Good Times... Great Oldies!

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been super busy lately exploring the Xmas markets all over Germany and driving around in my new car!! As you all know the volleyball has just kind of been okay. I am starting to at least get an idea of what is being said at practice, and since we do a lot of the same things I can guess what is happening even if I don't really know.

My car came this week! YAY! It is a VW FOX!!
Last weekend we had a 9 hour road trip to play against Rachael VanMeter from Illinois! We lost in 4 sets, but it was a good match. We went to a team dinner after and then had a really fun party with both teams. Sheila was named player of the game from our team and Rachael won for her team, so the Big Ten represented well! We stayed at the sports hotel where the other team lived so we went up to their floor and danced in the halls and then we had a little Jam session on the guitar and sang Brown Eyed Girls and such!
This weekend we didn't have a match so Sheila, Erica, and I went to some Xmas markets in a couple of towns down the road. (I drove us there in my car!!) It was really fun and we ate a TON of food. Today we hosted a little kids Xmas volleyball tournament and we all were assigned a team. It was tough at first because I don't speak very much German and the kids didn't know any English, so we made up our own little language and cheers for the games. It was fun to play.

Ohhh how could I forget!! Last night we went to a disco-tech which is what they call the dance clubs here. It was a super nice place and the music was awesome. The DJ had all sorts of mixes including one mix of Micheal Jackson's "Billy Jean" and Justin Timberlake's "Bringing Sexy Back". Of course my favorite was the mix with Earth Wind and Fire's "September"!!
Let's see, what else has been going on... Oh I had to do a guitar performance at our team sponsor's Xmas dinner. I was a bit nervous because I don't play in front of people but at least I had Sheila and Erica up there with me, and I had a few glasses of courage first! hehe Well, I really need to get some sleep! I have early Kraft Training (weights) and then I have to get everything ready for my friend Mollie and Jenna to get into town! We pick them up in Frankfurt on Tuesday morning and I can't freaking wait!

Hope all is well, and as usual I will load a link to the recent pictures on the blog!

Gone Baby Gone

So I know that this has nothing to do with me being in Germany, minus the fact that I just finished watching the Movie Gone Baby Gone while in Germany.... but

I don't want to ruin the movie for those who haven't seen it, but minus the harsh language at parts it is a fantastic film. To be able to express the full range of human existence in 1.5 hours is fantastic work by the cast of this film. It is amazing to me how the dualistic nature of human thought and emotion can play out in our lives. That some of the most generous warm hearted people can be capable of cruel and unjust actions only because in their own moral standard the ends somehow justify the means. I love how romanticized personal ethics and religious morale standards combat with the more jaded "real life" circumstances. There were so many moments throughout this film that I really challenged myself to wonder... If I were in this situation would I really do the "right" thing? Whats more....what truely is the "right" thing as this film cleverly pulls the viewer into different mindsets based on each character's perspective....

Well, I could ramble on about this forever. I guess this is why I majored in sociology! Anyway... Germany is going well. The Christmas markets are now open and the shopping season has begun!!! I spent some time down there the other day with Sheila but I am waiting to go back once my friends from the state get into town! (2 weeks!!)

Sheila and I both got the stomach flu before our last match and haven't been feeling too well since, which is why I have been watching so many movies lately. Other than that life has been the same ol same ol... practice, kraft training (weights), German lessons, grocery shopping (since we are always out of milk.. and chocolate), and chilling down at the city center.

I took some pictures of us around town, in the locker room, and at a team dinner so check those out.

Love Ya'll

Wayy to much fun in a week...

My 23rd bday was on Tuesday and it was a great day (minus practice). The night before Erica taught me how to drive her stick shift car... since its the same car I am getting from the club at the "end of the month". I only stalled out 6 times and drove around with the parking break on for 5 mins! I started to get better and Erica was super patient with me which made it fun to learn! (Thanks Dude!)

On my bday Sheila and I had to go take pictures for the team website. (http://www.vc-wiesbaden.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1668&Itemid=41)

Erica wanted to sleep in so I got to drive!!! I only stalled once and it was after I had dropped her off at home!! I was sooo proud. Then I went to lunch with the girls and made hair appointments at this amazing salon! After a horrible practice we went to dinner at this place called ALEX which was fantastic and I had a glass of riesling, my fav, that Wiesbaden just so happens to be known for!

Yesterday Sheila, Erica, and I went to get our hair done! It was a super cool, trendy, salon and 3 awesome girls did our hair. The girl who cut my hair was CRAZY and I LOVED how she cut it. She would grab a chunk of hair and then twirl her scissors on her finger to cut it!

I loaded some fun pics of my hair so check em out!!

