drachonboot regatta.

on saturday, the 3rd annual heidelberger drachonbootcup took place. it is a regatta for dragon boats. interesting. i saw one in june when i was in duesseldorf, so i was excited to give it a try. i think it is more of a social sport than anything. i can't remember if i explained it last time, or if you read it, so....it is a big boat, a bit like paddling in a giant canoe. up to 20 people fit in the boat (they allowed you to have either 16 or 18 on saturday), there is one more up front to keep a beat on a drum, and one standing at the back to steer the boat. people wear strange costumes and the races are only 300 meters long. our boat raced three times, but we had too many people, so i was only in the first race. i thought i was going to be in the third, but some guy asked at the last minute if i would mind trading with him. it was the final, and i decided that i would feel bad if we lost by just a little bit, and i didn't trade with a guy who was certainly stronger than me. nils said this was such a girl approach. possibly, but i'll just tell myself it is a team player approach. the team i was on, was made up of about 18 big german guys and only 4 girls that turned into two by the end of the day. it was fun to be in a different group from normal. there were a few people that i knew from rowing, but i don't really know where the rest of them have been hiding the entire year. one team was called the hot dogs and had masks that looked like a dog, another was dressed like bees and the drummer like a flower, another was wearing plastic armor with a helmet like they were from troy. we had white tshirts that had our sponsor's name on them. after the races finished, everyone gathered at a big tent, people were singing, having a beer, and i think receiving awards. we took a team photo at one point in the day...i'll see if i can get my hands on that. oh yeah, and our team took 2nd. not bad considering there was no practicing involved. after the regatta, i met ricardo and natsuki. ana is gone. ahmet is gone. tzu-ning just came back on sunday from taiwan. it is summer holiday, and everyone is scattered about. we had dinner and then went downtown in heidelberg. i saw a few of the guys from my team that day. considering i was close to mute on saturday (what do i really say when there are multiple people all talking at the same time who all know each other and are talking about things that happened prior to saturday or talking about drachonboot technique?), i wasn't sure if they would know who i was or not. i settled for smiling and waving. i decided it best to avoid any attempt at conversation. i think it was a good plan, and they knew who i was. on sunday evening, i went with sabine and nils to Schloss in Flamen in Schwetzingen. that means castle in flames. it was an outdoor Mozart concert with fireworks at the end. there were quite a lot of people. the newspaper today said 11000. that was my first classical concert, and first opera, and it was really nice. i was totally underdressed compared to the grannies sitting around me, but no one seemed to care. my favorite part was definitely the fireworks accompanied by the music. nils also picked fabulous seats. 5 rows back, and directly in the middle. the rain even waited until the last 5 minutes to begin. perfect timing. yesterday, the boys and i went swimming. they are so funny these days. they are telling so many stories and making these great facial expressions and using their hands. time is quickly winding down. 8 days really. tomorrow i think i am going paragliding. i'm really excited. we are playing with friends this week, and i need to get to some packing things up so i can figure out what must be shipped. i'll let you know how the paragliding goes.