The Adventure has begun . . .

My first week of coaching is going wonderfully!
Below is a picture of myself and my assistant coach Ton . . .







The Thailand National Skateboard Team is(from left to right): Nut, Ed, Stan, Nui and Ji (pronounced JEE).
I was a little nervous about how we would get along for about three and a half minutes.
As it seems anywhere I've traveled so far, when it comes to skateboarders we're all just relatives who haven't yet met. The guys are warriors! They are great students, great skaters pupils and new family.
It is truly a gift I am relishing!
I met them on Saturday for our first training session - we ran three miles in the morning, skated in the afternoon (i mostly watched and took notes and gave some small instruction) and went out and partied Saturday night (at this crazy club with a live stage show for about three hours with Thai men and women covering Avril Lavigne songs and other Thai and International pop hits). At my riders request, we trained Sunday (our day off) for about three hours . . . JUST FOR FUN!! Way cool!
Thailand is rich with culture, the people are open and warm hearted and food is about 80 cents a meal.
If you are the on the Thai National Team (or their coach), people see your emblems (we were outfitted with training gear, "Thailand" across the shoulders and National and Olympic symbols on front), then you get a little extra excitement in your "Sa-Wat-Dee" (hello) whenever meeting someone. It is an honor to be here and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds!