T Minus Four

It is to the detriment of my career that I have only four more work days until I'm on the plane to Vancouver... I've been at work for well over two hours now and have yet to do any actual "work". One of my guiltiest pleasures (and biggest distractions) this morning is MSN Messenger. Though I rarely turn this on at work (because I know how distracting it can be), this little instant messaging tool is just far too convenient when I feel like procrastinating. It's great... I'm connected to people all over the world, friends who I never see in person, yet who I love to chat endlessly with. Not that I'm selling the product to you--I'm sure that all of you have it and use it intensely to keep in touch with ME:).

Anyway, last night was my very first night of dragon boat practice, where I met for the very first time, many of my new boat friends. We voted on our new name and identity--I'm now a proud member of the JETAA Fighting Carps!! It's a proud distinction, and this team looks like it's going to be a fun fun bunch.

Ha and I led the group of 18 with several ice-breaking type games that we played right on the beach. The first was the "Toilet Paper Introduction Game" in which a roll of toilet paper is passed around and each person is instructed to "take as much as they need to use, when they go". I learned quite a bit about my friends' toileting habits... for instance, the average square-count was 7... the highest was 20 (tree-killer!) and the lowest was 2 (very, very 'ew'). Anyway, the number of squares that the TP-er took was equal to the number of facts that they had to reveal to the group during our round-the-circle self-introductions. But since this was the first time most of us met, we of course had lots of things to say about ourselves (for instance, our NAMES) so this was pretty easily done.

Then we started the Fighting Carps Team Games which were oh-so fun and creative, as Ha came up with all of them and I think she's simply pure genius when it comes to "team-building" type things. The first game was "Slingshots" and each team of four was given a bag of miscellaneous items-- three elastic bands, a toilet paper roll, and a file folder. With these materials, they had to build a sling shot that would knock over an empty water bottle placed about 2 metres away. Some of the teams came up with some very creative structures and all of them managed to get their bottles down!

Next, we played "Water Bottle Relay" in which the empty water bottles from the previous game were unlidded, and then buried in the sand. Each team, in Sports Day fashion, had to run, one-at-a-time to the Lake Ontario shoreline, scoop up water in their hands, run back with the water, and pour it into their water bottles. The first team to fill the 500 mL bottle until it overflowed was the winner. This was sheer messiness, as people tramped through the sand and mud, spilling water all over themselves just to get their 10 mL back to their bottle. It was slow work for some teams, but they persevered, building team work skills and yes, they eventually all filled their bottles!

The final game "Elimination Beach Flags", or in our case "Eimination Beach Bottles" (as we didn't have flags, but had water-filled bottles instead) was another relay-style game. This time, three water bottles were placed down the beach, and each of the four teams lined up again in relay-formation. One member of each team was chosen to be a "runner" and had to race up to beach to grab one of the water bottles. The one without the bottle was eliminated. We kept running these relays until only one person was left standing. There was some nasty tackles and dirty plays during this one... them water bottles being such a coveted prize. But it was all good in the end, though I think one guy had to run 15 times or so cuz everyone else on his team got eliminated early (he ended up winning though!)

Anyway, after all the games were all said and done (and all of the luscious chocolately prizes handed out), we went to the beachside patio for some well-deserved drinks and yummy pizza. Such a great fun night, after work, hanging out with my new carpy (carpy NOT crapy) friends!