Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Okay, I am officially less than 24 hours away from leaving China for a very long trip home. We returned from Taiyuan this morning, after a 3-4 day training session with the Sanxi Provincial Shooting Team. We were supposed to visit some trees, mountains and relics, but fortune smiled upon us (well, me) and the travel agent refused to sell us (foreigners) tickets. Apparently, we're shifty looking and they need government permission (and five days notice) before they can issue us tickets. So, we stayed and trained with our new friends.


I thought that I'd add a few photos from Taiyuan, now that I have a proper connection (apartment line fixed - hoorah!).




This is taken from the Taiyuan Sports School, with some new recruits, Just like in North America, during/after the Olympics, there is a rush of interested participants. The three little guys in the photo are about 10 years old, and the tall young man is 14. They'll be in the range, between 3 and 5 hours training, everyday.



This photo captures about 2/3rds of the Shanxi Provincial Shooting and Archery Federation training facility. In this, you see the buildings that contain the residences, offices and the ranges (10m, 25m, 50m). The dining hall and archery range are off to the extreme righthand side of the photo. As you might guess, the place is huge.

How huge is it? Its this huge. Avie had the entire 40+ position air range to herself (not including me) . The range had more empty positions as you move deeper into the range. In the winter months, the archers practice shooting into the butts at the far end of the hall.

Here is Jiao Lien (Mandarin for coach) Chen (or as my Chinese hun says "Chen Jiao Lien") watches over her three senior female athletes. I say senior based on their three years experience and the scores that they produce. The girl in the foreground, with her pistol raised, is 14 years old. Qin Qin, at the end, is 20. These three young ladies shot a test match the day after this photo and delivered: 386, 373 and 371. Not too shabby.

Here's a happy group of shooters: Wei Jiao Lien, Qin Qin, Zhao Jing Long (my Chinese name) Jiao Lien, Avie and Chen Jiao Lien. Wei and Chen are married and Qin Qin says that they're just like her parents. They're really a good bunch of people, very free with their information and genuinely willing to help others.

In a nutshell, that describes the people of China. I can't say that I like the system, but the people will bend over backwards to help you out, especially foreigners. Any sign that you are willing to give that you respect their culture, like saying anything in Chinese, is greatly appreciated. They want to be understood by westerners and befriended by us.

The Beijing Olympic slogon was "One World One Dream" (which a family friend put up in his restaurant until he was slapped with the threat of a 30,000 RMB - $4600 CDN- fine). Since I first saw it during the Beijing Good Luck Games (May 2008), I wondered what the dream was. Seeing the opening/closing ceremonies and meeting so many of the people, the official theme's lyrics of "we are family" rings true. They want to get to know us and appreciated for what their culture is and how it has positively impacted our global civilization. They want to be equal partners on the world stage. They want to be seen for the similarities among us, as opposed to our differences. I can buy into that dream, with the Chinese people.

Its been a wonderful experience, one which I am so glad that I had. I am absolutely and unquestionably proud of Avianna's performance at her first Olympics. It came early, but it provides one helluva foundation to build upon. Its time to get home and start pouring concrete.