Howdy y’all!
Coming to you from my fabulous hotel bedroom in the Japanese countryside of Yanagawa, which is in the Fukuoka prefecture. As stated in my last blawg post, I’m spending the entire month of September in Japan for a training camp leading up to Tokyo 2020.
This camp is a partnership between the Oceanic National Olympic Committee (ONOC) and the Fukuoka prefecture. Because the pacific region is still heavily underfunded and ill-equipped to train for the Olympic games, the lovely people of Fukuoka have blessed us with resources to help us train for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and it has all been super kawaii!
While this camp will be fabulous for the 30 day period of September, we still need to find ways to resource our sports training once we all go back to our respective countries. Regardless though, I feel incredibly blessed and grateful for the opportunity to get some really productive work done while preparing for Tokyo 2020, while also seeing Japan and learning about the culture.
All the practices so far have been long course meters (LCM), which is a huge benefit to us as we don’t typically get to practice in Olympic sized pools for swimming. My teammate who is on this trip with me, Noelani Day, trains in the ocean in Tonga! So for Lani, this training camp is incredibly crucial and important.O
We aren’t in Fukuoka the city itself, instead we are in between 2 small cities within Fukuoka prefecture. If you couldn’t tell, prefecture is my new favorite word! I’ve used it 4 times in this blawg post already teeheehee… Our hotel is in the city of Yanagawa, which is famous for its 292 miles worth of wide canals! The city is home to a little over 70,000 residents and reminds me SO much of the town I went to university in.
The pool we train in is in a cute little agricultural city called Miyama. I’m living my Harvest Moon fantasy every time we drive to and from the pool. We’re surrounded by the most immaculate rice paddy and soybean fields. I really should take pictures but I’m just too present in the moment. The farmers here literally use up every square inch of the land available to them to grow crops and it is actually rather extraordinary.
For the first week here I’ve had LMFAO’s “I’m in Miami Trick” playing over and over in my head, except I’ve replaced Miami with Miyama LOL… “I’m in Miyama trick!”
ANYWAY, Miyama is famous for its agriculture and this is what reminds me mostly of Texas A&M, seeing as the A in A&M stands for agriculture. Speaking of culture, I’m in absolute awe of the amount of respect everybody has for each other here, especially for elders. I think that’s really beautiful that there’s an immediate hierachy that’s based on age. If you see a person is older than you, you open the door for them and allow them to walk through first. I think that’s really nice. In Japanese culture, respect is paramount and I’m always operating at my absolute best to ensure I’m not offending anybody and trying to be respectful at all times. This is why I shaved my beard for meeting the city’s mayors.
From left to right: Mayor of Yanagawa city, Kenji Kaneko, Me, Noelani Day, Don Cobb (Noelani’s Granfather and chaperone)
Yesterday we went to meet the mayors of both respective cities, whom gave us really memorable gifts. One was a box full of agricultural treats (from Miyama) and the other was a Japanese good luck charm (from Yanagawa).
I want to express my sincere gratitude to both city mayors: Mayor of Yanagawa city, Kenji Kaneko, and Mayor of Miyama city, Morito Matushima. Both have been so welcoming and the hospitality Team Tonga has received on this trip has been absolutely astounding. A very special mention to Michael Kohn and the Secretary General of ONOC for helping us get to this training camp. This is an experience I will cherish for a lifetime.
With Miyama City Mayor Morito Matsuhima (in the middle holding the flags and Tongan fan)
As for training, we did 10 sessions last week and we absolutely crushed it. While I’ll openly admit that I’m not in 100% perfect form right now, I certainly feel myself getting back there. I love the process of getting back into shape and preparing for the incredible road ahead.