God Jul and Happy New Year

The time with Reese and Thom has gone by quickly! It's already been close to two weeks that they have been here and I feel like we have done a lot, yet we have a lot yet to do.

This week, after we got back from the bandy game on Sunday night, I had to work Monday and Tuesday, as well as getting some things done on Wednesday, so we pretty much laid low and did things that were close to the apartment. Christmas Eve is when they celebrate he holiday here, in fact, the children actually get to see Santa Claus deliver the presents on Christmas Eve (if you wonder how, I'll explain that later so as not to spoil any surprises for any children old enough to read and believe). I do realize now though, that since Santa delivers on Christmas Eve here, that is how he can deliver to all good girls and boys all over the world --- and yet he delivers in the US on the night of Christmas Eve. I get it now - might help you explain to your children how he can deliver all over the world.

We decided that we would venture to Gamla Stan on Christmas Eve to see the beautiful decorations and watch people milling around, as well as get some last minute gifts for some friends here. We had a lovely lunch in a cafe as well as enjoying some of the shops. Christmas day, I had an invitation to go do some training with one of the other team mates - including a 45 minute run including hill work out, as well as skating with her for an hour, then skating with the men's AIK bandy team for an hour. Yes, I had a great work out. I got home as fast as I could because we then were invited to go back to dinner with my old host family for Christmas night. It was a lot of fun to see the children and socialize with Miska and Camilla - I've missed them. Thom realized how I learned so much living with them and why I loved it - the way they teach you so much with small words at a time and the cooking that they do - fabulous! I got a new recipe from them and can't wait to try it on my own! The day after Christmas is like the "black Friday" of Thanksgiving weekend for us...it's their shopping day where all of the sales take place. We ventured out to run some errands and decided to head out to the outlets and see what we could find there....what we found were lots of people and shortened hours of the outlet mall, so we didn't get much done. We have found out from a few failed attempts that you cannot believe the Post Office here on their posted holiday hours online --- we've tried to get to the post office and have had them closed when the posted hours said they would be open. Oh well, Thom got to venture on the metro system to find the post office and a hockey shop that was also closed....Lesson Learned - they close pretty much everything the weekend after the holiday. Sunday morning, I got up early to meet a few of the gals at the rink for more training - was on the ice about 2 hours, then ventured back home to meet Thom and Reese to go for a small walk about the town. Work and training were on the schedule for Monday, along with some shopping at the AIK shop as they had a sale going on for the day. Tuesday was a full day of working for me while Thom did the laundry (so nice having someone else to do that for me :) ), and Wednesday was NYE. I had to work a bit on New Years Eve (boo!), but after we were done with that, we ventured out to the hockey shop to see if they were open and hopefully get some replacement parts for Thom's helmet! They were OPEN! Thom was successful in getting the parts he needed while I scored on a Reebok sweatshirt and pants (I love "rea").

New Years Eve was the best! It was Thom's birthday, but getting reservations anywhere here for dinner was impossible, even though I started the task in early November! We decided that for the day, we would walk around a bit, run some errands, (see hockey shop above), and then have Thom pick where he wanted to grab a bite. We ended up at The Bishops Arms which is right around the corner from the apartment. While we had hoped that we could call this our "local watering hole", we decided we shouldn't. With beers at 63 SEK (That's just about $9.50), it will get very expensive - we'll try somewhere else...it was even cheaper for a beer (56 SEK) in Gamla Stan when I went out with the gals! We had a meal there - mine was delicious Deer, while Thom's was VERRRRRY fatty Veal - not what he had expected and we walked away somewhat satisfied that we tried something new, but somewhat disappointed we didn't stick to instincts of going with the normal. Oh well.... Onto the festivities. We came home for a bit to play with Reese and tire her out - she loves jumping onto her ball! We did a little "pre-party", and then to the city - it was like our Fourth of July in a way - fireworks were everywhere --- and it is apparently legal for almost anyone to shoot off any kind of firework from anywhere they want! I have no idea how many firework shows were going on at one time, but the main one was shot from the Skansen Park area. We headed to Slussen to walk around a bit in Sodermalm, then to watch the show. After the nearly 45 minute show of fabulous fireworks, we decided to avoid the crowds in the tube, and we took the empty bus all of the way back home. Thom has said that it was by far one of his favorite NYE celebrations ever....glad that we were able to make that happen :)

