One Eye on Sights, the Other on Seoul : Olympics in Mind, U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team Tours Asia

The U.S. men’s and women’s national volleyball teams call San Diego home. But for a third of the year, their home is the road--Cuba to Korea, Tokyo to Toronto--as they prepare for the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

The U.S. women’s team spent most of May in Asia. Dennis Brown, a free-lance writer who contributes frequently to The Times, accompanied his wife, Debbie, an assistant coach, on the trip.

A look at the journey through South Korea and China, on the road to the Seoul Olympics:

With 12 players, 3 coaches and 8 others in tow, the U.S. women’s Olympic volleyball team left San Diego at 10:45 a.m. on Monday, May 9, flew to Los Angeles and boarded a Northwest Airlines plane for Japan.

The trip took 10 1/2 hours and seemed longer. Since the team is trying to avoid jet lag as much as possible, everyone was instructed to stay awake until we reached the hotel in Seoul.

Because we crossed the international date line, somewhere along the way we lost much of Tuesday, the 27th birthday of Kent Miller, the team’s technical coordinator.

After a 3 1/2-hour layover at the airport in Narita, just north of Tokyo, we continued to Seoul. We arrived at 11:30 p.m. and cleared immigration and customs with no problems. Twenty-two hours after leaving San Diego, we finally checked into the Young Dong Hotel at 1 a.m. Wednesday (I think).

Wednesday, May 11

Our hotel is adequate, though hardly plush. The rooms are smaller than those in an average college dormitory, but everything is clean, and the restaurant serves good (read: American) food.

The team practiced for two hours in the morning at the Hanyang University gymnasium, where women’s volleyball competition will be held during the Olympics. The visit to Seoul is mostly to give the players a chance to become familiar with the city and gym where they will be playing in September.

The first of five matches against the South Korean Olympic team was played at 3 p.m., and the United States suffered a surprising 3-1 loss. Coach Terry Liskevych said the Koreans had improved tremendously in the past six months. But the Americans were sluggish and clearly suffering from jet lag, having arrived in Seoul just 15 hours before the match.

In the evening, nine of us went shopping in the Itaewon district of Seoul. It’s a fascinating area with hundreds of small shops that feature great prices on custom-made suits, furs, jewelry, leather and eel-skin items, jeans, athletic shoes and--of course--Olympic souvenirs. Much of the merchandise is fraudulent, but there are some legitimate deals. Dickering is not only expected but encouraged.

Thursday, May 12

At 9 a.m., the entire team headed for Itaewon for two hours. Shop and destroy.

The merchants in the area quickly realized that the Americans were on a spending mission and used their best bargaining lines. “Very best price for you,” they would tell one player after another.

The U.S. women went for lots of leather--miniskirts, dresses, shoes, jackets. Keba Phipps, 18, an outside hitter from Lakewood, had to buy a huge, expandable piece of soft-sided luggage to carry everything she bought.

The team played better in its second match against the Koreans, winning in five games (16-14 in the fifth).

“Two points make a big difference in the way we feel right now,” Liskevych told the team.

Friday, May 13

It was back to Itaewon for everyone in the morning to pick up a few more items.

In the afternoon, the U.S. team pulled off a surprising 3-0 victory over the Koreans. Surprising because after the starters won the first game, 16-14, Liskevych inserted the second team--setter Kim Ruddins and hitters Angela Rock, Beverly Robinson, Tammy Webb, Missy McLinden and Jayne McHugh. They handled the Koreans with ease, winning games 2 and 3 with little trouble.

After the match, a Korean man ran erratically around the court while the American players stretched. As they filed out of the gym, he made strange noises. There were some concerns about safety, but Korean officials kept an eye on him, and he caused no serious problems.

Saturday, May 14

After a 1 1/2 hour-practice in the morning, the team took a bus to the Olympic Village and the main stadium where the opening ceremonies will be held. There wasn’t time to get out and look around, but it was good for the players to see where they will be staying during the Games.

