Yesterday was definitely the day of 'being trashed'. It started actually the night before where Rene and I decided to have a "few" beers. The cool thing over here is that almost all bars give you a beer on the house after you've had a few. For all you Dutch bars, it's called increasing customer intimacy. Of course, the flip side of the coin is that you end up staying longer and having just another one "for the road" and then one more "for the throat". See? The customer intimacy programme really delivers immediate results...
So, four hours after our throat beer, the alarm clock had it's defining moment of the day. That was Trashed 1. We had to get up early to witness the Holland vs. Italy volleyball game. Well, that was Thrashed 2, as we were wondering afterwards what we woke up for. A very simple 3-0 for the Squadra Azurri and 500 Dutch fans could leave the stadium with one illusion less.
From there it was straight to work. That was fun as usual. I gave Rene my camera so he could take some pictures on the parking lot. Yes, Inge (Queen of the Pool) also posed for the camera. She's actually quite cool, as she patiently poses with everyone who asks, even though she swims a final 2 hours later.
In the evening I checked the Baseball results on the computer and yes, the Aussies completely demolished the Dutch team (yes, with all those Antillians) 22-2. By regulation they stopped the contest after 7 innings if one team is leading with more than 10 points (Thrashed 3).
At the Sport Info desk, we had decided to visit the HHH all together. Not a smart move, as we finish around 22:00 hrs and won't get to the HHH before 23:30 hrs. The place was packed! I mean, seriously packed! With the celebration of the swimmers and it being a Saturday, this meant only I could get in (as a Dutchie) but my 8 Greek colleagues couldn't. We decided to go to a trendy bar near to the HHH and try again later. When at 01:15 hrs they still wouldn't let anybody in, most decided to go home as next day the work started again at 07:00 hrs.
There were four of us left. Rene, myself and two Greek guys. First we went to a square full of trendy bars and terraces near Monastiraki. Then Rene and I suggested to go to a place where they have nice music, dancing and good looking people. We should've been more specific! They took us to a place called "Baby", with loud music, only male customers and very good looking people dancing on stage...
We explained to them that we're not really into this kind of Stage Musicals and we preffered to go somewhere else. We had a quick (expensive) beer and looked for something less "exciting", which is not a hard task in Athens as the place is full of cool bars and dancings.
To make a long story short, this morning at around 07:00 hrs we crawled back to our appartment (which is not really in "crawling distance" as the Dutch would say) to enjoy a well needed sleep (Trashed 4)
Roberto
PS: Now I need to go looking for some instructions on how to remove chewing gum from your pants, as I accidentally sat on a large yuckie piece of it... :-(
Anybody has any suggestions?
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Birthday Party !!!
On wednesday 25th August it's my Birthday!
I would like to invite all you blog readers who are volunteers in Athens and also all others who are "accidentally" in Athens to my birthday party at the Holland Heineken House. There will be a performance of a Dutch band called Soulvation and DJ Marky will spin the wheels as usually with his mix of whatever he can find in his collection. For all you non Dutch people the HHH is in Zappeion Gardens, 105 57 Athens. Come early please, after 22.00 it gets very hard to get in and bring your passport too! For the Greek that means 21.00 as you always arrive an hour later then you have planned... ;-)
Yesterday I had already a little bit of a birthday present, just before Inge de Bruin won her gold medal, I met her on my parking, I took a picture and just before she went into the bus I wished her good luck! Maybe that helped a little bit to get her to the GOLD !!!
The HHH yesterday was one big celebration for Inge and Pieter Jan. Great to see 3.000 Dutch fans cheering for these Athletes and Erica Terpstra (president of the Dutch Olympic Committee) who presented a picture to them live in front of Dutch television. Our own president JP (also known as Harry Potter) was also in the house, his popularity is way below zero maybe they should make Erica president of our country.
Well it's way above 40 degrees today and today will be my first day on Da Beach, I got a tan but this is more a Bas Vankan (not so famous Dutch cycler) tan as my arms, part of my legs and my face is are like a brownie but the rest of my body has got a very Brittish color.
Rene
I would like to invite all you blog readers who are volunteers in Athens and also all others who are "accidentally" in Athens to my birthday party at the Holland Heineken House. There will be a performance of a Dutch band called Soulvation and DJ Marky will spin the wheels as usually with his mix of whatever he can find in his collection. For all you non Dutch people the HHH is in Zappeion Gardens, 105 57 Athens. Come early please, after 22.00 it gets very hard to get in and bring your passport too! For the Greek that means 21.00 as you always arrive an hour later then you have planned... ;-)
Yesterday I had already a little bit of a birthday present, just before Inge de Bruin won her gold medal, I met her on my parking, I took a picture and just before she went into the bus I wished her good luck! Maybe that helped a little bit to get her to the GOLD !!!
The HHH yesterday was one big celebration for Inge and Pieter Jan. Great to see 3.000 Dutch fans cheering for these Athletes and Erica Terpstra (president of the Dutch Olympic Committee) who presented a picture to them live in front of Dutch television. Our own president JP (also known as Harry Potter) was also in the house, his popularity is way below zero maybe they should make Erica president of our country.
Well it's way above 40 degrees today and today will be my first day on Da Beach, I got a tan but this is more a Bas Vankan (not so famous Dutch cycler) tan as my arms, part of my legs and my face is are like a brownie but the rest of my body has got a very Brittish color.
Rene
The Paperless Office
A day off today, so again some time to write about the experiences of the previous days without having to check my watch every few minutes.
As stated before, the Athletics desk is a one hectic place to work. Most of the other Sports Information Desks have very little to do. The Baseball desk is serving only 8 NOC's, the Modern Penthatlon desk is mostly vacant (but whenever it isn't, there's a cute German girl sitting there) and I think the girl from the Softball desk must've have finished at least 8 books by now.
Some desks are also closing now as their events have finished. Luckily for us, the Archery desk closes today and since it is next to ours, we will claim the space as soon as we can. Athletics have started, so representatives from 187 NOC's are passing by at least once a day to get start lists, results or to ask often difficult logistic questions.
Since the games are "coming home" and athletics is the most traditional sport, some events have been planned to be outside the usual Olympic Stadium. The two most notable being the Shot Put in the ancient Olympia (5 hours driving from here) and the original marathon course from Marathon to the Panathinaiko Stadium. This results in many logistical issues as athletes, coaches, officials and material have to be transported and obviously some NOC's decided to stay outside the Village...
Efficiency is also a concept not invented over here (sorry Greece). Or is it because volunteers are volunteers? Meaning, they're cheap and therefore any investment in efficiency is a waste of money? Interesting business proposal...
I think by now we must've gotten rid of at least half of the Brazilian rain forest with all the paperwork going on. Whatever happened to computers, email and printers? Well actually, all NOC's have an office with a computer, a printer and there is an internal email network and an intranet with all the latest info. Still we keep printing out everything 200 times and my guess is that at least 50% of the information is unwanted. Many NOC's with only one runner are not interested in the Hammer Throw start list, as an example. So these papers go straight from their mailbox into the paper recycling bin.
The argument used is that they want to make sure everybody actually gets all information. Better safe than sorry, and there is a valid point in that. Oh well, it's a good thing they actually do recycle paper over here...
Roberto
As stated before, the Athletics desk is a one hectic place to work. Most of the other Sports Information Desks have very little to do. The Baseball desk is serving only 8 NOC's, the Modern Penthatlon desk is mostly vacant (but whenever it isn't, there's a cute German girl sitting there) and I think the girl from the Softball desk must've have finished at least 8 books by now.
Some desks are also closing now as their events have finished. Luckily for us, the Archery desk closes today and since it is next to ours, we will claim the space as soon as we can. Athletics have started, so representatives from 187 NOC's are passing by at least once a day to get start lists, results or to ask often difficult logistic questions.
Since the games are "coming home" and athletics is the most traditional sport, some events have been planned to be outside the usual Olympic Stadium. The two most notable being the Shot Put in the ancient Olympia (5 hours driving from here) and the original marathon course from Marathon to the Panathinaiko Stadium. This results in many logistical issues as athletes, coaches, officials and material have to be transported and obviously some NOC's decided to stay outside the Village...
