Carp Update and Christmas

Well the carp have gone from the "swimming" type of fish to the "eating" type of fish. As with any tradition, I have to be a part of it, especially since I am from the U.S. and this is my first Christmas in Poland. So my uncle showed me how to help the carp make their transition and now I too have fully taken part of the Polish Carp tradition. Well, except for the eating part, that comes today.

So why all the fish? Well in the Polish style of celebrating the holiday, we start on Christmas Eve. This is how I celebrate Christmas even in the United States with my family, only no carp. It is a day of fasting and of no meat, so hence the fish. Then, at the end of the day, the whole family gets together at someone's house and we have a big meal of different kinds of fish and meatless dishes. This meal is called the Wigilia. We sit around, talk, hang out with the family, normal holiday stuff. Then, after we have eaten the carp, we open the presents.

At the end of the night we go to church and celebrate a midnight mass. Coming home, since it is after midnight and technically the first day of Christmas (December 25) we are allowed to eat meat and some families start right then and there and have some more food. It is also, at this point, the end of the Catholic season of Advent for which many people do not drink alcohol, so following the mass with their food they might enjoy a glass or two of something to drink.

My family is a little more muted and we might be a bit tired so might just go straight to bed. When we wake up, we have the first day of Christmas and we again get together and feast with everyone. We do this again for the second day of Christmas (December 26). So here in Poland, we will be celebrating three days for Christmas. That's one of the reasons we have so much carp, because it needs to last for the whole three days.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Carp!

A few weeks ago I posted on here about the Christmas Carp (Karp, in Polish). Well my family is no exception to this tradition. A few days ago I found out that we will definitely be having carp on our Christmas Eve table. However, what I was also excited to find out is that we would be getting the carp earlier in the week and letting them hang out in our bathtub!

Well, this morning one of my cousins came back from the store with our carp. Now I thought we would be getting one. . . . We have ten of these guys swimming around in the bathtub!

Christmas Carp to the fullest!

Made in the USA

I have said many times that one of the reasons I am in Poland is to reconnect with my family's culture and my heritage. Coming from Polish parents and being the first one in my family to be born in the United States, I have very strong ties to this country. I grew up eating Polish food and celebrating Polish holidays. Despite this, however, I have always considered myself an American. Of course living abroad in a foreign country has heightened my sense and appreciation of what it is to be an American. Everyday when I'm outside walking around I can't help but feel a little bit like Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Bruce Springsteen all rolled into one. Not so much so because of my (lack of) musical or acting talent, by more so because we all come from the same country. And even more so, because we all share the same characteristic American attitude: that of a "bad-ass".

Two months ago I had a chance to demonstrate just this trait. I was with my rowing team in Berlin for the Rund Um Wannsee Regatta (see October Posts). It was a great race that offered a chance for many international crews to get together and race. Following the race, there was a large outdoor banquet held for the athletes and spectators, complete with food, a stage, live music, drinks and a carnival style hammer challenge. The latter was one of those things you find at carnivals where a challenger is given a large hammer and must strike a lever causing a little weight to shoot up a vertical scale at the top of which is a bell that rings when struck.

So after the race and after some food, everyone starts gathering around the hammer challenge. People start taking turns and there are a few people here and there that ring the bell, but for the most part it seems like a difficult thing to do. My boat mates and I want to have a go at it. While I am waiting my turn, I remark that if they want to make it really challenging they should try to do it one handed. Everyone scoffed at me and said why don't I do it one-handed. I said that it would be no problem. My team mates who were ahead of me in line even gave up their spots in hopes that I would sooner humiliate myself. They said, "Let's see you do it Americano!"

I grabbed the hammer with my right hand, felt its weight, and taking a good swing, struck the lever nice and hard and the weight shot all the way up and rung the bell nice and loud.
That's how we do it in America!

Racing on the Brda

Here in Poland we have been off of the water for some time, doing all of our training in the weight room, on the ergs and running. Training like this is fine, but any rower will tell you that it is all about being on the water and actually making a boat move. So naturally I have been doing a lot of reminiscing of actually rowing in a boat on the water, and while doing so, remembered an intersting experience.

