Archive for April, 2012

Proud Member of Hilton HHonors

20 Apr shonakamori 2 Comments »

Wanted to say a quick thank you to Hilton HHonors for their continued support!  They are currently supporting me and a few other gymnasts in the US.  Check out the press release here.

Team Hilton!

Grateful for all the support.  Wouldn’t be able to pursue this dream without you all!

The Hilton uniform I'll be wearing at domestic meets!

Googler

15 Apr shonakamori 2 Comments »

Being a gymnast in the US isn’t quite the same as being a Major League Baseball player or  a pro basketballer.  Although we get some funding if we are on the national team, it’s not quite enough to cover the entire cost of living.  A lot of us who are out of college either have to work while training or find other ways to support ourselves.  Over the years, I’ve picked up several jobs to support myself.  Some of these jobs include being a tutor and working at a start-up company.

A couple of months ago I started working for Google as a part-time employee!  My main work is doing quality checks and ensuring the validity of Japanese ads that pop up on Google Japan.  Sadly, as a part-time employee I don’t get the perks that a full-time employee would get.  However, my friend that works there on a full-time basis invited me to lunch the other day.  Pretty crazy that it was my first time visiting the Google campus given that I’ve lived in this area for a super long time.   As for food, it was delicious and the campus has several full-blown cafeterias.  It’s kind of like visiting a Las Vegas buffet. The perks you get as a Googler is pretty ridiculous.  No wonder so many people want to work there!

@ the Google Campus!

It was Parent's Day @ Google so a ton of parents were on campus to check out where their kids work.

Even got myself a to-go box for dinner afterwards :)

Food for later!

The Shark Tank

05 Apr shonakamori No Comments »

The other day I had an awesome opportunity to go watch the San Jose Sharks at the HP Pavilion.  With only a couple of games lefts and Playoffs on the line, it was an exciting atmosphere to be in.  Luckily, the Sharks shut out the Stars: 3-0!

The players coming out of the Shark!

Sold out house made for an exciting atmosphere!

Love the jumbo-tron here for some reason. So clear.

Big shootout to Dr. M for the tickets!  :)

Another reason why it was awesome being here was because the Olympic Trials for London will be held at the same site!  Yes, right in my own backyard.  I remember competing there a few years ago for the US Championships.  Atmosphere was electrifying!

YouTube Preview Image

No one is a lock to compete at the trials.  The nation’s top gymnasts will battle out for the 15 spots at the US Championships.  The US is deep and all of us are working hard towards it.  The last stop for all US gymnasts competing in London this summer will be the HP Pavilion!

The Shark Tank - HP Pavilion!

Whirlwind Week!

01 Apr shonakamori No Comments »

It’s hard to figure out how I got through last week.  It turned out to be a whirlwind of a week which was sadly the main reason I wasn’t able to update my site as much!  To be honest, all the days felt like they got meshed together due to how busy I was. Luckily, I am caught up (for the most part) and things are more or less back to normal :)

The reason for all the craziness was because I had a short week.  The week before, I spent a few days at the Olympic Training Center for another national team camp.  The camp turned out to be a great one even though only half of the national team members were present.  There were a number of athletes representing the US at an international event in Germany, while some were resting at home or competing at collegiate meets.  With some major competitions coming up fairly soon most of us were starting to put routines together again.  The transition time from working skills and sequences, to putting together routines again can be a bit of a tough time.  However, there is no way around it and it’s just one of those things that you just have push through.

What made the camp even better was we had a special guest.  Edouard Iarov was there to help us.  For those of you that are unfamiliar, Edouard was the coach of the legendary  Valery Liukin, (former World and Olympic Champion).  He used to be a coach in Canada but apparently he is coaching in the US now.

The day after I got back from camp, I judged the Northern California State Championships for boys.  It was an all day, super long, marathon of a meet but as always it was great seeing the boys put their skills on the floor.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to judge Regionals this year but best of luck to all the boys as I know they’ve all been working hard all season long.  With States over, I am done with judging for the rest of the year.  While it’s a bit of a bummer, I’m also kind of happy that I get the time to relax and do what I need to do over the weekends.

In the hot seat. Judging pommels!

Now that the busy week is over, I am pretty much caught up on everything.  Can’t tell you how happy this makes me feel.  I definitely appreciate the small things in life!