Efficiency is also a concept not invented over here (sorry Greece). Or is it because volunteers are volunteers? Meaning, they're cheap and therefore any investment in efficiency is a waste of money? Interesting business proposal...
I think by now we must've gotten rid of at least half of the Brazilian rain forest with all the paperwork going on. Whatever happened to computers, email and printers? Well actually, all NOC's have an office with a computer, a printer and there is an internal email network and an intranet with all the latest info. Still we keep printing out everything 200 times and my guess is that at least 50% of the information is unwanted. Many NOC's with only one runner are not interested in the Hammer Throw start list, as an example. So these papers go straight from their mailbox into the paper recycling bin.
The argument used is that they want to make sure everybody actually gets all information. Better safe than sorry, and there is a valid point in that. Oh well, it's a good thing they actually do recycle paper over here...
Roberto
The Daily Whim
Somebody writing an internet column seems to have noticed our blog. He wanted to check whether Olympic Blogging Came of Age. It's an overview of blogging activities during Athens 2004 compared to previous games and he found our blog through a simple web search. His column can be found HERE.
As even participants are exploiting their own blog, the organisation has decided last Friday that no athlete, coach, support personnel or other official is allowed to report on the games through a blog. This is to protect the broadcast rightsholders for the event. There's one exception: if the blogger already had a blog or site which was not set up specifically for the Games... (???) See the CNN article HERE.
Funny enough, the news article does not mention volunteers. At least, the quote "personnel or other officials" can be translated as paid staff. In every Olympic release, volunteers have always been mentioned separately, so I guess we can assume the same here...?
(What was that project managers line again? Never ASS-U-ME, because that makes an "ASS" out of "U" and "ME")
Of course, the Daily Whim couldn't have let this press release pass by without his view on the matter. One quote from his column (hopefully with his permission):
First, it’s notable that the IOC believes not only that “athletes and their coaches should not serve as journalists,” but also that the simple act of blogging would breach that barrier. Ergo, bloggers are journalists. It’s an Olympic decree.
If these athletes blogged, they wouldn’t be getting attention because they were engaging in journalism, they’d be getting attention because they were athletes, doing something that millions of individuals do … publish their thoughts on the web. To say that publishing on the web makes an Olympic athlete a “journalist” is as absurd as saying that putting an experienced sportswriter on the Olympic track makes them a sprinter. It is skill, training, and experience that makes a journalist, or a sprinter … not the medium.
(His entire column can be found HERE)
The question remains: are we "allowed" to blog? I can hardly imagine our little blog to have an impact on the billions of dollars paid by the broadcast stations. Of course, I come across many things that some newspapers might find very interesting and I even write about these things. However, as I avoid mentioning the NOC's involved and I'm pretty sure the things I see are not new, I don't see why a harmless non-commercial blog aimed at sharing experiences with friends and family can be a big issue.
My personal opinion as a person, not a volunteer? I think the IOC needs to realise that internet has changed the world and that what they're trying to stop is unstoppable. Communication has come a long way since the first games in 1896, but the IOC seems to be still living in that 19th century.
It reminds me of the Record Companies twisting and turning in every direction trying to stop the exchange of music through MP3 files. As we all know, with very little success.
It's a bit naive...
What's next? Thou shall not take digital pictures with thy mobile phone at broadcasted events? Try stopping that! As two years from now everybody will be walking around with 2 megapixel camera's built into their phone...
Oh well, let me get of my soapbox and start on a 'normal' blog posting...
Roberto
As even participants are exploiting their own blog, the organisation has decided last Friday that no athlete, coach, support personnel or other official is allowed to report on the games through a blog. This is to protect the broadcast rightsholders for the event. There's one exception: if the blogger already had a blog or site which was not set up specifically for the Games... (???) See the CNN article HERE.
Funny enough, the news article does not mention volunteers. At least, the quote "personnel or other officials" can be translated as paid staff. In every Olympic release, volunteers have always been mentioned separately, so I guess we can assume the same here...?
(What was that project managers line again? Never ASS-U-ME, because that makes an "ASS" out of "U" and "ME")
Of course, the Daily Whim couldn't have let this press release pass by without his view on the matter. One quote from his column (hopefully with his permission):
First, it’s notable that the IOC believes not only that “athletes and their coaches should not serve as journalists,” but also that the simple act of blogging would breach that barrier. Ergo, bloggers are journalists. It’s an Olympic decree.
If these athletes blogged, they wouldn’t be getting attention because they were engaging in journalism, they’d be getting attention because they were athletes, doing something that millions of individuals do … publish their thoughts on the web. To say that publishing on the web makes an Olympic athlete a “journalist” is as absurd as saying that putting an experienced sportswriter on the Olympic track makes them a sprinter. It is skill, training, and experience that makes a journalist, or a sprinter … not the medium.
(His entire column can be found HERE)
The question remains: are we "allowed" to blog? I can hardly imagine our little blog to have an impact on the billions of dollars paid by the broadcast stations. Of course, I come across many things that some newspapers might find very interesting and I even write about these things. However, as I avoid mentioning the NOC's involved and I'm pretty sure the things I see are not new, I don't see why a harmless non-commercial blog aimed at sharing experiences with friends and family can be a big issue.
My personal opinion as a person, not a volunteer? I think the IOC needs to realise that internet has changed the world and that what they're trying to stop is unstoppable. Communication has come a long way since the first games in 1896, but the IOC seems to be still living in that 19th century.
It reminds me of the Record Companies twisting and turning in every direction trying to stop the exchange of music through MP3 files. As we all know, with very little success.
It's a bit naive...
What's next? Thou shall not take digital pictures with thy mobile phone at broadcasted events? Try stopping that! As two years from now everybody will be walking around with 2 megapixel camera's built into their phone...
Oh well, let me get of my soapbox and start on a 'normal' blog posting...
Roberto
Friday, August 20, 2004
Going Postal
Remember the bodypaint news I wrote about yesterday? They got approval!!! This is going to be the coolest sight in the Olympic Stadium.
They figured, as long as there's no commercial text or logo's it shouldn't be any different than a tattoo (which is obviously allowed as skin stripping is not an Olympic event).
What a day. Poles (for the pole vaulting) went missing, but luckily only on paper. So at least the athletes can try to break the 6 meter height with something better than a tooth pick.
The athletics desk just became more of a crazy house. The competitions have started and this means that every few minutes we get a stack of 200 copies of a result sheet or start list. With over 35 disciplines and 200 mailboxes, we are trying to fill these so called pigeon holes faster than Hugh Hefner scores blond playmates. Well, nobody can keep up with good ol' Hugh...
It doesn't help very much that the results printing department is slower than myself opening the front door for Rene last night. This basically means we have some 30+ coaches at our desk screaming for these docs, even before we get them. They arrive from the stadium (20 minutes drive) way before the papers (which come from the office next door). I'm sure an IT Architect can design some sort of Message Bus Architecture to solve this issue... ;-)
Oh well, at least now I understand those US Postal workers that went nuts a few years ago, spraying bullets all around in the local shopping mall.
Cheers from a not-yet-so-nuts Roberto.
They figured, as long as there's no commercial text or logo's it shouldn't be any different than a tattoo (which is obviously allowed as skin stripping is not an Olympic event).
What a day. Poles (for the pole vaulting) went missing, but luckily only on paper. So at least the athletes can try to break the 6 meter height with something better than a tooth pick.
The athletics desk just became more of a crazy house. The competitions have started and this means that every few minutes we get a stack of 200 copies of a result sheet or start list. With over 35 disciplines and 200 mailboxes, we are trying to fill these so called pigeon holes faster than Hugh Hefner scores blond playmates. Well, nobody can keep up with good ol' Hugh...
