By Jordan Delp

Jordan Delp is a men’s basketball player at Augustana. He is blogging about the team’s trip to China.

After 17 hours of flying, and four hours of sitting at the airport, we finally made our way into Hong Kong, which is the first stop on the wonderful tour that we are on as the Augustana basketball team. As we came into Hong Kong at about 1:00 a.m. we saw some sights that none of us could have ever imagined.

One of the first things we learned as we left the airport was that Hong Kong was home to the world’s largest combination (both rail and automobile transportation) bridge. Something small, but an interesting point that Dr. Norm Moline, an Augustana professor of geography who is acting as our de facto tour guide, was able to share with us. Hitting a little closer to home, we also learned that Hong Kong had the most 30-story plus buildings, with something above 500 in the city, than anywhere in the world. Compared to Chicago’s 90 (give or take), that’s quite a few.

We spent today in Hong Kong touring the city, practicing for our games, and having a great time. Not only were we able to see some of the main tourist attractions Hong Kong has to offer, we also got to witness the more subtle places in the city. These are the types of places that many people will never even know about. For instance, we ate lunch at a local restaurant that we would probably never come across regularly. While we all were a bit tentative at the beginning, the food was great, the service was better, and we all came away with a good taste in our mouths.

We had our first practice since getting into China today and it was great. We were able to use the facilities at Hong Kong Baptist University and it’s hard to imagine a more accommodating place. The gym was air-conditioned, we had Nike balls, and it was not that far off from a practice we could expect back in the states. All in all, the reception by the people here in Hong Kong has been phenomenal and our stay here has been the same.

We leave tomorrow for inland China, and will play our first game tomorrow night. It should be a great test for our team as we hope to see where we’re at and how far we’ve come since the end of last year. We all know that we have to compete and work hard. Hopefully we can push through any adversary that may come our way, and learn from the experiences from our upper classmen, especially seniors Dan Rukavina, Dain Swetalla, Oliver Rorer and myself.

Hope all is well in the QCA, and we’ll talk to you tomorrow.

By Jordan Delp

Jordan Delp is a men’s basketball player at Augustana. He is blogging about the team’s trip to China.

Greetings from Tokyo, Japan. Or should I say, “konichiwa.”

We just stepped off the first leg of our journey, a 13-hour, 6,200-mile flight from Chicago to Tokyo. It was definitely an experience, from the movies (lots of movies) to the food, and definitely the people we met. My junior teammate Alex Washington and I did our part early in the trip by switching seats with parents of two young children in our row so that the family could sit together. Little did we know that we would be switching with an employee at the American Embassy in Tokyo, whose mother just happened to graduate from Augustana College years ago. I guess it is a small world after all.

You know you’re pretty far away from home when you exit the plane and the stewardesses say “sayonara” as you pass them by. However, never on the flight did we feel neglected or unwanted, as the service was top notch and even the passengers were friendly. The trip could not have been more accommodating, with American movies like Spiderman 3, Next and Fracture, and meals that included chicken and chocolate pudding.

We took an interesting route out of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago by heading North on a route called the “great arc” that lead us into Canada, west through Alaska and then across the Pacific Ocean. There was much to see out of the airplane windows on the trip with great picture opportunities for all of us. Two of the more interesting sights on this first leg were the mountains as we passed through Alaska, and the “Ring of Fire” (a series of volcanic islands) over the Pacific Ocean.

The first stop as we got into the airport as a team was the Avion Cafe and Bar, a place where, surprisingly and thankfully, they took American dollars. We treated ourselves to our first tastes of East Asian culture and a good start to our trip. We all remain light-hearted and eager to experience all this trip has to offer, even as we get ready for another four hour flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

Take care in the QCA and sayonara!

By Jordan Delp

Jordan Delp is a men’s basketball player at Augustana. He is blogging about the team’s trip to China.

Three years ago at this time I was an incoming freshman listening to head coach Grey Giovanine tell me about the unbelievable opportunities I was going to have at Augustana. At the time my soon-to-be teammates with the Vikings were practicing and preparing to travel overseas to play in Ireland. Due to NCAA rules I was not allowed to participate in either the practices or the trip.

Looking back, I can definitely remember first wishing that I could be going on that trip with those guys and also wondering what that experience would be like. I also remember thinking how much I was looking forward to being able to go overseas as a senior with my own teammates and friends. Those would be guys I had already established a strong relationship with during my time at Augustana.

There’s no need to wonder anymore, as we prepare to travel to Hong Kong, China, and Tokyo, Japan for two weeks of basketball, unbelievable sight-seeing, new cultures, and much more. There will be 15 players and three coaches as we are set to take off on a ride that none of us will ever forget. It’s hard to imagine going with a better or closer group of guys than the one I get to travel with these next two weeks. We have already began to leave our mark on this trip, having practiced and stayed together for eight days leading up to this.

Our practices have been intense so far, comparable to those we will have as we prepare for our first regular season games at the start of the year. It’s a great start for our team, as we are set to face some of the toughest competition any of us have ever played against. As you know if you have been following the articles in the Moline Daily Dispatch about this trip, we will play three professional Chinese teams that will test our ability to stay together and play as a team.

There are definitely some changes in style of play that we will be forced to adapt to quickly, and it has been cool to kind of learn them on the run so far. Wider and more open lanes, a shorter shot clock, and live balls over the rim are a few of the bigger changes in play we will see on our trip. I think we are all looking forward to the quick tempo that we will see.

One of the more difficult aspects of this trip is the amount of time we’ll spend in the air flying from place to place. For someone like me, who recently flew for the first time since he was two years old, on a two hour flight from Florida to Moline, 16 hours of flying the first day makes me a little uneasy. But, it’s all part of the experience, and something we can get through the same way we’ll get through a lot more on this trip: together, as a team. Some of the trip will definitely have its ups and downs or bumps in the road, but how many people do you know that have had the chance to represent the USA on foreign soil in athletics?

We do, and we plan to take full advantage of that opportunity.

You will hear from me next when we get to Tokyo.