All good things must come to an end.

     On Tuesday the accreditation team went out for a dinner/party thing. It was the last time we’d ever see each other again (I really hope not). It was really fun, but really sad at the same time. I think I’ll start with the subway down to the restaurant.

     Most of the accreditation team was supposed to meet at Christie station to sign the balls for Elaine and Marloes (gifts). We were supposed to meet at 6 – 6:30, so I got there at 6:16 (I have a transfer to prove it). To my surprise, nobody was there yet, so I sat there and waited. Once again, I was surprised! Elaine popped out of the subway station! I was thinking in my mind “Oh crap, now what?” I had no idea how we were supposed to sign the balls. (it was supposed to be a surprise) In the end it turned out ok, but it was really weird. Elaine ended up waiting with me for everybody else.

     When everybody else turned up, we all got up to walk to the bus station (which was just outside the station). Elaine told us all to get out our transfers, and apparently I wasn’t allowed to use the Christie station transfer. A few people had that problem as well, so Alfonso and I decided to go down one station (subway), and go pick up a transfer there. We went down to Ossington station, got a transfer, and got back to Christie station.

     When we were waiting for the bus, Alfonso told me that he needed an ATM. So we went on a journey to go look for one. But first, we went to try to find a bank. We walked down the street a bit, and saw that Christie station is basically KOREA. The whole street was FULL of Korean stuff. Korean stores, Korean restaurants… EVERYTHING KOREAN! But unfortunately there was no Korean bank. We ended up going to a Korean convenience store that had an ATM, but Alfonso’s card didn’t work there, so we gave up the quest.

     We eventually got to the restaurant, and sat down. I took a look at the menu, and I noticed that I couldn’t pronounce a thing. Good thing I was sitting beside Alfonso (he’s Mexican). Basically I had whatever he had (except for the main course). I copied his drink (a sangria) and wow, it was good. I don’t know what it is, but it is good. I also cannot describe the flavor, but it’s gooood.

sangria!

     For my entrée, I had an enchiladas mexicanas, I have no idea what it is (even after I ate it). The funny thing is that I had no idea what I ordered, so when it came, everyone was confused. So it came, and I started eating it, not knowing what it was, and what it was supposed to look like. And it turned out that it was actually not my food, and my food was the same thing, but red. But it was a good thing that I only touched the rice and the salad, not the actual… thing. The thing was good, and really filling. I have to thank Alfonso for recommending it. Hehe.

Marloes' food that I was fooled with.

my food.

     I also had an awesome dessert drink thing named Atole. It was strawberry flavored, which was awesome. Thanks again to Alfonso for recommending it.

Strawberry Atole

     Throughout the dinner, the paparazzi was present. Every time someone did something funny, or made a pose, there would be a series of flashes, followed by a huge burst of laughter. We were all joking about the mass amounts of emails that facebook would be sending us saying “blabla has tagged you”. Amazingly, most of the pictures are already up, and I’ve only received 30-40 emails! Yay!

     It was pretty sad near the end, because Alfonso would be leaving back to Mexico (he came here just for the world cup!), and it would be the last time we would see him. (for a long time). I hope that there will be some sort of yearly accred. reunion.

     So we all left the restaurant, said our goodbyes, and the group of TTC-ers set off. The group at the start included: Me, Nazir, Greg, Rozana, Charmaine, Ilham, Elaine, Somnath, Danny, and Cyril. The first person to leave was Nazir at Bathurst station. He decided that he would walk home from there, so we said our goodbyes, and then there was 9. When we got down to the subway area, Cyril had to go west, while the rest of the group was going east, and then there was 8. Elaine got off at St. George. Everyone except for Greg got off at Bloor/Yonge, Rozana and Ilham got off at Eglinton. Danny, Charmaine, and Somnath got off at Sheppard, and I was alone the rest of the way.

going down to Bathurst station

     My FIFA volunteer experience was amazing. I met many new and amazing people. At the start, I didn’t know anyone there. Cyril taught me EVERYTHING to do with accreditation. He taught me how to take photos and print badges, he also taught me how to laminate. That all happened at the Direct Energy centre. When we moved to the QE (Queen Elizabeth) building, I talked to a few people, but I didn’t really feel like I belonged. Everyone was older than I was. It seemed like everyone knew each other, and I just happened to be there. But I kept going back to the centre for my shifts, and continued to talk to the few people I talked to. Eventually I ended up talking to most of the people. In the end, I look back, and I realize that I still don’t know many of the people who worked at the accreditation centre. I still don’t feel like I belong. I just feel like I’m just… floating around. But all in all, it was fun. I met amazing people. And I had a good experience.

     One of the main things we did at the accreditation centre was take pictures. I look at all the pictures that were taken, and there is not ONE picture of me working. There are tons of pictures of other people working, but none of me, haha.

A funny quote from my time at the accreditation centre:
(watching the game on tv)
Boris: That place looks familiar!
Nazir: Yea, its right next door. 

Well, I’m sure that I will remember more stuff about the accreditation centre, and I shall blog about it when that comes up.

watching closing ceremony

me and the superstars (i'm trying to be superman)

ACCRED TEAM! Miss you guys already!

Till next time~