It doesn't help very much that the results printing department is slower than myself opening the front door for Rene last night. This basically means we have some 30+ coaches at our desk screaming for these docs, even before we get them. They arrive from the stadium (20 minutes drive) way before the papers (which come from the office next door). I'm sure an IT Architect can design some sort of Message Bus Architecture to solve this issue... ;-)
Oh well, at least now I understand those US Postal workers that went nuts a few years ago, spraying bullets all around in the local shopping mall.
Cheers from a not-yet-so-nuts Roberto.
Don't Drink and Drive
Yesterday was one of those days that writing a book may be easier then just drop a blog.
After a visit to the internet cafe we took a cab to the station, the driver seemed to be OK, but already after a few meters driving we saw the bottle of vodka and noticed that the driver was drunk as hell. Driving here in Athens is somehow suicide already but with this driver it was a nightmare. The guy tried to speak some kind of a hand language and didn't use his steering wheel. He stopped sometimes suddenly (why we not know) and after Roberto suggested we might reach our destination faster when he would drive, he hit the gas again and screamed "I am Schumacher". I was on the backseat and had tears in my eyes of laughing. Roberto didn't feel comfortable as he was sitting in the front (in a car without airbag). The guy even stopped alongside a police car and started screaming at them, this guy was totally nuts.
The basketball was amazing, it's not the Dream Team but the Americans know what to do with a ball that's for sure. They were behind till the fourth quarter and it looked like the Aussies would win the match, but then the show started with Slam Dunks and Alley Hoops, and they won, amazing.
We decided to visit the Holland Heineken House again and that was a good idea. They celebrated the silver of Mia Audina, her husband came on stage and sang a great gospel song, the crowd went crazy.
After a few beers I even met the major from Da Bush again, as he is doing his job during daytime and I can claim to rule the city of Da Bush at night, I decided to let Roberto take a picture of us both. The guy was surprised and didn't really laugh about the joke of Da Bush (I actually don't like him too much because of what happened with the riots in Da Bush a couple of years ago, when some hooligans decided to have huge fights for a couple of days and he went to a classical concert as if nothing was happening). Well who cares, me and the major are friends again.
Roberto decided to leave a bit earlier than I and took my key, when arriving home (don't ask me the time) he didn't pick up his phone, so there I was, in the middle of Athens, homeless. After screaming awake the entire neighbourhood and even trying to throw little things into the open window, a guy came and entered the building. After ringing the doorbell for like two minutes Roberto decided to let me in. Pfew that saved my day.
My parking activities got a boost today as our own WA (Mini, from Mini and Maxima) announced on television yesterday that the transport of the players is better then in Atlanta and Sidney, thank you WA, it's my pleasure. I saw Willem during a hockey game, really funny, everybody of the orange army screams "Willem zwaaien" and then he gets up and waves to the crowd.
Sports is the most fantastic thing over here, as the hockey ladies are doing very well I decided to buy tickets for the finals today. The 26th will be the magic moment, let's hope they win gold then I will go nuts!!
I'm now going to prepare my birthday party. My birthday is the 25th August and I have decided to create some invitations and invite every beautiful women in the city for my party in the Heineken Holland House. When nobody shows up I will think like Pieter vd H after not qualifying for the 50 meters, I have gold at home and if nobody shows up for this short distance run, BOEJUH !!
The next part is only for my girlfriend who is travelling Thailand at the
moment:
Hoi poepie,
Trek je maar niks aan van die laatste regels, meen het allemaal niet maarja je moet op zo'n blog natuurlijk mensen ook amuseren, en dan is zo'n regeltje natuurlijk altijd leuk. Ik hoop dat jullie een super tijd hebben in Thailand en verheug me waanzinnig om je weer te zien !!!
Dikke kus
Rene
After a visit to the internet cafe we took a cab to the station, the driver seemed to be OK, but already after a few meters driving we saw the bottle of vodka and noticed that the driver was drunk as hell. Driving here in Athens is somehow suicide already but with this driver it was a nightmare. The guy tried to speak some kind of a hand language and didn't use his steering wheel. He stopped sometimes suddenly (why we not know) and after Roberto suggested we might reach our destination faster when he would drive, he hit the gas again and screamed "I am Schumacher". I was on the backseat and had tears in my eyes of laughing. Roberto didn't feel comfortable as he was sitting in the front (in a car without airbag). The guy even stopped alongside a police car and started screaming at them, this guy was totally nuts.
The basketball was amazing, it's not the Dream Team but the Americans know what to do with a ball that's for sure. They were behind till the fourth quarter and it looked like the Aussies would win the match, but then the show started with Slam Dunks and Alley Hoops, and they won, amazing.
We decided to visit the Holland Heineken House again and that was a good idea. They celebrated the silver of Mia Audina, her husband came on stage and sang a great gospel song, the crowd went crazy.
After a few beers I even met the major from Da Bush again, as he is doing his job during daytime and I can claim to rule the city of Da Bush at night, I decided to let Roberto take a picture of us both. The guy was surprised and didn't really laugh about the joke of Da Bush (I actually don't like him too much because of what happened with the riots in Da Bush a couple of years ago, when some hooligans decided to have huge fights for a couple of days and he went to a classical concert as if nothing was happening). Well who cares, me and the major are friends again.
Roberto decided to leave a bit earlier than I and took my key, when arriving home (don't ask me the time) he didn't pick up his phone, so there I was, in the middle of Athens, homeless. After screaming awake the entire neighbourhood and even trying to throw little things into the open window, a guy came and entered the building. After ringing the doorbell for like two minutes Roberto decided to let me in. Pfew that saved my day.
My parking activities got a boost today as our own WA (Mini, from Mini and Maxima) announced on television yesterday that the transport of the players is better then in Atlanta and Sidney, thank you WA, it's my pleasure. I saw Willem during a hockey game, really funny, everybody of the orange army screams "Willem zwaaien" and then he gets up and waves to the crowd.
Sports is the most fantastic thing over here, as the hockey ladies are doing very well I decided to buy tickets for the finals today. The 26th will be the magic moment, let's hope they win gold then I will go nuts!!
I'm now going to prepare my birthday party. My birthday is the 25th August and I have decided to create some invitations and invite every beautiful women in the city for my party in the Heineken Holland House. When nobody shows up I will think like Pieter vd H after not qualifying for the 50 meters, I have gold at home and if nobody shows up for this short distance run, BOEJUH !!
The next part is only for my girlfriend who is travelling Thailand at the
moment:
Hoi poepie,
Trek je maar niks aan van die laatste regels, meen het allemaal niet maarja je moet op zo'n blog natuurlijk mensen ook amuseren, en dan is zo'n regeltje natuurlijk altijd leuk. Ik hoop dat jullie een super tijd hebben in Thailand en verheug me waanzinnig om je weer te zien !!!
Dikke kus
Rene
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Finally Gold!
As you know, yesterday was a great day for the Dutch delegation in Athens. At the SIC (Sports Information Centre) it is one big battle between the Greeks and me, as I am almost the only non-Greek in the place.
Up to yesterday they kept teasing me, asking how many gold medals Holland had achieved so far. They already had two (synchronised diving and judo). My responses were somewhere along the lines of "we don't depend on jury sports" and "we do not compete with imported players". Of course, the latter is totally true with "real" Dutchies like Mia Audina (in the final!), the former African athlete running for Holland and the entire Baseball team, but what do they know... ;-)
But then came yesterday and the locals are very quiet now. After the NED-GRE baseball game I had already learned how to say "11-0" in Greek, but now the real fun starts. All in good fun of course...
Thanx Leontien and Pieter-Jan!
Roberto
PS: I finally found Brazil on the medal table. Two bronze medals! Muito bom! I'll have a few caipirinha's in the Old Dutch on you!
Up to yesterday they kept teasing me, asking how many gold medals Holland had achieved so far. They already had two (synchronised diving and judo). My responses were somewhere along the lines of "we don't depend on jury sports" and "we do not compete with imported players". Of course, the latter is totally true with "real" Dutchies like Mia Audina (in the final!), the former African athlete running for Holland and the entire Baseball team, but what do they know... ;-)
But then came yesterday and the locals are very quiet now. After the NED-GRE baseball game I had already learned how to say "11-0" in Greek, but now the real fun starts. All in good fun of course...
