Honors

, 15-Wednesday 15 July-2009:  Today was a day off the water.   The morning was ours and we had a chance to just relax.   Felt good.    By noon, it was time to "hit the road".   

We piled in the bus with our officials, Dr. Chen & Simon, along with our attache', Jeff.  First stop of the day was to see the race course and check out the boats.  The pulse of the city is definitely getting excited about the games.   As our bus drove along and other busses pulled alongside, people saw our USA baseball hats and frantically pulled out their cameras and were taking pictures and waving.  Everywhere we go, people waive and say hi.  It's really incredible to be a part of this.

Lotus Pond is the race site and it is beautiful (see picture...that's the finish line).  The boats are great but can't say what they are ... I understand that they are Vietnamese.   Anyway, I like 'em!!!  After walking the race course we piled back into the bus and were on our way to Fo Guang Shan monastery.  It is a huge complex and Dr. Chen arranged for us to meet and be blessed by the Venerable Master of the monastery.  He was incredible and we heard that he actually delayed a trip to Australia by a day in order to meet us.  I understand that Dr. Chen and he have known each other for quite some time and was especially thrilled to see such a mix of races on our team for he spoke a lot about blending the 'East' and the 'West'. Here's a picture of him presenting Dr. Chen with a gift of a calligraphy scroll.  

We then toured the monastery, where we all had a chance to practice a little calligraphy ourselves (see picture).   It was the quietest this group has ever been and quite a contrast to the karaoke that was happening on the bus on the way to the monastery.  The golden Kwan Yin statues at the top of the place were breathtaking (picture).

After the monastery, we went to a mall where Simon's brother, Jay, treated everyone to dinner at TGI Fridays.  In the middle of dinner, the president of the ICF (International Canoe Federation) showed up to join Dr. Chen along with several other dignitaries.  They then joined us on the bus for the ride back to the hotel.

What an honor!!!  It's an honor to be here, to meet the Venerable Master, and for the heads of the ICF to come to meet us.  WOW!    

Tomorrow we practice on the race course.