Skrevet den 19.feb.

Den 7.feb. gik langsomt forbi. Fik vasket toej og chillet til tv. Tidlig i seng. Ventede bare til jeg skulle op og endelig vende snuden mod vegas. Fandt forresten min fon igen, saa alt var OK.

Jeg stod tidlig op den 8.feb. saa jeg kom med shuttlen til lufthavnen. Havde laenge set frem til Vegas, saa jeg var klar. Flyveturen gik fint. Tog dog paen lang tid, men fik da set en masse film paa flyet, da jeg ikk ku sove.Ankom i Vegas omkring kl. 12.15 - fik min baggage en time senere. Tog en shuttle til Tropicana. Glaedede mig virkelig til at se Casper, Soeren og Mark. Drengene var dog ikk paa vaerelset, og Mark var heller ikk til at finde. Gik rundt i halvanden time inden jeg endelig fandt Mark. Godt at se ham igen! Da jeg ikk havde andet at lave, bad jeg ham saette mig i arbejde. Saa printede credentials hele dagen med et super team; Jim, Amanda, Rex samt nogle andre. Vi havde det mega skaegt. Jeg blev ogsaa inviteret til deres personale aftensmad og moede, saa det var fint. Kom op paa vaerelset kl.1 om natten, hvor jeg fandt drengene i hver deres seng. Casper vaagnede, saa fik snakket med ham. Soeren vaagnede halvt ved vi snakkede. Vi snakkede til omkring kl.2 og saa lagde vi os endelig til. Stod op omkring kl.6.30. Lettere traet men klar til kamp. Vi sad alle tre i registrering - international pending, hele tirsdagen. Fra kl.8.30 til 20. Det gik udemaerket og fik da ogsaa hilst paa de 5 danske landsholdsatleter og traeneren, Bjarne Johansen. kl.20.30 gik vi til et info moede om computere med Lajust, da vi hoejest sandsynligt skulle vaere CO's resten af tiden (computer operators). Om aftenen ville vi bare chille til et par oel, men vi endte med at gaa paa MGM hotellet til baren, Coyote Ugly. Big mistake. Endte med en lige vaad nok aften, og dermed en rimelig elendig erindring om aftenens gang dagen efter. Husker bare jeg forlod drengene og blev fulgt hjem af en security dame, som nok nemt ku se, jeg var lidt mere vissen end godt var. Drengene kom hjem lidt efter mig - omkring kl.4. Casper vaagnede kl.9 og vaekkede Soeren og jeg. Ikke godt! Vi skulle have moedt Mark omkring 8-tiden. Jeg var SAA skamfuld hele dagen. Proevede bare at undgaa Mark. Og toemmermaendene hjalp heller ikk paa samvittigheden. Mark var bestemt heller ikk stolt af os, og stakkels Austin, der var in charge for os frivillige havde ogsaa nok at se til, da der ikk var mange frivillige om onsdagen. Vi blev straks sat ved hver vores computer, og saa stod den paa computer operator hele dagen med poomsae. Paen kedeligt, men saa er det da proevet.
Om torsdagen, den 11. begyndte kampene saa. Straks mere interessant. Igen var jeg CO. Vi startede med juniors og ultra (boern og de 'gamle'). Stille og roligt. Havde lidt problemer med vestene og systemet (Lajust), men det blev hurtigt klaret af de super flinke og hoeflige Lajust folk. Isaer Stephen og Kate skal her naevnes, da de var super. Efter en lidt daarlig start, koerte systemet fejlfrit resten af dagen. Jeg sad med et super dommerteam, som jeg var meget glad for. De var fine. De var: Linda Kwan, Linda K, Francesco, Ferginando, Mario og Richard. Vi skulle foelges de naeste par dage. Vi var ved ring 3. Vi blev allerede faerdige omkring kl.18, hvilket sammenlignet med de super lange arbejdstimer til VM i Koebenhavn var en kort dag. Om aftenen ville drengene og jeg have set Ka med Cirque de Soleil, men vi ku ikke finde nogle rimelig priser paa billetter, saa gik i casinoet i stedet og proevede vores held paa rouletten. Man faar jo gratis drikkevarer, naar man gambler. Blir alligevel en dyr omgang. Jeg endte med at give $25 for en oel, saa at sige.