I think it was in October and we were doing a lot of work in pairs. I was stroking and as such had the toe (which means I steered the boat with my foot) and my partner, sitting in bow, would look over his shoulder and tell me where to steer. Normally, on a race course or a waterway with lots of straight-ways the bow seat does not need to look over his shoulder, but rowing on the Brda where there is only about 200 meters of straight course at the longest before encountering a turn, the bow needs to be in constant communication with the stroke.

So one day we were doing race pieces in the pairs, racing against each other. I think there were four pairs total. The first piece, my boat came in second, finishing about a seat down to the first place boat. We start the second piece and my boat and the boat that won the previous piece jump out ahead and its going to be a battle between us again. We are exchanging the lead but for the most part holding even. About halfway into the piece, we enter a rather long turn, slowly curving to port (so left when looking to bow). The other boat has the inside of the turn, so the advantage, but my partner and I suddenly click and find a rhythm. Not only are we keeping even with them on the outside of the turn, but are slowly starting to pull ahead! As we inch ahead, both of us are just thinking about the coming straight-way where the other boat won't have the advantage of the turn and we can really do some damage. Coming to the end of the turn, we are laying down these powerful strokes that are sending us ahead. We are completely in tune with each other, putting all of our strength into each stroke and then boom! We go from moving at light speed to a complete dead stop!

Apparently, since we were in such a good rhythm and pulling away, my partner stopped looking over his shoulder and didn't think to check our course. Since he didn't say anything, I kept us on the slow turn to port, but it wasn't enough. Just as we were about to get onto that straight-way and really pull away, we crashed into some bushes that were hanging over the bank of the river. I was pissed that we couldn't finish the piece, but couldn't help but laugh at the comical situation. To go from full speed to a dead stop made the situation a bit amusing. It took us a little while to untangle ourselves from the midst of the bushes. No harm done to the boat nor to my bow seat who took the full force of the branches to his back. We re-adjusted our course and finished the piece, well behind the other boats.

But though we lost the piece, we gained a great story and a good laugh.

Gdansk

Last week I travelled with my Polish club for my last competition of the year, an indoor rowing race in the city of Gdansk. The race was held on ergometers, machines used to mimic the rowing motion and the race was over the standard 2000 meter distance. The race itself was like most indoor rowing competitions: a line of ergs next to each other all connected to one another and to televisions so that the athletes, and the crowds, can monitor the progress of the race. However, the exciting and interesting element of the race was that in my event I was going to be racing the current or at one point world record holder for the fastest time on an erg over the 2k distance, Maciej Siekowski. After the race, I went up to him and talked with him for a few minutes and asked for a photo (below). He is a very nice man, wished me the best of luck in my own rowing career and hoped to see me in the future. He even asked for my full name so he could watch out for me. Besides encouraging, it was also a bit intimidating as Mr. Siekowski is a good head taller than me, and his head is the size of my torso, a giant of a man.

Following the competition, I did not return to Bydgoszcz with the team, but stayed behind in Gdansk. My dad has some friends who live there and asked that they take me in for a few days to show me around, since I have never been to this beautiful city before.

Gdansk is located on the northern coast of Poland where the Vistula River empties into the Baltic Sea. It received its official town charter in 998, so is well over 1000 years old. There is something remarkable walking through a city of that age, especially coming from the relatively young United States. Some of the things that mark its age are the giant crane and the old mill, both of which were at one point the largest in Medieval Europe.

Like most of the old cities of Poland (and Europe) there is the old town (stare miasto) around which the modern city has expanded. Gdansk, however, because of its age and its great former wealth and ranking as one of the greatest cities of Old Europe, has a gorgeous and rather large old town. The buildings are well maintained and there is something surreal about walking around and looking up at buildings that were housing people before the America’s were discovered. Along Long Street (Dluga), lies the famous Neptune Fountain, next to which the city had erected a giant, living Christmas Tree to welcome in the holidays.

I had a great time in Gdansk and would like to thank my hosts Pan Janek and Pani Jola.

(Neptue Fountain with the Christmas Tree and Stare Miasto in the background)

Christmas Carp!

