Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

HERE AT LAST 31st July 2008

I MADE IT!!!!! I owe a huge debt of thanks to Jessica, whom I don't even know, but if you are stuck in a foreign airport, she is definitely the one to call for help.

I finally was allowed to board the 5:00 pm flight out of Singapore, and I was tucked safely in bed, (well almost safely, as I stubbed my toe on the way) by 1:30 am. Beijing time. The day was a long one, but it was made more tiring than ever because of the worry and anxiety . However, from the stories I have heard from my teammates, their wait at the Beijing airport and the security check-in were very frustrating and annoying, so at least I missed out on all that mayhem.

Here is the low down on what happened to my Olympic accreditation. A few months ago every athlete filled out for the Canadian Olympic Committee a form called "Zeus." This form contained all our personal information from passport information, to clothing sizes, allergies, and so on. When I filled out this form I still had my old passport and number. This meant that when I received my accreditation the passport number on it, did not match up with my new passport and number. This all meant that one very nice, but bureaucratic old man in Singapore was never going to let me board my flight.

He told me that I was much better off to be stranded in Singapore as otherwise they would just have sent me back from Beijing. In actual fact, I was not the only one on our team with this problem, but others were not caught - Murphy's Law as it applies to Rhian. Once these two athletes reached Beijing they were put in a line up to deal with this exact issue and they were both given new accreditation within about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, I sweated it out in Singapore airport, where I was told that I should start looking into getting a hotel room as a security background check in China usually takes a minimum of five days. This was the one time in my little ordeal when I was not at all happy and rather concerned. My Singapore friend, whose name I believe was Chen, also told me that I should try to organize for my old passport to be shipped out to Singapore as this might be the quickest way of getting my accreditation up to date. When I pointed out that getting a new visa would probably be a quicker means, he patiently shook his head and said that things looked very bad. o ease my frustration, I re-named him my "bad news bear." Every time I was paged over the Airport intercom loud speaker, which was often, I walked up to his desk and he started to wring his hands saying that it "didn't look good, not good at all."

So now, let me tell you about Jessica. She was wonderful. She sorted everything out for me from overseas, and an hour before my flight a fax arrived, with my new visa on it. My afternoon departure was cut close, but I received the visa in time to board my flight. I decided not to mention the fact to anyone that the passport number on this new bit of paper was wrong. It had VA on it, instead of BA. I have to admit that I was nervously sweating bullets up until my arrival in Beijing.

Fortunately, I was quickly whisked through security at the airport. I was the only, rather forlorn athlete in the airport building, and in five minutes I had my new accreditation!!!!!!!!! At the door of the airport i was met by a shuttle bus that drove me directly to the Olympic village. It was as simple as that. What a day.

This morning the squad was up at 8:00 am. I am afraid that I was not in the greatest of moods. I was exhausted. I had no choice however, as this morning was "Outfitting Day, " all very exciting.

I was not at all sure what to expect from our gear, especially after all the bad press it has received in some quarters. However, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the outfits. Yes, the Closing ceremony pants are something to behold, but even these are insanely comfy..... maybe they can become new pyjama pants later on? All the gear is very comfortable and makes us look pretty darn good. I was so excited to receive it, for now the Games are real.

We were also given a lucky "looney" from the Canadian mint as well as an amazing bracelet. There are actually two bracelets, one to wear and one to give away. The idea is to give the extra bracelet to someone who has helped you on your Olympic journey. It is the imprint of the other one, so they are twin bracelets. I find this very touching, as I am sure that every one of us here has been helped by so many along the way. Now if we only had 5, or perhaps even 50 to give away...

Well now I must sign off as I desperately need a nap.