Wednesday, August 18

Today is Saturday, August 18th, and I'm both sad and excited. This is the final journal entry for the Thailand trip and we will soon be returning home. This has been one of the best opportunities I think I've ever been given and I'm greatly honored to have had the experience. Before we return, I would like to describe to you our final days here in Bangkok because they have been amazing.

Two days ago, we enjoyed our final touring day by first visiting the Grand Palace and also experiencing a zoo. First and foremost, I would like to share the Grand Palace tour. We arrived to the Grand Palace which used to be the home to the King. There were several important rules that we had to abide by for the simple reason of respect. One-we were not allowed to wear anything where our legs were showing. Two-our feet had to be covered. And three-our shirts had to at least have sleeves. Tank tops were a definite "no no." These rules were not hard to follow. The only thing that made it a little difficult was the blazing temperatures outside. But it was all worth it. We were given a guide that explained certain structures as well as any important historic facts that would help us better understand things. One place in the palace that was of great importance was the Temple. The Temple was very sacred. We were not allowed to wear shoes or have cameras in this particular building. Inside on the top of a huge altar, there sat a green Buddha that was partially clothed. This green color was pure Jade. And the reason it was partially clothed was to represent the rainy season in Thailand. This was interesting to see. We then returned back outside to learn more about the palace. Throughout the palace, the surrounding walls contained pictures that told one continuous story. There also were six large statues known as Demons that guarded the main doors. They were known as the protectors. Our tour lasted an hour, and when we were finally through the entire palace, or the main parts of it, we made our way 10 minutes down the road to experience something very unique. It was known as the Reclining Buddha. This was an enormous Buddha statue that was laying on its side. We didn't have a tour guide when we went to see the Reclining Buddha, so we didn't learn many facts about it. But the experience of just seeing this large structure was unbelievable.

Once we finished up there, we headed to the zoo. Now this zoo was nothing like a zoo you would see in America. As you walk in, the first thing you see is two tigers sitting on a platform, chained of course. And for a small fee, you were able to take pictures with them as many did. I was the one taking the photos from a distance! Once you continue on you were able to see monkeys and an alligator pit. But what makes this zoo different from others were the elephants. Thailand is known for their elephants, and these animals are considered to be very important to their culture. As we walked around, we saw elephants on the walk way taking pictures with people. We, on the other hand, had the opportunity to watch the elephant show. This show was very special because we were able to learn about the history of these elephants while also being entertained. They played soccer, danced, and even acted in a skit. It was exciting to watch. But the highlight of this show was the end when we all got a chance to ride the elephants. I enjoyed this the most. When would I ever get a chance to do that again?!?!?! That wrapped up the day for us.

The following day we played our final game that determined whether or not we would be in 5th or 6th place. We ended up playing a team we faced before-Chinese Taipei. We knew this game would be a challenge, but we still weren't prepared enough. We ended up digging ourselves a hole and getting down again a good 10 points or so. We were able to come back and even put ourselves in a good position to win, but we once again couldn't hold onto the lead. Chinese Taipei was a good team not because of their individual skill, but their urgent fight and determination. They would not give up and it showed. It's really devastating to suffer a loss the final game, but I cannot regret this entire experience. It was such a great opportunity and it helped us learn a lot about each other. Not only did we get to do something many of us will probably not get a chance to ever do again, but it also prepared us for the season ahead. I would like to thank everyone that helped us throughout this experience and also those of you that supported us back at home. We are extremely grateful and there aren't enough words that can express our gratitude.

Wednesday, August 15

Our wonderful experience in Thailand is nearing the end. The weather is still unbelievably hot and the days seem to be getting shorter. Yesterday we played Chinese Taipei, the same team that upset Russia. We went into the game knowing that it would not be easy. As the game began we knew we were in for a battle. Unlike many other Asian teams, Taipei was not extremely short. They had some good size that made it difficult to take advantage with our inside game. Another thing about them that made them special is that they played very good TEAM defense. If we beat one of them off the dribble, another one would be standing there waiting for us. Before we knew it, we found ourselves down by a good 12 points or so. Once again, we dug ourselves a hole. We went into halftime knowing we would have to make a run. When we came out in the third quarter, we went to work. Before long, we were up by five points with a minute and a half to go. But with Taipei being a great 3-point shooting team, it was not enough. With under a minute left, the score was tied and Wendy Stywalt was fouled going to the basket. She missed the first free throw and knocked down the second. With four seconds left in the game and plenty of fouls to give, we ended up fouling one of the Taipei players at mid-court allowing the clock to run out. We had won by one point.

