Meeting People from All Over the World

Today I worked the time station with my dad for the Race Across America (RAAM). I didn't know what to expect or what I'd be doing, really. What it turned out to be was a bit of standing/sitting around, talking to the other people there while waiting for crews and riders to arrive. Then when we got to do our 'job', our 'job' consisted of basically being a CSR: get them water, Gatorade, soda, snacks, direct them where they need to go, etc. It was fun, and I'm sure I'll try to do it again next year because the people you encounter are what make it interesting. I've always admired and been fascinated with people who just up and take a cross country tour, or backpack across Europe, always thought it would be so cool to see the normality and beauty of a place like that. Recently, we had a monk walk through town on his Peace Walk. He started on the west coast, I believe, and is making his way across the country. Just walking, all day, hoping to show the world that it's really not that bad. I think that's awesome and I applaud the beautiful people who have the ability and guts to do these kinds of things.

Today I talked to and met people from Germany, Italy, Croatia, Australia, and Great Britain. How cool is that? And we weren't that busy, most of the people doing RAAM will be coming through on Wednesday and Thursday. Surprisingly, the people from Britain were the hardest to understand. I think it's because they talk so quickly, and even though it's English, it's heavy with an accent, and therefore hard to catch everything they say. The other Europeans spoke slower, trying to form their thoughts in English so they could communicate what they needed to. Basically, I found myself saying "ya" (or "ja") a lot.

So a quick rundown of how this works so my further stories will make sense: There is the cyclist, riding the race, and his crew. All of these people are in need of food, water, a shower, a break, sleep, or just to stand up for a while. Most of what we dealt with today were crew members.

There were two Germans there for a long time, and they were part of a guy's own media crew. One of them was walking around with his camera for a while, snapping photos here and there, and I asked him if he wanted to take my photo. He did, and I was able to use a tiny bit of my German from high school (even if it was only "Ich bin Jamie") but still, it made him chuckle and smile. He said "You speak Deutsch?" I said "A little, two years of classes in high school."

The Croatia team made me laugh the most; the crew pulled in, we greeted them, asking what they need. He said "No... no water, we haf food... we need... uh... ice cream!" Paradise is just within walking distance, so we pointed it out. "No, no... rider he is... very... delicate tastes... we need... this." And at "this" he pulled out a wrapper from a Blue Bunny Double Chocolate ice cream bar. Ha! So we pointed him to Schnucks, the grocery store, where he would surely find those.

Even though only two actual riders stopped by while I was there, it was neat. The first rider was from Great Britain, and he had a green mohawk. He had multiple tattoos full of maps and writing of his various races he's done before. This is him in the photo from the Facebook page. 

The other guy was Croatian and he seemed so happy to be there. Most time stations are a whole bunch of nothing, a gas station on the side of the road maybe. So coming by the one we have here, full of people, food, drinks, and a pool, is a welcome relief. Go world!

Duck on the dashboard of the crew van.
Love it.