Today’s match was televised live throughout South Korea, and a crowd of about 2,000 attended. The Koreans dominated from start to finish, sweeping three.

After the match, we went straight to Itaewon to pick up clothes that had been custom-made. The merchants there were going to miss us.

Sunday, May 15

The U.S. team recovered from the previous day’s poor performance, taking just 65 minutes to beat Korea in three. Team captain Kim Oden, a middle hitter from Irvine who is a Stanford graduate, did an excellent job of blocking.

“Everybody showed up to play,” Liskevych said. “Today we focused from the first to the 45th point.”

As we left the gym for the last time until the Olympics, setter Laurel Kessel sang, “See You in September.”

In the evening, the teams attended a dinner of Korean cuisine. The food was spicy hot but very good.

Monday, May 16

Travel day: Because there is no airline service between South Korea and China, we had to fly from Seoul east to Narita, then back west over Korea to Beijing.

The flights were uneventful, and we arrived in Beijing on a Civil Aviation Administration of China 747 at 9 p.m. The Chinese let us pass quickly through immigration and customs without looking through luggage, and we checked in at the Qiantem Hotel in downtown Beijing at midnight. It was a long day for such a short trip.

Tuesday, May 17

The Great Wall is a great wall .

When possible, Liskevych likes to give his players a chance to see the sights and experience the culture of the countries they visit. So, with a couple of days off, we played tourists and visited The Great Wall in Badaling, north of Beijing. It’s only 40 miles, but the trip took two hours as our bus dodged bike riders and peasants driving horse-drawn wagons. It’s no exaggeration to say that there are millions of cyclists clogging the streets.

The wall, which was started in the 5th century B.C. to protect China from a northern invasion and which stretches for thousands of miles, is a startling sight. It takes a lot to impress Jim Iams, an assistant coach, but after he climbed the wall, he said, “I’m not much of one to buy a T-shirt that says ‘I was there,’ but I think I’ll make an exception this time.”

All around the wall were thousands of sightseers as well as souvenir and concession stands. Debbie and Laurel, who were on the U.S. team that visited China in 1978, said they couldn’t believe the difference. Ten years ago, there were just a few visitors. Now this is a prime tourist spot, although the Chinese government charges just 15 cents for admission.

Wednesday, May 18

The team’s first competition here--a four-nation tournament with China, Japan and Cuba--begins Thursday. We flew this morning on a 30-seat, twin-prop plane to Jinan, a medium-size city about 200 miles south of Beijing. The city is run-down, but our hotel on the south side of town is excellent.

At a short practice session, the Chinese offered the U.S. players a soft drink called Lucky Boy. It tasted like cream soda and, according to the label, will add years to your life and “improve functions of the important human organs such as the heart, lung, brain, etc.”

Joe Briski, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, Debbie and I went for a run in the afternoon. We purposely got off the beaten path and found ourselves in a time warp with people who live and work with few modern conveniences. Much of China appears to be at least 50 years behind the United States and other industrialized countries.

Tournament organizers pulled out all the stops in the evening as the four teams attended a 10- to 12-course banquet that included sea slugs and a potent alcoholic drink that could double as lighter fluid.

Thursday, May 19

Spent some time during the U.S. practice session talking to our interpreter, Liu Jun. He works for the Chinese Volleyball Assn. and speaks excellent English.

He is 26 and married with no children. He said the government, in an effort to cut China’s population (more than 1 billion), wants young couples to limit themselves to one child. That’s fine with Liu.

The U.S. team, rated the No. 5 team in the world, opened tournament play in the afternoon against Cuba. China is the defending world champion, but the Cubans have improved rapidly and currently are considered the world’s top team. The United States, with former San Diego State All-American Angela Rock playing well off the bench, took Cuba to five games before losing. More than 8,500 fans attended the match, and the Americans were besieged by autograph seekers, many of whom probably can’t read the English alphabet.

Friday, May 20

In the consolation match, the U.S. team beat Japan in four games, again in front of a sellout crowd.

