Hurricane Gustav

Just a quick note to let everyone know that most of my immediate family has evacuated to higher ground for the hurricane. I got an email from my sister stating that they are spread out from Alabama to Texas and are hoping for the best. Now it's a waiting game. . .

Arduous duty?!

OK, I hate to admit it but this trip has felt more like fun than work! Yes, I'm still doing my job, but everyone here is bending over backwards so much to accommodate us that my job has been pretty easy. I've really been able to take advantage of the snippets of time between duties and enjoy being on Okinawa.

I boasted to Mariko, one of the managers at the dining facility that I had gotten out and experienced some "real" Japanese sushi. When I told her the name of the restaurant to which we had gone, she kind of smirked and asked me what I was doing later that night. Um, I guess going with you? She and another manager, Chikara arranged for me to have dinner with them and a long-time friend of theirs at a restaurant called Uokura. It was about 15 minutes away, halfway between Kadena and Naha but so worth the drive!

They were both born and raised on Okinawa and were excited to facilitate a real dining experience for me. There wasn't another American in the restaurant! We sat at the sushi bar where a conveyor belt of dozens of sushi options continuously flowed pass us. Chikara guided me through all the options as I'd point to something passing by and ask what it was. Once he realized that there was nothing that I considered off limits, he excitedly started ordering and educating me on the different types and species of each option. Seafood salad, green tea, miso soup, cold soba noodles (purple ones!), sea urchin, eel, several types of tuna, mackerel, seaweed, fish eggs, octopus and tempeh comprised the dinner. Just about everything was raw with an amazing array of textures and tastes. I pointed to and inquired about one dish in particular. He told me that that specific sushi was considered advanced and wasn't sure if I was ready for it yet. I grinned and asked if we could order it anyway. It turned out to be raw sea urchin. I cautiously broke off a tine piece with my chopsticks to taste. The texture was similar to liver pate but my vocabulary lacks an adequate adjective to describe the taste. I actually liked it and and commenced to eat the whole bitesize portion. After sampling so many different dishes I finally had to admit that I was stuffed and to asked them politely to quit ordering!

Today Kim, Beth and I walked out the gate and over to a place called China Pete's. This is where I had bought my set of Noritake China table setting when I was here 15 years ago (which I still have and use!). Kim and Beth loved the place and purchased several sake sets and chopsticks. As I've become a minimalist over the years, I've stopped buying trinkets during my travels that will require dusting and will eventually suffer the fate of a Goodwill donation during one of my many moves. It was fun to look around though and I got some great pictures of local pottery and China. Instead of buying things to take home, I simply take pictures of subjects that I can have enlarged to hang in my home to remind me of places I've been.

Today ended with a leisurely dinner at the Kadena Marina. One of our staff members, Mark has a vehicle here so we took a couple of athletes down to the waterfront to dine at the base marina as the sun set. Robin and Mallory are a couple of track & field athletes and thoroughly enjoyed feeding the fish and the view that accompanied our dinner.

We've already started the meetings to discuss logistics for us to move from here to Beijing. Time has flown and it won't be long before we find ourselves in the midst of Paralympic competitions. As the athletes taper down to peak we have some sightseeing trips planned so I should have more to post about soon so stay tuned!

Off base

Lots of activity the last few days! Training is going well and everyone has pretty much fallen into a steady routine at this point. The athletes are getting acclimated to the time zone, heat and humidity and are peaking for their competitions. Won't be long now until all their hard work pays off!

As for staff, we manage to sneak an hour or so whenever we can to leave base and see a little of Okinawa. Kim and I went out to a nearby beach and jumped into the wonderfully warm ocean water. Unlike the chilly waters off the California coast, the water was warm and inviting and it was hard to pull ourselves out of it!

As we walked along the boardwalk, we discovered several of these vending machines offering cold beverages. For around 100 yen (approx $1) you can get just about anything you're thirsty for. We also stumbled across a few amusing public announcements like this sign informing folks to pick up after their dogs. Even though I've seen a ton of these literally translated signs during my travels in Asia, they still make me chuckle!

On another quick outing, I journeyed with another two-wheel enthusiast in our delegation the 3 miles off base to an Okinawan Harley-Davidson dealership. It was small by American standards, but about the same size as the one I visited in Beijing last March. We all joke in the States that HD stands for "hundred dollars" since there's not much for sale with a price tag of less than $100 at HD dealerships. That is most certainly true here. . . I paid $68 for a Harley-Davidson t-shirt. I know, I'm crazy for paying that much, but it's a pretty sweet shirt!