One of the great things about living in another country is the opportunity to experience and witness that country's traditions. Take Poland and the Christmas Carp. The Christmas celebration here (and in my family back home, since we are Polish) starts on December 24 with what is called Wigilia (Christmas Eve) and traditionally no meat is served or eaten. So, everyone gets together for the big meal and there is a whole lot of fish: herring in sour cream, salmon, fried tilapia, all of which are very good and I have eaten before. But what I am new to, although I am familiar with the tradition, is the carp.

From what I understand, back in the day before refrigerators were everywhere, people bought a carp for the Wigilia meal since it was a fish that is from the area and tasty enough for the occasion (like a Thanksgiving turkey in the States). What they did with the carp, however, is that they got it alive and kept it alive in the bathtub until it was time to eat it, thus ensuring it stayed fresh!

So now, when I go to the supermarket, there is a huge pool in the fish section that is teaming with live carp and a huge line of people waiting to get theirs. A store employee nets one out, the buyer decides if they like the specific fish or not, and then the fish is bagged, alive! The first time I noticed this, however, was when I was standing in line to make my purchases. I had been in line for some time without incident when suddenly, in the cart in front of me a bag starts wildly flailing around. I did not at first realize what was happeneing, so I thought that maybe there was a small child in the bag, or a dog. Then I remembered the carp! It sure makes going to the supermarket in December a lot more exciting.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is an amazing European city and I am so happy that I took some time during my Scotland visit to see this place. Of course, timing has a great deal to do with why I enjoyed the city so much, but nonetheless it is an amazing city.

To begin with, the city offered non-stop activity and entertainment. I was let off of the bus from St. Andrews in St. Andrew's Square, where, there happened to be a Christmas Concert starting in about seven minutes! So I fought the cold (it was -1C, plus wind) and stood in the crowd singing Christmas carols. Being the good American, I had not let myself think of Christmas before celebrating Thanksgiving, but now that I had done that, I took full part in the Christmas festivities. Besides the Christmas Concert, there was a Christmas Carnival being held in the center of Edinburgh that was complete with an outdoor ice skating rink and music. So after a few cups of hot mulled wine and some German Bratwursts, I took a few turns around on the ice taking in the glow of Edinburgh at night.

One of the great things about the city is that it is somewhat cut in half by the fact that part of the city is built upon and over a hill which sits next to a shallow valley that comes up again where the rest of the city is spread out. The Christmas Carnival was held in this shallow valley so it was right in the center and surrounded by Edinburgh. While I was walking around the carnival, the Edinburgh Castle which is perched up on the highest hill kept watch as it was lit up with blue lights. I actually visited the castle the following day (Monday) where entry was free because it was St. Andrew's feast day, which is also why the castle was cast with blue lights.

Besides these activities, I visited the coffee shop where the author took her time writing the Harry Potter books (not so much a big deal for me except that they had good coffee), walked around and sampled some helpings from the local pubs, had a glass or two of Scotch Whisky (no "e" if its really Scottish) and tried hagis and cullen skink (a fish stew that just has a really cool name), both of which were excellent.

My trip to Scotland as a whole was great. It is defintely one of the great advantages of living in Europe, that travelling to other parts of Europe is so much easier and cheaper.

St. Andrews

Following Thanksgiving, I spent a few days roaming around the great little town of St. Andrews, Scotland. It is located on the eastern shore of the English Island, about an hour and forty minutes by bus away from Edinburgh. It is an old town, and besides many ruins (castle and cathedral, the two most famous) is the place where the sport of golf was invented.

But for me, one of the most exciting aspects of my St. Andrews visit was that the town gets about as excited as I do about the coming of the Christmas season. The Saturday after my Thanksgiving feast, the town had a town Christmas light lighting ceremony where we counted down and all of the lights that were strung up along the streets were lit up. There was also a Christmas band and carolers in the streets: a good way to start being excited about the holidays.

Besides my Christmas enthusiasm, I saw the great architecture of the the old Scots and what beaches look like in Scotland. I enjoyed a beach bonfire, which was very interesting on the very cold beaches of Scotland, but that's exactly the point of a bonfire. I also took a bus trip to Anstruther, which is a town over, and has been repeatedly voted to have the best fish and chips in Britain. And, of course, I found myself eating a lot of scones.

