Sochi in Pictures: Part 1

I'll write a more substantive update about my Sochi experience in a bit...but for now, here are some photos! These are photos of traveling to Sochi, the Opening Ceremony, some random Russian experiences, multiple USA golds and more!

Ready to go!

Flying into Sochi Adler International Airport

Fun little gifts from Aeroflot.

My home away from home - the Mountain Media Center!

Russian McDonald's

Main Media Center, down in the Coastal Cluster

Opening Ceremony with B Pen! Brandon and I were interns together at the USOC four years ago...look how far we have come!

USSA Comms team at Opening!

GOLD for Jamie Anderson in slopestyle snowboarding!

Olympic Flame

Sochi strays...these are the ones that Gus Kenworthy ended up bringing home.

Grocery shopping with my Sochi roommate, Sarah.

Some interesting Russian items in the grocery store. Caviar flavored chips, anyone?

Sometimes, things get lost in translation.

Slopestyle sweep for the USA!!

Somebody Pinch Me

I'm all moved into my room in the US Olympic Training Center!

Seriously, this place is like living in a dream.  The dorms are dorms, but they really provide everything we need.  We have a TV lounge (which is sponsored by AT&T...yes, really, we have a sponsored lounge) with really nice sofas, computer stations, a large flat screen TV, and a brand new poker table.  There are a couple of free washers and dryers.  My dorm room has a sink and vanity in it, as well as a decently-sized closet, fully-made beds (they provide all of the bedding), a small flat screen HD TV and DVD player, a refrigerator, a desk, a dresser, and plenty of room.  I have a roommate, Emily, who I get along with great (she and I are actually watching Toddlers and Tiaras in our room right now).  All of the interns tend to congregate in the TV lounge in the evenings and hang out...last night some of us watched Invictus (we can rent new release DVDs for $1.99 in the Athlete Center).  I'll post some pictures whenever I get around to taking them!

The Athlete Center is where we eat our meals...and it is AMAZING!  Today at lunch, Michael Phelps walked about a foot behind me, fresh from the pool.  Visitors aren't allowed in the Athlete Center, so it's kind of a place where everyone can just hang out...no one cares who's an elite athlete or intern or coach or employee.  There's a great variety of food (even for vegetarians like me!)...there's even a soft-serve ice cream machine (which will be the death of me) and an espresso machine.

And finally...today was day one of my actual work in the New Media department!  The people who I met today at work were really cool and I think I'll work quite well with them.  Brandon and I actually went to lunch with Scott, one of the guys who works on the website and taught us how to add content to it.  Kyle, the assistant director of New Media, also seems pretty cool.  We got some work done today uploading news stories to the website and I tracked some athletes' Twitter accounts to follow an event in California.  Today was mainly a lot of orientation and learning, though...tomorrow, though, it's all work!  My department is moving offices over the next few days, too, so some of that work may be manual labor!

That's all I've got for now...I'll try to get some pictures posted whenever I take some, and I'll keep you all posted on my internship!

Update

This will probably be my last post before I am in Colorado!  My brother and I are driving out to Colorado Springs on Thursday.  We're leaving at like 4am so that we can drive straight through (not my idea...my brother does not like stopping once he gets started on a road trip)...we should end up in Colorado by dinner time!  Since I can't move into the USOC dorms until June 1, I'm staying with Ruth and Steven for a couple of days.  It'll be nice getting to explore the Springs a bit before moving in.

My first day of actual work is June 2.  There are two interns in my department, myself and a guy from New York named Brandon.  He and I have been emailing back and forth this week, so it'll be nice having someone right away who I already kind of feel like I know.  He's got a ton of video production experience and said he'll teach me a bit about it, so I'm excited for that!  I think he and I will work well together, and it seems like our skills will complement each other nicely!

4 days until I leave for Colorado...8 until I move into the US Olympic Training Center!