Now that's the way to start to new year

The weekend-long New Year's swimming adventure actually began pretty tamely. Wu Laoshi (from Taiwan), swimming grandpa, Ou Zhou Laoshi (other swimming grandpa), another important swimming guy and I all drove down to Chungzhou on Saturday at 4pm after I got out of class. We had class again this weekend because we get Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off (i know, it doesn't really make any sense because it is the same number of days off either way). It was rainy and foggy on the way down so it took us a little longer than usual to arrive, plus we almost ran out of gas which was a little scary. I can just imagine us pushing his car on the freeway in the rain. Luckily, we rolled into the gas station (barely). As soon as we arrived we ate dinner and then they had a meeting to I was sent to my room to "rest". I had a room to myself because I was the only girl, so that was pretty nice. I just read and actually fell asleep pretty quickly because I was tired and there was nothing else to do. The next morning after breakfast they had more meetings, but I was sick of being in my room so I wondered around the grounds of the hotel and explored a little bit. But then swimming grandpa came looking for me and said that I should stay in my room and "rest" because it wasn't safe. So I was stuck in my room again reading until lunch. Finally after lunch we got to go somewhere. We went to this little pool where the race was being held. We met up with the rest of the team. Since the pool area was very small, they only let the people in that heat through at one time. The guys raced first as teams of 10, each person swimming 50 yards. There were 4 heats of boy teams, then the girls. We raced as teams of 4, with each person swimming 50 yards. We were in the first heat and won by a long shot. It wasn't a very good race though. All the boys goggles kept falling off, so we decided not to wear any but you couldn't see AT ALL then and we weren't used to swimming in such a small pool. Our time was 2 minutes 30 seconds. In the 3rd and final heat of girl teams, one city had put together a team of these girls who majoring in swimming, so they beat us by a few seconds and we ended up getting second place. Oh well, it was fun anyway. People were yelling and beating on drums and it was a very exciting event. We also got 600 kuai for 2nd Place, so I got 150 kuai out of the weekend and didn't have to pay for anything. That night I changed rooms and shared it with 2 girls that were my age. After dinner Wu Laoshi and the two girls I shared a room with went to this cafe-type place and talked, played games, and drank wine until Chen Laoshi called us back. However, I sadly didn't make it until midnight and was asleep by about 11:30pm. I was up the next day when the New Year was changing in the US though, so I was thinking of all of you then.
The next morning was slow again. After lunch we left for the river. By the time we got there, a few hundred people were already there. All in all almost 1000 people participated and a few thousand people were there just to watch and cheer. The whole event was much more chaotic than I expected. Wu Laoshi and I stood around in the crowd for awhile until the rest of the team found us. We were in the second wave of people going. The idea was essentially that you would swim across the river dragging your clothes behind you in a waterproof bag to ring in the new year. So there was no racing or anything and once it was your "wave"s turn to go, you just got ready and went at your leisure. Then you got out on the other side, put on your clothes with everybody on the bleachers, and walked across the dam/bridge back to the other side. That was it, but it was still fun and everybody was really excited. I am also feeling more and more like an actual part of our winter swimming group which is really nice. I think these are the first actual, genuine friends I have made in China so far; partly because of language and partly I guess I just don't mesh well with the average "Chinese" personality, but I really like my swimming friends. All in all it was a good weekend and a great way to bring in the new year in a new country with my new friends. I can't believe it's already January, but I have high hopes for the rest of the year in China and can't wait to see everyone again when I get back! Happy New Year!