Thanx Leontien and Pieter-Jan!
Roberto
PS: I finally found Brazil on the medal table. Two bronze medals! Muito bom! I'll have a few caipirinha's in the Old Dutch on you!
Bodypainted Runners?
Last week we got a very curious request from a country. They asked if their relay team could run with bodypaint (!!!). The original request was denied for reasons of commercial limits, but yesterday they came again to appeal. They should a picture of what they are intending to do and I must say: It is really cool!
I'm hoping they get a decision in their favour, because it will definitely be a sight to see. I can't tell which country it is, but I'm sure at least one of you will immediately know which it will be...
Roberto
PS: By the way, yesterday I met the most elegant lady ever to set foot on a track. Of course I'm talking about Merlene Ottey. She is very nice and still a very beautiful woman. She will compete for Slovenia these games. I totally forgot to take a picture. Maybe next time.
I'm hoping they get a decision in their favour, because it will definitely be a sight to see. I can't tell which country it is, but I'm sure at least one of you will immediately know which it will be...
Roberto
PS: By the way, yesterday I met the most elegant lady ever to set foot on a track. Of course I'm talking about Merlene Ottey. She is very nice and still a very beautiful woman. She will compete for Slovenia these games. I totally forgot to take a picture. Maybe next time.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Tostie rules
Well yesterday I had a day off, probably you noticed a few athletes not showing up for their game but I can't co-ordinate the parking 24 hours a day.
Roberto introduced me in the beautiful game of Baseball, we saw a great match of Holland against Greece. We WON!! I didn't know Baseball was such a great sport to watch, a lot of tactics are included in the game. I even saw two homeruns!! After the victory we started singing the well known "wat zijn die grieken stil".
Tiesto was playing in the Heineken Holland House during our game, but as we knew he also would play in Venue we went to this really beautiful club at Da Beach. After a little bit of a struggle we ended on the VIP deck (I had arranged already the guest list when I was in Holland, but here this means you have to pay entrance fee but you are allowed entrance to the VIP).
I am not going to talk again about the female population on the VIP deck this can not be described via a blog. Tiesto arrived behind the decks and the venue was already packed (3000 people) and the crowd went wild. I have never seen a crowd who knows to party that well as the Greeks, from record one till the needle was taken of the record three hours later the party was on. Tiesto may be a huge DJ in Holland but isn't always treated like that, here he is a God. I can't describe what we saw, but I hope Roberto get's his pictures as soon as possible online so you all can enjoy. To see a person from your own country drive a crowd of thousands crazy is really great !!
Because of our nightly adventure I have decided to volunteer for a day off today. Tomorrow I will go to my spot again. Normally they forget to put the music on at the parking, so as a sort of standard I first look for Micheal who then arranges the music (always the same CD of Bob Marley but that is cool). I am looking forward to see the athletes which I know by face a little bit better then in the beginning. Mia has made the semi finals!!
Funny thing is that I can't remember the names, I met and talked to a Greek weightlifter and according to all the others he was the best in the world, but I didn't remember his name. When we were walking into the metro station Roberto pointed to a huge advertisement of Adidas and asked me if he was the one I saw. That was him! Nice of those Greek people to help me a little bit.
That's it for know, check the Venue Website for any pictures of Tiesto (and to take a look how great the place is).
Rene
Roberto introduced me in the beautiful game of Baseball, we saw a great match of Holland against Greece. We WON!! I didn't know Baseball was such a great sport to watch, a lot of tactics are included in the game. I even saw two homeruns!! After the victory we started singing the well known "wat zijn die grieken stil".
Tiesto was playing in the Heineken Holland House during our game, but as we knew he also would play in Venue we went to this really beautiful club at Da Beach. After a little bit of a struggle we ended on the VIP deck (I had arranged already the guest list when I was in Holland, but here this means you have to pay entrance fee but you are allowed entrance to the VIP).
I am not going to talk again about the female population on the VIP deck this can not be described via a blog. Tiesto arrived behind the decks and the venue was already packed (3000 people) and the crowd went wild. I have never seen a crowd who knows to party that well as the Greeks, from record one till the needle was taken of the record three hours later the party was on. Tiesto may be a huge DJ in Holland but isn't always treated like that, here he is a God. I can't describe what we saw, but I hope Roberto get's his pictures as soon as possible online so you all can enjoy. To see a person from your own country drive a crowd of thousands crazy is really great !!
Because of our nightly adventure I have decided to volunteer for a day off today. Tomorrow I will go to my spot again. Normally they forget to put the music on at the parking, so as a sort of standard I first look for Micheal who then arranges the music (always the same CD of Bob Marley but that is cool). I am looking forward to see the athletes which I know by face a little bit better then in the beginning. Mia has made the semi finals!!
Funny thing is that I can't remember the names, I met and talked to a Greek weightlifter and according to all the others he was the best in the world, but I didn't remember his name. When we were walking into the metro station Roberto pointed to a huge advertisement of Adidas and asked me if he was the one I saw. That was him! Nice of those Greek people to help me a little bit.
That's it for know, check the Venue Website for any pictures of Tiesto (and to take a look how great the place is).
Rene
Brasil, the Greatest Sports Country of all Time!
That is at least what a Brazilian colleague of mine believes. I think the 5 football world cups they won, have gone to his head and he extrapolates this - indeed great - achievement to cover all sports worldwide.
Obviously, some might tend to disagree... Not only the Americans, Chinese, Russians and Germans, but also undersigned. Of course Brazil is not the greatest sports country in the world. It's Curacao!
So, here was a bet in the making. I need to state that the terms and conditions of this bet were made on a terrace in Utrecht underneath a burning sun and under influence of a few "wit biertjes" (= white beer). Leandro (another Brazilian) was promoted from DevLAN manager to Official Cafe Flater Betting Judge (without increase in salary). He was actually supposed to minute the agreement which he didn't, but we'll blame that on Freddy Heineken.
As betting on Curacao would obviously be too unfair to my colleague, we decided that I would side for Holland. The bet is simple: If Holland gets more points that Brazil, I win, and he wins if it's the other way around. Points are scored with medals. 5 points for Gold, 3 for Silver and 1 for Bronze.
The loser has to organise a party in the Old Dutch (a bar in our office) in honour of the winning country. The invite should state this specifically. This includes flags, balloons and music from the winning country and obviously the loser gets to wear the opponents shirt behind the bar. The loser should also offer Caipirinhas as these are hell to make (but extremely tasty).
You are hereby all invited to attend and order as many Caiprinhas as you can...
Roberto
PS: Holland currently has 1 silver and 2 bronze, which totals 5 points. I'm trying to calculate the Brazilian points, but I can't find them on the medal table. Can anybody help me out? ;-)
Obviously, some might tend to disagree... Not only the Americans, Chinese, Russians and Germans, but also undersigned. Of course Brazil is not the greatest sports country in the world. It's Curacao!
So, here was a bet in the making. I need to state that the terms and conditions of this bet were made on a terrace in Utrecht underneath a burning sun and under influence of a few "wit biertjes" (= white beer). Leandro (another Brazilian) was promoted from DevLAN manager to Official Cafe Flater Betting Judge (without increase in salary). He was actually supposed to minute the agreement which he didn't, but we'll blame that on Freddy Heineken.
As betting on Curacao would obviously be too unfair to my colleague, we decided that I would side for Holland. The bet is simple: If Holland gets more points that Brazil, I win, and he wins if it's the other way around. Points are scored with medals. 5 points for Gold, 3 for Silver and 1 for Bronze.
The loser has to organise a party in the Old Dutch (a bar in our office) in honour of the winning country. The invite should state this specifically. This includes flags, balloons and music from the winning country and obviously the loser gets to wear the opponents shirt behind the bar. The loser should also offer Caipirinhas as these are hell to make (but extremely tasty).
You are hereby all invited to attend and order as many Caiprinhas as you can...
