So we are on the bus heading away from the village to Tianjin. I have to say that everything has already been so much better than I could have ever imagined it.

I remember when I was young watching the different Olympic games being mesmerized by the athletes and how proud they seemed playing their sport and representing their country. They really enjoyed what they were doing and they were at the top of their sport. I wanted to be like them.

I would watch whatever sport was being shown on the television and I only left when I had to. I wanted to do it all…from track, to basketball, to soccer…at that point it did not matter, I just wanted to be like them. I remember telling my parents that one day I wanted to be in the Olympics and them telling me that I could do it. The fact that I am here and that my parents will be here in within 24 hours is proof that if you dream big and are willing to really go after your dreams, it can really happen.

Leading up to this trip so many people asked me what I was feeling. It was hard to explain because there was so much anticipation leading into it and having been to China several times prior I felt I knew what I was going to be seeing, but I had no idea of the feelings that would follow.

Walking around the athletes village for the past two days has been unbelievable because it feels like no other China experience I’ve had. It is a completely different atmosphere than at the World Cup last year because you see and recognize other athletes from other sports which is incredible.

I have to admit that many of the athletes look much different in person but nevertheless you can tell who they are from the moment you see them. Just walking around in the village you feel special. The volunteers are always smiling and willing to help you out in whatever way they can. There is a mutual respect amongst everyone.

I’ve had conversations with other athletes where there is an obvious language barrier yet we still continue the conversation and I still can take something away from it. Politeness is a universal language that everyone here seems to understand which has also been very enjoyable. We’ve had the last two days just to absorb it all in and I think that has been great so now we can focus on what we are here for. It can be overwhelming if it is your first time because you want to enjoy the experience and not miss out so getting these days to just be athletes and not necessarily soccer players has been nice.

I’ve spent some time at the Olympian store where I spent several hundred dollars. I also went to the hairdresser to see if they could put my hair in braids…no luck. I think they were willing to try it but at this point, I wasn’t really up for having things ‘tried’ on my hair. I’ve also gotten lost on the bus system around the village. My thought was that just get on the bus because they all seem to be going in the same direction…well I was wrong.

What would have taken me 20 minutes to walk to, took me 45 minutes by bus. It was pouring rain on our first day so it wasn’t just about me being lazy but the good thing was that I got a good tour of the village and got to see the beach volleyball courts, the beach soccer, the outdoor pool which is huge and the fitness room which were all for the leisure of the athletes in their down time.

We were in the CANADA house but now that we’ve left, when we do return we will stay in the soccer precinct which is the building for the soccer teams that come and go throughout the tournament. We play our first two games in Tianjin, the first against Argentina and the second against home team China. The third game we come back to Beijing and play Sweden at the Workers stadium.

We have been told as a team that we will not be attending the Opening Ceremonies which we were all upset about until we found out the details. Because our first game is in Tianjin which is not in Beijing (couple hours drive away actually), if we were to attend we would arrive back to our hotel until possibly 4am.

Seeing that we play that day, it simply did not make sense. As an athlete you are disappointed because you have heard so much about the moment you walk out into the stadium with the world watching and the goose bumps that you once felt once as a spectator watching on the television, pales in comparison to the ones you feel as an athlete. The feeling is something that you will experience once in your lifetime. So many athletes here talk about that moment, but what is interesting enough is that so of them also say that although this is their second or third Olympics, they too have never been to the Opening Ceremony because of scheduling/timing issues involving their events.

I guess athletes are there hours before it starts and sit and wait for their time to enter the stadium for the remarkable experience but once it is done and you deal with all the traffic, you may be there up to 8 hours. With the Chinese traditionally being big on 8’s, 8:08 pm on August 8^th, 2008 the timing of everything is very important and this ceremony will start at a later time, so ending much later.

With the process and considering once again we are playing on the 9^th, it was a smart decision by our staff to keep us away. One great thing is that my parents will get to enjoy the ceremony and I am so excited for them. It will be a proud moment for me that they will get to experience it and I am sure for them as well, it will be a event they will never forget.

I do hope you enjoy the pictures that I have put up. We are very limited in what we can put on the internet because of Olympic regulations. Please do keep checking in as I will try to share with you as much of this experience as I can because for me, this is a life changing moment.

I am living out my dream to the fullest and it is all because I choose to dream big, work hard towards it and believed that I could do it. If you are reading this hoping that one day you too will walk these steps, dream about it today and start working towards it because it truly is all that I could have imagined and much more.

Thanks for checking in,
Karina