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RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN 14th August 2008

These last few days have been rather strange. Before we left Canada for Beijing we met with our team psychologist and went through possible scenarios that might interfere with our preparations and mental state. We went through such possibilities as bags being lost, a bag being involved in an accident .... just things that might happen, so that if they actually did, then we would be prepared and know how to react.

Before I go any further, I should mention that Kirsten, our team psychologist won a gold medal in rowing, and she was an amazing addition to our team. She really helped us be as ready as possible for our Olympic experience.

Well, Kirsten's training and help was remembered yesterday. We had an unusual situation. It was probably not a situation that could have been foreseen, nor one for which we could have prepared ourselves. In my last journal I mentioned that we had a good trip to the hotel in Shanghai and we arrived before our bags. They were supposed to have been driven to Shanghai, and so they left way before us in order to arrive the same day and time that we would be arriving by air.

Well, we did eventually receive our luggage. Our bags arrived almost exactly on time. Unfortunately each of our bags was now about 10 pounds lighter than we had sent them. Apparently, the authorities had changed their minds at the last minute and decided to send the bags by air. This of course meant that our bags had been required to go through the same rigorous security checks that we had to endure when flying within China.

Everyone's bags had been rifled. Everyone has a ton of stuff missing. These were not items that were stolen. All the missing articles were confiscated by security and they will be returned to us once we return to Beijing. Chinese security seems preoccupied with the strangest things. My peanut butter was taken - grrrrrrrrrr, as well as almost everyone's toiletries, snacks, phones, chargers, cameras ..... a plethora of personal items.

The situation might even be funny, except in my case, when I absolutely need hair conditioner. I can deal with most emergencies, but I need conditioner when I shower, or else I end up with huge knots in my hair. It literally took me the entire time for us to drive to training this morning to get one giant knot out of the hair on top of my head. The process is painful and the results are awful to look at.

All this surreal scene of confiscations, upsets and missing personal goods then continued as we headed off to practice. .... and D takes over ...

Well this morning I woke up in a great mood! This is very unusual because I am NOT a morning person. But, I had enjoyed a great night of sleep and great things lie ahead for us. The plan this morning was breakfast, followed by a meeting, and then off to training.

Everything was on schedule, and immediately after the meeting, we picked up our gear and hopped on the bus to head to the stadium where we will be playing tomorrow. The stadium looks beautiful from the outside, and the interior is pretty spectacular too. There is another plus in that even the grass seems more rooted in than was the case in the last two stadiums. The field looks to be in great shape and I am sure we will get another large crowd for the match as well.

We walked round the field and snapped a few photos, but then we had to hop back on the bus to head to another venue for our pre-game practice. Usually, we practice at the same venue that we will be playing. However, on this occasion, heavy rain and the wet field meant that our session was moved. The heaviness of the rain was clearly visible during our drive to the second venue. The outside lane on the other side of the highway was completely flooded. Only a few cars ventured into that flooded lane and they left wakes behind them. To make matters worse, it started to rain again during our drive.

The best part of this move to the new training facility came when we arrived at our off ramp from the highway. It was completely flooded. This water was deep, and some people waiting at a bus stop on the side of the road had their shoes off and water was half way up their shins! Our bus slowly crawled its way through the lake and we did eventually make it through.

Soon after, we did manage to get out on the field, but this was another story. Or should i say, the same story: The field was completely flooded. It didn't take long to notice the puddles covering half the field, and a meeting of the coaches and staff determined it would not be safe to train there. This was a little annoying, but there are some things beyond our control.

And, any annoyance soon evaporated as some members of our staff took off their shoes and socks and pulled a "slip-and-slide" on the field. They ran and then dove on the ground, sliding through the water, often for great distances, and always with impressive splashes. Some of our more adventurous teammates then joined in, and many photos and videos were taken. After all this excitement, some of the players answered a few interviews and then we returned to our hotel.

The rest of the day was spent doing a brief workout, then meetings, and then plenty of resting. All in all, it was a great day, and I can't wait for tomorrow!