My son and I had a chat on the phone this morning - he lives in East London and works in Euston - his journey to work was quick with no evidence of any problems on the underground.Around the Olympic Park colleague "gamesmakers" were also reflecting in the glow of Transport for London who seem to have delivered really well on the first weekday of the Games - this is really good news.Many of us were  really concerned about how the network would cope with both regular commuters and  those visiting Stratford. I have taken to going to West Ham and walking into the Park, going that way its probably a bit longer but avoids the Westfield Shopping experience which I do find a bit over-powering - also as its about a mile to walk it makes me feel that my two way hike is helping to keep me fit - the true spirit of the Olympic Games. Lets hope I can keep this up.

The other issue still being discussed in lunch and tea breaks among many volunteers is the empty seats at some venues - as I mentioned yesterday our venue was packed - I also tried to get some tickets by calling into the Box Office on the Park but was told clearly that I could only buy them on the internet even though in the morning before going in I was unable to make any progress! Much is being done to put more tickets on the market but I suppose the competition will still be great - so the answer is to persist and be quick!

There was a bit of drama on one of my duties today- a young female volunteer who was supporting the photographers in one of the water arenas fainted - sort of fell forward onto her mouth and nose. She was quickly taken out into the corridor I was working in and quickly came too. Its worrying in a way as if she had been standing up or been nearer the water it could have been a bit difficult.It turns out that she has a bit of a history of fainting in the family - she was also quickly attended by the medical team - all NHS staff - and had to sit down near where I was working for a while. We then had a chat - turns out she is at University doing American studies and the other young man (another volunteer) working quite near me from Leeds joined the discussion - I began to feel a bit old and that they seemed to be getting on really well. Will keep you posted if it develops.

Our team is slowly getting to know each other - we had a birthday today, all signed a card and ate cake. On our team are some language experts French,Chinese,Russian and many more . I watched one young Chinese woman (another volunteer) assisting in a conversation between local TV and the captain of a Chinese Team that had just lost out. She told me later that it was a really moving experience as the Chinese Team were brokenhearted  - she was clearly quite affected by this . 

So at the end of day two - the shift was not as long as yesterday so I feel less tired this evening;I was also able to guide a couple of people on to where they wanted to reach rather than going into a panic! Also the rain did not bother us today.Its another early one on Tuesday and then a day off.

Monday 30th July

Yinnon Ezra MBE