Den 12. var jeg igen ved ring 3, hvor jeg havde samme fine dommerteam. Jeg oplaerte to knaegte til CO's. Den ene var fin, men den anden jeg fik, var en doer. Han fik hurtigt andet at lave. Soeren stod for ansvarlig for alle os CO's, og saa er det jo fint at vaere paa samme vaerelse med manden, saa man maaske kan faa et ord indfoert om, hvem der er OK, og til hvad og hvor man kan bruges. Saa Soeren fik hurtigt den lade gut fjernet. Fint. Om aftenen var vi tre danskere inviteret til suite 3331 til en lille fest, muligvis promotion fest, men der var gratis sprut, saa vi kom self. Og selve promotionen (tae kwon do paa et krydstogt) hoerte vi ikk meget om. Saa det var ganske hyggeligt. Kom med to amerikanere, Kendra og David, som var nogle Soeren kendte, og som ogsaa var kommet til Vegas for at hjaelpe. Efter den rolige fest, gik vi 5 paa Bellagio, paa The Bank. Der dansede vi til omkring 3 om morgenen. Ganske fedt sted. Dog $10 for en Heineken, saa ogsaa ganske billig aften, da vi noejedes med at danse.
Lidt traet efter at have leget dansemus hele natten, men ellers klar til endnu en dag som CO. Moedte ved ring 3, men mit dommerteam var i ring 11! Saa blev himmel og helvede ellers sat i bevaegelse, da jeg var savnet i ring 11. Stakkels Soeren skulle arrangere hele bytteriet og have styr paa det hele. Tror til sidst bare han taenkte, det ville spare ham for en masse, hvis han byttede rundt paa ring 3 og 11 hvad angik CO's. Han gjorde det godt, og jeg var glad for at komme tilbage til mit team, og de var glade for at se mig igen. Selv da vi naaede til semifinaler og finaler fik jeg lov at blive som CO, hvilket jeg sys var lidt cool, da jeg ellers ikk havde troet, at man som nybegynder ku faa lov at sidde der. Havde da ogsaa et par Lajust oejne eller seks i nakken, men fik kun ros. Det gik super fint, og jeg sad paa 1.parket til finalen mellem Aaron Cook og Mitchaud, en canadier. Mega fed, intens kamp! Om aftenen tog Casper og jeg ind og saa David Copperfield. Vi gav $100 for hver billet og fik saa total front seats. Jeg blev endda hevet op paa scenen til et trick, der involverede en doedelig afrikansk skorpion og nogle kort (troede jeg skulle doe!). Jeg skulle holde det lille glas, hvori skorpionen var, og min fokus var hele tiden paa det skide dyr. Var lidt nervoes der. Men alt gik fint, og gav et kindkys til Copperfield bagefter. Jojo.