Although we had won, we were a little hesitant because we didn't know exactly where the one point win would put us in the brackets. Eventually we found out that we did not qualify for the final four medal round due to a point system. So the following day, we faced Turkey in the fifth through eighth place bracket. Even though we would have liked to play for a medal, our pride would not allow us to make anything lower than fifth, so we were on a mission. Turkey arrived to the game a little late with bags in their hands as if they had just finished shopping. We used this as our motivation, and we went to work. At the start of the game, we knew it would be our game. Things were going our way and everyone was contributing. Before long, we were out to a good lead. Although they cut our lead down a few times, we were still able to pull away. We ended up blowing them out by 19 points. That was a great win for us and gave us the confidence to finish out the tournament.

After the Turkey game, we were told that we would have to face a very familiar team on Friday-Chinese Taipei. They say it's always harder to beat a team the second time around, but we're not worried. We know what we have to do and we won't accept anything less than fifth. Luckily we get a day off tomorrow which we will use to finish up our sight seeing. We will get a little more taste of what Thailand has to offer and I'm very excited

Thus far, I have enjoyed every minute of it even though I am getting a little tired of the food here. And I look forward to telling everyone about our trip we are taking tomorrow. So stay tuned and I hope you've enjoyed these journals. P.S. I would like to tell Donald's mother he said, "Hey mama!!!"

Monday, August 13

Today is Monday, August 13 , 2007 and the temperature has reached its max since the first day we arrived. It's so hot and humid that when you walk outside, you immediately develop sweat beads that slowly drip down the center of your back. It's been a long weekend for Team USA filled with several interesting events.

On Saturday (August 11) , we experienced the famous downtown market. This market is composed of small shops with everything you can possibly think of. If you want to find gifts for friends and family, this is the place to go. Although it is rather hot and has a horrible smell throughout the market, it is the best place to bargain. It is amazing how easy it is to talk the seller down to a more reasonable price. Many of them want to sell their merchandise so bad that they will not take no for an answer. For instance, elephants are highly honored here in Thailand and the elephant carvings are known to be great gifts. The bargaining is usually done with calculators because viewing the actual numbers is the most efficient way to communicate. The key to bargaining is to first ask for a price. The seller, of course, will give you a rather high price. Next, you must counter it with an extremely low price. This leaves a lot of room for meeting a common offer. Many times you can bring the seller down about 1000 Baht. I know you are probably asking what is a Baht and how does it compare to a dollar. Well, a Baht is the currency here in Thailand and one dollar is approximately equivalent to 33 Baht. So as you can see, you are getting a lot for your American dollar. Another interesting thing about the market is it is known for the theft that constantly occurs there. It is extremely important to hold your bags and other belongings in front of you so you don't easily become a victim. They are known to slice your bags so quickly that you won't even know that anything happened. Luckily, no one was a victim during our visit. Overall, we enjoyed the market and got a lot of interesting gifts for ourselves as well as for our friends and family.

Our return home was another story. The transportation there was not very complicated. Every hour a bus leaves to bring people to the market. On the other hand, those very buses that drop individuals off every hour also pick up groups every hour. We, for some strange reason, did not find that bus that picked up people for the return to the village. So we were pretty much stranded and very worn out from all the running around. Eventually, we found some MINI VANS that were similar to taxis that carried about 15 passengers. We squeezed into two vans and finally made it back. After that, our day was pretty much over.

The following day (Sunday, August 12) we played our fourth game against the Czech Republic. After having lost to Russia, we were ready to redeem ourselves. At the start of the game, we found ourselves in a pretty good position. Things were going well and we felt we had a great chance of winning. Although the Czech team was similar to Russia in their style of play and appearance, it was clear they were not as talented. We went into the half with a 10 point lead. The second half was a different story. For some odd reason, it seemed we had relaxed especially on defense because the Czech team was closing in on us. Before we knew it, they came back and tied the score. The end of the game was close , but the Czech team made the better decisions down the stretch leading them to the win. All we could do was look at the three- point loss in disgust. We knew we were the better team, but it was clear that the Czech team wanted it more than us. That night was tough. It's one thing to get blown out by 30 and another to lose by a few points to a team you should have beaten in the first place. To me, it hurts worse to lose by a few points especially when you had the win in your hands.

