Fun Facts and The USA House

Hi Everyone!

Things have finally slowed down a bit here in the Village and events are in full swing! I was able to sneak away to visit Jodi at the USA House last night! See photos below.

In addition, here are some fun London Olympic facts:

·         This is the 3^rd time London has hosted the Olympic Games

·         For the first time ever in Olympic history, a woman will be competing from every  country currently represented here

·         The Olympic Village can house up to 16,000 athletes and team officials

·         22,000 pillows are currently in the Village

·         Food to be consumed in the Village includes 25,000 loaves of bread and 75,000 liters of milk

·         Over 750 pieces of strength and conditioning equipment can be found in the Village fitness center

·         Team USA has 529 athletes…and, for the first time in history, has more women on the team then men

·         9 million tickets have been sold for the London Olympics

·         There are 80,000 seats in the Olympic Stadium

·         2,300 medals will be awarded at the London Olympics

Shout out to my Village roommate, 2004 Olympian in the sport of table tennis, Whitney Ping! She has a blog too! Check it out: whitneyping.tumblr.com

Cheers,

Julie

P.S. Something else to check out! J http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/238417/

Jodi at the USA House's Coke Lounge

A cute little tube stop

A tube stop named 'Notting Hill Gate' - reminded me of the movie

The Team USA store at the USA House

The USA House



Jodi and I at the USA House

The Team USA store at the USA House

The OC

Bravo London! Bravo!

The Opening Ceremony was fantastic last night and London deserves a big round of applause!

While all of you were watching and enjoying the first half of the show, I was back in the Village (which is only a few minutes walk from the Olympic Stadium) and busy prepping our athletes for their big entrance. Tying scarves, adjusting collars and herding them along the way were among my ‘other duties as assigned’. It was a very unique experience and gave me a whole new perspective of the OC. After we got them on their way, my teammates and I watched in our office and it was super awesome to hear the TV commentators describe our American style as (and imagine hearing this with a British accent) ‘absolutely smart’ and stating that we are ‘the most successful team in the history of the Olympic Games’. As someone who works in Sport Performance, those words are like music to my ears! J

A quick shout out to Brownie Girl Scout Troop #2359! I hope you are all having a fun summer and that you’ll get to watch all of your favorite athletes on TV!

Enjoy the Games everyone and don’t forget to cheer loud! Team USA needs your support!

Best,

Julie

P.S. – If you haven’t watched this video yet, it’s a MUST SEE! The U.S. Swim Team’s version of Call Me Maybe! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPIA7mpm1wU

Team USA prepping for their Opening Ceremony march!

'The' Placard

Almost ready to go...

A few of the best NOC Assistants in the world!

The amazing fireworks at OC...now I'm not so bummed I missed July 4th! Photo Credit - The lovely and talented NOC Assistant, Martha.

The First Lady speaking to our team early yesterday morning...what we saw on TV.

Never did I think that this massive dining hall would actually get FULL!

For my USADA friends!

Our motor pool board

Ummmm I think team Korea is here

So guess what happens when the Village beds get overbooked...................our staff moves out of their rooms to accommodate...........so this was my little bed last night................thought it was kind of funny and worth posting! LOL

And this is what is on the other side of of the couch....the in-the-Village NBC studio...so remember that when you're watching interviews!

And THIS is what happens when our men's basketball team stops by the Village...........I've never seen famous athletes get so excited about meeting other famous athletes............it was a pretty cool moment!

Visit From Jodi

Look who showed up at the Village this week!

My youngest sister, Jodi, is volunteering at the USA House here in London and we were able to guest pass her into the Village for a few hours! (Thank you to my Village teammates for making that happen!) I’m pretty sure I scored major brownie points because NOT only did she get the full VIP tour of the Village but she also ran into several famous athletes…and not naming any names, one of them was a particularly famous athlete who won 8 gold medals in Beijing. J Jodi just about fainted from her brush with greatness but I was proud that she held it together as we were making one of HER Olympic dreams come true! Thanks for visiting Jodi!

Things around here are beyond crazy...I don’t even know how to describe it. Just. Simply. Crazy.

Opening Ceremony is TOMORROW so everyone is super stoked and ready to get his party started! If you are in Colorado Springs, be sure to join the party downtown Friday evening 4-10pm to watch the OC broadcast and if you are anywhere else in the U.S., NBC will be broadcasting Friday as well…check your local TV listings. I’ll be back here in the Village prepping Team USA for their big London entrance!

THE OLYMPICS ARE HERE EVERYONE!!!! GET EXCITED!!!!

And special shout out today to my Mom and Dad, Kathy & Doug Schmitz! If it had not been for their love for the Olympic Games, I would not be here today and this whole thing would not even be happening to me. Thank you Mom and Dad! I owe it all to you!

Cheers! J

Julie

Jodi and Me at the Rings

Jodi in the Dining Hall...she was pretty impressed

The Coke Bar

The Welcome Ceremony...with orchestra versions of famous Queen songs...LOL

View of the Olympic Stadium from the Village

The Rings

Where I lay my head to sleep...I'll write about my roommate soon!

The swim team's bags have arrived!

These get me through the day!

Pretty sure we are in the safest place on the planet...it's like a fortress!

The Village

Sorry for my delay everyone…as our British friends would say, ‘It has been a bit busy around here!’


‘THE VILLAGE’ has always been a very elusive and mythical location for me. Only a small percentage of Olympic go-ers ever gain access to the Village and even with four Olympics under my belt, I have never lived or worked in a Village before. So, with this in mind, it is has been difficult for me to even picture what THE Olympic Village would be like. Images of a utopia generally come to mind………….people of every shape, size, nationality and status living and mingling in perfect peace and harmony….athletes wearing gear from every color of the rainbow…coaches speaking just about every language the human race has come up with…shiny new apartment buildings that will eventually become London’s lasting legacy…bottles of Coke products lining the walls and volunteers trading pins like it was their job.

