We had a great game against Denmark!!! 7-0!!! I have the most amazing defense because I only touched the ball 3 times, only 2 times I kicked the ball away from the box. So I was pretty much supporting my team by giving them tips and lookout and telling them to keep their heads up. After the game, we had the rest of the day off. For lunch, we ordered pizza, YAY!!! 

For the day, my family wanted to go visit the world's second tallest building, Taipei 101. I decided to tag along and invited one of our defenders since she didn't have plans. We had a great time. There is a huge shopping mall and food court just under the building. There were like hundred of stores that we never really heard of but they were interesting and expensive. We went up the building to the top floor which is number 91!!! That's pretty high. We used the elevator and it is the faster elevator in the world. 600 m/m in 37 seconds!!!! Pretty impressive! When we reached the top, I was really amazed by the views. I didn't realize that Taipei is very big city, probably bigger than New York City!!!

I probably took hundred of pictures of all angles because it was just beautiful. I could see the stadium, soccer practice and game field. It was just one of the most amazing experiences in my life.

Nothing else special happened after the long day I had. The boys got a game tomorrow against Great Britain so I got to get ready for some sleep so I can support them!!! 

This morning, we had an early practice. It was really hot, like the hottest we have ever felt from the sun so the coaches decided to make it an easy fun practice. We just mostly worked on our footwork and kicking the ball in series of small games between 2 groups with one coach in each. I thought everyone was very focused in practice today. The only thing I wasn't too happy about is that I didn't get the chance to practice on my goalkeeper dives or blocks. I guess either we ran out of time or the coaches felt that I didn't need it and that the warm-up before the game tomorrow should be enough. It doesn't matter to me because I know I will do my best in the game. 

After practice, we went to support our boys at their game against Japan. We were probably the loudest cheerleader ever in the stands even though the boys probably didn't hear us, haha. But it was fun cheering for them. It was a very intense game. In the first half, there was a foul inside the box and Japan get a penalty kick. It was so quiet waiting for the Japan player to get going and kick the ball into the goal past our goalkeeper. He kicked the ball to the left and it was blocked!!! It was so incredible to see our goalkeeper block that shot so quickly!! But there was another foul taken during the penalty kick. The ref said our goalie came forward off the line too early. It was a bad call but nothing we could do to change that. Japan get a redo. SAME THING HAPPENED!!! We all went so wild!!! After our goalie punted the ball to the other side of the field, he was pointing at the stand and pumping us up!!! WHOOO!!! That was so awesome to see in the game!!!

In the middle of the game, one of our players from the boys team has gotten injured. I didn't quite catch what happened but from what other people explained to me, he and a Japan player went for the ball in the air and the Japan ball just elbowed him right in his back. He fell down and couldn't get back up. It didn't look good. But we are all hoping he is not seriously injured and will get well soon. I'll get you updated about him if I hear any more.

The game was tied 0-0. The boys were a little down about that after the game, they really wanted to beat Japan badly. I knew that because before we got on the bus to get head to the game field, they were getting pumped and bumping chests. They had a totally different and better attitude from the last game. They played their hearts out today. 

Now we just had a meeting with the coaches and team about the game against Denmark tomorrow morning (September 6 at 9:30 PM in Eastern time). The coaches just simply told us to stay positive, play our hearts out and that they are very proud of us. That just made me all pumped up. I want to keep them proud the rest of the time in Taipei. 

I understand there were some problems with watching the game online. I found out that they just fixed it and there's another link. So you can either try 

deaflympics.tv

hichannel.hinet.net/2009deaflympics/live.html

usdeaflympics.org

You have three choices and hopefully one of them works!!! Let me know if there's any more problem, thanks. GOOOO USA!!!

So the result is USA killed Germany 4-0, got my shut-out!!! It was a great game. I'm so proud of my team and believe we got the best defense team. I wouldn't have gotten my shut-out if it wasn't for any of them. The offense did awesome job pushing up and passing the ball around and scoring. 

When we got off the bus and walked to our seating, there were series of people who works for the Deaflympics smiling and signing applause in ASL where you put your hands up in the air and shake your hands. It was a pretty cool thing and a great way to pump us up. We were all very pumped up and getting excited, even our assistant coach was so pumped up, she wanted to play on the field with us.

