University of Minnesota Athletics
China Blog #3 from Katy Etterman
1/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Your beloved Gopher divers are over half way through our winter training trip. Tuesday, January 6th marked another single practice followed by a trip to the famous Beijing Pearl Markets. Here, we were able to get just about any small gift for a relatively cheap price. Shopping in a market where bartering is the method of purchase was an experience very different from what we are used to. Nevertheless, we were able to leave the market with bags upon bags of goodies happy with the majority of our purchases.
The following Wednesday was another three hours well spent on dryland and three more in the water. Here in Beijing the pool and practice facility temperatures are quite warm which we have grown to enjoy as our muscles are staying looser and we are diving much better making it easier to improve. Thursday after our practice, we went to the national training center where we were observed the national team practice. Watching divers like He Chong, Lin Yue and other Olympic champions was more than amazing. Many of us grew up watching these divers on TV winning world and Olympic championships therefore having the opportunity to watch them still training and executing their dives flawlessly was incredible.
In awe of our previous days' adventure, we showed up to practice on Friday morning prepared for another six hour day. Surprisingly, we were greeted by Wenbo with what he declared a little bit of good news, and a little bit of bad. Taking the bad first, we found out that we would be doing our 10 meter optionals during our morning training. But the bad was definitely worth the good, as we were then told we were going to the Beijing National Ballet that afternoon, and the ballet was absolutely wonderful.
As we waited outside the theatre for our tickets, hundreds of Chinese children trotted inside in their matching school outfits and we waved and said hello to each group. Many of us love interacting with the little kids here as they always seem very interested in a giddy group of foreigners, but never did we feel more welcomed then when entered the actual theatre before the show started. All three tiers were filled with hundreds of children and as we walked in they were all up out of their seats waving and yelling "hello" and "ni hao." I'm not sure what part of the ballet the team enjoyed more, the children or the spectacular show, either way, we all had a wonderful time.
Saturday we were greeted with only one practice and have the day off today as we will be visiting the Great Wall. Although our trip is nearing its end, we still have a lot to look forward to and are trying to make the most of our last few days here.
Cheers,
Katy