Thansgiving...in Scotland!

Now despite being in Poland, I still consider myself the good American, especially when it comes to any sort of holiday that has something to do with food. So, taking leave of the country that has been hosting me for the past three months, I flew to Scotland to celebrate our national holiday of thanks.

I spent my Thanksgiving in St. Andrews, Scotland, with my good friend from UCLA, Danielle, who is studying at the University of St. Andrews Graduate School. She and a few of her friends from the university wanted to host a Thanksgiving for those of us away from the States, and I was very excited to join in.

I spent the entire day cooking, taking responsibility mostly for the turkeys (yes, turkeys, we could not get one large enough so we bought and cooked two!). Besides that, our menu consisted of butternut squash soup, green bean casserole, stuffing, brussel sprouts, carrots, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and cranberries. For dessert we had two freshly baked pies (courtesy of Danielle): one apple and one pumpkin. Along with this we had a cookie cake and fresh whipping cream which we whipped ourselves.

The meal was very good and I greatly enjoyed being able to spend the day cooking, since I do not have a kitchen where I am living in Poland and I do enjoy cooking. I also enjoyed being able to come together with a large group of people and enjoy the holiday. We sat around the table until we were stuffed, and in good Thanksgiving fashion, continued eating.

I hope everyone had their own special and enjoyable Thanksgiving, and enjoyed their time spent with either friends or family, or both.

Winter is Coming

Tonight I was walking across town and noticed that the wind was really bringing in the cold. The past few days have been getting colder and colder and there is something thrilling as the world around me is starting to draw towards winter. All the leaves are gone off of the trees and there is something really pretty about them when they are like this. Also, I have a much better appreciation for scary movies, since at night, everything looks frightening through the clutches of tree limbs.

The other aspect of the cold is that Thanksgiving is approaching. For all of my life I celebrated the holiday in Southern California and there were a few holidays I remember being outside and wearing shorts. Such a stark contrast to the need to put layer upon layer here, just to go outside. But Thanksgiving goes hand in hand with the cold: being inside with friends and family, celebrating a great meal as the weather outside continually gets colder and trudges on towards shorter days.

To all of my friends and family, have a happy Thanksgiving this Thursday!

Earn Your Bread

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the home of one of the rowers I live with. I was excited because his family has a house outside of the city and they live in a very rural area. It's somewhat hard to say exactly where he lives, because when I asked him the name of the village, he sort of paused and said "Well, I guess we are in the area that falls under Wyrza . . . oh and that stream right there is called the Orla, so I guess we are in Wyrza nad Orla." To give you a better idea of the isolation of this place, we drove out of Bydgoszcz some 40 minutes and then while we were driving down the highway, we suddenly turned off onto a dirt road that just went straight off into the distance not towards anything in sight. But after about 20 more minutes, we came to his house, which stood by itself on a large expanse of land, next to a stream and a pond behind.

We came at night so I didn't have a great chance to explore everything, nor did I the next day. We both woke up early and went to help his dad who builds houses. We drove out to the site and I spent the day lifting building materials and handing them to the contractor. Highlights of the day were definitely the two coffee breaks and coming home where my friend's mother had made us a huge spread of food which the three of us very quickly consumed. Oh and of course for the job my friend's dad gave me some sweet construction work clothes: I got to rock a sweet pair of overalls. But mostly I enjoyed the day because I got to be outside. Part of the reason I came to Poland is because I wanted to experience cold weather, and although it will be getting colder, it was just above freezing that day and despite that, I stayed warm. Of course, stopping for those coffee breaks did help to warm me up!

The next day didn't offer me much rest either: my friend's older sister raises and trains horses, and my visit happened to be during the time of the week where the stables are cleaned. Or shall I say, when I got to clean the stables. Despite the hard work and awful smell, it was a great experience. Following the cleaning, I got to completely brush and clean one of the horses, and it was great being that close to the animal. I even got to saddle up and do a little riding. And of course, Polish hospitality was again served in the form of a great spread that night for dinner.