Roberto
PS: Holland currently has 1 silver and 2 bronze, which totals 5 points. I'm trying to calculate the Brazilian points, but I can't find them on the medal table. Can anybody help me out? ;-)
Dutch Antilles - USA: 11-0 !!!
Yesterday we went to the first baseball match of Holland, against Greece. The (very nice) stadium was packed with Greeks cheering on 'their' heroes. Actually, 22 out of the 25 players on the Greek team are actually Americans who once ate a Pita Giros... Any good American player with a great great great grandfather born in Greece was eligible for this Greek team.
The Dutch team is a bit similar but not entirely the same. 75% of the Dutch team are actually players from the Dutch Antilles. Major difference, however, is that these players are already born with the Dutch nationality. They play for Holland, as it is almost impossible for the Antilles to qualify for the games in a region with all major baseball countries (USA, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, just to name a few)
The starting pitcher was Calvin Maduro (Aruba) who played a few years in the Major League and he was on fire. He only allowed 2 hits in his 7 innings. The locals were still hopeful until the fourth innings when Yurrendel DeCaster (Curacao) totally smashed a fastball for a 3-run homerun. There were some 50 fans of the Dutch team singing chants like "Wat zijn die Grieken stil!" and "Zij gaan op Tienertour". The final score was 11-0 to Holland.
After the game I had a quick chat with the delegations of the Dutch Antilles and Aruba, which were also in the stadium cheering the Dutch team on. For you Arubans out there, the Aruban sprinter is targetting 10.45 for his 100 meters. Let's hope he achieves this as he is still young and hopes to peak 4 years from now.
I've tried to get my pictures on-line but these internet cafes are a bit strict on connecting cameras to the PC's. It must be the Taurus build... ;-)
(that's an insiders joke)
Roberto
The Dutch team is a bit similar but not entirely the same. 75% of the Dutch team are actually players from the Dutch Antilles. Major difference, however, is that these players are already born with the Dutch nationality. They play for Holland, as it is almost impossible for the Antilles to qualify for the games in a region with all major baseball countries (USA, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, just to name a few)
The starting pitcher was Calvin Maduro (Aruba) who played a few years in the Major League and he was on fire. He only allowed 2 hits in his 7 innings. The locals were still hopeful until the fourth innings when Yurrendel DeCaster (Curacao) totally smashed a fastball for a 3-run homerun. There were some 50 fans of the Dutch team singing chants like "Wat zijn die Grieken stil!" and "Zij gaan op Tienertour". The final score was 11-0 to Holland.
After the game I had a quick chat with the delegations of the Dutch Antilles and Aruba, which were also in the stadium cheering the Dutch team on. For you Arubans out there, the Aruban sprinter is targetting 10.45 for his 100 meters. Let's hope he achieves this as he is still young and hopes to peak 4 years from now.
I've tried to get my pictures on-line but these internet cafes are a bit strict on connecting cameras to the PC's. It must be the Taurus build... ;-)
(that's an insiders joke)
Roberto
All in a Days Work
Many people ask me what kind of things I am supposed to do at the Athletics desk. Well, officially I'm supposed to do the following:
- Sign in country delegations at first arrival (authorisation forms, team leaders guide, invitations to technical meetings, etc.)
- Provide information regarding the competition to Athletes, Trainers, Team Leader and/of Chef de Missions. This includes training possibilities, transport arrangements, schedule changes and important meetings.
- Hand out start lists before and results after the competition.
- Receive comfirmation from the officials regarding their participating athletes.
- Arrange transport for shot put participants and officials to the Ancient Olympia.
- Arrange tours for viewing the stadium, marathon and race walking courses.
- Take photographs of the official competitions uniforms and track suits.
Yes, we do all those things mentioned above. But as I stated in an earlier posting, we don't send people with requess outside our area to "the next counter", so I also did:
- Call all Athens Head Offices of all major sport brands to find a pair of 100 meter Female Sprinter Spikes for an athlete who lost hers...
- Arrange with the Travel Agency a bus tour to ancient Olympia for those athletes and officials that want to go as a spectator.
- Cover the info desk for Archery and Badminton (our next door neightbours) when they need to go to lunch, as these desks are often manned by one person.
- Call all Athens Head Offices of all major sport brands again as one (major) athletics country had received sets which were a few sizes too big for their athletes. Can you imagine??? Neither could the Chef de Mission. He was so pissed off he didn't care whether the set I could find was of a different brand then their actual clothing sponsor.
- Play translator for most desks whenever a delegation comes by that speaks only Spanish.
- Chase the Chef the Mission of a large European country for two days as he had forgotten to confirm his shot put athlete for the competition... (!) Finally I found him by running through the village and stopping every athlete from his country to ask for him.
In short, never a dull moment...
Roberto
- Sign in country delegations at first arrival (authorisation forms, team leaders guide, invitations to technical meetings, etc.)
- Provide information regarding the competition to Athletes, Trainers, Team Leader and/of Chef de Missions. This includes training possibilities, transport arrangements, schedule changes and important meetings.
- Hand out start lists before and results after the competition.
- Receive comfirmation from the officials regarding their participating athletes.
- Arrange transport for shot put participants and officials to the Ancient Olympia.
- Arrange tours for viewing the stadium, marathon and race walking courses.
- Take photographs of the official competitions uniforms and track suits.
Yes, we do all those things mentioned above. But as I stated in an earlier posting, we don't send people with requess outside our area to "the next counter", so I also did:
- Call all Athens Head Offices of all major sport brands to find a pair of 100 meter Female Sprinter Spikes for an athlete who lost hers...
- Arrange with the Travel Agency a bus tour to ancient Olympia for those athletes and officials that want to go as a spectator.
- Cover the info desk for Archery and Badminton (our next door neightbours) when they need to go to lunch, as these desks are often manned by one person.
- Call all Athens Head Offices of all major sport brands again as one (major) athletics country had received sets which were a few sizes too big for their athletes. Can you imagine??? Neither could the Chef de Mission. He was so pissed off he didn't care whether the set I could find was of a different brand then their actual clothing sponsor.
- Play translator for most desks whenever a delegation comes by that speaks only Spanish.
- Chase the Chef the Mission of a large European country for two days as he had forgotten to confirm his shot put athlete for the competition... (!) Finally I found him by running through the village and stopping every athlete from his country to ask for him.
In short, never a dull moment...
Roberto
Sunday, August 15, 2004
What you see is what I get
Greetings my friends from the king of the parking.
It's amazing to see all those athletes which I helped on the bus were walking the ceremony. I even recognised some of them. I have given myself a promotion, I am not only helping the Athletes I also do the entertainment while their waiting. Some of them don't like to talk but most of them prefer a nice little chat before they go to the venue.
Yesterday I spoke a little Dutch girl, afterwards Roberto explained to me it was Mia Audina or something and today she is in the quarter finales of badminton. Funny !!
There are 20 or something volunteers working on the parking and when a women's team arrives all the male volunteers gather and try to do their best to leave them outside the bus as long as possible. Waterpolo (canadian women team) has become my favorite till know. My colleague is totally fan of "Inje de Broein" (he even is considering moving to Holland because of her if I promise him all girls in Holland have the same body), I had to disappoint him, such well trained bodies are not common (unfortunately).
Yesterday the first game, Beach Volleyball, don't know if Roberto is already typing something about this in our blog but this was great. There are dancing girls, and then girls who are dancing, after that there are some girls who do a little bit of dancing and oh yeah sometimes there are a few boys or girls who play beach volleyball but to be honest that disturbs a little bit the game of the girls dancing.
Today we are going to watch Baseball, Netherlands against Greece, the Greece have seem to convince a bunch of Americans to become Greek so it's not really a Greek team and the Dutch team is almost totally from the Roberto country. But this doesn't seem to bother anyone.
I am going to write a letter to Mr. Heineken (or Miss Heineken as it is now a days) and tell her to change the name of the Heineken Holland House into the Heineken Hockey House. This place looks very familiar to me as I sometimes go to the Hockey cantina in Da Bush, amazing, the same people doing the same (....) things. Yesterday I saw the mayor of Da Bush and that was too much for me. I left the place crying on Roberto's shoulder.