Last night, a group of staff went out to eat at Kitakaisen sushi restaurant out in town. It was authentic Japanese but with a Western twist (there were pizzas on the menu!). I had a crab and rice soup that reminded me of seafood gumbo back home, complete with a whole half crab in the bowl. I'm pretty proficient with chopsticks at this point in my life, but peeling crabs is still a hands on endeavor in any culture! I talked Beth into getting the yakisoba and she wasn't disappointed. Everyone ordered different dishes and we tasted a bit of everything. My goal of having sushi everyday while I'm Japan is still on track- 5 days running!

That's all for now, I'll keep posting as time allows. Thanks for checking in!

Paralympian arrivals

I apologize for not having pictures to accompany this post, but it's been pretty busy around here! The advance party and at least a hundred military personnel greeted the plane full of athletes and staff upon its arrival. Although their transportation was made as hassle free as possible (loaded in Colorado Springs and landed right on base without having to disembark anywhere in between), the passengers were tired and dazed upon arrival. In an enormous show of support and efficiency, the Kadena folks got everyone and their bags unloaded and to their rooms in an hour and a half. Considering we unloaded dozens of wheelchairs, that was quite a feat! The amount of support from this military community has been monumental and inspirational. Each athlete was paired with a military "sponsor" to give them assistance during their stay here at Kadena. At a place and time when these military service members are all facing their own significant personal and professional events, they greeted each athlete enthusiastically and genuinely excited to be part of the Paralympic movement.

Now that we have a day of training, eating and logistics under our belt we have a better feel for the flow of the upcoming days. I'll try to post again as soon as possible, hopefully with some visuals!

First day on the ground

Luckily, I've never really had a problem with jet lag. I'll admit that I feel the effects more as I get older, but I still don't seem to suffer with it as much as my colleagues. After almost 30 hours of wakefulness for the trip over (I had a great book!), I fell into bed the first night and slept soundly. By 7:00 a.m., I was out for a morning run in the already hot & humid day that was to greet us. By mid-morning, it was already in the upper 80s with 85% humidity! Loved it!



There are 6 staff that came out early on the advance party to get things ready for the disabled Swimming and Track & Field teams for their training camp here on Kadena AFB. We each broke off to spend the morning with our respective contacts here on base. I had breakfast with Lou who runs just about every dining establishment on this base plus the golf course, marina, etc. He and his staff took me through their plans for the teams' arrival and stay. Now, he and I have been emailing for weeks about the menu and logistics in preparation for this camp, but the amount of work and preparation they put into this effort blew me away. After rallying back up with the other staff members of the advance party for lunch, we all marveled at how much these folks have bent over backwards to make sure this camp is successful and that the athletes are as prepared as possible for their competitions in Beijing. I can't comment enough how amazingly enthusiastic and hard-working both the military and civilians on this base are as they continue to go above and beyond for our athletes.



Of course, a lot of my excitement about being on Okinawa involves the food! For lunch, I revisited the meal I practically lived off of on the flight line for 6 months while I was deployed here back in the day- yakisoba! Okinawa has it's own variety of soba (noodles) that is stirfried (yaki) with meat (chicken, beef, or pork), cabbage, tofu and vegetables. It was still just as tasty as I remembered it!



After more meetings and base touring, we finally ended up at an off-base restaurant in the evening for dinner. In the picture is Kim and Tina sampling some of the Awamori, a type of sake unique to Okinawa. It's an alcoholic beverage made from rice, but it's distilled instead of brewed like most sakes. It was served to us in a small ceramic pot with a large bucket of ice and bottled water. You fill the small glass with ice, pour Awamori until the halfway mark, then top it off with bottled water. Unlike sake, it was surprisingly smooth and mild- quite nice!





For dinner, I ordered nigiri sushi. In this picture, you can see the array of fresh seafood I was served. Fresh raw slices of ahi tuna, albacore tuna and mackerel sitting atop lightly vinegared sticky rice with a thin layer of wasabi (Japanese horseradish) were accompanied by lightly cooked shrimp, pickled ginger and some type of scrambled egg cake. The salad had raw seafood and roe with a slightly tangy soy-based dressing. The black and orange item you see at the bottom left of the long white plate is gunkanmaki (vinegared sticky rice surrounded by a strip of nori, AKA dried seaweed, and topped with large, plump roe, AKA fish eggs). Click on the picture for a closeup view of these delicacies!

