Cougar volleyball rising junior McKenna Woodford is a member of the select U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team - Thailand Tour (CNT-Thailand). Below are her personal thoughts at the beginning of the May 19-30 trip.
Apparently it stormed all night. I didn't hear a thing and if you don't know me, well now you know that I can sleep through absolutely anything. The storm made our walk to practice quite the adventure, you don't realize the importance of sewer systems and drainage until you don't have it. Our socks and sandals were no match for the murky brown lakes of water that covered every inch of Bangkok pavement. This became the ultimate game of "don't touch the lava." We weaved our way across raised sidewalks, and elevated speed bumps became a temporary crosswalk before the wake of a car would engulf our man made pathway. When a car has a wake, you know there's a problem. We came within 50 yards of the gym and found ourselves stranded, surrounded by a thick 8 inch layer of rainwater and whatever wonderful things the rainwater had washed off of the streets of Bangkok. We were forced to turn back and tried to find another route but were left with no other option but to cancel practice.
Instead, we walked back to the coffee shop across the street and did group film sessions with the coaches since we still had a match to play in later that day. Our coaches have so much experience and such a cool perspective of the game of volleyball. Today, I learned that passing is not a perfect science and that being an outside hitter is more about managing the game than it is about scoring points. Then, I spent some much needed down time laying by the pool with my dad, who by the way made the trip all the way out here to watch me play.
Two o clock rolled around and it was time to eat lunch which happens to be in the same place that we practice. We figured the water would have cleared by then so we made our way over only to find ourselves stranded in the exact same spot, 50 yards away from our destination. This time, our staff was prepared. Like a can of sardines, all twelve members of the team piled into a van that picked us up curbside and drove us the extra 50 yards that we couldn't complete on foot. It was like Bangkok's version of a ferry boat ride because the tires of the van were almost completely consumed by water.
We ate, and then made our way over to the gym to prepare for our next match vs the Thai National Team. This time when we played them, we couldn't seem to find our groove. We struggled to control the ball at a higher level and couldn't get into a rhythm. The Thai team played lights out. They were all over the floor getting balls up with whatever body part they could get to touch the ball first. We took the very last set from them once we learned how to pass high and keep the ball in play rather than throw the ball away by making unnecessary errors. Paula Weishoff, a three-time Olympian and one of our incredible coaches on this trip, is so full of wisdom and mentioned that after every game there should be a reflection of what was done well, what was not done well and what we learned about ourselves. Seems like a simple concept, but it really is so, so important. Mindfulness is everything.
After the game and a bit of reflecting, we took a trip to the Bangkok night market and had an absolute blast. From our hotel, Erin flagged down a taxi for us, bartered with the driver, gave him the address, gave me the money, stuffed four of us in this tiny taxi car, and off we went. Everyone back home fights for the passenger seat, but in Thailand, everyone fights for a seat in the back. I was the brave soul that ended up in the front. A couple seconds into the ride, the taxi driver started talking to us in a language that was definitely not English. As the shotgun rider, I quickly realized that I had absolutely no phone service, no idea where we were going, no idea how long it would take us to get there, and had zero ability to communicate with the driver. All I had was a paper card with the address of our hotel written in Thai that I was instructed to hand to the driver if we somehow were to get lost. As unsettling as this may have been, we thought of it more as a thrilling adventure, eagerly waiting to see where the taxi driver would end up dropping us off.
Thailand traffic is 24/7 bumper to bumper, and I finally figured out why. Bangkok likes to keep things complicated. You can turn left, right, or straight. You can also turn around, turn hard right, turn slightly right, turn middle left, turn waaaaaaay left, turn straight up the ramp to the left, or turn in circles!!! I'm pretty sure there's even a "create your own" turn because most cars appear out of who-the-heck knows where. We were stopped at a red light for a good ten minutes while the other seven directions of traffic made their way through the intersection with not a single car accident to be had. It is the absolute definition of organized chaos that only the Thai have the intelligence to master because I just do not get it.
A half hour later, we found ourselves in front of a 5 story shopping mall and behind the mall was the outdoor night market. There were rows upon rows of little Thai vendors surrounded by a bunch of restaurants, bars and live music. I can take as many pictures as I want of Thailand, but I will never be able to capture the distinct smell that lingers in the Thailand air. It is quite the experience in itself.
The first four rows of the market were filled with food vendors serving anything from authentic Thai food to chicken fingers to fresh fruit and smoothies. The next 5 or 6 rows had all sorts of souvenirs, clothing, and makeup vendors with, of course, a mini nail salon around every corner. We found linen elephant pants, elephant printed backpacks and bags, elephant and Buddha statues, overalls, knock off Birkenstocks, electronics, Nike and Adidas apparel, and all sorts of miniskirts and off the shoulder shirts that were not made for people my size.
Speaking of people my size, walking around with this team is like being in the traveling zoo. We casually meeting in the lobby and gradually start to notice that we are surrounded by a circle of camera phones. The Asian people here have no problem whipping out their cellular devices, snuggling up next to you, and stuffing their cameras in your face. We've even had people take a selfie with us in the background and when we move, they move too. Like I said, traveling zoo. Every day, a couple of tour buses stop in front of our hotel and drop of hundreds of Asian tourists who fill the lobby past maximum capacity. And every day, when we see that tour bus stop, we take off running in any direction that is not the lobby, even if it means running up four flights of stairs back to our rooms. It takes a lot to make a tired volleyball player run up four flights of stairs, but a bus filled with crazy tourists who have cameras in hand will definitely do the trick.
We got out of Bangkok for a couple of days and traveled to Pattaya, but I'll tell y'all more about that in my next post!!!
I'm still in shock that I am actually here. I am so, so thankful and I'm running out of words to express just how thankful I really am.
As always Go Cougs and go USA!!!!!