So we thought London's traffic was bad.....

Last Thursday may still have been pretty early in our trip, but it left us with some great life lessons in regards to London and personal safety. The day started off well enough. We went over to Londons borough of Hackney where we met with Charlie Forman, the borough's chief officer for the legacy of the 2012 games. Charlie was a terrific guy who provided us with some great insight into what the games are meaning to London beyond sport. While the Olympycs obviously have huge sport implications, London is using this opportunity to rebuild one of its city's poorer districts. It is a great undertaking, but Charlie seemed pretty confident that the games would be a success, from both the sporting and community perspective. After the meeting however, didn't go so well and proved to be almost fatal for a couple of us, including myself. With that said, I present to you what may be the greatest lessons we may learn on this trip.

1. Don't always listen to Professor Ryan....
Our way to the British Musuen should have merely consisted of a simple ride on one of London's famous double decker buses. Two stops before ours, Professor Ryan advised us to go down to the first level as to not miss our stop. Being the leader that I am, I got up first and proceeded to walk down the stairs. Professor Ryan told me to go as the bus was in fact stationary. As soon as I start walking down however, the bus jolted forward, sending me flying down the steps. Had I not been able to reach back at the last second and grab the railing behind me, I surely would have went head first into the wall. I was probably only an inch or two from death, although the rest of the group seemed to find it funny as I dissapeared from their view in a split second. Now I'm not normally one to point fingers and place blame any one particular individual, so I won't. But if I had to name names, it would definitely be Professor Ryan.....

2. London pidgeons are dangerous...
Over the past couple days, we have all been mocking Jen over her seemingly irrational fear of birds. She had tried explaining why, but it was just easier to laugh at her than to show sympathy. Anyway, right before walking into the British Museum, just moments after the famous bus incident, a pidgeon flew directly into Jen's face. This is just too good for me to be making up, so I hope you'll believe me. I was standing right behind her when it happened, so I had the best view as the violent bird went full speed into Jen's left cheek, catching her totally by surprise. None of us could believe what we had just witnessed. It was like the creature had specifically targetted her. Having the best view possible, I got to see the bird's takeoff, flight, and subsequent crash. Should I have warned Jen about the pidgeon? Probably. Did this outplay of events provide us with a much greater story though? I think yes...