Well folks, I can confirm…this is EXACTLY what the Olympic Village is like…and much, much more!

We moved into the Village on Monday morning and have been going non-stop for days trying to get everything perfect for Team USA’s arrival. Coordinating shuttles, hauling baggage and organizing our motor pool are just a few of things that have been on my to-do list. In addition, I’ve been very fortunate to be one of the first people to greet our athletes as they get off the bus and get the privilege of seeing their faces light up as I welcome them to the start of their Olympic dream!  It has been crazy busy and we’re putting in a lot of long days but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! 

So, now that I am in the Village, I can tell you ALL about it! First, the Village consists of many brand new apartment buildings, each assigned to a different country, which will be turned into real apartment buildings after the Games are over. The Village also has a large Welcome Center where athletes arrive and depart, an Accreditation Center where athletes receive their special ID’s, a Soda Bar…with nothing but soda, a large Transportation Area, a Village Plaza…which houses the P&G Salon (yes – athletes can get cuts, colors and manicures here), an Olympic retail store, a post office and a general store…AND a GIGANTIC dining hall complete with food from all around the world and even a free McDonald’s!

The Village is definitely like a mini city and I will be spending about 99% of my time here while I am in London. I hope to bring you the scoop as the Village started to fill-up and as the Games get rolling.

Shout out to my super cute new nephew, Mikko, who I KNOW cannot wait to see the Olympics someday too! J Miss you and love you! Can’t wait to see you again!

Over and out,

Julie

PS – I met the gymnastics team today! They could not be sweeter girls and I’m so excited for them to experience all of this!

The Welcome Center

The view from our apartment building

The MASSIVE dining hall!

Plenty of Diet Coke to keep me going...I'm so glad Coke is an Olympic sponsor!

The FREE McDonald's in the dining hall...you just walk right up and they give you anything you ask for...which is perfect for when you finally eat dinner at 11:00pm every night! LOL

The P&G Salon

Enrtance to the Welcome Center

Team USA's building!

My desk!

The gymastics bags!

Mascots galore at the retail store!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Trains and Automobiles…that’s literally what it takes to move Team USA from point A to point B during an Olympic Games and figuring out exactly how THAT works is what I have been up to these last few days!

I arrived on Thursday and descended upon a city that is anxiously awaiting their big debut! The streets are beginning to get crowded, the ‘London 2012’ signage is up and hundreds of purple and orange uniformed volunteers are stepping into their roles for the very first time. Since the Village does not officially open until tomorrow (Monday), I’ve been living at one of our secondary venues…basically like a tiny dorm room…all that is missing is Katie Allen! J After fighting off a bad case of jet lag, I ‘bumped-in’ (that is the official Olympic term) to the Village on Friday for the day to help out the staff that is already set-up there. THE VILLAGE IS SO COOL! I know that I will be spending A LOT of time there so I will talk more about that later but my teammate, Justin (no not Justin Miller…my co-worker Justin…I’ll call him Justin Rogers to be clear…so many Justin’s!) and I helped move in about 25 pallets of ‘stuff’ into our Village apartment building…everything from office supplies to crutches and ice baths to bean bags! 

Then, on Saturday, we toured the city of London to get a good feel for ‘the tube’ (aka the subway), to visit the famous London sites and to figure out where important Team USA venues are located. I am now on my way to becoming an official direction giver! And I even got to unload and DRIVE a few brand new BMW's...super fun!

And today we were busy doing dress rehearsals with our shuttle buses, getting  outfitted with our highly controversial Team USA gear and fine tuning our transportation/logistics/bag-hauling/smile greeting/direction giving/go team usa process…and with that, we are READY for over 50 delegation members to arrive tomorrow and get this show on the road!  

Oh and my first shout out goes out to my wonderful and very handsome new husband, Justin Miller! Love and miss you! Be sure to check the mail! Just kidding! J

Smiles,

Julie

PS – When we were in the Village on Friday, they were doing a dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony and I’m pretty sure I heard some iconic British music coming from the stadium! It’s going to be great!

The Countdown Clock

Westminster Abbey

Our fleet of brand new BMW's

Team Processing...where our entire USA delegation gets their gear

Boxes and boxes of Team USA gear!

Well of course I just had to take a photo next to a red telephone booth!

London Baby!

LONDON IS CALLING and tomorrow I will embark on my latest Olympic adventure! For over a month, I will be living and working in the Athlete Village at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, England! Although this will be my 5th Olympics (!) (Does that make me sound really old? - LOL) this is the 1st Olympics where I will be working on behalf of the United States Olympic Committee and I am absolutely thrilled! This experience is a career goal that I have been striving towards for many years and I am extremely thankful to the USOC and my teammates for allowing me to have this unforgettable opportunity!

I'm sure many of you have been watching the Olympic Trials over the past few weeks and speaking from first hand observations, Team USA is looking lean and mean! I cannot wait for you to see the performances this summer that will, without a doubt, go down in the history books!

Just a reminder that the Opening Ceremony is on Friday, July 27th and the Olympics will be on NBC pretty much 24/7 until the Closing Ceremony on Friday, August 10th. Trust me...you won't want to miss a single second! You can also follow a ton of the action by going to www.nbcsports.com or www.teamusa.org.

In addition, I will be updating this blog as much as possible with the latest Olympic 'scoop' so be sure to check back often for more awesome info! Also, feel free to share this blog link with anyone who you think might be interested.

It's going to be an unforgettable Games folks! Start getting excited!

Yours Truly,

Julie