Den 14. var saa sidste dag som CO. Tiden havde gaaet super hurtigt! Startede ved ring 11, men igen var mit dommerteam blevet flyttet. Denne gang til ring 7. Igen var der en lille krise - dog ikk saa slem som dagen forinden. Men omkring middag kom jeg saa tilbage til mit team. Fik endda et lille 'cheer' fordi de var saa glade for at se mig, og jeg fik overtaget frem for hende der sad der, Det goer nu meget, hvem man arbejder sammen med. Efter vi var faerdige med de indledende runder, blev jeg flyttet til ring 9, hvor jeg igen skulle vaere CO til semifinaler og finaler. Casper havde ligesom jeg vaeret CO til semifinaler og finaler de sidste par dage. Tror generelt vi danskere efterlod et godt indtryk (med undtagelse fra onsdag morgen). Jeg valgte selv at arbejde hele dagen igennem alle dage med undtagelse af frokost og div. toiletpauser dommerteamet ogsaa fik. Jeg ville ikk have pauser, da jeg mente jeg ville kede mig, hvis jeg bare skulle gaa rundt i en time. Men set tilbage, ville jeg egentlig gerne have haft bare en time til li at gaa standene igennem og evt. have koebt lidt toej/ sourvenirs. Men det er bare aergerligt. Efter medaljeoverraekkelserne hjalp vi med nedbrydningen af hallen - maatter osv. f***, de blir statiske og giver stoed lige pludselig! Av. Derefter fik vi aftensmad - har forresten faaet buffet hele ugen; morgen, middag og aften. Om aftenen gik vi ud med Austin, Jim og Amanda. De to sidste faldt dog hurtigt fra. Austin havde aldrig set Vegas (havde vi heller ikk), men derfor gik vi naesten hele Strippen op og ned. Oemme futter. Endte paa McD, hvor vi tre danskere delte en 50 McNugget's menu, og saa endelig i seng omkring kl.5. Saa en times soevn, inden vi stod op. Soeren havde lejet en bil, og saa koerte vi ellers mod Grand Canyon. Tog os ca. 4timer at komme dertil, og saa skulle vi med bus rundt til de forskellige steder. Men hold op et sted! Det er virkelig noget for sig. Kaempe stort og majestaetisk! Ubegribeligt. Mit kamera er noget lort, men heldigvis har Soeren et OK kamera og Casper har et paparazzi kamera, som jeg kalder de dyre Canon's. Saa der skulle gerne vaere nogle gode billeder der. Vi smuttede omkring kl.17, da vi skulle moedes med Mark om aftenen til et par bajere eller ti ved en 22tiden. Vi ringede til ham og bankede paa doeren, men vi ku bare ikk faa fat paa manden. Lidt skod, syntes vi nok. Til sidst, i ren protest, satte vi os uden for hans suite, 2167, med en spand is og 20 bajere, og saa ventede vi. Sad en lille time, inden manden kom ned af gangen omkring kl.1. Han havde vaeret til moeder, m.m. men ku nemt se det sjove i, vi sad der. Vi kom indenfor og hyggede og snakkede til omkring kl.4. Aftalte saa at moedes kl.11 til sen morgenmad. Vi ventede og ventede i lobbyen, men igen, ingen Mark. Saa tog vi op til hans suite. Viste sig saa, ahn var ophaengt af en afrikansk dommer, der havde f***et noget op i hans flytur. Saa vi fik ingen morgenmad med Mark, men fik da lov at koere ham i lufthavnen, og dermed ogsaa lov til at have den bil, han havde lejet, resten af dagen, hvis bare vi ville aflevere den. Det var jo super nok. Soeren havde koebt en "Aegte Viking" troeje til Mark, som var super fed, og han rejste da ogsaa hjem i den. Selv har vi over dagene faaet ca. 5 t-shirts hver for at arbejde, saa det har da vaeret nice. Efter vi havde smidt Mark af i lufthavnen tog vi paa shopping i et outlet center. Igen havde jeg toemmermaend, saa jeg chillede bare lidt. Mente