5/18 - EPL Match and Olympic Park Visit

Yesterday was our last full day in London. The main event of today’s travels was going to an EPL match between West Ham and Nottingham Forest. West Ham was the home team and played their games at the Olympic Stadium in the Olympic Park, where they hosted the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games as well as many other events during that Olympics. The park itself was the hub for many of the athletes and the events across London, as the athletes' village, aquatics, and BMX events took place in the Olympic Park. As a group, we went around and spotted many of the Olympic venues and symbols that had been left up after the 2012 Olympics had taken place. We learned and talked about some important aspects of what makes the Olympics a successful event and why certain countries are hosting compared to others that are not. Some of those aspects are economic impact, social impact, and sustainability. London was one of the first cities to emphasize making sure that their venues were either existing or temporary, with a focus on not making venues that would be unused after the Olympic Games. This is one of the most important characteristics that the IOC looks for in their Olympic hosts, and will be hesitant to give the games to cities that are economically unsound with the funding they receive for the Olympics. The game itself was a fun one. Nottingham Forest ended up winning a thriller. From what I heard from fans in attendance at the stadium, the refs were less than ideal and gave Nottingham Forest all of the calls, which was an unfortunate scenario for West Ham. Either way, I enjoyed going to the game and would do that again if I came back to London in the future. To end the night, we went to dinner at Din Tai Fung. The food was good as always, and I will be going there again when I am back home. 

Overall, the group and I had a great time in London and look forward to our next individual trips there. It is not every day that these amazing opportunities come around to learn about the Olympics and experience European culture at the same time. I, for one, have never been to Europe before, so this is a new experience for me that I will forever cherish. Getting to go on this trip with great people was something I hoped for but was hesitant about while signing up. I was nervous that I wouldn’t find a way to connect with the other students on the trip. Luckily, my fears have been blown out of the water. The people on this trip are amazing, and I hope that one day we will all meet up again in one of the 4 countries that we visited to rekindle that Olympic flame.