And now, the end is near...

Ne pleure pas parce que c’est fini, souris parce que c’est arrivé

I saw the above line on Facebook just before I headed off to my final shift. I’m not entirely sure why it was in French, but it seemed pretentious, emotional and, well… right. Like me.

I’m tired, aching, I want my own bed, my suitcase is full of grass, yet weirdly, I don’t want this to end. I genuinely expected that I’d have packed it in by about Day 4. I know I’m not a quitter, but it was always bound to be a challenge- not just the volunteering, but also the camping.

Partying with the Irish

Yet it’s been the best fortnight of my life, all told. I’ve met so many great people, spectators, volunteers and campers alike, and I feel like I’ve been part of something special, something that makes me part of a group that will be recognised for years. Christ, I even hope there’s some sort of a reunion. For those of you that know me, this probably seems like an uncharacteristic outpouring of bonhomie, devoid of cynicism. But it’s been fantastic. After Venue Specific Training ( http://myolympicdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/venue-specific-training-too-tedious-to.html ) I lay in bed pondering whether to delete my application. Now I can’t imagine having ever doubting the Games maker experience.

Our final shift was unlike any other, really. We were left to man probably the quietest section of the entire venue, without a team leader. It was almost like, after nine shifts, they felt we didn’t NEED someone to tell us when to take a 45 minute break! Imagine the anarchy! It was like a dog getting into the school playground mixed with two footballs on the pitch mixed with having a supply teacher. Anarchy.

Inspiring a generation

Or not. It was beautiful. The sun shone, we clocked off three hours early, took an hour for dinner, joked and partied with the Irish following their first gold medal (that of Katie Taylor) and generally just saw out our final shift in the most pleasant manner possible. I even allowed myself a smile when someone muttered ‘tit’ under their breath as I directed people using the Usain Bolt pose.

It was also the day I raised the celebrity spotting bar quite high, seeing John McEnroe, John Inverdale, Princess Anne and Sir Clive Woodward. Seeing Niall from One Direction was probably more impressive to you philistines, but never mind.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has visited this blog. The number of views has gone up pretty much every day, far surpassing my expectations, and I’ve had lots of nice comments. Gilbert and Sullivan even mentioned something about turning this into a musical, but they wanted Noel from Hearsay to play the role of me, so I declined their offer.  

So yes, 10 shifts, 14 days, one member of One Direction, lots of fun and approximately 1476 memories in the bag. As I did the final Prince Regent-Canning Town- Waterloo-Twickenham journey, I wondered two things…

1) Is it possible to learn Portuguese in four years and volunteer for Rio, and

2) If the Kazakhstani government get hold of this blog, will I have to seek refuge in an Ecuadorian embassy?