Last week I came back from a 10 day trip to Shanghai and Seoul after fencing in respective World Cup and Grand Prix competitions. It was a positive trip in many ways, and I was really happy with our team performance. As a team, we’re not often in the same place at one time, and we learned a lot from being together and fencing over a longer period of time than we usually get in Europe. It allowed us the chance to develop and grow stronger as a team.
I really enjoyed being in Asia. We arrived in China as it was welcoming the world to the Shanghai Expo. Beautiful lights adorned the main streets and needless to say, the view from my hotel room on the 13th floor was quite special! The Expo began the day we arrived and will run on over the next six months. I must admit, I enjoyed Shanghai a great deal more this time around. When I first visited with the team in 2007, I found the place abrasive and difficult to make sense of. This year, however, with the preparations for the Expo in full swing and a collective effort to make tourists and foreigners feel welcome, I sensed a definite change. Everybody was warm and hospitable and restaurants and shops were much more accessible. We had some wonderful meals in China and I particularly enjoyed the Korean BBQ’s in Seoul... although here’s hoping we weren’t eating dog meat!
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