This was originally sent home as an email to friends and family in the summer of 2008.

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know what I have been up to for the most part this week…
I have been working at Modern Pentathlon…Daniel sent me a text message to say that as far as he was concerned, Modern Pentathlon could be described in this way:
It is like a wealthy Victorian gentleman’s holiday. First, you shoot something, Then you have a little sword fight after which you take a little dip. You then take Bessie out for a canter and then finish it off with a little pre-dinner jog.
Pretty much sums it up. 2 days of competition, morning til night…5 events…shooting,fencing, swimming, riding and running. The real excitement in the men’s event was in the riding. Actually not so much riding. Lots of aerial feats. More like hanging on and/or being tossed off. (I think they brought the wrong horses in,…is the Calgary Stampede still on????) Apparently, scuttlebut from co-announcer Tristan (who works at Barclay’s bank and sounds like Hugh Grant…nothing a little fiber couldn’t fix in a jiffy) has it that pentathlon is ‘dangerously exposed’ as a lot of the top male competitiors don’t know how to ride. For some strange reason many of the Olympic qualifying events for pentathlon only have 4 events…therefore…a lot of competitors let the riding stay on the back burner. It explained a whole lot. Aside from the “Flying Ridinis’, many of those who didn’t sail over the top of the horse’s head were able to make the horses jump off all 4s like a jack rabbit. very peculiar….what ever would mummy say?? (Especially since Tristan’s mummy runs the pony club and he is a former competitor.)
Hmmm…did I mention that Tristan told me, almost as soon as he met me, that he felt strongly that any sport that had music as a component didn’t belong in the Olympics?
Game on …:)
Men competed yesterday…women today. Am delighted to be able to say that the women seemed to be better at the riding bit…many more of them stayed put. Well done ladies!
Princess Anne came yesterday morning to watch a bit of shooting…and NO…we are still not on speaking terms.
Prince Albert was one of the presenters last night for the medals…things just haven’t been the same between us since that messy “monkey in the middle” incident…at least I said (and spelled) his name right….and en francais to boot!
Ok…well if you want to know more about Modern Pentathlon….look it up…or I will give you Tristan’s email.
In the meantime, the event went very well today…my Chinese colleagues were delighted…and as is the norm, as soon as we finished with the medals…onto the track for lots more pictures. Some great memories…I am sure y’all can’t wait for slide show night at my house…
DAY OFF TOMORROW!!!!
Look for my wrap-up 🙂
Pj/mom xoxoxo

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