The seashell plate contained some type of edible mollusk that tasted somewhat like an oyster but had the rubbery consistency of pickled calamari. The blue bowl contained what I thought was a warm flan for dessert, but after sticking a spoon it it and stirring it around I discovered what appeared to be gizzard and unidentifiable seafood bits. Undaunted, I tasted it and confirmed that yes, it was a gizzard in a yellow, gelatinous mild custard-like consistency. Not terrible, but not worth another biteful!


Day 2 will involve a little sightseeing and preparation to receive our 100+ athletes on the airlift from Colorado Springs!

Okinawa, Japan

Just a quick one to let everyone know I made it safe and sound to Okinawa. As always, the flights to Asia are long, but I'm feeling pretty good. Got a tasty meal in my belly, all I need now is a hot shower and my pillow! I'll post tomorrow after I get out and about.

Beachin Sunday

After a leisurely run on Coronado beach, I hopped on my bike and headed to Whit & Kathie's house. We packed up some snacks and beach gear and headed further north to Scott & Shannon's home. Just like me, they live in a great neighborhood two blocks from the beach. I had ridden through Encinitas several times on bike rides but had never really stopped to check out the beach town. Although I still think my beach at Coronado is better, Encinitas isn't a bad runner-up!

After we humped God only knows how much beach paraphernalia down to the coast, we staked claim to a sandy piece of real estate and hung out for the whole afternoon. I'm a minimalist for the most part, I purge my belongings every time I move and when I go somewhere I usually only bring bare essentials. In this case, a towel, sunscreen and fluids! Although I snickered at the amount of stuff 5 adults required for a few hours at the beach, I do have to admit that it was nice to have a chair to sit in!

What you see us doing in these pictures is pretty much how the afternoon went; lounging around and visiting. It was the perfect end to my hectic week and run down south of the border! I have some great shots of Kathie's belly containing a niece and a nephew (I'm confident they're going to have a boy and girl!), but I wasn't sure how she'd feel about her pregnant-with-twins belly being posted on the internet for the whole world to see! Maybe she'll let me sneak one in later. . .

Margaritas in Mexico

After another round of airport delays, I finally made it back to San Diego around 1:00 am Friday morning. Although it's great to walk off a plane at the end of a flight and not have to fuel it or do maintenance, I miss being able to sprawl out on the floor and sleep on military aircraft!

Yesterday I met up with Ed and Pat for a late breakfast to decide where we were going to ride for the day (Pat is on my right, Ed to my left). Ed and I both served in VP-17 back in the early 90s. Ed and Pat both served together at some point in their careers and have remained friends, which must be quite some time if gauged by the bantering and fighting between the two! Although I was dubbed "princess" for the day (ya'll all know how high maintenance I can be!), I felt like I was waiting on a couple of women it took them so long to get themselves together for the day!

With passports in hand, we decided that margaritas in Mexico were in order, so we headed south for the border. We rode Hwy 94 to Tecate where we passed through the border and rode Hwy 5 to Ensenada. The road was two-lane and windy through hills dotted with resorts, shacks, open, arid fields and vineyards. The scenery, road conditions and driving skills of fellow motorists reminded me a lot of Crete, Greece except without the random goat herds crossing the road! It got hairy in a few parts where we had to pass huge rigs with loads that were obviously a major cause of the poor road conditions. After about 50 miles of full-on attention riding, we were ready for tasty beverages and snackage when we rolled into Ensenada.

I don't remember the name of the restaurant we stopped in to and had a great margarita (with freshly squeezed limes) and fajitas, but we left the bikes parked there under the watchful eye of the proprietor as we strolled around the town. We ended up at infamous Hussong's Cantina, birthplace of the margarita! Legend has it that the salted tequila concoction was invented in 1941 by a bartender at Hussong's for Margarita Henkel, the daughter of the German ambassador to Mexico at the time (and consequently named after her!). The cantina's sawdust covered wooden floors and portrait laden walls has been a popular destination for locals and tourists alike since it was established in its present location in 1892.