ROAD TRIP

Okay so I am a few days late posting about our road trip, because I was sick the past couple of days. SO sorry about that... anyway...after our win last Sunday, I went to dinner at this amazing Iranian restaurant called 1001 Nacth. Sheila, Erica, Joe (erica's friend from home), and I ate this amazing sampler of pretty much everything in the restaurant including this sauce we like to call Persian Sweetness! It is seriously the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. While at dinner Erica got a call from one of our teammates saying that we had the day off tomorrow (Monday)... which meant ROAD TRIP!!

We went to Luxembourg, Brussels, and Cologne (Germany) in a day and 1/2! Joe was our tour guide and fearless leader since he was a history major in college. He was seriously like having a walking Wikipedia with us! We got up early Monday morning and headed to Luxembourg to site see. We all slept in the car while Joe drove... I pretty much love him for that! We had lunch at a bakery that had the MOST AMAZING deserts ever! I was in heaven. We walked around town and took some fun pictures.

Then we hopped back into the car and headed to Brussels, Belgium for some waffles fries and beer! YES! All in my top 10 favorites. When we go to the city it was absolutely amazing. In a lot of ways it reminded me of down town Chicago. The first thing we did was stop at the hostel we were going to be staying at to drop off our stuff. We were so lucky that there was a parking garage right next door because the town was super busy. The hostel was really nice and we had two to a room with a little balcony. The next stop was WAFFLES! Joe was super hungry so he lead the way. We found a little stand and I got a waffle with chocolate and ice cream. It was amazing! Then we headed across the street for some famous double fried frites (fries) and curryworst! Joe found the town square so we spent a while there hanging out and taking pictures. We went shopping at some cute stores and got free chocolate at a few places. Later that night Joe and Erica went to see the new James Bond, while Sheila and I had a pub crawl to test out a few of Belgium's finest beers. After our pub crawl we had another waffle because the sign that said McDonald's was 400 meters to the left was a LIAR!

The next morning we met up with Joe and Erica at the parking garage only to find out at it was a National Holiday in Belgium and our car was LOCKED IN THE GARAGE!!! We finally got someone to come let us in and had to pay 50 Euro to get it out! Whoops. We still had enough time to stop in Cologne on our way home, so we decided to have lunch there.

We went to see the most amazing Gothic style church I have ever seen. It was HUGE! There were two amazing pipe organs in there as well. Outside of the Church was some crazy party that looked similar to Halloween in Madison, Wisconsin. People were out drinking and dancing and there was a marching band and everyone was dressed up in crazy costumes. It was wayyy more entertaining that the church I have to admit. We grabbed some lunch and hopped back into the car as our fearless leader drove us home on the AutoBan! (a free way with no speed limit).

Needless to say after our amazing adventures... practice did not go too well. I also was sick with a head cold. Poop. I am feeling much better now after seeing the doctor last night and pretty much sleeping for two days straight. Hope all is well back home!! I love hearing from everyone!

Oh and BTW... The link to the pictures is on the left hand side tool bar so check them out! Peace

And so it begins...

Last Sunday was the first match of my professional volleyball career. I was excited and thrilled that our somewhat small and old practice gym could transform into such an amazing playing atmosphere. The gym only holds between 1,000 and 2,000 people but it is sold out every time. We have a super fan section that brings drums to the matches and starts chants that the crowd yells out.

Before the match when our team gets announced they turn the lights of and play some euro techno and the drums play. It kind of reminds me of the old school Chicago Bulls intro because its pitch black dark and then there is a giant spot light you run out to. We shake hands with kids lined up (aww like Wisconsin!) and then get ready to play.

Now, I mentioned that this was my first professional volleyball matcher ever, and the way our team started I thought for sure it was going to be my last. I looked up at the score board to see our team down 8-0. YIKES! Our coach subbed my roommate Erica from BYU in and she slowly helped us catch up. We once again got stuck in serve receive and our coach put Sheila in! YAY! We improved but still lost the first set 25-16. Sick! I was very embarrassed.

The line up stayed how we ended the 1^st set, and our team came back to dominate in the 2^nd and 3^rd sets. It was soooo much fun to play next to Sheila again. She played out of her mind, the best I think I have ever seen her play. Erica is a blast to play with too, and super easy to set for.

The 4^th set was a battle till the end. Back and forth the entire match with no team ever leading more than 2 points at a time. It was 23-21 when I looked up at the scored board and really knew we had to push. Behind some amazing serving and great defense by our other roommate Liv, from Brazil, we ended strong and won 26-24.

The post game celebration in the gym was amazing! You would have thought we won a national title. I guess the other team had 4 players who switched from our team to the opponent so there was some tension there and they is why it was such a big match.

I hope we continue to improve and get stronger. We are on the road next weekend so it will be interesting to see how we travel and play on the road.

Hope all is well with everyone at home!