Today was a work day-a day of practice to work on the things that needed to be fixed. We had practice early in the morning and we went to work to prepare for our next opponent-Chinese Taipei. This game that we will play tomorrow, August 15th, will be the most important game of them all because it will determine whether or not we will continue on to the medal round. This means more than anything else. On the other hand, the day wasn't quite over. We ended the string of events by attending our men's volleyball match against Chinese Taipei. This was fun to watch. Our men 's team w as awesome defeating Taipei 3-0 and continuing their undefeated streak. This gave us motivation. And I look forward to our game tomorrow. All we can do now is play hard and leave it all out on the floor.

Friday, August 10

Yesterday we had our second game against Japan. They were an interesting team to play. We returned to the same slippery court, but when we arrived we saw that it had been worked on and was not as slippery as before. There were still some spots here and there, but for the most part, it had greatly improved.

Once the game began, we knew we were in for a fight. Japan, although very small, was very feisty and hardworking. They ran us all over the court with their speed. By halftime, we saw ourselves trailing by 11. This was very familiar to us. After a pep talk from our coach and a quick turn-around, we began fighting back into the lead. Before we knew it, we captured the lead and hung on tight. We finally won putting ourselves in the position to advance to the medal round.

Last night, we celebrated by eating at Outback. Who knew there was an Outback in Bangkok? It was such a relief to eat food we were well familiar with.

The very next day, it was an even quicker turn-around. We had the other undefeated team Russia to play at 1:30p.m. Russia was a very mature and wise team. Not only were they experienced, but they were extremely tall. Their point guard towered over us at 6'0". This was an even greater challenge that we obviously were not prepared for. When the game began, we were immediately overwhelmed. We ended up digging ourselves in a deep hole trailing by about 30 points at halftime. What disappointed us the most was that although they were taller and had the advantage on the boards, they were beating us in a category that we were known for always winning - and that was the hustle game. There are many aspects of the game that can be influenced by the other team, but hustling and effort are not. We had finally been defeated by a team that was much better and prepared on that particular day.

But it is not the end. We still advance to the next round and will face Czech Republic-the number one team from another pool. We know now that we must always be ready for anything at anytime. And it is possible to beat the teams many thought we couldn't beat. It is all in our hands.

Thursday, August 9

Today, August 9, 2007 (Thursday), it is very rainy here. The skies are very dark, yet it is still very hot. This is a typical day for Thailand during this time of year. This is known as their rainy season.

On the other hand, since I've last communicated with you all a lot has happened. We scrimmaged Poland for practice to get a feel for what kind of teams we were going to see. That was good for us because it prepared us for our first game.

Our first game (August 7) alone taught us a lot about each other. Our opponent was Latvia. First of all we arrived for our game almost 3 hours early. We left so early because traffic in Bangkok is unpredictable. There are times when you wait hours in traffic. When other times, we fly right through it.

Once we arrived, we got our shoes on and got some shots in to prepare us for the game. This is when we experienced our biggest obstacle we've ever faced. We walked onto the court and immediately slid across the floor. The court wasn't made for a basketball game, but instead for an ice hockey game. They accidentally waxed the floor entirely too much. It was very difficult for us to stand on our feet. That's how bad it was. But we still kept warming up. Once we finished, Latvia finally arrived. They too were furious when they stepped onto the court. All you could hear was complaining. We politely asked about trying to fix the problem, but that was it. We didn't want to be known as the complaining USA team.

Once the game was ready for tip off, they still hadn't solved the problem and we were forced to play on the slippery surface. The game was a sight. People were slipping and sliding everywhere. There were turnovers left and right. Somewhere in the game, we found ourselves down 11 points. It almost looked like we had given up. But then when in the 4th quarter came with three minutes left in the game, we gave it everything we had and ended up taking the game into overtime. In overtime, somehow and in some way, we pulled it out and won. It was quite a game.

After the game, we watched Russia beat Japan and waited for our men to play Lithuania. After waiting about an hour for them to warm up and the game was finally about to start, they decided they could not play on that court, which had gotten a lot better since our game. So they switched venues (locations) and the entire gym drove another 30 minutes to watch the game. We were extremely upset because they did not even mention changing the location of our game. We were forced to play on the court that was far too dangerous to be playing on. Someone could have gotten hurt. But I guess that didn't matter. So we watched our men play. That wasn't a pretty sight. They were getting blown out by 30 at halftime and we decided it was time to leave.