After spending the afternoon walking around and processing our tasty beverages, we jumped back on the bikes and headed north on Hwy 1 back towards the border. We were thankful for the weak drinks and the time we allotted to walk around as we were stopped at a military checkpoint on the way back. After showing proper documentation and a cursory search of our bikes (I was the only one with saddlebags), we were sent on our way. As you can see in the picture, the setting sun over the Pacific ocean provided a scenic backdrop as we road the coast all the way to Tijuana.

Unlike the border crossing at Tecate, Tijuana was a circus! The picture came out blurry, but you can get a feel for the carnival like atmosphere that greets you on the Mexican side of the USA/Mexico border. The line was at least a quarter mile long, but with Ed's new air horn, we blended in with the chaos of the border crossing as we split traffic and made our way to the front of the line. In no time at all, we were back on American soil and headed back to Coronado. I can't believe summer is already about over and fall will be in full swing by the time I get back from Asia. Although only a day-trip, I had been wanting to ride my bike down into Mexico since I got here so I'm glad I got the chance to finally go.

Today will be a lazy day. Whit & Kathie are coming over and we're just going to hang out on Coronado and at the beach. I just had my cup of coffee and am heading out the door for my morning run. Have a great weekend!

Military Olympians

I have to admit that until I started working for the USOC, I had no idea that the U.S. military was in any way affiliated with the Olympic movement. It was during my internship that I was first introduced to the Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) and some of the active duty military who trained at the OTC. It was also during my internship that I met my friend Anita who was a Captain in the Army and competed in Athens in 2004 in Modern Pentathlon. Athletes in the WCAP program are temporarily assigned to locations such as an OTC to train and compete in their sport full-time. There are less than a hundred athlete Soldiers in the program so it's fairly unknown even within the Army.

During the last five years, I've been fortunate to work with some pretty talented athletes, both able-bodied and disabled. I'm sure it's no surprise that many military veterans can be found within the ranks of the Paralympic movement. What may be surprising however, is that there are also some active duty military representing the U.S. in the international arena through the Paralympics. I'll give more background and insight into the Paralympic movement as we get closer to those Games (Sept 6-17).

For a quick overview of active duty military representing the U.S. in the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, check out the following link:

http://militarytimes.com/military-olympians/index.php

The array of summer sports is quite broad: boxing, fencing, modern pentathlon, shooting, swimming, track & field and wrestling. Check out the link for bios on the athletes, results, more info on military sport programs & history, and even a blog being updated from Beijing by the Commander of the Army Marksmanship Unit, from which 6 of the 22 Olympic shooters hail. Be sure to cheer for these athletes who are serving their country in one uniform and representing it on the playing field in another!

Running in the rain

Just when you think there's nothing interesting going on, Mother Nature reminds you that there's usually something interesting going on all around you!

After arriving at the OTC last night and staying up until almost midnight watching Olympic Games coverage, I started testing the first athlete at 7:00 a.m. this morning. By 3:30 p.m., my colleague John and I had performed lactate testing on just over 20 athletes. For those of you not familiar with lactate testing, that equates to 6-8 blood samples from each athlete over the course of about 20 minutes of running! I love testing days, so the day actually flew by! Once we were done, we decided a late afternoon run was in order. One of the interns is a cross country runner for Cornell and is from this area, so she drew us a map of a favorite local run. It's actually a cross country ski trail but is also a popular hiking trail in the summer.

Map in hand, John and I drive the rental car to where we think her map indicates the trail head should be. We go up and down the road a bit and figure out that the dirt washout we keep seeing must be it. We park the car just as the rain starts coming down in a heavy drizzle and start jogging down the road and into the woods. John is a much faster runner than I am, so we decided to go our own paces and meet back at the car in an hour and fifteen minutes. I never wear an IPOD when I run outside, but for some reason I brought it on this run. I stopped at the entrance to the woods and started to put the ear buds in when I caught myself and pulled them out. It had been a long time since I stood in the midst of a forest and heard rain through leaves and foliage. It was a soothing, perfectly tuned symphony to my ears. I tucked the ear buds back into my sports bra and started jogging up hill through puddles, bog, decaying trees & leaves and lots of fern. Living in southern California and running primarily on beaches, I don't get many opportunities to run uphill anymore- and did my Achilles tendons let me know it!