During warm-up, I was working with the assistant coach and I wasn't really doing very well. I was getting pretty nervous and stressed. But that was all gone after we huddled and chanted USA then ran out on the field to our position. I was sooo pumped and determined so were all other girls. I did better than anyone thought and got more aggressive. The team was so proud of me, even the coach since at halftime he gave me a hug. I'm pretty happy with myself and look forward to the next game against Denmark. It will be a even harder game than with Germany.

My parents and little brother came this morning before the game!!! It was so good seeing them again and it was a good luck charm for me before the game! I love them so much and missing my older brother!!! After the game, we decided to get lunch then went to the Deaflympics store which had all kinds of stuff with the logos on it, such as glasses, shirts, bags, key chains, and stuff animals! I couldn't figure out whether I should get something for friends or family but I'll will find something better in the next ten days I'm here before I go home to the States.

So I just had the longest night ever. It started at around 5:30 when the entire USA team went to the Deaflympics Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. We watched the show on the big screen television in a smaller stadium with all other countries. It was really exciting seeing all countries here waiting for the time to walk around and wave our flag proudly. The show was very beautiful. Best art I have ever seen in such a long time. Finally after 3 hours of waiting, it was time to walk and wave the country flag. Since it was alphabetically, we were second to the last. When we were finally up, we were late! Haha, that was so funny. The back line of the USA including the soccer team and me were running to get there on time!! We barely made it! When we reached the tunnel, there were bright lights everywhere and I couldn't believe it. I'm representing my country USA in Deaflympics for the soccer team and I'm truly honored for that. 

After a couple speeches, the torchbearers came out running and lit the big torch just like the regular Olympics! Once the torch was lit, there was firework show going on. I was getting emotional because it was just so awesome. I was hugging everybody, my teammates, new friends, and my coaches. This night really lit the fire inside me to make my country, family, friends, and everybody proud. I'm going to get that GOLD medal, I can taste it =). 

Ok it's really late now, I'm going to get some sleep for an early practice tomorrow and after practice we will be supporting our boys against Japan at 2:30 PM! Go USA!!!!

We had our practice early at 8:30 this morning in the rain and I love playing in the rain. It's just perfect for me. We had good practice, better than yesterday I felt. Then straight after practice, we went to support our boys. They had a game at 9:30 this morning vs. Ireland. We made it to 2nd half and saw the score 0-2. Our boys were losing, I was not happy about that. Watching the 2nd half was really intense because the game was really aggressive and sloppy. The field was flooded of puddles from the rain so it was really wet and sloppy. I knew that the field the girls will play on tomorrow will most likely be wet and sloppy. So I'm mentally preparing myself for a wet game. 

I'm soooo pumped up for our first game tomorrow morning against Germany!!! I cannot explain what I am feeling at this moment right now. But I'm going to calm down and hopefully a good night sleep. So I can dream about getting a shutout and winning the game. In the morning, I'm going to stay focused and visualize myself making the saves. I will also get to see my wonderful family at the game except for my older brother due to his job. But I know he will be thinking of me and following the blogs and news =). Okay, now the most important thing...The game starts at 9:30 AM on September 5 in Taiwan time meaning 9:30 PM on September 4 in Eastern time. I'm assuming the USA company have it working live so you can go to this site and watch it www.deaflympics.tv

If you have problem with it, please let me know and I'll do my best to get information on how to make it work. Thanks!!! 

I cannot wait! GOOO USA!!! We will get that GOLD!!!

Ever since we arrived Taipei, there have been so many confusion and misunderstanding about soccer practices schedule for girls and boys. We were supposed to have scheduled practice for both girls and boys but whoever was in charge only scheduled the boys, not girls. So we didn't have practice in the morning but we decided to workout in the small gym the hotel had. They had 8 cardio machines. So half of the team were on the cardio machines and other half were stretching, doing abs workouts, and legs workouts. I thought it was a pretty workout since everybody worked out hard. I know I did, I ran for about 3.5 miles in less than 30 minutes on the treadmill. I can't remember the last time I ran that far or fast! I was pretty impressed with myself.