Ciao!

Sehr Gut (VERY GOOD!)

The past couple of days have been amazing. I have taken my free time to go out and walk around town to get acquainted with the city and start to become more aware of my surroundings. I walked down to the City center the past few days and met up with my teammates Pan Hong from China and Sheila Shaw from... thats right... Muskego ,Wisconsin. I played with Sheila... (or as our coach Xiaojun calls her... SHAY-luh, haha) at UW my freshman and sophomore years, so it's sooooooo fun to get to play with her again. She is one of my favorite people in the world! (and I'm not just saying this because I know she has the link to this site haha)

Sheila lives with Pan Hong and it takes me about 10mins or so to walk to their apartment. They are only 2 blocks from the city center, where all of the shopping and restaurants are. Yesterday we went to a team sponsored lunch in the center and I had brats! YUM! We get to eat lunch for free everyday by a team sponsor. Each month we get to go to a new restaurant which is super cool. Practice went well last night, but 3 hours is a long time for this old body. We played a lot of 6 on 6 games though which creates a fun gym atmosphere.

Today practice was earlier in the day and it came way to fast since I was up till about 5am here watching the Badger and Winona State volleyball games. However, it was nice to get done early and have the rest of the day to hang out. Pan Hong, Sheila, and I went back to the city center where we got these authentic and amazing Gyros! I normally am not a big fan, but these were amazing and we received free drinks from the owner because he knew we played on the volleyball team here and was excited that we were eating at his place before our big match tomorrow! Hehe After that we walked around town and did some shopping, well window shopping.

Lets see what else... Ah yes Paul our German Language teacher is crazy cool! He only allows us to speak German though and there in no English in our text books so it feels insane, but I can already understand the language! I can't speak a lick of it to save my life... but I can comprehend what others are saying to me (for the most part). I guess that is a start right? Oh well...

Well I am going to go play my guitar for a bit and wind down after a long and fun day with the girls. Then I have to do my German homework! JA! (yes!)

Guten Abend! (good night)

Bis Später (c ya later!)

The First Few Days

Guten Tag! (Good Day)

Well, it is nearing the end of my 4th day here in Wiesbaden, Germany. I just got home from my 2nd round of PT testing where I had to ride a bike that continually increased by 50 watts every 2 minuets until fatigue. Then I had to do all sorts of push ups, sit ups, and squats till fatigue. Needless to say my body is waaayy too old for this.

Lets take a step back though because this is the 4th day. Wiesbaden is a beautiful city about 20 kilometers from Frankfurt (where the international airport is). I arrived early Monday morning after an 11 hour flight, and slowly found my way through the airport. Once I got through customs, I was greeted by the president of the club, Rudi. He is a retired police officer and the sweetest man ever. He drove me to my apartment where I now live with Erica Lott who played at BYU and Liv who is the other setter from Brazil. In the afternoon I went to the physical to see if I would be cleared to play, I guess I was, because I went to practice that night. However, I was so dehydrated and jet lagged that it was not a very good practice, and I was nervous I wouldn't make the team.

On the second day I had to wake up at 8am to go to physical testing. (This is the test I had to pass in order to make the team) The doctor took all of my vitals and then drew blood from my ear. We proceeded to a treadmill where I had to run at increasing speeds every 3 minutes, stopping for a moment to draw and test more blood. 18 was the best anyone on the team got, I made it to 15 (running at 9mph!) What any of this has to do with setting a volleyball, I am still not quite sure. The doctor told me my I was not aerobically in shape but had good-great anaerobic standards. For those of you that don't know volleyball is an anaerobic sport. I was fine with this but he told me this was not good? I was now super nervous of being cut so I had to have a fantastic practice, which I somehow pulled off and made the team on the 3rd day.

Not only did I receive my uniform and all of my gear yesterday but I was also informed that I was cleared to play on Sunday and would be starting!! I went to lunch with the team (which we get free everyday from a particular restaurant each month). Things were really starting to turn around and I could finally unpack and relax... or so I thought.

Which bring us back to me sitting at my computer completely perturbed at the fact that I was good enough to not only make the team but start this weekend that they would then have me go through another round of physical testing to fatigue that is going to be evaluated tomorrow. So now not only am as sore as I have ever been going into my first weekend of play, but I am confused and a little aggravated as well.

I know this is no excuse, but this craziness is why it has been hard for me to keep in touch closely with everyone. I figured this blog would be a good way to keep anyone who is interested updated.

To end my craziness on a good note, I really really like the girls on the team. We represent 8 different countries and team functions and meals are multilingual and always entertaining. I am excited to be apart of a team where I can learn about so many different cultures. We are going to make dinners for each other that are representative of our home countries and I am really looking forward to that.

Take care, I miss you all!