The weekend I spent in Wyrza nad Orla was one of the best I have had here in Poland. I got to do a little work and see the beautiful country-side. The trees and landscape were beautiful, and I really enjoyed seeing the horses and being able to go up and be close to them. The trees here are really beautiful, and most of the trees were turning color, if not already shedding their leaves. I am really enjoying watching the weather as it changes from one season to the next.

Running at Night

For our afternoon practice yesterday we went on a run. There are a few elements that make this noteworthy, at least for me. First of all, since this is the only form of our training now that consists of us going outside (we erg and lift weights indoors), we have to dress properly. I don’t think I have ever worn so much spandex before at one time. With the addition of a cap, the only part of my body exposed to the cold are my hands and my face, which with the combination of the sleek spandex, makes me feel somewhat like a ninja.

The other elements that make the run so enjoyable is that we run in a park which is on the top of a hill somewhat near our boathouse. Now that the cold has arrived and all of the trees have lost their leaves, we can see the city of Bydgoszcz below as we run our laps. But the view is enhanced by the fact that the sun has been setting around 4 p.m., thus making it completely dark by 4:30. So our run that starts at 4 goes through some changes in light until we are running completely in the dark, not really knowing what is lying ahead of us and only having a decent idea of where the path lies (by park I mean an area that is void of any building developments with a dirt path etched along stretches by people who go on walks or runs). We can see the city lights below us coming through the trees and there is an occasional lamp that is somewhat close enough that illuminates part of our path.

There is something great about running in the cold and the dark, and just listening to literally nothing but your footsteps as you fly over the ground that is unseen below you. It reminds me somewhat of running the UCLA perimeter at night during final's week of Fall quarter. We usually did not meet for formal, organized practices and were left to our own devices to train. I usually ran the perimeter at night and this run reminds me of that. Especially running along Veteran Ave, since that part of the perimeter is not well lit at all and you have to stumble your way along to find the path. Also, I would sometimes cut through campus and run between Royce and Powell, and I always enjoyed the yellow glow of the lights that illuminated the campus. It made it look very regal. To those of you at UCLA training now, enjoy the runs and know that wherever you go after, you will look back at those times.

(photo taken with some light still left in the day, so it’s even darker by the time we finish our run)

World Coastal Rowing Championships for Clubs

Two weeks after Poznan, I competed in the World Coastal Rowing Championships for Clubs held in Plymouth, England. The event was hosted by the Mayflower Offshore Rowing Club and was attended by some 500 athletes representing 22 different nations.

Coastal rowing is different from regular rowing in that in place of calm, still water, we were rowing out in the ocean and in waves. There are three boat classes: quad with coxswain (the boat I was racing), double and single. The boats themselves are about three times as wide as an eight-oared shell, thus providing a bit of stability in the waves. Also, the bow is very tall, to better cut through the waves, and the stern is open to allow water that has come into the boat to flow out the back as we row forward. There is also an on-board water pump which is connected to all of the foot-wells. These are all very necessary characteristics as there was a lot of water. When we were sitting at the finish with our legs flat, they were literally underwater because there was so much water in the boat.

We practiced on Thursday (October 22) giving me my first coastal rowing experience. When we rowed out past the breakwater, we were literally rowing “uphill”. When we were in the troughs between waves, we couldn’t see the land, nor anything else other than walls of water. But we got the idea of the waves and raced in the heat on Friday. 15 boats started in an 8 kilometer race with 12 advancing to the final. We finished 5^th after a somewhat leisurely finish; the boats were strung out along such a great distance we weren’t worried about anyone catching us. The next day, weather conditions and extreme winds forced race organizers to shorten the course to a 5K distance. When we started in the 24 boat final, a wave broke on my back and knocked our stroke seat off of his seat. The rest of the race was just a battle through walls of water. As we came over the top of a wave, the boat would suddenly drop from underneath us and our butts would come off the seats. It was like being on a roller coaster, a somewhat cold one! We finished 7^th overall, which wasn’t bad as there is definitely a technique to rowing in the waves, something to which none of us were accustomed to.

Following the Saturday final, we were not leaving Plymouth until Tuesday morning, so we had two days to explore and be tourists. On Sunday I decided to visit Mt. Edgecombe, a historical house whose lands have been kept open to the public to enjoy. There were gardens, a small labyrinth and a vast expanse of just green pastures and forests. My group and I climbed a hill from which we could see the racecourse where we raced the day before and had a picnic. It was very enjoyable. Monday was raining so we just visited some local shops. It was a great trip!

