"預備," screamed the start-man and the seventy-two oars snapped into ready position.

"還沒!還沒!" came the frantic reply from the captain of the green uniformed team. "我們還沒好!"

The three other teams relaxed their stance.

"Right side, pull us over and get us straightened out."

After some finessing the dragon's head once again faced the end of the raceway. This time, as if seeming ready to get to the finish line, the boat remained straight in the starting blocks. Everyone took in the silence that had befallen the spectators on shore and breathed one last relaxing breath.

"預備," again yelled the start-man. The large red signal flag went up. Through the silence, the water lapping against the boats could be heard. Paddles were arched over the water, ready to plunge at the signal. Not a muscle moved.

Then it came. Bang!

All oars plunged into the still water and white foam and spray rose around the boats. Thus began the first race of the 師大 men's dragon boat team.

This year's team was truly an international crowd with members faring from Canada, Panama, Belgium, England, France, Korea, Italy, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Holland, the Philippines, Australia, and the United States. "This year's team was truly an international mix," says the men's team captain, Robert Kinney (金包伯). "It provided a great opportunity outside the classroom for people to exchange ideas and culture."

Dry land practice to develop the physical strength and stamina required of dragon boat rowing started in late April. Despite the 6:30 a.m. practice time and an occasional drizzling of rain, people, for the most part, thought the training was good. "It was a good way to work out," says Tuyet Dang (鄧潔鈴) of the United States. "You get to do it with friends so it didn't feel like you were working out, it didn't feel like a chore." Kumiko Hirada (平田久美子) of Japan also enjoyed the workouts: "在練習的時候你可以交朋友,了解一點中國文化,加強你的體力."

After two weeks of dry land practice, the men's and women's teams finally got their first taste, or more precisely, smell of the HsinTian River (新店溪). "The river has gotten slightly better," says two-year dragon boating veteran Lynn Lee (李東龍) of the US, "but that's like the pot calling the kettle black (五十步笑一百步). You still wouldn't want to fall into it." "The HsinTian used to be much worse," comments Kinney. "In years past there were slaughterhouses alongside the river and we competed with dead pigs and pig parts for rowing space in the water. They got rid of the slaughterhouses so the water is much cleaner, much much cleaner."

The two months of training and practice finally come to a head on June 20th at the Taipei County Dragon Boat Races, the first race of the season, held at Pitan (碧潭), a beautiful swimming area in HsinTian (新店) suburb.

Adrenaline and excitement ran high as 105 teams from throughout the Taipei area competed under clear and sunny skies from morning till nightfall. MTC's nemesis, the Taipei Language Institute (TLI), despite preliminary scouting reports placing their strength and rowing techniques as equal or even greater than MTC's was eliminated from the competition in the early stages.

The MTC men's team went on to take 5th place out of 10 competitors in the university and trade school division, but it was the women's team that stole the show. The women's team placed 3rd out of a field of 12 teams and received NT$50,000 in prize money and a large trophy that is now on display in the MTC library.

The celebration and elation of having rowed well at Pitan didn't last long as it soon became apparent that many members from both teams came down with food poisoning from food served at a banquet organized by the race officials. Some speculated that the food was tainted on purpose so as to ruin the MTC's chances of another great placing at the International Races to be held a week later.

The last race of the season was the International Dragon Boat Race at TaChih (大直) on the Keelung River (基隆河) near the Grand Hotel on the 29th and 30th of June. One of the biggest complaints about the venue was the terrible pollution of the water. "It was like rowing in a sewage canal!" exclaimed an anonymous member from the women's team. "I don't know why they decided to move it to the Keelung River," says Kinney. "In years past, it has always been at the Danshui River. Just when they got that river cleaned up nicely, they move it here."

Both the men's and women's teams were set back with members still sick from food poisoning from the banquet at Pitan, but both teams mustered their strengths and rowed long and hard throughout the two days of intense competition at TaChih. In the end though, the men's team lost the deciding race for third place to a fierce team from Singapore and had to settle for fourth place out of a field of 10 teams coming from the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The women's team though, once again showed just how strong they were as they soundly defeated a team from the Philippines, automatically placing them in 2nd place. They faced fierce competition for 1st place though, as they went against the Hong Kong Paddle Club in the final race. Despite two close races, the canoeists and kayakers from Hong Kong pulled ahead and the MTC's women's team settled for 2nd place out of five other teams netting NT$20,000 in prize money.

"I was shocked!" exclaimed Catherine Shaw (蕭惠敏) of Canada on winning second place. "We weren't really expecting to do so well but we did and it felt great!"

"一方面我很高興另外一方面有一點失望,因為我們沒有得到第一名," says Korean student 金姝廷. "但我很高興親身體會到中國文化的一部分,也高興多交外國朋友."

"I was quite surprised by how well we did," reflects Bill Shaw (蕭加偉) of Canada. "I was quite happy by how our team came together in the end and we had a surge of team spirit."

Three year veteran Tomoyasu Hoshi (星友康) of Japan voices similar thoughts: "我一個人划的時候,我划得很慢,如果大家划的話,雖然你一個人很累,但是在一起划會讓你有精神"

"We went into the race with lower expectations because everyone was sick from Pitan and the competition was stiffer," comments Richard Chang (張明彬) of Australia. "But we impressed ourselves and I think we surpassed everyone's expectations. We turned out some monumental performances and some extraordinary feats of guts and willpower. Both teams showed a lot of heart."

The season ended on a high note, with plenty of good cheer and dinner at the Lai-Lai Sheraton Hotel (來來大飯店). "I really enjoyed dragon boating," says Emma Ursich (鄔藹明) of England. "I have tons of pictures that I'm going to share with people back home and I'm going to bring back lots of good memories."

"划龍舟是我在這兒的生活最好的部份," remarks Abigal Bussy (陶苾嘉) of Hungary. "划龍舟是我在這裡的最愉快的時光."

"I thought it would be fun," reflects Jesus Vallines (范李仁) of Belgium. "I didn't know what dragon boating was about and I wanted to discover what it was. It was a wonderful experience. At first it was hard to wake up in the morning but then I finally found out what it was we were training for and it became easier. I always trained alone before, never with others. I discovered team spirit and it's much better to do things in a team than alone. If I'm still at the MTC next year I'll do it again!"