This morning started very early for my room mate Mel and I. We were up and about by 5:00 am. I guess fatigue can only get you so far through the night. The powers of the internal clock are strong ones and it is hard to set a new circadian rhythm. Our plan was initially to stay awake until 10:00 pm, but I am the only one who kind of managed this, seeing as Mel fell straight asleep while watching television. In fact, she was so deeply asleep that she could not even feel me hitting her in the leg trying to keep her awake. I had to give her a few real "pounders" before she regained consciousness ....then she just yelled and turned over to fall asleep again.

I think I should mention that Mel and I both have amazing night shirts. Mine, as you can see, is a genuine Tennessee Lady Vols shirt, while hers is slightly different. This is not so shocking when you remember that she goes to the University Tennessee's biggest NCAA soccer rival: Florida. Her shirt has a giant "Beat Tennessee " sign plastered over the front of it. So far I have allowed her to wear this, but am definitely biding my time before I steal it and donate it to the nearest charity.

We trained at 10:30 this morning, and I was happy with the earlier start, seeing that I had already been awake for so long. The trip out to the stadium was even dicier than usual. This is really saying something because every driving trip I have ever been on in China has been touch and go. I managed to get a photo of a car driving the wrong way down a busy one-way street this morning.

This trip was especially frightening as a truck had broken down in the right hand lane of a two way ramp onto a bridge. About five lanes of traffic were jammed into these two lanes and our bus only added to the utter confusion that was unfolding. Our driver squeezed between the truck and the edge of the bridge with some amazing skill. I am still unsure as to how he managed it - see the photographs. Some of these vehicles came really close, but the photos hardly do justice to exactly how close we were.

The girls at the back of the bus claim that we did hit someone, but I still think that our driver managed to pull us through with literally millimeters to spare. We gave him a round of applause afterwards. However, the driver just looked rather confused and amused; he probably experiences things like this all the time.

Training went well, and we once again had beautiful bluish skies. The newbies to China are starting to think that we have exaggerated our stories about the weather and problems on past trips here. This time the weather has been wonderful. Of course, not everything is what it seems. While I was lying on the field stretching after training, I noticed all of a sudden that the birds which I had seen circling above us, were, in fact, pieces of plastic garbage flying through the air.

The trip home from the training stadium was longer than usual as we hit some really heavy traffic. The only advantage was that we had a good opportunity to get a better view of the beautiful canal system they have here, We also had a chance to see some of the local population.

This is about it for the day. Once again, I am again going to try to stay awake till 10:00pm, but I am a little unsure about my chances. Already my my eyes are closing and it is only 9:00pm. On the other hand, I am getting some help in staying awake. The soldiers in the military base under our window seem to have decided to start practicing drill movements. At first, I thought their drumming was gun fire.