Berlin Vol. 3 American Track&Field’s Got Talent

Posted by Stephanie on August 16, 2009

Today we walk to the accreditation center to get our credential.  Credentials are like gold here; a passport to all things Championship.  A credential will get you into the venue for all sessions, meals and entry to the hotels, official bus transportation and free travel on all the public transit in Berlin.  I am in line to take my picture for the credential but as you already know I am super lazy so I sit in my chair and scoot it along as the line moves along.  The floors are wood and the chair must have a sharp edge because after a few feet I look back and there are gouge marks in the floor.

Later I travel to the Olympic Stadium and start a practice session on the track. Today is not a throwing day but I have some supplemental training I need to do.  One of the men’s high jumpers is walking with me to the track and I notice that his pants fit him perfectly in length.  He must be at least 6’9″ and his uniform pants go all the way to the tops of his shoes.  I ask him how he managed to get pants that fit because my pants hover three inches above my shoes and I constantly have to pull them down. He says that they gave him extra long size and I am jealous.  I requested long sizes but I guess I don’t have enough clout to get them.  Maybe they had to make him a special pair.  It starts to sprinkle but not hard. I brought my rain gear and it comes in handy now.
 
Back at the hotel I nap in the afternoon and then decide to take a trip to the corner store to buy some essentials that would just not fit into my carryon.  I spend about an hour looking at different bottles trying to decide if I they are shampoo, conditioner, or bleach.  I decide on a few items and hand my Euros to the cashier.  I have not yet mastered any German words other than “Danka”.  Last night I played a game of cribbage with the USA men’s coach who knows a little German. I attempted to speak all of the numbers in German while counting my hand.  It was a great learning experience but still I can only retain the ten numbers. I still don’t know the word for zero but as poor as I can play the game, I surpirsingly never need to use it. The cashier gives me my change but as I leave she starts to yell at me and runs out the door.  Apparently I left a ten euro note on the counter. “Danka”, I say.

 
I walk by a cafe on the way back to the hotel and decide to stop in for an espresso and cookie.  I sit down in a booth and grab the Berliner paper and try to understand the captions under the pictures.  This holds my attention for a while but soon I find a much more interesting activity, people watching.  This is by far the best part about traveling abroad.  Watching people chatting, laughing, walking with dogs on leash, pushing babies in strollers.  Most people carrying groceries from the store use small rolling carts as cars are more of a luxury then a necessity. Gas is more expensive. Food prices are very high and portions are small.  It makes me realize why many Americans eat too much: the food is plentiful and cheap.  I would say a good weigh loss program would be to travel to the big cities in Europe.  Eat one large meal a day and snack the rest of the time.
 
Tonight is the talent show!  Every year the team has a talent show to showcase our talented artists on the team.  Most people sing in the show but we had one dancing act.  I have to say that some acts were horrible but having the courage to make a fool of yourself in front of a hundred people is talent itself.  Three coaches sat on the judging panel and we had a Simon Cowell judge making everyone feel terrible and two other coaches giving praise.  Our winner was a sprinter named Charles and his voice was magic.  Gave me goosebumps.  He was the outright winner but was disqualified shortly thereafter due to an anonymous tip that he was not an amateur and had a CD out.  I hope this does not carry over to the track.  We don’t need any more scandalous disqualifications  by the sprint team at this meet!