Olympics, you are here. Finally.

It’s time. Oh yes it is, and I, like a lot of you I’m sure, have waited long enough for these epic Games to start.

It’s been seven years since we were designated to host the 2012 Olympics, VS France who was left very vexed. Well the years have gone by and now it’s time for the show; they say it will be ‘the most extraordinary games in the Olympic history’.

Yes, this year Britain has been motivated to host internationally relevant events. Indeed our Queen was watched by a 15 million people last month, and in her honour (if not just as an excuse) 9,500 street and private parties were hosted around the Capital. The Diamond Jubilee was a spectacular event, for locals and tourists alike, who witnessed 1,000 boats float in chaotic formation down the Thames, or attend the concert hosted at Buckingham Palace.

The Jubilee Mania being over, I thought things were getting back to normal. I was expecting a busy, humid, sun-free summer like the kind we usually experience, with a break in the rain schedule a hopeful highlight.

However I was surprised by the wave, well, the tsunami overwhelming the city with the Games. Indeed it has all changed. Tube stations have been rebuilt, roads cleaned and graffiti whipped off walls in Brick Lane. Tesco’s has even changed their opening times, thinking we would, as day-to-day customers, be happy to find it opened at 5am instead of 7! But that’s just me being cynical, as tonight it’s been said that a 4 billion people are going to be watching the opening ceremony. And London will receive an extra million people during the month surrounding the Games, all eager to attend the 302 events coming up.

Meanwhile, the debt seems to have reached the thousand billions, so what would that be in numbers? Next to that it’s true that the 3 billion spent on her Majesty’s Jubilee isn’t much, nor the 110 million pounds spent on security during the Games.

We can argue that sales during the Jubilee went up 120 million pounds, and that McDonald’s will be serving 1.75 million meals, so in the long term, maybe it is helping our drowned economy.

But no matter the crisis, the starvation and unemployment, millions of people sang the British National ‘God save the Queen’ Anthem, and they all definitely meant it. That’s the beauty of England, and we are all ready to shout for our athletes, no matter how much of a hassle taking the tube is these days.

26,000 members of world’s media are waiting in the city, making it the biggest event in history. So it seems truthful to say that tonight and for the next two weeks, the worlds’ eyes are on us.

By Mona Malca

Going Underground

As a London Lover and frequent visitor to the city, I have done my fair share of travelling by train. I have complained when trains are late and moaned at the lack of seats just as much as the next person.  However, this week as a newbie at Wordville, not only have I gained an insight to the world of PR, and perhaps more importantly learnt how the Mayor likes her tea (tea bag flirts with water but the relationship goes no further), I have also seen a new side to the British public on the trains.

Tuesday saw the Olympic test run on London transport in five of the city’s major stations in preparation for - as Boris kindly reminds us at every station in town – “The Big One”. This event went largely unnoticed at Charing Cross, with the only minor difference being the erection of a play pen in the middle of the station. This rather snug area is supposed to house the extra one million visitors to our city.

Those who were unlucky enough to pass through London Bridge on Tuesday would have experienced something different altogether, as exits were blocked off and commuters were herded cattle-like through the only entrance. This exercise, which was minutely dissected by papers and passengers, further angered the already enraged species that is the London commuter.

 Nevertheless, I have found this week that these Londoners- who are always ready to moan about the commute, the extortionate fares, the lack of seats and daily delays- possess an air of camaraderie. Yes it’s true that the majority of Charing Cross bound passengers will sit on the aisle seat and leave what some might consider an excessive amount of space on the escalators, but I have also witnessed acts of kindness amongst commuters – strangers – which have restored my faith in humankind.

As I browsed through the Metro each morning on the tube, I was attracted to the Good Deed Feed – a section in which readers text in, expressing their thanks to strangers, friends and family who have done a good deed.  I was left truly heartened by this column. One woman gave thanks to “the kind lady” who woke her up at her station, another dedicated her text to “the young man in the peaked cap” for topping up her oyster card when she was late and had forgotten her purse. Just this morning, I saw a man helping an elderly woman off the train, another passing a gentleman his umbrella after leaving it on the seat.

So whilst everyone who endures an extended daily commute during the Olympics is sure to complain, and there will still be those that leave a bag on the seat in an attempt to create a personalised Olympic challenge – I am sure that if you look carefully enough, you will see small, but incredibly significant good deeds, which will make you proud to be a Londoner.

By Francesca Rock

Olympic Countdown

At a recent media breakfast, they were all banging on about Twitter and how much of an impact it will have during the Olympic Games. Following the announcement that the UK’s tweeting population is now the fourth largest in the world, this is hardly surprising. Currently standing at 10 million- the UK’s twitter following is greater than the circulation figures for all our national newspapers combined.

So for those writing about the Olympics (and we know every man and his dog will be), how will Twitter affect them?

MSN are posting real-time updates on the games, complete with ‘athletes in action’ videos, torch mapping and readers’ submissions, pictures and tweets. Of course they will be curating the tweets sent in, but surely that’s going to be one hell of a job?

BBC on the other hand, are launching a special radio station – BBC Radio 5 Olympics Live Extra – for the games and will have up to 24 live streams available across four screens, including PC, mobile, online and connected TV.

Although the Bejing Olympics was not that long ago, the London Olympics will be the first truly social Games. In technology terms, 2008 was hop, skip and a long jump away from where we are today. There wasn’t a high demand for apps, tablets hadn’t taken off yet, and the concept of watching live TV on our mobile phones was something many people couldn’t get their head around.

At the media breakfast, Head of Social Media at MSN UK, Darren Waters, claimed that social media has moved from being a social network and is now, in fact, a destination. 

So whatever platform you will be watching it on, you are sure to feel like you are there – even if you are sitting at your desk moaning about how long it took you to get in. 

By Stephanie Rock