GRP Goes Gangnam Style
If this is what we looked like 3 hours into the 32 hour journey, you don’t want to know what the 32nd hour looked like.
So Ben, John, Coach Roock, and I all made it to Chungju, Korea, for the World Championships of rowing without a problem. It was a 32 hour journey that started in Craftsbury Common, VT, and ended in Chungju. While we don’t feel peachy just yet, Pepa might have been right when she thought the most extreme time zone adjustment might be easier than the ones in between. We were tired upon arrival, but have gotten our bodies to shift over to the new time zone without too much trouble. The bigger adjustment is probably the climate. It’s hotter and more humid than anywhere we row stateside. I don’t know if it parallels the Olympics in Beijing, but it is certainly balmy to say the least.
That being said, when they have these destination World Championships in the sense that people have destination weddings, the host country really goes out of their way to make it hospitable. Our accommodations are unbelievable. The food is great. The local people seem to bend over backwards to help you. It’s really unbelievable. Veterans have been cautioning rookies not to get used to this kind of treatment since things do not usually go this way at most international rowing events.
Here’s a couple shots of the conference center we’re staying in and the course. I’ll spare you the pictures I’ve taken that had be hung up on the unbelievable bathroom fixtures over here.
A shot of the IBK Conference Center where we stay. Doesn’t really do it justice.
Ben on the Bus. Typical blinged out transport to and from the course.
The boathouse, which has tons of bays and housing for local athletes.
Main facilities building at the waterfront.
Really a pretty unbelievable venue. We have our boats and are getting them rigged as similarly as possible to the ones back home. Last night, Ben, John, and I did our best not to butcher the fluid dynamics that our friends at ConceptII work so hard to master as we put the vinyl tape on our oars. I think we’d all receive passing grades, but were far from valedictorians.
We’re still just adjusting to the climate and the time zone with some simple steady state rows, but will probably take some hard strokes in the near future. More to come.