I can tell much more stories, but as you already have experienced, Roberto is much more of a blogger then I am so I will leave him the juicy stuff.
It's great here, the Olympics, the participation as a volunteer, the venues, the Athletes (no need to say which gender), the matches we are going to watch and the beach volleyball girls. It sounds all to good to be true, but believe me, what you see is what we get. Well... apart from the beach volleyball cheerleaders, which are not shown on television. That would make the transmission inappropriate for minors.
Rene
It's amazing to see all those athletes which I helped on the bus were walking the ceremony. I even recognised some of them. I have given myself a promotion, I am not only helping the Athletes I also do the entertainment while their waiting. Some of them don't like to talk but most of them prefer a nice little chat before they go to the venue.
Yesterday I spoke a little Dutch girl, afterwards Roberto explained to me it was Mia Audina or something and today she is in the quarter finales of badminton. Funny !!
There are 20 or something volunteers working on the parking and when a women's team arrives all the male volunteers gather and try to do their best to leave them outside the bus as long as possible. Waterpolo (canadian women team) has become my favorite till know. My colleague is totally fan of "Inje de Broein" (he even is considering moving to Holland because of her if I promise him all girls in Holland have the same body), I had to disappoint him, such well trained bodies are not common (unfortunately).
Yesterday the first game, Beach Volleyball, don't know if Roberto is already typing something about this in our blog but this was great. There are dancing girls, and then girls who are dancing, after that there are some girls who do a little bit of dancing and oh yeah sometimes there are a few boys or girls who play beach volleyball but to be honest that disturbs a little bit the game of the girls dancing.
Today we are going to watch Baseball, Netherlands against Greece, the Greece have seem to convince a bunch of Americans to become Greek so it's not really a Greek team and the Dutch team is almost totally from the Roberto country. But this doesn't seem to bother anyone.
I am going to write a letter to Mr. Heineken (or Miss Heineken as it is now a days) and tell her to change the name of the Heineken Holland House into the Heineken Hockey House. This place looks very familiar to me as I sometimes go to the Hockey cantina in Da Bush, amazing, the same people doing the same (....) things. Yesterday I saw the mayor of Da Bush and that was too much for me. I left the place crying on Roberto's shoulder.
I can tell much more stories, but as you already have experienced, Roberto is much more of a blogger then I am so I will leave him the juicy stuff.
It's great here, the Olympics, the participation as a volunteer, the venues, the Athletes (no need to say which gender), the matches we are going to watch and the beach volleyball girls. It sounds all to good to be true, but believe me, what you see is what we get. Well... apart from the beach volleyball cheerleaders, which are not shown on television. That would make the transmission inappropriate for minors.
Rene
Too Greek to be True
The title of his posting is the best line I've heard so far in this place. They tell me it's actually a local saying and it refers to the Greek way of doing things.
One of the main examples is, of course, the whole construction surrounding the Olympics. How everythig started really slow and how they needed 24 hour construction shifts to finish everything just in time. The JIT (Just In Time) principle is usually applied as a matter of efficiency, but I can assure you that that is not the case here.
It is not because we are volunteers, but after a week I can also assure you that these games would never be possible without them. And this is not only because of the costs. Very little seems to be planned to the detail. This means that what actually makes this machine work is the improvisation, dedication and flexibility of the thousands of volunteers. The volunteers are really the oil in this machine.
But, credit where credit is due. The Greek organisation is very keen on delegating responsibility downwards. The volunteer manual even states that you are supposed to solve all problems yourself and only escalate if you cannot solve the issue. Also you should not adopt a civil servant attitude by sending athletes and officials to the 'next counter' if their issue is not within your area.
I don't know if Atlanta and Sydney were like this (I doubt it), but these principles really make the work very interesting and diverse. And the locals are very very very determined to make these games a big success.
I know, this sounds a bit slimey, but that is not the intention. I just wanted to express my admiration for the locals and if something goes wrong... well just say "This is too Greek to be true".
Roberto
One of the main examples is, of course, the whole construction surrounding the Olympics. How everythig started really slow and how they needed 24 hour construction shifts to finish everything just in time. The JIT (Just In Time) principle is usually applied as a matter of efficiency, but I can assure you that that is not the case here.
It is not because we are volunteers, but after a week I can also assure you that these games would never be possible without them. And this is not only because of the costs. Very little seems to be planned to the detail. This means that what actually makes this machine work is the improvisation, dedication and flexibility of the thousands of volunteers. The volunteers are really the oil in this machine.
But, credit where credit is due. The Greek organisation is very keen on delegating responsibility downwards. The volunteer manual even states that you are supposed to solve all problems yourself and only escalate if you cannot solve the issue. Also you should not adopt a civil servant attitude by sending athletes and officials to the 'next counter' if their issue is not within your area.
I don't know if Atlanta and Sydney were like this (I doubt it), but these principles really make the work very interesting and diverse. And the locals are very very very determined to make these games a big success.
I know, this sounds a bit slimey, but that is not the intention. I just wanted to express my admiration for the locals and if something goes wrong... well just say "This is too Greek to be true".
Roberto
Facts & Figures
In this first week of Athens I have gone out of my way to collect some important facts and figures regarding this great place.
50% of the girls are named either Elena or Eleni. In case you chat up a Greek girl and due to the alcohol consumption you forgot her name, just call her Eleni. Less that 50% chance of a slap in your face.
Most common boys name is Georgos/Yiorgos. Ladies, if you forget the name of the Greek boy you're chatting up, just call him anything. He won't care as long as you don't slap him in the face... ;-)
After the opening ceremony, less than 50% of the Greeks still believe DJ Tiesto is Italian.
More than 50% of the locals smoke. This presents quite a problem as the entire Olympic complex is supposed to be smoke free. As you would guess, this objective set by the organising committee could be the theme of the next Mission Impossible movie. The number of self defined Official Olympic Volunteer Smoking Areas grows with each day.
The parking centre is very efficient if you're a male athlete. It takes you no time to catch the right bus which almost always leaves exactly on time. However, a female athlete should plan a 23 minute buffer to wade through the sea of extremely helpful smiling male volunteers (this includes Rene). For some reason this does not apply to weightliftsters...
Most popular athlete with the boys of the parking lot (yes, that also includes Rene from P3) is Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn. Whenever she needs a bus to the aquatic centre all valet boys drop whatever they're doing to run and make sure she gets on the right bus.
More F&F's later these games...
Roberto
50% of the girls are named either Elena or Eleni. In case you chat up a Greek girl and due to the alcohol consumption you forgot her name, just call her Eleni. Less that 50% chance of a slap in your face.
Most common boys name is Georgos/Yiorgos. Ladies, if you forget the name of the Greek boy you're chatting up, just call him anything. He won't care as long as you don't slap him in the face... ;-)
After the opening ceremony, less than 50% of the Greeks still believe DJ Tiesto is Italian.
More than 50% of the locals smoke. This presents quite a problem as the entire Olympic complex is supposed to be smoke free. As you would guess, this objective set by the organising committee could be the theme of the next Mission Impossible movie. The number of self defined Official Olympic Volunteer Smoking Areas grows with each day.
The parking centre is very efficient if you're a male athlete. It takes you no time to catch the right bus which almost always leaves exactly on time. However, a female athlete should plan a 23 minute buffer to wade through the sea of extremely helpful smiling male volunteers (this includes Rene). For some reason this does not apply to weightliftsters...
Most popular athlete with the boys of the parking lot (yes, that also includes Rene from P3) is Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn. Whenever she needs a bus to the aquatic centre all valet boys drop whatever they're doing to run and make sure she gets on the right bus.
More F&F's later these games...
Roberto
The Ha Ha Ha
Friday night we watched the opening of the Games in the Heineken Holland House (HHH) on a large movie theatre screen in the garden. It was really fun to watch it there. They've decided to open the house to anyone above 18 instead of only the Dutch.