The following day, was the day of the opening ceremonies. This was the most extraordinary thing I think I've ever seen. We all drove about an hour and a half all the way to this gigantic stadium. Next to the stadium was an indoor type arena where all the teams met before the actual walk. The whole evening was full of rushing then waiting. So there we sat in this air-conditioned arena and waited until it was our turn. While we waited, there was plenty of entertainment. There was a lot of chanting and even a Thai hip hop performance that was filled with several acrobatic moves such as flipping and one-armed hand stands. It was interesting to watch. Finally it was our turn. We lined up according to our sport, then went outside to the stadium. Here we awaited our march in front of about 70,000 people. Once it was our turn, we headed onto the track where we had to turn and acknowledged the Prince who looked on from above. It was amazing. There were lights everywhere and cameras throughout the stadium. While in the stadium, we took several pictures and exchanged our USA pins with other countries. I personally received a Taipei pin. Once all the words were said and fireworks were launched we headed back to the buses where we once again were rushed then waited. But overall, that was one of the most memorable moments in my life I will never forget. Just getting the opportunity to experience something like that was unforgettable, and I am blessed to have gotten the chance to participate in such an honorable event.

Sunday, August 5

Sa-was-dee (ka)!

That's the pronunciation of hello in Thai. The "ka" is said by the women to be polite. My name is Sabrina Gregory and I am a senior at Charlotte. I am one of twelve women basketball players from Charlotte representing the USA in the World University Games located in Bangkok, Thailand. We left Charlotte on the 2nd of August around 7 a.m. and about six hours later and one stop in Chicago, we finally arrived in San Francisco, CA. It was here that we met with some of the staff that traveled with us to Thailand. Also, this is where we were introduced to the men that were representing the USA in basketball. They are from the University of Northern Iowa. Here we received our USA gear as well as handled other business such as discussing things we needed to know about the country in which we were about to enter.

The most unique part of our short visit in San Francisco was the water aerobics. After getting off the plane, Coach Aston decided we should do some type of exercise since we would not get a chance to practice or anything. So with the swimming pool at our convenience, she decided the best thing to do would be water aerobics. This was not only fun, but a way to get our blood flowing.

The following day, we began, yet again, our tedious journey to Thailand. We along with the men's team first flew to Narita, Japan. This flight alone took about nine and a half hours. On the plane, we were frequently fed while watching various movies such as Shrek 3 and Premonition. This was a relief.

After the long flight, we finally touched down in Narita where we had a three hour lay-over. It was here that we experienced the tastes of an International McDonalds. Besides the smaller cup sizes, the big difference was the taste of the food. It was a little different. Many say the fries were better in Japan, but the chicken sandwich was not as good.

After waiting for hours, we headed out for our finally stop in Thailand which took another five and a half hours. Upon arriving, we were shipped off by a COLORFUL charter bus. The difference in these charter buses is the seating was very high with a lower lounge seating below. After about an hour drive, we finally made it to "The Village." The village is the place we're staying. It is an actual university known as Thammasat. Our rooms are suites containing two bedrooms, a living area, and a bathroom. There are four to a suite. When we first walked in, we were surprised at what we saw. We were expecting it to be more like an older dorm type setting with a bathroom at the end of the hall. Even though it was nowhere near the living conditions of our university, it was decent.

The first day of our experience in Thailand, we had practice around noon. At this point, our days were completely altered and many of us didn't know what the actual date was. Eventually we figured out it was Sunday, August 5th.

After practice we took the opportunity of visiting the mall. This helped us stay awake to get acclimated to the time change. The mall was rather large with about 5 floors. On the outside, there were several odd things to see. One was the hundreds of food stands throughout the streets as well as the miniature elephants parading around. The difference with this particular mall was that there were either food stands or restaurants every other store. Also, the prices were extremely cheap. To give you an idea of how cheap it was, imagine paying 30 dollars for a pair of Jordan's. In the United States, Jordan's usually run over 100 dollars. Our return back to the village was rather interesting as well. After waiting for our bus for 30 minutes or so, we were told it would take an hour for him to pick us up. So we experienced the local transportation. This particular type of transportation was a small truck that had two rows of seating in the bed of it. Our 12 players, four coaches, and two tour guides squeezed in the back and rode about 30 minutes back to the Village. That was something I will never forget.

After the long day, we finally were able to rest and prepare for what is yet to come. Hopefully this gave you a little insight of what we've been experiencing over the past few days. I will soon return to share more of our interesting experience in Bangkok, Thailand.