By Dea Yu & Emma Zhang (Age 9)
On Sunday, June 22th, 2014, a group of Voice K journalists headed out to Central Island for the Toronto International Dragon Boat Festival. The drive was pretty long. When my family finally arrived at our destination, I wanted to jump out the car!
When my family got to the ferry dock, we had to wait in a long line for the ferry. My family rode on the top layer of the ferry. When I got there, I was amazed by the buzz if excitement in the crowd. There were so many people with paddles so I knew they must be paddlers competing in the race. There were lots of vendors with food and games, and the thumping of the dancers’ feet on the stage was amazingly loud.
I explored the island until I saw the Voice K group. We got split up in two teams. I interviewed a paddler named Tim Hudson who was competing for the P&G team.
“My dad and I used to always go rowing when I was your age and we did the same in Boy scouts too.” Hudson said. He told me that the important part about racing is that everyone has to be in sync. “You have to make sure you listen to the man in the back and everyone on the boat has to know his instructions.”
I also learned that in a race like this, you want start paddling very hard at the start, slow down in the middle, and then pick up at the end.
In order to prepare for a dragon boat race, you need a lot of different training. One of the most important ones is to train how to row. You can pull your paddle to your sides and work on your strokes. You also need lots of warm-ups and muscle trainings because paddling requires a lot of back exercises, shoulder exercises, and cardio exercises.
“How do you feel when you finished the race?” I asked.
”Relieved,” Tim said. “Because you get really exhausted in the race and it’s good to finish. And I feel even better when I win.”
Then I asked to see his hand and there were so many calluses on them!
Then I interviewed one of the organizers of the even ─ Kevin Lo. His favorite part of the race is seeing all the teamwork effort. Lo told me that this was his fourth year being an organizer. “I first heard about this festival when I was a kid,” Lo told me when I asked him about his first experience.
After playing for several hours, it was time to head back home. I still remember the day I saw dragons on the river, and excited to see next year’s race.
 | Hi everyone, my name is Dea Yu. I am nine years old. My name is not popular; I only knew one girl whose name sounds the same, but it is spelled differently. My Mom told me she found it on a website called babynames.com. It is a Greek Goddess name who was in charge of beauty. I go to Bronte College which is really close to Voice K. My favourite classes at school are Drama and Music. I love playing acting games with my Drama teacher. I live in Mississauga, Ontario. I like reading and all kinds of arts. I am a Ballet dancer; I had my fourth recital this year. I really enjoy putting on a new costume each year and dancing on the stage. That is it, so far. |
 | Hi! My name is Emma Zhang. I was born in the year 2005. I like art, skiing, drama, bears, dogs, Prince Edward Island traveling and Voice K! I love playing little tricks on my family. I am also a nerd and I love to be on my computer. I am a fan of nature because I like camping in the wild. When I grow up, I would love to be an actress. I was inspired by “Annie”, a live musical show. Sometimes, I may use big words like moonshine (nonsense), cataclysmic (mega jumbo), pondered (thinking), and more. Well, that’s all you need to know about me! |
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