(First photo: view of the course from Mt. Edgecombe. That is a large Military supply vessel in the middle of the bay)

(Second photo: our quad launching for practice. I am sitting 2 seat in the white hat. Also please notice the life jackets)

Click here to view the World Coastal Rowing Page (includes photos from the regatta).

Click here to view a website about Mt. Edgecombe.

Poznan

Poznan is a city about two hours drive south of Bydgoszcz. I was there two and a half weeks ago (the weekend of October 17-18) racing in a pair. Over the course of two days, I raced four times over the 2k distance: a heat Saturday morning followed by a final in the afternoon. Both Sunday races were finals. The format of the regatta was three heats of six with the first place finisher from each advancing directly to the final. Besides that, five additional boats would be selected by best time overall from all of the heats and then placed into an eight boat final, held later that same day. Following that final, the top six finishers stayed in the “A” final as the last two boats were dropped into the “B” final and the top two finishers from the “B” final were added to the “A”, thus maintaining the eight boat final format.

I was racing in a pair, which is a two person boat propelled by long oars, one held by each rower (as opposed to a double in which each rower has two oars). I was stroking and since there is no coxswain I steered with my foot (a cable connects a moveable shoe to the rudder, thus allowing me to steer with side to side movements of my right foot). We finished third in our heat and had the third best time overall from all of the heats, thus advancing my partner and I to the “A” final. We then finished 4th in the first final and 5th in both the second and third final. However, the great thing is that our club entered four pairs and all four pairs stayed in all three “A” finals.

But my favorite part about racing in Poznan was the racecourse. In Poland, Poznan is called the city of rowing, and it is because the race course is more or less in the center of the city and it is a world class course, which is not meant as a compliment but a distinction: it is certified by the international governing body of rowing (FISA) to host international regattas. And it really is so. When I first got to the course, I was intimidated. Staring at you from the dock is a large and somewhat ominous finish line tower standing at the end of bleachers several stories tall that run for the last 300 meters of the course. The lanes are well marked as are all of the 500 and 250 meter intervals. But my two favorite parts of the course are firstly the “pac-man’s” behind the start line and secondly the finish line. The pac-man’s are these large yellow circles with a triangle cut out (resembling pac-man) with their mouths facing up towards the sky. Behind each of them is a large yellow triangle that fits into each pac-man’s mouth. The purpose of this is that when you are rowing a blind boat (meaning a boat without a coxswain) the person steering needs only to line up the mouth and the triangle to be on course for a straight line down the 2k distance. This made steering for me a lot easier. As for the finish line, it was a literal line of bubbles across the span of the eight lane course, something found only on world class courses.

The other thing that made racing at Poznan special was that less than two months ago, the 2009 World Rowing Championships were held there and I could still feel all of the energy from that regatta. Even the flags from all of the countries from around the world were still flying on the flagpoles.

First Snow

So I know I am supposed to be going in order of my races, which means that this post should be about my races in Poznan. However, it is snowing outside and as the first snow of the season in Bydgoszcz, I feel I should mark the occasion.

Now coming from southern California, this is a big deal for me. Sure I have been to the mountains and hiked in the snow and have gone skiing. But now I am going to be living an everyday normal life surrounded by snow and all the cold that comes with it.

I have been greatly enjoying the weather here in Bydgoszcz. When I first got here, I caught the last moments of the summer and its warmth. Since then, each week has been getting colder and colder, which was marked by the color of the leaves as they changed from green to yellow and red. Now the last leaves are finally falling off the trees and today we have our first snow.

