It has been a while since I did one of mine “strange” adventures. This time it is not as adventurous from travel (because it is at home) but fun as it is pretty unique too – volunteer at the FIFA World Cup this year in our town of Atlanta!. It really is a no brainer as we have a few games only and the stadium is 15 mins away by car – so not hard logistically.

September: I had been eyeing this for a while, so I applied very quickly and convinced B to do it with me. Long period of nothing followed.

December: A selection for an interview in downtown Atlanta in December. Lots of people there for our time slot, sort of like a playroom/museum to get us all excited, and then in the classroom for mostly useless information and more rah-rah, how exciting. Icebreakers were attempted. It’s hard to get excited in a weird hotel-like building and a conference room, but they tried.

Interview

One by one we were taken to a table in a sort of a voting booth where a diverse group of people were interviewing us. This was 30 mins of a mix between your self-determined personality quiz and random questions trying to tie it to soccer.

• If you were a soccer position, what would you be?
• What makes you a soccer fan?
• Why?
• Are you a leader, follower, entertainer, etc…?
• What role are you suited for?

February: You made it through – here is your role offer, which is a host city fan zone attendant. OK, my initial thought is I am stuck at the airport somewhere in an orange outfit, smiling all day. Not exactly what I was thinking. You have an option to decline, but then the other role is not guaranteed. Since B got the same offer – we took it. Here is what we think it is – our training isn’t until mid-March, so we are left guessing. The city is building out a fan zone, which is going to be at the Olympic park about a 10 mins walk from the Mercedes Benz Stadium where all the games will be. Large screens, merchandise, and games – we are going to be in there managing the crowds, organizing and directing people, and maybe even selling merchandise.

Let’s hope we don’t die of heat stroke and get some nice hats – uniforms are coming :-). Rio outfits were nice, and a hat was definitely part of it – as were sunscreen and waters.

More to come in the next few weeks!