The Chinese love volleyball, and their women’s national team--the 1984 Olympic gold medalist and world champion in 1982 and ‘86--is idolized. But there was no joy in Jinan this night as high-flying outside hitter Mireya Luis led Cuba to a 3-1 victory for the championship. Rock and U.S. outside hitter Caren Kemner were named the outstanding server and passer of the tournament.

Saturday, May 21

The four teams received a police escort to the airport in the morning and boarded a plane to Nanjing for another tournament. All this packing and unpacking, hopping from one place to another and attending receptions is becoming a strain on the players, especially when it’s done with the loud and pushy Cubans.

The plane landed in Nanjing in eastern China at 10:45 a.m., and the teams were greeted by local dignitaries and a welcoming band. We were transported to the Jinling Hotel, first-class in every way.

Back home, the U.S. team is fortunate to attract 2,000 fans for a match. This afternoon, there were that many Chinese in the stands to watch practice . They cheered as the team warmed up and then throughout the one-hour workout. After the U.S. team finished, the Chinese national team, led by setter Yang Xilan, took the court, and the crowd roared its approval.

Autograph seekers continued to surround the U.S. team. It gets to be annoying, but one couldn’t help but wish the Americans received half this attention in the States.

In the evening, we were guests at yet another lavish banquet--this time with at least 15 courses. There are no complaints about the food. It has been great.

Sunday, May 22

It’s hard to conceptualize 1 billion of anything, but that was Chinese officials’ estimate of the live television audience for the match between China and the United States.

With another 10,000 fans wedged into the Wutaishan Gymnasium shouting, “Jiayou!” (which, literally translated, means “pour oil on the fire”), the Chinese did just that, pounding the Americans in three games. The teams are scheduled to play each other in the first match of the Olympics, and the U.S. staff wanted either to beat the Chinese or play them tough. They did neither, making for a frustrating evening.

Monday, May 23

The U.S. team beat Japan, 3-2, in the third-place match, and Cuba ripped China, 3-0, for first. Kemner again was named best passer of the tournament, and Kessel was picked as the top defensive player. Overall, the Americans won five of nine matches on this tour to improve their record on the year to 16-5.

After the championship match, all four teams were led through a back hallway and basement, then into a soccer stadium where the buses were parked. We learned later the clandestine getaway was made to avoid some angry Chinese fans who were unhappy with their team’s performance.

Tuesday, May 24

Smoke spread throughout our rooms on the 26th floor of the hotel around 4 in the morning. Missy McLinden and Deitre Collins were the first to notice. Soon they were joined in a hallway by Briski, Miller, Debbie and me. We were pretty sure the hotel was on fire.

I ran down the stairs and explained to the front desk clerk that there was smoke in our rooms. He immediately began looking in his files for a “Mr. Smoke” on the 26th floor. Something was lost in the translation.

Finally the hotel manager came out and said a motor in one of the elevators had burnt out, causing smoke on the upper floors. We weren’t convinced, however, until Miller and Briski went to the top of the hotel and inspected the motor themselves. They found no fire, and we opened some windows and went back to sleep. The rest of the team never stirred.

Left Nanjing in the morning for a return to Beijing. Upon arriving in the capital, we went straight to the Forbidden City for a little more sightseeing. It’s an impressive sight, though the palaces become redundant, and it’s all a lot more run-down than during the days of “The Last Emperor.”

Wednesday, May 25

Heading home: When the U.S. team left Moscow last year, many passengers on the plane cheered. That wasn’t the case this morning as we departed from China on a CAAC 747. The players agreed that China was far more enjoyable than the Soviet Union.

So, as we headed for Hawaii and five days of well-deserved vacation for the U.S. players and staff, memories flooded our consciousness: Bicycles and their ringing bells, the wall, fumbling with chopsticks, more gifts than we could carry, Jiayou! , more bicycles, curious stares and autograph hounds, sea slugs and rice, Lucky Boy, the Jinling Jazz Band, more bicycles.

And, mostly, memories of a warm, friendly, hard-working people who rapidly are opening up to the rest of the world.