Wielka Wioslarska o Puchar Brdy

Three weeks ago (the weekend immediately following the Rund um Wannsee Regatta in Berlin) I competed in the Great Row for the Brda Cup, as it would be called in English. It was a head race held here in Bydgoszcz on the Brda River. I stroked the Bydgostia club entry, which was comprised of myself and the younger group of oarsmen at the club, those that are now too old to qualify as juniors (basically 19 or older). The other guys at the clubs, that is those with whom I have been racing were rowing in different boats in the regatta. Unlike in the U.S. where each individual university has a team and they all compete against each other, here in Poland, each town has one or two (or here, three) different clubs where athletes train and compete, regardless of what university they go to (assuming they are of age to attend and inclined to attend university). Normally, boat lineups are made up of members of the club, regardless of what school or university they attend. But for this occasion, since it is a great publicity booster for the city of Bydgoszcz, all of the universities want their athletes to row in university line-ups. Since I am not part of any university, I was with the club eight. We finished fifth overall.

My favorite memory from the regatta, however, was performed by my coxswain: Janek Erdman. Three times during the race, while our boat was in full swing at 32 strokes a minute, our coxswain detected some water plants caught on our rudder, slowing us down and affecting his steering. Three times, he stood up, turned around, laid himself down on the stern deck and freed the boat of the weeds. It’s a pretty crazy feeling to be rowing at full speed with your coxswain laying on the stern deck with the good possibility of falling in, all of which is happening on a very windy river.

Other than that, the weekend was very enjoyable. Besides our home Bydgoszcz entries, there were crews from Germany, Moldavia, Lithuania and England. Actually, there were three boats representing England, one from Cambridge University, one from Oxford University and one from Nottingham University. That is definitely one of the nice things about racing in Europe; the countries are a lot closer so there are more opportunities for international racing.

And to cap it all off, following the regatta, I made it back in time to see the news with sports highlights of my eight starting the race, complete with line-up and my name at the top of the tv. I’ve been in Poland for six weeks and already made the news!

New Posts Coming Soon

Hello everyone,

so I have not been as up-to-date as I would have liked with this blog, seeing as how my last post was about three weeks ago. But the last three weeks have been very busy, with three different races, in three different places and all very completely different events. I just returned from a race in Plymouth, England. However, I wanted to just quickly say that I have all the intent to update this blog with all the details of what I have been up to. Rather than write about the most recent event, I will write about the happenings following the regatta in Berlin, thus trying to maintain some form of a continuous time frame.

The next few posts will deal with the Wielka Wioslarska, the pairs race in Poznan, and the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Plymouth.

Check back tomorrow as I hope to have the first post up by then. Thanks.

Rund um Wannsee

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of participating in my first head race with my rowing club, Lotto Bydgostia. The race was held in Berlin, Germany on Saturday, October 3rd and hosted by the Berliner Ruder Club (Berlin Rowing Club). It was a 15 kilometer head race around the island of Wannsee with some 50 or so eights participating, both women's and men's as well as juniors, seniors, and masters. The Berliner Ruder Club even put together an "All-Star-Achter" which included most notably Marcel Hacker, one of Germany's greatest oarsmen who has represented Germany at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Besides this 8+, my very own 8+ received a special international invitation to compete at the regatta.

The regatta weekend started on Friday when my club drove the 6 or so hours from Bydgoszcz to Berlin. After unloading and rigging the boats, my team mates and I very quickly changed into dress shirts and sport coats and attended a special athlete's banquet, which was complete with full bar (our coach let us each have one beer, which we strictly obeyed...), food served from a buffet, and even hired models standing at certain doorways to greet the guests and look pretty! The evening was very nice and although I did not understand much of the speeches made during the dinner (all spoken in German) I enjoyed the good food and the fact that all of these atheltes from different countries could sit down and share such a nice meal before the race the next day.

The race started at 9 a.m. the next morning. We awoke to a cloudy and cold morning. After putting on several layers of long spandex, we checked our boat one last time and launched. The entire race was a party from the moment we started our warm-up. We rowed away from the club which was located at the end of a sheltered channel and onto a large open lake, complete with waves and a good amount of wind. The start of the race would take place on this lake, and for 2k we would have to battle the waves and the wind, as well as the other crews. There were a good 50 or so 8+ out on the water.

