John Baylor's Journal: Day 1

Nebraska Volleyball`s first foreign trip since China 2000 began Wednesday at 5:30 a.m.  That was a quiet bus ride to Eppley Airport.  Talking and sleeping rarely coexist.  We took off for Osaka, Japan, from OHare in Chicago at 12:30 p.m. central time Wednesday afternoon, arriving at 4:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon -- 28 hours later.  Time flew.  Actually the flight was a nifty 14 hours, while time zones cost us another 14 hours.  Now in rural Shiga, Japan we`re 14 hours ahead of US central time.

Eighteen days of competition and culture began this Friday morning here at the Biwako Seikei Sports Kollege.  The Big Red is now practicing for this afternoon`s match against BSSK, coached by former US National Team Coach Toshi Yoshida.  He says his team won`t be able to compete against the taller Huskers.  Coach Cook takes nothing for granted.

Tonight marks a welcome dinner followed by Karaoke. Cook is thinking about singing Simon and Garfunkel`s Feeling Groovy song: El Candor Pasa.

Tomorrow we`ll hike outside of Kyoto as well as see some of Kyoto`s countless Temples.  Sunday we face a pro-team sponsored by Japanese Tobacco.  Since fans and even coaches often light up at matches in China, there should be plenty of smoke wafting in that gym.

Shiga is rural.  Our condos sit on the banks of Lake Biwa, Japan`s largest lake.  The coaches and I ran this morning along a bike path adjacent to the lake: beautiful.

Japan`s cities vastly differ from the sparcely populated Shiga.  Japan`s population is nearly half the US population, yet has a land mass about the size of California.  Plus this country is 75% mountains.  Space is at a premium here.

This is Coach Cook`s 9th trip to Japan: first since 1997. Before yesterday, he had not experienced rural Japan before.  We`re in Shiga specifically because of Coach Yoshida, a terrific host and friend of Coach Cook.

Rachel Holloway talked on the two-hour bus ride from Osaka yesterday about her last trip to Asia: she and new NU teammate Kori Cooper were roommates on the US Youth National Team`s trip to Macau, China, last summer.  That`s when her knees first started hurting, an injury she put behind her last fall.  She talked about her freshman year homesickness.  Rachel talks to her parents and four siblings daily.  She is healthy now and thrilled to finally again experience live action. She and Maggie Griffin are dueling for time at setter.

The team seems very close, a feeling that should be strengthened by the challenges and discoveries of these next 17 days.