Thank God, otherwise the place would be packed exclusively by "important" old men reliving their days in the student fraternity house. My guess is that more than half of the people there are VIPs, sponsors, politicians, BN-ers (=Well Known Dutchies) and others with a high level of self-importance.
The place itself is quite impressive. Heineken rented this large restaurant/conference centre in a large park near the Syntagma square. They have a central area with food stands ("broodje bal"), merchandise shop, info stands, ticket centre, internet stations, news wall, many plasma TVs and of course, beer stands. Seperately there's the earlier mentioned movie screen, a relaxation garden and the dancefloor with stage. This stage will be used for performances (yesterday was Brainpower, tonight is Tiesto) and for honouring the medal winners. Tonight, Inge de Bruijn and the other 3 supporting actresses will be honoured.
The DJ is of the type "everybody happyyyyyyyyy?" and the music is somewhere in between Boney M and that Romanian tune which is currently driving everybody nuts (sorry Cosmin). If you wouldn't know better, you would think you were in Holland instead of Athens.
Check THIS LINK for our impersonation of the average HHH visitor... ;-)
Roberto
PS: Keep posting those comments. We enjoy the feedback
Thank God, otherwise the place would be packed exclusively by "important" old men reliving their days in the student fraternity house. My guess is that more than half of the people there are VIPs, sponsors, politicians, BN-ers (=Well Known Dutchies) and others with a high level of self-importance.
The place itself is quite impressive. Heineken rented this large restaurant/conference centre in a large park near the Syntagma square. They have a central area with food stands ("broodje bal"), merchandise shop, info stands, ticket centre, internet stations, news wall, many plasma TVs and of course, beer stands. Seperately there's the earlier mentioned movie screen, a relaxation garden and the dancefloor with stage. This stage will be used for performances (yesterday was Brainpower, tonight is Tiesto) and for honouring the medal winners. Tonight, Inge de Bruijn and the other 3 supporting actresses will be honoured.
The DJ is of the type "everybody happyyyyyyyyy?" and the music is somewhere in between Boney M and that Romanian tune which is currently driving everybody nuts (sorry Cosmin). If you wouldn't know better, you would think you were in Holland instead of Athens.
Check THIS LINK for our impersonation of the average HHH visitor... ;-)
Roberto
PS: Keep posting those comments. We enjoy the feedback
Thursday, August 12, 2004
My fist day
Here I am again in the internet cafe with my sigarette and frappe. My first day was great. I arrived at 11.00 and Helena picked me up, but dropped me after one minute again at a parking. Ouch, this was quite a little disappointing, after all the great stories of Roberto I ended up as king of the parking I thought.
A guy called John from Canada was explaining what to do, he had a list with busses and were they go and I should make sure that the athletes would be in time on the bus. That didn't sound too exited, till the first busses arrived and all the athletes came. I did my job and made sure they would get the right bus, but also talked the entire day to all possible athletes. Great stories, great fun (also with my collegues).
On my platform there are four people working and I can assure you, when the Brazilian women basketbal team arrived, no one was paying attention anymore to the weightlifters.
As Roberto has got a real schedule, I was wondering what schedule I would get. Well, they explained to me that I was a volunteer, so no shedule for me. I thought they were joking so I tried to ask everyone but everyone came with the same answer. So instead of the shifts which are normally from 07.00 till 15.00 and from 15.00 till 23.00, I have decided I create my own Rene's holiday schedule. When I'm feeling fit I will go from 11.00 till 17.00 and after a hard night I will go from 13.00 till 20.00 (yes that's zeven hours, but after 21.00 no busses leave anymore and in the last hour all those paid people may do the job).
After "work" I also made a walk through the Olympic village. This gave me really the feeling to belong to the biggest family in the world, the first athlete I recognised was Leontien van Moorsel (and after that some name of her husband which I forgot) but that wasn't as impressive as all those smiles on the faces of all people comming from all those countries.
Tomorrow the Olympics start, as we don't have tickets for the opening we have decided that we are going to watch the opening in the Heineken Holland House, which will probably mean I am going to start my job on Saturday at around 13.00.
Yesterday I didn't really understand Roberto screaming that he was planning to book his ticket to Beijing but from my experience today I can reccomend everyone to volunteer at such an event once in your live, it is amazing.
Rene
P.S. Today I got a call from my girlfriend somewhere in the bush (no not da Bush) in Thailand, she had made a two day jungle trip and was experiencing the trip of her life. Climbing waterfalls, discovering new species of animals etc. From here in Athens I would give her and her girlfriend Fleur with whom she is a big kiss !! As from tomorrow I'm afraid the only jungle I will see is the Holland Heineken House and all the athletes are allready new species to me (I saw a guy going to the training of the modern Penthatlon or something, what kind of sport is that ????)
A guy called John from Canada was explaining what to do, he had a list with busses and were they go and I should make sure that the athletes would be in time on the bus. That didn't sound too exited, till the first busses arrived and all the athletes came. I did my job and made sure they would get the right bus, but also talked the entire day to all possible athletes. Great stories, great fun (also with my collegues).
On my platform there are four people working and I can assure you, when the Brazilian women basketbal team arrived, no one was paying attention anymore to the weightlifters.
As Roberto has got a real schedule, I was wondering what schedule I would get. Well, they explained to me that I was a volunteer, so no shedule for me. I thought they were joking so I tried to ask everyone but everyone came with the same answer. So instead of the shifts which are normally from 07.00 till 15.00 and from 15.00 till 23.00, I have decided I create my own Rene's holiday schedule. When I'm feeling fit I will go from 11.00 till 17.00 and after a hard night I will go from 13.00 till 20.00 (yes that's zeven hours, but after 21.00 no busses leave anymore and in the last hour all those paid people may do the job).
After "work" I also made a walk through the Olympic village. This gave me really the feeling to belong to the biggest family in the world, the first athlete I recognised was Leontien van Moorsel (and after that some name of her husband which I forgot) but that wasn't as impressive as all those smiles on the faces of all people comming from all those countries.
Tomorrow the Olympics start, as we don't have tickets for the opening we have decided that we are going to watch the opening in the Heineken Holland House, which will probably mean I am going to start my job on Saturday at around 13.00.
Yesterday I didn't really understand Roberto screaming that he was planning to book his ticket to Beijing but from my experience today I can reccomend everyone to volunteer at such an event once in your live, it is amazing.
Rene
P.S. Today I got a call from my girlfriend somewhere in the bush (no not da Bush) in Thailand, she had made a two day jungle trip and was experiencing the trip of her life. Climbing waterfalls, discovering new species of animals etc. From here in Athens I would give her and her girlfriend Fleur with whom she is a big kiss !! As from tomorrow I'm afraid the only jungle I will see is the Holland Heineken House and all the athletes are allready new species to me (I saw a guy going to the training of the modern Penthatlon or something, what kind of sport is that ????)
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
AHOY AHO!!!
AHO is the Olympic abbreviation for Antilles Hollandaises which refers to the beautiful island group of the Dutch Antilles. As most of you know, the place I call 'home'.
From the start I have been waiting impatiently for the CDM (Chef de Mission) of AHO to arrive at the athletics desk to enlist his delegation. I've attended to CDM's from the most exotic locations (who's ever heard of Vanuatu?), but still no AHO. All my colleagues have been instructed to leave AHO for me in case they appear when I'm not at the desk. They all had my mobile number on 'hot standby' for that purpose.
One day passed, two days passed... still no sign of AHO. The first thing I did when arriving at my desk at 06:20 (!!!) yesterday morning was to check whether AHO had dared to show up during my day off. They didn't. Third day passed and today my fourth day was coming to an end when all of sudden.... my mobile rang during my lunch break! AHO's Chef de Mission was there!
I dropped my fork and knife, abandoned my moussaka and ran back as fast as I could. I think I even qualified for the 200 meters race which will be held somewhere next week.
At the desk my wonderful Greek colleagues have been brilliant in delaying him in order to give me the opportunity to 'handle' him. My first line was a loud "Bon Tardi". He looked up in great surprise and responded with a relieved "Hombu, ta bon pa tende un tiki papiamentu den e luga aki".