The race start was very simple. Unlike other head races in which crews are set off every 30 seconds or so, here, all the boats would line up in a starting area behind bow numbers 1-12 which had the advantage of lining up side by side on the starting line (we were bow number 4 so we had the advantage of starting near the front and being able to see the pandimonium as it unfolded behind us). This proved somewhat difficult as the starting line was marked by two buoys about 300 meters apart and everyone was jockeying for position. It was complete chaos, with boats running into each other, oars clashing and the wind pushing everyone out and past the starting line (something which we took care not to do as the officials simply disqualified anyone starting beyond the line rather than giving them a warning). My boat, as well as other boats, were literally laughing aloud during all of this chaos. We managed to line up 2 or 3 times but never for long enough before someone was pushed out of line and everyone had to re-align. Finally, after sitting in the cold and in the middle of all of this confusion, a German voice sounded off in the distance on a megaphone, followed by a pause and then a starter's gun. All 8+ started charging for the line, and it was one of the loudest and most fun experiences I have ever had in a boat.

My boat took the start somewhat conservatively, as there were lots of waves and we didn't want to burn ourselves out as we had an entire 15k ahead of us. 4 boats got out ahead of us by the time we came to first turn, and during the first turn, another boat managed to sneak on the inside and thus passed us. However, as soon as we came out of the turn, we had a straight and some better water, and our coxswain put us to work. We quickly reeled in that boat that caught us on the turn and started chasing the boats ahead of us. We rowed on for a while before making contact with another boat, when with about 3k to go, our coxswain tells us as a boat to look over our left shoulders and look at the boat that we are coming upon. With that, he had us put our strength behind the oars and reel that boat in. With about 1500m left in the race, we finally caught them and as soon as we had an inch advantage over them, they broke and we just flew past them. We rowed to the finish line finishing fourth with a time of 49:18, only 20 seconds behind third place (48:58) and 44 seconds behind the first place boat (48:36). We based the race at 34 spm, dropping to 30/31 during two short stretches of bad waves and up to 38 when we were passing crews. It felt great to finish such a long race and to have finished so strongly.

Following the race, we were greeted by another banquet, this time more casual and an awards ceremony. Even though we finished fourth, we were given medals by the Berliner Ruder Club as tokens of good competition, since we were their special international guests. We got to go on stage and our names were read aloud to the crowd.

For a list of boats, their rosters and their finishing times, please click here (My finishing time is on page 21).
For pictures from the race, please click here.
(There are more pictures, including a regatta map, in the post below)

Coming up this next weekend I have another head race, this time at home in Bydgoszcz. However, it also carries its own international acclaim as we have invited a boat from the Berliner Ruder Club, as well as from Cambridge, Oxford and Nottingham Universities from England.

Rund um Wannsee - Pictures

What am I doing here?

I have been training and competing as an athlete in the sport of rowing for the past four years, and having just graduated from UCLA in June, I needed a place to train. Although there are very competitive clubs in the United States, I took the opportunity of the fact that I was done with my studies and that I have familial ties to Poland. The Poles have a very strong presence in the rowing world (having just fielded one of the best M4x in recent history, winning four consecutive world championships as well as the Beijing Olympics) and I took it upon myself to come over here to train, see a bit of my parents' country and gain some perspective both on the differences between the U.S. and Polish in their rowing systems as well as the general lifestyle.

Growing up, I learned to speak Polish, eat Polish food and developed a sense of the Polish culture. However, my knowledge of the Polish language was not perfect, and I figured the best way to learn to speak the language properly would be to live in Poland. This also offered me a chance to better understand and embrace the culture of my parents.

So in a few words, that is why I am here. I have no job currently tying me to any one place and I figure I should travel and see a different part of the world while I have the chance. I also have a great opportunity to train here. I am rowing out of RTW Bydgostia, located here in Bydgoszcz, Poland. We row on the Brda river which offers us 11 kilometers of water in one direction. The club is one of the most competive in Poland, having produced a number of Olympians and most recently three members of the 2009 U23 World Championship Men's 8+. The picture at the top of this post shows the club from a bridge which crosses over the Brda river.

Here in this blog I will be writing about my experiences here in Poland and sharing them with anyone who wishes to read about them. Please feel free to comment or ask me any questions. If you would like to learn more about Bydgoszcz, please click here.

Hello from Poland

Well I have been in Poland for about a month now, and as you can see that this is my first post, I have been busy settling in. However, I hope to be updating this blog on a regular basis to keep you posted of my activities here, as well as posting photos.