There’s only seven days left until the lighting of the Olympic torch at 8:08pm, on August 8, 2008.  Everyone is getting closer and closer to their prospective swims and our practices have been getting more and more specialized.  As a result, my training group has gone from four (Kim Vandenberg, Christine Magnuson, Emily Silver and me) to just me.  My friends during practice are now Green Day, Britney Spears, The Killers and whoever else turns up on my H20audio’s shuffle while I practice. Fortunately Teri has been letting me swim with my iPod during my lonely practices. 

Last night we had rookie skits, which is both a right of passage for every Olympic swimmer and one the highlights of the trip.  There are 25 “rookies” (those who have not yet participated in an Olympic Games) that created a solid half hour of entertainment for the entire team. Most of the time the skits involve making fun of present and past Olympians and staff with the many inside jokes that occur during the long period of training camp.  There were five groups in total, and all five were unique and amusing.  Without giving much away, the 80’s dance aerobics skit, complete with 80’s hair, makeup and unitards, was different and hilarious.  I was poised with my camera the entire time but was laughing so hard that it was nearly impossible to keep my camera still for a decent picture.

It’s about lunchtime right now, which along with breakfast and dinner has been the best part of the day.  In keeping with my goal of trying all of this country’s delicacies, May brought me a celebratory moon cake to share with my teammates at lunch.  It’s a Chinese pastry that’s filled with lotus paste and egg yolk.  I’m sure the dessert itself is tasty, but the packaging is beautiful!  I’ll let you all know how the dessert goes over with the team…