The rest is now officially part of history. Volunteer Roberto stood at the basis of the Antillian participation in the Greek Olympics...
Roberto (AHO)
PS: He didn't give me a pin... yet... I hope!
From the start I have been waiting impatiently for the CDM (Chef de Mission) of AHO to arrive at the athletics desk to enlist his delegation. I've attended to CDM's from the most exotic locations (who's ever heard of Vanuatu?), but still no AHO. All my colleagues have been instructed to leave AHO for me in case they appear when I'm not at the desk. They all had my mobile number on 'hot standby' for that purpose.
One day passed, two days passed... still no sign of AHO. The first thing I did when arriving at my desk at 06:20 (!!!) yesterday morning was to check whether AHO had dared to show up during my day off. They didn't. Third day passed and today my fourth day was coming to an end when all of sudden.... my mobile rang during my lunch break! AHO's Chef de Mission was there!
I dropped my fork and knife, abandoned my moussaka and ran back as fast as I could. I think I even qualified for the 200 meters race which will be held somewhere next week.
At the desk my wonderful Greek colleagues have been brilliant in delaying him in order to give me the opportunity to 'handle' him. My first line was a loud "Bon Tardi". He looked up in great surprise and responded with a relieved "Hombu, ta bon pa tende un tiki papiamentu den e luga aki".
The rest is now officially part of history. Volunteer Roberto stood at the basis of the Antillian participation in the Greek Olympics...
Roberto (AHO)
PS: He didn't give me a pin... yet... I hope!
Goodbye Olga
I'm in Athens now, after my meet (and unfortunately no greet) with Anky, I took a cab to our appartment, Roberto was right, this is throwing us a century back in time, this is a movie set, Spielberg were are you ??
This morning I picked up my clothes and called (yes, YES) OLGA !!! She picked up the phone (I really got exited), but how fast would things change, she said that she was not working anymore for the ATHOC and gave me a phone number of Helena and that was it, no more Olga this Olympics.
Then I called Helena, aahhh what a voice, great substitute for Olga, we are going to meet tomorrow at 11.00. I will do my best to be her best volunteer ever !!
We are now in a airconditioned internet cafe, I've got a frappe and a sigarette and that's great here in Athens, no smocking restrictions. EVERYBODY is smocking here, the cab driver even offered me a sigarette yesterday in his cab !
The following part is in "dutch" because I gave my aunt also the blog address, she will print the messages and give it to my mother (who lives in a small town in Limburg and doesn't have internet yet).
Hoi mam,
Wie is 't ? hie is alles goot, ich hub ein gooi reis gehad en noe zitte vur in een caffe met allemoal computers en het is lekker keul. Morgen hub ik miene eerste werkdaag en det wert zeker geweldig. Hoap det doa 't wear auch ein bietje lekker blieft! Ich bel dich van de weak.
Hoie
Rene
This morning I picked up my clothes and called (yes, YES) OLGA !!! She picked up the phone (I really got exited), but how fast would things change, she said that she was not working anymore for the ATHOC and gave me a phone number of Helena and that was it, no more Olga this Olympics.
Then I called Helena, aahhh what a voice, great substitute for Olga, we are going to meet tomorrow at 11.00. I will do my best to be her best volunteer ever !!
We are now in a airconditioned internet cafe, I've got a frappe and a sigarette and that's great here in Athens, no smocking restrictions. EVERYBODY is smocking here, the cab driver even offered me a sigarette yesterday in his cab !
The following part is in "dutch" because I gave my aunt also the blog address, she will print the messages and give it to my mother (who lives in a small town in Limburg and doesn't have internet yet).
Hoi mam,
Wie is 't ? hie is alles goot, ich hub ein gooi reis gehad en noe zitte vur in een caffe met allemoal computers en het is lekker keul. Morgen hub ik miene eerste werkdaag en det wert zeker geweldig. Hoap det doa 't wear auch ein bietje lekker blieft! Ich bel dich van de weak.
Hoie
Rene
Watta Spectacle!
This is the day after the night before when I attended the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. The title refers mainly to the use of H2O during the show. I'll try not to give away too much as it is supposed to be a surprise. I'll just say that the special effects were quite amazing and that there's a large focus on Greece's rich history.
Oh yeah, and I think it is a really cool idea to have DJ Tiesto provide the background music for the entrance of the athletes. It makes the whole parade much more energetic. The crowd cheered quite loudly when Tiesto was shown on the large screens. (By the way, most of my Greek colleagues actually thought he was an Italian DJ)
Getting to the stadium was quite difficult as the metro trains were jam packed. It is the oldest and therefore not airconditioned train, so the train ride itself already became somewhat of a water spectacle...
At the Irini station you more or less jump straight off the train into the huge lines at the entrance. The stadium is actually just one of the venues on the OAKA terrain. The Complex also includes the Olympic Indoor Hall, the Olympic Aquatic Centre, the Olympic Tennis Centre and the Olympic Velodrome. It is quite a huge place.
Getting in was the hardest part as the number of gates didn't seem to be able to handle the capacity crowd (70.000+). Hopefully it was like this since it was only a dress rehearsal and not yet a real event.
Hilarious were the scenes at the gate. As the show had to remain secret, no mobile phones were allowed in. Imagine a Greek without a mobile phone...impossible! For those of you not familiar with Greeks, just imagine an Italian without mobile.... get the picture?
Result was that every other person that wanted to get in started a huge discussion with the staff regarding the phones. Security staff wouldn't allow it and the locals spent minutes and minutes trying to convince him. And the next person who just witnessed the previous discussion, just started it all over again. Again, feel free to replace Greeks with Italians when trying to picture this. Same effect...
The stadium? The words Fantastic, Beautiful, Amazing and Impressive don't even begin to describe this masterpiece from the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava (That's the architect they copied in Rotterdam with that wobbly bridge). And not only the stadium is beautiful. The entire area has been designed by him including my personal favourite: the wave wall... This is a 200 meter long 20 meter high wall of hundreds of single movable metal pipes which sway back and forth with the wind, creating the effect of a wave.
Have fun watching the opening!
Roberto
Oh yeah, and I think it is a really cool idea to have DJ Tiesto provide the background music for the entrance of the athletes. It makes the whole parade much more energetic. The crowd cheered quite loudly when Tiesto was shown on the large screens. (By the way, most of my Greek colleagues actually thought he was an Italian DJ)
Getting to the stadium was quite difficult as the metro trains were jam packed. It is the oldest and therefore not airconditioned train, so the train ride itself already became somewhat of a water spectacle...
At the Irini station you more or less jump straight off the train into the huge lines at the entrance. The stadium is actually just one of the venues on the OAKA terrain. The Complex also includes the Olympic Indoor Hall, the Olympic Aquatic Centre, the Olympic Tennis Centre and the Olympic Velodrome. It is quite a huge place.
Getting in was the hardest part as the number of gates didn't seem to be able to handle the capacity crowd (70.000+). Hopefully it was like this since it was only a dress rehearsal and not yet a real event.
Hilarious were the scenes at the gate. As the show had to remain secret, no mobile phones were allowed in. Imagine a Greek without a mobile phone...impossible! For those of you not familiar with Greeks, just imagine an Italian without mobile.... get the picture?
Result was that every other person that wanted to get in started a huge discussion with the staff regarding the phones. Security staff wouldn't allow it and the locals spent minutes and minutes trying to convince him. And the next person who just witnessed the previous discussion, just started it all over again. Again, feel free to replace Greeks with Italians when trying to picture this. Same effect...
The stadium? The words Fantastic, Beautiful, Amazing and Impressive don't even begin to describe this masterpiece from the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava (That's the architect they copied in Rotterdam with that wobbly bridge). And not only the stadium is beautiful. The entire area has been designed by him including my personal favourite: the wave wall... This is a 200 meter long 20 meter high wall of hundreds of single movable metal pipes which sway back and forth with the wind, creating the effect of a wave.
Have fun watching the opening!
Roberto
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