heller ikk, jeg manglede det vilde, saa blev ikk til andet end et par sko og en ansigtscreme. Saa sys jeg beherskede mig. Casper fik shoppet en del. Soeren knap saa meget. Saa ellers tilbage til hotellet omkring kl.18, saa drengene ku faa pakket kufferter, da de skulle vaere i lufthavnen kl.19.20. Endte med at faa rimelig travlt, saa jeg maatte smide dem af i lufthavnen og saa finde Alamo, biludlejningsstedet. Med mine navigationsevner, tog det self. ekstra 15min., men fandt det og fik afleveret bilen. Saa tilbage til hotellet, helt selv. Var godt traet, men ville gerne paa Glacier Bar. Et sted fyldt med is, og man blir dresset op, da det er saa koldt. Men naaede aldrig saa langt. Da jeg sad og spiste, kom en gut hen og gav mig en gratis billet, da han ikk skulle bruge den. Det var saa til et hypnose show 30min. senere paa Tropicana. Saa jeg tog ind og saa "Hypnosis unleashed", hvilket var ganske underholdende! Man kunne melde sig til at blive hypnotiseret on stage, saa det gjorde jeg. Har aldrig helt troet paa det, saa gav det en chance. De formaaede ikk at hypnotisere mig, men dem omkring mig blev hypnotiseret. Man ku maerke deres tunge aandedraet, naar de sov. Det var vildt underligt men sjov paa samme maade. Og jeg fik lov at vaere paa scenen et stykke tid, da min puls aabenbart var for hoej, til at de ville lade mig gaa tilbage til publikums saederne. Men fint show og saa var det jo gratis. Gik dog i seng bagefter, da jeg var smadret. Der er saa mange ting, jeg ikk har set eller proevet i Vegas, saa maa jo komme tilbage en anden gang :) Om onsdagen skulle jeg ikk vaere i lufthavnen foer kl.17, saa gik lidt rundt paa the Strip og shoppede sourvenirs. Ganske OK, men savnede da drengenes selskab. Gik bl.a. i shopping center ved Ceasars Palace - hold kaeft mand, det sted er KAEMPE! Helt vildt. Men igen, koebte ikk noget, udover frokost. Smuttede i lufthavnen om aftenen og kom fint med flyveren. Sov det meste af vejen, saa det var super. Saa ingen problemer. Bekymrer mig naesten, da det ikk er normalt for mig at have en problemfri rejse. Men er da fint at proeve.
Grundet tidsforskellen forlod jeg Vegas den 17.feb. men kom foerst til Australien den 19. Saa den 18. har ikke rigtig eksisteret for mig i aar. Tog en shuttle til Maskot, frem for at gaa som jeg gjorde sidste gang. Fik dog et mindre chok, da jeg fik Lily tilbage lugtende og lignede der var mug i saeder og interioer. Var jeg godt gal over. Ved Maskot mente de, der havde vaeret noiget fugt, som ikk var deres skyld. Ved godt jeg havde et vaadt haandklaede i bilen, men det kan fandme ikk have svinet hele bilen til. Tog til naermeste tankstation og rengjorde bilen indeni. Haaber det forsvinder nu. Daler jo ogsaa paen i vaerdi, hvis der er mug over det hele. Alle hostels er naesten booket for hele weekenden, men formaaede li at faa en seng ved YHA lidt uden for Sydney. Passer mig fint, da jeg kan holde paa en sidevej og ikk betale p-afgift. Haaber ikk p-vagten kommer til den vej. Skal moedes med Alicia fra Fiji i aften. Glaeder jeg mig til! Hun blir dog i Sydney nogle dage, hvis ikk en uge, da hun har en veninde, der kommer hertil. Saa jeg tror jeg tager paa opdagelse selv, og saa moedes jeg nok med dem i Byron Bay senere.
Vi ses.

ENGLISH

Written Feb. 19th

Feb. 7th went by pretty slow. Got some laundry done and chilled with some movies. Went to bed early. COuldn't wait to get up and go to Vegas. Oh, I found my phone again, so everything was alright.
