Dragon Boat Racing

Hi guys!

I've recovered from my slightly melodramatic emotional roller coaster and London flu. I took the day off work Monday just to sleep any lingering virus off. Come Tuesday morning I put my suit on, got ready for my day, and made it to work only to discover that I was going dragon boat racing for a client's charity today!

First off, I was not prepared at all, like thank god I had worn my trainers and then carried my heels. My company provided me with a team t-shirt, so that was nice. But otherwise I simply accepted that I'm dragon boat racing in slacks today (the only thing I seemed to be prepared about was that I had worn my cheapo $30 pair of trousers from Amazon because my expensive slacks were still air drying – someone needs to tell Europeans about the magic of dryers).

Of course with my luck, it was absolutely pouring down rain. Trust me, I can all hear you collectively groan about me literally just being ill for four days, but a partner invited me and how in the world was I supposed to say no to dragon boat racing! Talk about an adventure. It's kinda like rowing but there's 11 people, including the drummer who keeps us rowing in time. It was a race against different firms and companies that the client employed. I would like to point out that our firm was one of the few, aka probably the only one that was completely female dominated so I'm not sure if it really was a fair race since everyone else were hulk sized male only teams. I have a sneaking suspicion they were the engineers and builders and not the client's other lawyers.

We raced three heats, came  in last for every one but had a personal record of getting across the lake in 39.35 seconds! And we weren't the last team, that was the team in 24th place, we were simply in 21st place hehehe. Something about getting absolutely drenched together and shivering in the rain but continuing to run inside to buy tea to warm our hands or chatting about things that did not really involve work made the perfect bonding experience. I talked about horses, and running, and tv shows. Not to mention the time we spent analysing our rowing techniques and placement to gain optimal time.

As you can see I'm absolute soaked through, but so happy with my little participation medal. This day reminds me of All Schools Day, which was a secret day on the calendar of the school year where our school would set up a carnival and the student's would not know until we were about five minutes into our first class and the announcement would be blasted across the speakers. Then we would run out to the field to the bouncy houses or the cotton candy carts or whatever area was set up. Never did I imagine that would happen as an adult! But boy was it fun. I have a feeling this week is going to be pretty hard to top, especially with a start like this.

I'm off to an early bed, don't worry I've dried my hair and sat in a steaming shower for hours just to warm myself up and make the chills go away after being rained on all day. I'm am practically willing myself not to relapse into that flu (because that's totally how being sick works hehe). Update you later!

Love you,

Carolyn