competition with a simple game of clustering with a specific number of people (whatever number that Bonnie called out) until there were four people left.  Finally, we were treated to a couple of rousing speeches by two former Olympians: a decathlon runner from the Caribbean and a swimmer from the Netherlands.  To quote the Dutch swimmer: "My Olympic flame is still burning bright, and I will never, ever let it die."

Let the games begin!!!

We began with the plank competition.  Leslie held tough for a while, but dropped out at third place.  Colleen edged Frankie Lazarra for the gold.  Our child, Hannika, fell just short of gold (this became a theme for us, which was bad because the only points that were counted were golds).  Next was the broad jump.  Chris lost the title by inches to Zack Skove.  Hannika, the little trooper, decided to participate in this competition as well.  Her great effort earned her the team MVP award.  Next came football bowling.  Darci had trouble hitting pins, but a lot of the competitors did as well.  I think Derek Sanderson won.  Our child, Imaani, forced a bowl-off, but fell short of gold.  Then came the limbo.  I failed miserably (what did you expect?) and Bonnie's daughter Katie won the title.  Our child, Rosie, was EXTREMELY athletic and advanced very far.  She dropped out as the game wore on, however, thereby continuing our team's streak of misfortune.  Next was the one-leg stand.  Phil was the first to drop, and Kevin Baron edged Laura to win gold.  Our child (her name escapes me) fell short for us.  The last competition was the push-up competition.  Leslie wanted me to compete, and I gladly accepted.  I was determined to atone for my limbo failure and win our team's first gold.  However, I had stiff competition: Allie Quast (an all-american lacrosse player), Zack Skove (big dude), and Rocky Sites (bigger dude).  I had managed to about 34 pushups (slowly; it was by up-down cadence) before my arms gave up and I fell to the ground.  Rocky had managed to win the title.  Our last child, Josiah, could not get the job done for us either.  We tried to gain some points in a trivia competition afterward, but again we were unlucky.  Team Brazil ended up winning the team title.  We awarded Rosie with the Most Athletic award for our team and Imaani won the 100% effort award.  Even though we left empty-handed, we put forth a solid effort and made a lot of younger friends in the process.

Following these competitions, we received a special visit from the Queen's Guard (i.e., the guys who wear red coats and big black hats).  We crowded around and took pictures with the men.  Some of the students even asked to wear the hats.  It was funny seeing them try to put on these hats that did not fit them at all.  After this, the children left, and it was time for us to get changed for the banquet.  We all filed into the restroom and put on our spiffy attire.  Later, we took a group photo in our new digs and went over the the royal mess.  We placed all of our stuff in a waiting room, then filed into a fancy room with a free bar.  I ordered a gin and tonic (cheers!) and later on a (very skunky) Foster's draught.  Chris, whose 21st birthday was today, was almost denied getting a drink despite showing his ID.  It was an odd situation, but it was resolved shortly.  We were also treated to some delicious h'orderves before filing into the next room, which featured the actual dinner food.  Pasta, rice, chicken, pork, salad, and dessert.  Yum!  We were also treated to the Olympics on TV.  We saw Lochte JUST miss out on medaling in the 200 freestyle.

After dinner, a group of former Olympians appeared, giving some more speeches and hanging around to talk with us.  We took pictures and mingled in a different bar close to the room where we kept our stuff.  I talked to a former British Olympian who participated in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 games in Luge and another sport.  He talked to me about his favorite Olympics, which was 2006 in Torino, and his least favorite, which was 2002 in Salt Lake City.  He confessed to being non-theistic, and he said that a lot of people in London were not religious because they believed that society and education prosper more without it.  After hearing this, I went into the room with our stuff and prayed that more people in Europe would discover Jesus Christ and proclaim Him as their Lord and Savior.

In the other bar, we hung out, drank, and watched the Olympics for a while longer.  I downed a shot of Jack Daniels with some of the guys, but I was getting very tired.  I decided that I wanted to head back, so I grabbed my stuff and left with Colleen and Phil, who both wanted to leave as well.  I left in such a haste because I was tired and my back was hurting from all the standing we did that day.  Unfortunately, that was not the best thing to do...

We were escorted out of the building by a soldier, and as we were signing off, I remembered that I had Laura's sweatshirt and clothes from earlier in my backpack.  I offered to keep them in my bag for safekeeping, but I had forgotten to take them back to her.

That was not the only thing I forgot.

When we returned to the hostel via the metro, I wrote a letter (Darci wrote the letter, I told her what to write) to Laura proclaiming how sorry I was that I forgot to return her stuff (I thought I would be asleep by the time she returned).  As I was looking through my backpack, however, I came to a grim realization:

My camera was missing.

I looked EVERYWHERE through my backpack and my camera case.  I checked my pants pockets and I checked the floor.  I checked everywhere.  The camera was nowhere to be found.  I was LIVID with myself.  I had made a promise to my parents that I would not lose anything on this trip, but I had failed miserably.  The irony is that I lost my friend's digital camera the last time I was in Europe because I had a bag stolen from me in an internet cafe in Barcelona.  I prayed that the camera was safe and that someone would return it when the others came back from the center.

As the others returned, I found out that no one saw or had the camera with them.  I talked to Bonnie, and she said that she would e-mail the manager of the center in the morning.  All the while, I was making plans to visit Oxford University with Laura, Leslie, and Phil tomorrow.  These would have to be canceled because of my new dilemma.  I decided that tomorrow, I would take on the role of Sherlock Holmes and attempt to track down the lost item.

We'll see just how "elementary" this search ends up being