Image courtesy of Dawn AndersonOur first day in Taiwan we had a 6:30AM wake up call, which would normally be brutally early, but since our time clocks were so messed up, everyone was wide awake. They had an amazing breakfast spread, including made to order omelets and some unrecognizable fruits. We then took a charter bus to the Kainan campus, a college established only 8 years ago, with impressively large buildings and nice facilities.
Image courtesy of Dawn AndersonWith the other teams in the tournament, we watched an interactive puppet show, highlighted by an impressive Titanic skit from Noel, Paul, Ben, Zuk, Will, and Kevin Bryne, all of whom stood at least a foot and a half above the puppet show curtain. Following the presentation, we had lunch and opening ceremonies. The president of the university wished all the teams well, which was followed by a largely male dominated cheerleading crew performance.
We played our first game in the afternoon against the Hsuan Chang, a team from Taiwan. Our size and strength were too much, and we were able to pick up a comfortable win. At night, after another gourmet meal (most of which we couldn't identify or eat) and numerous pictures with Kainan students and fans, we had basketball night. Kainan's clubs on campus performed a wide array of impressive talents. Also, each team had an opportunity to perform. We choose to go with a Taylor Swift/Miley Cyrus sing and dance combo (don't judge, we tried to pick songs they would recognize). To cap the night, the hotel had my lost luggage, which had been left in San Fransisco. We play at 11AM against a team from Japan tomorrow.
-Mitch Kates
