Indiana University Athletics
FINA Diving World Cup Diary- Christina Loukas
2/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 14, 2008
Hoosier Christina Loukas will share her experiences as she competes for the USA at the FINA Diving World Cup in Beijing, China, Feb. 20-24.
Fifth Entry- Feb. 25
Well, tonight is our last night. We spent our last day exploring China a little bit. We started by leaving the hotel at 9 and went to Tiananmen Square. I am not exactly sure what was so interesting about that place because I wasn't listening to the tour guide, but we went to the Forbidden City next which I thought was really cool. I think I would have enjoyed the tour a little more if it hadn't been for the frostbite I got on my fingers and nose...well, I didn't really get that, but it definitely felt like it. It was pretty cold out and our parkas just weren't doing the trick so a bunch of people had to buy some hats and gloves from the people selling them. I was ready to leave the Forbidden City after about 15 minutes because it all looked the same (in a really amazing way), but it took us quite awhile to walk the whole thing, I swear it was never ending.
The final adventure of our day was going to the Silk Market. This place was pretty much amazing. It had 6 floors of fake stuff that you could buy for really cheap. Laura and I started on the basement floor which was shoes and luggage and purses. Big mistake. It was so overwhelming down there that I couldn't get myself to actually look at things. As you would walk by little stands they would shout, "USA pretty girl, looka looka". Yea, not only did they say that but they would grab you by the arm and try to pull you in. Apparently they don't understand personal space and it kinda freaked me out. I got to the point where some lady literally dragged me into the store and wouldn't let me leave so I finally just pulled my arm away as hard as possible and she still didn't let go! I think I dragged her a good 10 feet when she finally let go and told me I was really strong. So we left and decided to try another floor. Being girls we went to jewelry. We went to every floor after that and bought random things. It's always fun bargaining because it's not like you need this stuff so when you walk away when you can't get them down to the price you want they run after you with a cheaper price. 4 hours later I left the market feeling like it was Christmas morning again. We ended our shopping spree with a starbucks coffee and a snack to hold us over for dinner.
We ended our day with a dinner at Dali. The food at the restaurant was supposedly considered "where East meets West", but there wasn't much west to it. I didn't mind because I thought it was all really good. After being served different dishes for about an hour and a half we finished up and headed back to the hotel.
Now it's time for the biggest challenge of the trip, packing. With all of the additional items it will be interesting if I can get part of china to fit and be under 50 lbs in my luggage. I have to say this is one of the best diving trips that I have been on. I really enjoyed China and hope to be back in August. Hope you enjoyed reading about my trip =)
Fourth Entry- Feb. 23
Well, a lot has happened since my last entry. Huber and I took our first taxi while in China, and it was definitely an experience. It is really difficult communicating to people that don't speak your language. We tried telling him our hotel name but he didn't understand, so I had to give him my hotel key so he could read the name. Thank goodness for the picture on it because I swear he still had no idea where it was. The fact that the picture showed it right next to the birds nest was the only reason he had an idea of where to go. Even then he had no idea what streets to take so Huber and I had to keep making hand gestures to show him which streets to take. To make the situation even harder he was not very aggressive with his driving skills, and in China if you aren't an aggressive driver then you don't get anyway quickly. I mean, there are lines on the street and everything, but its not like you really have to follow those, they are more like guidelines. I think our bus driver today went on the wrong side of the road so that he could go through a red turning light. I was sitting in the front row so I got a pretty good view of multiple near accidents. I was scared.
The past couple of nights have been interesting trying to sleep because the Chinese people are currently celebrating the new year. In the states we spend 1 night enjoying it, but here they have been celebrating since before we even arrived in China. I think I heard someone say they celebrate it for about 15 days, but that could be totally wrong. Anyway, they celebrate with fireworks...and I thought the other night was the last night of celebration because it sounded like a grand finale for about an hour...but I was wrong because they continued firing them off last night.
Last night I got a little taste of back home. My brothers came over to my hotel to hang out since I was there resting by myself. The whole team was at the pool cheering on the 10m synchro boys, but since I competed this morning I didn't have to be there. Anyway, we decided to eat at the TGI Friday's that is on the first floor of my hotel. I was very impressed how all of the workers there spoke pretty good English. Before I ate I was worried that even though it was an American restaurant it would taste different, but it didn't. It makes me miss home even more since the food here is getting kind of old. I mean, it is still good its just the same kind of stuff every time.
The reason I haven't written in a few days is because I started to compete. I dove prelims yesterday and ended up 3rd. Today I had semis and I got 4th. Tonight I have finals and I am starting to get really nervous, but I am still really excited. I think the crowd is going to be really big since Guo Jing Jing is competing in this event as well. So it should be fun. I also got interviewed after both competitions so far. It was kind of funny because it was much different than an interview back home. They asked me about my family that is here to watch, about specific dives that I didn't do great on, and the one that really got me was when she asked me how I felt about my hometown putting up a sign for me. They put one up on the side of the road when you enter my town with some diving accomplishments on it, but this is from a few years ago. I thought it was interesting that they asked me about that so they must have done some research or something before the meet. Overall I have been having a lot of fun and I am really enjoying the experience.
Third Entry- Feb. 19
Last night my parents and 2 brothers (Nick and Kosta) got into China so I was able to hang out with them for a little and go to dinner. They are staying right down the street but I took a taxi over there for 10 yuan which is about a dollar.
The meet finally started this morning and our 3m synchro boys did really well. They ended up 4th in prelims out of 23 teams. I was pretty impressed with their performance because diving in China is like football in America. The Olympic pool is so huge, yet it was pretty filled up one side of the pool which is amazing since the place is so big. Crazy to think that diving is such a popular sport since no one really follows it in the States, but I am looking forward to be diving in such an unbelievably big crowd. I can only imagine how many more people will be watching my event since the Chinese diver Guo Jing Jing is a celebrity in her country and everyone would love to watch her.
Not much has really been going on here. Before today we were just
practicing and hanging out in the hotel room. We are trying to relax
as much as we can since the competition is just starting to begin now.
But it's been fun getting to know the American divers better on this
trip, and I get to hang out with my friends from other countries.
Hopefully we will have a chance to explore Beijing a little bit, or at
least go to a market so I can buy a bunch of stuff for cheap for all my
friends back home.
Second Entry- Feb. 16
We finally arrived in Beijing and it has been really fun experiencing a new culture. I mean, the driving skills over here scare the heck out of me. In the bus on the way to the hotel we were about an inch from hitting a lady crossing the street and she didn't even flinch! We arrived at our hotel and it was so nice, like even for an American hotel. The rooms are a bit smaller than we are used to, but for a Chinese hotel it is amazing. We even have a flat screen TV with HBO and Cinemax. I got pretty lucky because my room overlooks The Bird's Nest, where the track and field will be held for the Olympics. We also had our first meal right after we got there and the food was really good as well. They had a wide variety to accommodate every country that is here. On the way to the pool for the first practice we had a very scenic tour that showed how much work still needs to be done before August. There is construction going on everywhere, but I have no doubt that the Chinese people will be able to get it all done. As we arrived to the pool I got extremely excited. I mean, I was about to practice at the 2008 Olympic pool. The outside of the pool is really unique because it looks like water bubbles. When we got inside I was absolutely amazed. It was ginormous! The 10m diving tower looked so low because the ceiling was ridiculously high. But everything was brand new and really nice. The dryland training area was also really nice with 2 brand new dryboards, 2 trampolines, and a plethora of mats. Even though the facility is so big we have to have flighted workouts because there are about 300 people entered in this meet! Each flighted group is supposed to have 99 people which will make practicing a little harder. Today wasn't very crowded but most countries probably won't get here for another couple of days since the meet starts on the 19th. Well, time to go rest before my next practice...
First Entry- Feb. 14
We finally made it to Seoul, Korea after about 25 hours of traveling. The last flight from San Francisco to Korea was about 12 hours. It was an extremely long journey, but the people hosting us in Korea were very excited for our arrival and greeted us with a very warm welcome. Just when I thought our traveling was about done for the day I heard the bus ride to the hotel was going to be at least an hour long depending on traffic. Yea, traffic at 9:00 PM? Weird I know. We finally made it to the hotel and I was absolutely exhausted since we weren't allowed to sleep on the 12 hour flight. Funny thing is when I went to bed I didn't feel that tired anymore from all the excitement of being in a new country. After thinking that for 30 seconds I passed out. I thought I would be able to sleep forever, but when I woke up and rolled over to see the clock it was only 4:45 in the morning. I had another 3 hours before my alarm was going to go off...so I went back to sleep.
The first morning in a new country is always exciting because you get to try their breakfast food. I was a little nervous when I got downstairs because it was buffet style, and I had no idea what some of the things were. My first round I decided to play it safe. I went with some fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, and a croissant. Round 2 I was a little more adventurous and got their version of French toast and some sort of meat on a stick. It actually turned out being really good. But now it is on to the next adventure of the day, our first practice at a new pool, in a new country, in a totally different time zone. It should be interesting...
We had our first practice. The Korean people are so excited to have us here and they were videoing us and taking pictures during the whole thing. Practice went well even though I felt completely out of it. The first time I had to do a lot of somersaults I felt so lost, like I was flipping out of control. But I didn't hurt myself and by the end of practice my body felt almost normal.
Our first lunch in Korea was awesome. At first I didn't think I was going to be fed enough because they served us a pretty small portion of spaghetti with a meat sauce. But after that we were served a salad with a green dressing that look questionable but ended up tasting really good. I for sure thought the meal was over and that they had just brought out our salad after the main dish until I saw them walking out with a plate that half a chicken on it and some vegetables. I was very impressed with all the food because it was western food and it tasted really good. They ended the meal with some fruit to cleanse the palette and I was stuffed. I am looking forward to what they will be bringing us for dinner.
I think dinner ended up being the best meal of the day. We went to some restaurant in the city of Suwon. We had to take our shoes off before we walked into the dining area, which was really nice since the floors were heated. I was overwhelmed when I first walked in because there were so many small dishes covering the table. Everything looked very interesting and I was in an adventurous mood, so my goal was to try everything (which I was successful at). The best part was the small grill in the middle to cook anything on the table, and for the raw meat that they kept bringing out. Surprisingly, everything tasted amazing and I can say that I really enjoy eating authentic Korean food. It is sad to say that the training portion of our 2 week journey is over, so tomorrow we leave for Beijing. I hope that everything goes just as well over there.
Players Mentioned