Got up early on the 8th and took a shuttle to the airport. Had been looking forward to go to Vegas for so long, so I was ready. The flight went just fine. Took quite a while, but I got to see a lot of good movies, as I couldn't sleep. Arrived in Vegas around 11.30 am. Took an hour to get our luggage! Took a shuttle to Tropicana. I was really looking forward to see Casper, Soeren and Mark again. The boys weren't in our room and I couldn't find Mark.Walked about for an hour and a half before I finally found Mark. So good to see him again. As I had nothing else to do I asked him to put me to work. So I printed credentials all day with some awesome people incl. Jim, Amanda, Rex, etc. We had a great time, and I was even invited in for the staff dinner and meeting later on in the evening. Got back to my room around 1am, where I found the boys in each their bed. Casper woke up and he and I talked for a while and ended up waking up Soeren. Finally went to bed around 2 am. We got up around 4-5hours later. A bit tired but fit for fight. We were all in registration - international pending all day. From 8am to 8pm. It went well and we got to meet the Danish national team and the coach. At 8.30pm we went to a computer meeting with Lajust, as we were highly likely to be CO's for the rest of the week (computer operators). After that we just chilled with a few beers. Ended up going to the MGM hotel and go to the Coyote Ugly bar. Big mistake! Had too much to drink and ended up not remembering the nights' events too well. All I remember is being followed back by a security lady who probably easily could see I was in no state of walking home on my own. The guys got back just after me. Went to bed around 4am. Casper woke up around 9am and woke Soeren and me up. Damn it! We were supposed to meet Mark at least at 8am. I was soo embarrassed all day long. Tried to avoid Mark because I was so ashamed. And the hangover didn't help either. Mark wasn't proud of us. And poor Austin, the guy in charge of the volunteers. He was missing volunteers all day and here we come in too late. Immidiately we were put at each our computer, and then we were CO's at the poomsaes all day. Pretty boring, but it was alright.
Thursday the 11th the fighting started. Much more interesting. Again I was a CO. We started with the juniors and ultras (kids and 'oldies'). Nice and easy. Had some problems with the wests and the system (Lajust), but it was quickly taken care of by the nice Lajust people. Especially Stephen and Kate needs to be mentioned here. They were amazing and so helpful and nice. After a bad start, the system worked flawless for the rest of the day. I had a great ref.team, whom I was very happy to work with. They were: Linda Kwan, Linda K., Francesco, Ferginando, Mario and Richard. We sat at Ring 3. We were already done around 6pm, which compared with the long hours at the WC in Copenhagen was early. At night the boys and I wanted to go see Ka by Cirque de Soleil, but we couldn't find any reasonable ticket prices. instead we tried our luck at the roulette table. You know how you get free drinks while you gamble? I guess, you can say I spent $25 on one beer.
The 12th I was once again at ring 3, where I had the same ref.team. I had two trainees. One good one (Joshua) and one bad one (Will). Soeren was in charge of us, CO's. Good to be in the same room with a guy like that, as that means you might hve a chance of getting a say in what needs to be done and changed. Needless to say, Will was not a CO for long. At night the three of us, the Danes, were invited to this little private party at suite 3331. We heard it might be a promotion party, but with free booze, we showed up. Didn't really seem like a promotion party. Just quiet and fine. Soeren had brought two of his friends from Florida to the party, Kendra and David. They were nice. After the party all 5 of us went to Bellagio to The Bank. Really nice place and we danced til 3am before going home. Beers were expensive, so just danced.
A bit tired the next morning, but ready for a new day. Got to ring 3, but found out my ref.team was at ring 11. The all Hell broke lose, as they wanted me in ring 11 and poor Soeren's schedule didn't add up then. I think he finally had enough and thought it would save him some trouble and b****ing if he just made the switch. So I got back to my beloved ref.team about 10am. Nice to be back and they were happy to see me. Nice of Soeren. As we made it to the semi's and finals I was still allowed to as a CO. With a couple of Lajust eyes or three in my back, but still. Didn't screw up and everything went well. Plus I had the front seat for an awesome final between Aaron Cook, GBR and Mitchaud from Canada. Really awesome, intense fight. After dinner Casper and I went to see David Copperfield. $100 and we got front seats and I was even pulled up on stage to participate ina card trick involving a deadly African skorpio. Thought I was gonna die, but it was cool. And I got to give Copperfield a kiss on the cheek.