At first, I was trying to stick to the sides of the "trail" so I wouldn't get the only pair of shoes I brought on this trip so mucked up that I wouldn't be able to wear them tomorrow. That lasted until about the second puddle surrounded by thick mud. I started to skirt the mud when a favorite quote of mine popped into my head. This saying was once shouted at me by a crusty senior chief in the Navy when I was falling behind on a run. Unfortunately, it's not fit for posting on this family friendly blog, but let's just say that it always propels me through whatever obstacle I may be facing at the time. So, with a huge smile on my face, I stomp my foot right smack in the middle of the mud puddle sending muck all over the trail and myself. Now that it was settled that I'd be wearing muddy, wet sneakers for the next 2 days I thoroughly enjoyed my hour out on the trail! I drank in the smell of wet leaves and dirt, the beauty of late afternoon light flitting through the trees and dancing with the shade, and the hugely soft sound of water cascading over every surface around me. It was one of those moments where you're reminded just how small you are in the universe but how much everything is interconnected. A bit philosophical for an out of town run I know, but I love how it's the everyday stuff that always grounds me.

Lake Placid

I'm typing this from a dorm room at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center in New York. It's no trip to Beijing, but it's an all day journey to get here nontheless! I flew out of San Diego at 6:30 am, had a layover in Chicago, met up with my colleague, flew on to Albany, rented a car and drove the 2.5 - 3.0 hours to Lake Placid. We arrived around 8:00 pm and we'll start testing tomorrow morning bright and early on the women's ice hockey team.

It feels weird to be in the States working with a winter sport team while the summer Olympics are going on in Beijing! With the time difference between China and the west coast, I wake up every morning to about 20 emails with updates from the Games. We have lots of follks on the ground there with whom me and several other USOC employees will trade places with in a few weeks. There's a 10 day seperation between the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but there is a whole lot of turnover and passdown that occurs during that time!

So, although I don't have a lot to post about from the Games at the moment, stay tuned for updates on the Paralympics!

A lazy Sunday

I know, I know, I've been slacking! My dad even gave me a hard time today about not posting when I made my weekly phone call home! Honestly, I've just been working and haven't had anything new and exciting to post about. There's been some interesting things going on at work, but ya'll know I don't post about work per se and I try to keep as much non-travel related work out of my posts as possible. Since I haven't traveled in a couple of weeks, that leaves me without adventures to post about.

Just to prove to you that my life sounds way more interesting on this blog than it really is most of the time. . . here's my Sunday for you:

Slept in until 7:00 a.m. For me, that's a two hour delay of my day!

Cup of coffee, piece of toast, followed by a 5 mile run on the beach.

Came back and made a killer omelet for breakfast (garlic, green onions, summer squash, zucchini, & sun-dried tomatoes). Just so my dad doesn't give my mom a hard time, that omelet was 3 egg whites and ONE whole egg!

Took a shower. Contemplated a nap. Peeked out the window and discovered a bright sunny, beach worthy day (doesn't happen as often as you'd think in Southern California!). Decided to nap on the beach.

Finished the book Freakonomics between two hours of napping on the beach.

Came back to my apt., took a shower and made a peanut butter & jelly sandwich (my favorite sandwich, but only with strawberry jelly!). Felt like I still needed to be outside, so took my beach cruiser bicycle out for a spin around the island.

Made some phone calls, headed down to the park for the Sunday evening concert.

Back at my apt., sauteed some shrimp and garlic, tossed with spring greens and cherry tomatoes, perfect summer supper.

OK, now that should prove that my life isn't always planes, trains, automobiles and passports! I've actually been savoring the relative calm of the last couple of weeks. Most of the athletes and my colleagues are in China, so I'm getting a lot of stuff done that's been pushed to a back burner for a while. I've learned to roll with the ebb and flow of work life. When competitions and preparations are hot and heavy, I put my nose down and get it done. I'm finally learning though that when there's a relative lull in activity to slow down, pick my head up and smell the gardenias again (smell much better than roses!).

That's all I've got for now. A week from Monday, I'll be heading out to our Lake Placid training center to work with the women's ice hockey team. Unfortunately, even though I'll be in Bridie's neck of the woods, I won't get to see her this trip. She'll be in Alaska for her brother's wedding!

Hope everyone had as relaxing of a weekend as I had and that the week finds you productive and content!