After a quick lunch, the coaches figured since the boys have a whole field at a scheduled time, the boys will have one half of the field and the girls would take the other. I thought it worked out great. I had a goalkeeper session with the boys, pretty intense workout. The field was very beautiful, they had three soccer field for training for other countries and there was a river right beside the park and buildings from the city behind the river. On the other side, there's mountains or big hills, I can't tell which but it's amazing. 

At the end of practice, the girls and boys had a scrimmage against each other. Personally, the scrimmage was awful. Just crappy. I don't know what happened from the last time we practiced. Maybe it was because we didn't practice on a field in the last 2 days. Maybe we were getting lazy. Maybe we were losing our hearts and passions in this. The meeting we had just couple minutes ago answered the questions. 

We had a team meeting to dig deeper and find out what happened in the scrimmage today. There were several reasons.  Not everybody's hearts or passions were in it, got lazy or immature, and not good team bonding. But after the meeting, we all decided to get focus on soccer 100% and become more mature and get along with everyone within 36 hours, before our first game against Germany. 

I truly believe in this team, we just need to work on our team bonding and focus. If I didn't believe in this team or wanted to win the GOLD, I wouldn't be here in the first place. I'm ready, I was born ready for this.

Nothing special really happened today, just 100% soccer. After dinner

We made it to Taipei, Taiwan!!! The city is really, really different from Chiayi City. There's more building and a lot more traffic and people. On the way here on the bus, I saw the big gold Buddha again and took better pictures of it. And another cool thing I saw is (supposedly) the tallest building in the world. It was so tall but far from distant, it didn't seem all that tall or big until we eventually got closer into the city. I took several pictures of it, when I find the time I will post one of the best pictures I got. 

We checked in the 2nd hotel, Miramar Garden Taipei. One of the very best hotel in Taipei and Taiwan. Very nice hotel. Got slightly softer beds than the last one. Heard they have American food!!!

An hour or two after we checked in, we all had to go over to the city hall to get our badge. The badge is for identification, a pass, ticket, and such. Took a very looong time to get it, there were a lots of other athletics from around the world getting their badge. I met one of the Russia girls soccer player. It was pretty hard communicating with her because her sign language is in Russia. But we somehow managed to communicate. I thought it was pretty cool. There was bunch of big signs everywhere in the city hall saying "Welcome to Taipei," 'Deaflympics," or "Power in Me." I thought it was pretty interesting getting that amazing experience of beginning of the before the start of the Deaflympics.

We didn't get to eat lunch today, just a snack so we were very starved when we finally got back to the hotel from the city hall. We finally got to taste American food again!!! I miss chicken popcorn, potatoes fries, and spaghetti!! They had some beef, salad bar, and a desert bar! But of course we will stay away from the desert bar to focus on the GOLD, not sugar =).

After dinner, I decided to go to the gym and run for couple minutes since we haven't had practice yesterday and today. I wanted to work out so I wouldn't get rusty for the next practice or game. It's 100% soccer for me here, we probably won't get a chance to sightsee or visit someplace special while we are here. My idea of sightseeing is whenever I'm outside or on the bus headed to somewhere. I'll always have a camera on me if there's something worth a photo =). 

It's getting late here and you are probably eating lunch. Till the next blog!

We had a day off yesterday! The coaches decided to give us a day off because more girls were starting to get hurt like bad bruises, small sprain in their ankles, or getting sick. But this would be the only our day off for the next 2 weeks. It was a good day. We had 2 meetings all day about team shape and how to communicate as a team. Then we went to catch the boys basketball scrimmage with a local team, USA won 125 to 20, something like that. After that, the boys soccer team had a scrimmage with a local team as well. The coach told us to pay attention to team shape and learn from the scrimmage. Our boys won easily. I think we all learned a lot from watching the scrimmage. I know I did =). 

It was also our last day here before we drive off to Tapei the city!!! Only the boys and girls soccer team are going into the city and everyone else stay here to train. The boys' first game is on Sept 4, (Sept 3 in USA) so the coach feel that we need to get back to the city and practice on the game field to get used to it. 

Food in Taiwan, I'm beginning to see very many stray dogs here. My theory is that they somehow managed to escape from the dog factory where they eat dogs. I heard people eat dogs or cats here. I haven't seen one cat here yet...weird. Oh well. Now I have to finish packing before we all have our last breakfast in this nice hotel!