The 14th was the last day. Time had gone by too fast. I started out at ring 11, but again my ref.team had been moved. Now to ring 7. They were still not satisfied, but less of a mess than the day before. Around noon I got back to them, which they were overly joyed by, and I even got a cheer for being back. nice. After we were done with the preliminary rounds I moved to ring 9 to do the semi finals and finals. Casper as well. I think it's cool we as rookies get to sit there, but we must have proven ourselfes. I think, in generel the three of us have made a good impression on the Americans (Wednesday morning being an exception). I chose to work straight through all days without any breaks except from lunch and the toiletbreaks. That I now regret as it would have been nice to be able to walk around the venue and see the little shops, but oh well. After the medal ceremony we helped with the break down. Those mats get extremely static and will electricute you! Auch! After that we had dinner - by the way, been eating buffet all week, morning, lunch and dinner. After dinner we went out with Jim, Amanda and Austin. The two first went home fairly early. The rest of us walked the entire Strip as Austin had never been in Vegas before (neither had we). Ended at Maccas where we ordered a 50 McNugget meal. Went to bed around 4-5am. Got aobut an hours sleep before we got up. Soeren had rented a car, and we headed to the Grand Canyon. What a place! It is so amazing, so big, so majestic! Took us about 4hours to get there and then some by bus, but what a place! My camera sucks, but luckily Soeren has an OK camera and Casper has the socalled paparazzi Canon camera, so hopefully the two of them have some awesome shots. We headed back to Vegas around 5pm as we had agreed to meet Mark aorund 10pm for beers. Couldn't find him and tried calling and knocking on his door. Nothing. Finally we sat down in protest, a bucket of ice and 20 beers. Finally he came around 1am. He had been to some meetings and was tired but found it funny how we were sitting there. We got inside and visited and had a good time. Left around 4am. Agreed to meet around 11am for a late breakfast. Once again, no Mark. We went to his room. An African ref. had screwed up his flight and was now taking all Marks time. At least we got to drive him to the airport, which meant we got to drive around in the car he had rented for the remainder of the day. So that was splendid. We went to an outlet centre. Once again I was a bit hungover, so I just walked around, chilling. Didn't buy much, just a pair of shoes and some lotion. I restrained myself. Casper bought quite a bit, Soeren not so much. Got back to the hotel around 6pm as the boys were gonna back to go to the airport by 7.20 the latest. We ended up being in a hurry, so I had to drop them off and then return the car. With my navigation skills it took me an extra 15minutes to find the place, of course. Got back to the hotel, a bit tired. Still wanted to go see the Glacier bar, which should be a pretty cool, freezing place. Never got that far, though. Sad in the Players Deli and had dinner by myself when a guy came up to me and handed me a ticket for free. It was for tonights show "Hypnosis unleashed" which was at the Tropicana. I went and had a blast. I was even on stage, but they couldn't hypnotise me. They rest of the people on stage did get hypnotised though. Kind of weird, but also very funny. After the show I went to bed, pretty tired.
Wednesday I didn;t have to be in airport until 5pm, so I spent the day walking up the Strip, buying sourvenirs. Went to Ceasars. That place is HUGE! Missed the company of the guys, but the day went OK. Went to the airport at night and got on the plane. Nothing happened, everything went alright. Kind of makes me nervous, 'cos I'm not used to having no problems when I go on flights. But I must admit it is kind of nice.
Because of the time difference I left Vegas on Feb. 17th but didn't get to Australia until feb. 19th. So the 18th didn't really excist for me this year. Got a shuttle to Mascot this time, instead of walking like last time.Got a minor chok as I saw Lily. She smelled and looked like there was some sort of fongus inside. They claimed it was something moist that had done it. I know I had a wet towel in there, but that cannot possible have done all that damage. Went to the first gas station and cleaned out the car. Plus, the car will be worth a lot less if it looks like that, like it has fongus.
All hostels seem to bee fully booked over the weekend. Finally found a bed at YHA outside the city centre. Suits me fine as I can have Lily parked without paying for parking. Still hope the security guy won't walk the little sideroad I'm parked at. Tonight I'm meeting up with Alicia whom I met on Fiji. Looking forward to it. She will be in Sydney for aobut a week as she is meeting up with a friend. That means I'll probably go on a discovery tour on my own and them meet up with them in Byron Bay later on. Oh well.
Later