Eighteen (18) dragon boat team members attended the first practice session at the Flushing Corona Park on Sat, July 27. Although it was their first time rowing, many of the students managed to keep the boat straight.

"Wow, you guys have a full boat," commented by one of the staff members. "Of course, everyone is excited about the August 3rd and 4th race days," Ben replied.

This year, students are taking part in four races, including the Heritage 250, Education, Media Invitational and Sponsor Challenge, at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York (www.hkdbf-ny.org) via FUSIA's sponsorship. FUSIA is the organizer of the Cross Cultural Internship Program and a creative sponsor of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York.

After the practice, Benjamin (Hongze Li), one of the dragon boat team leaders, along with several other participants went to Yankee Stadium for a baseball match of New York Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays.

"It was my first time watching a baseball game. It was a well played game. I felt great about it," said Fiona (Wanqi Li), a student from the distinguished Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Tim (Chenghuai Zheng), one of the other dragon boat leaders, with EK (the organizer) and several others went on a shopping spree at Roosevelt Field which is the largest shopping center in Long Island. Along the way, they stopped for breaks and took beautiful scenic pictures of the Port Washington seashore.

"I would like to thank EK for buying us ice-cream yogurt. Red Mango was fresh and yummy," said Tim.