The actual New Years day, most things were closed around the area, so we relaxed at home for a bit in the morning, then headed out for a couple of hours walking through Haga Parken. That was enjoyable for the whole family and really tired the pooch out! She had fun running through the fields of the park. I took them to the top of the hill so they could see Solna to the North and Stockholm to the South...it was a breathtaking view and lovely sunset. We saw some great ice crystalization on the top of the hill (see picture), and finished the walk off by the butterfly house and the sculpture garden. After the walk, I wanted to warm up and make the apartment smell festive, so I baked some gingerbread cookies. Not bad if I must say so myself...without a rolling pin or more than a small cookie sheet, I think they turned out wonderfully. They taste even better than they look!

So, for the rest of the week - I have training on the 2nd and 3rd as we prepare for a big game against Sandviken on Sunday! Should be a good match. We have quite a few games next week - one on Tuesday as well and Saturday soon follows. Busy week ahead of me - I'm ready though....

Hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas and ringing in 2009 was as fun for you as it was for us!

KP

They ARRIVED...and now we have things to do...

Sorry for the delay, but as you can imagine, my excitement for having my family together has been all consuming! The minute they walked through the gates in the International Terminal (terminal 5 at Arlanda) on Friday morning, it's been a whirl wind.

Boring stuff first - right before they arrived, I was informed that I'd be working on the Brussels/Sweden part of the SJM project, as well as continuing to help the project I was doing in Texas as well --- double duty at this point. Nuts - that means that I'm going to be working a lot while they are here, whereas I thought I was working double duty before so I might catch a reprieve - not so much. Oh well...it's life. So, that's what I've been doing when I am not spending time with the other 2.

Thursday night, I could not sleep...I was tossing and turning, looking at my clock, wondering "how much longer?" I called Thom about 30 minutes before I knew they were supposed to take off, and was informed that "It was almost too cold for Reese to fly!" Apparently, the gate agents weren't going to let little Reese Bonkers (RB) into the cargo area if it was too cold to send her up. Well, on one hand, "Thank you" on the other hand "UGH!". I mean, we want her safe, but we also want her here in Sweden!!! Thom had to wait in line for an hour at the ticket counter to get the verdict, and it was positive that she could fly! WHEW! I also knew that there was some bad weather moving into the Chicago area...and that airport has been hit with some serious storms, cancelling lots of flights (I was victim to it last December when I tried to return home from Australia). I had to hope and pray that they would get out of there on time and away before the storms hit. I was watching their flight status on flightstats.com and saw that they left the gate a little late....at least they were away from the gate and they would be on their way soon. I had to get up at 5:00 to catch the train at 6:00 to be to the air port when they landed around 7:30. I was a nervous wreck! What if the weather made them have to turn around? What if Reese got too cold? Ah...well, at this point, it's out of my hands, and I can't control it...I must roll with the punches.

Like a kid waiting for Santa Claus at Christmas, I was watching the dotted line go across the world towards Sweden. I got maybe an hour of sleep and was up before the alarm...onto the bus, train, bus and I made it to the airport by 7:20. They landed 20 minutes early (7:30 as opposed to 7:50), and I could watch the status on a little board in the terminal to know that they had landed and when the bags were all off of the plane. Most planes were on the board for landing and back off with all baggage unloaded within 30-40 minutes. So, when the "CHICAGO SK946" flight was on the board for over an hour and I still hadn't seen them....I was curious. I knew that another dog was on the flight with them from Chicago, and I saw a dog come out in a carrier and thought "Is that her?"....and then saw the massive size of the dog and was disappointed. Back to the position of waiting behind the barrier....and waiting....and waiting some more....THEN - the gates opened, my pooch was in her crate on a cart with Thom pushing right behind her. I went around the barrier and over to hug him. I was so excited to see them both!  Thom looked good as usual, and Reese was excited to see me, or at least excited to be out of the cage.  She was still a little drugged from the sedative we decided to give her for the flight, so when I took her out to go to relieve herself before getting onto the public transit system, she seemed a little out of it.  

We loaded the 2 big bags and Reese's crate onto the bus to get to the train station, then had to take an additional 2 busses home.  We could have gotten a ride from coach as he offered many times (thanks Oscar), but neither Thom nor I like to infringe upon people and we weren't sure how long it would take Thom to get off of the plane and get through Customs with Reese.  The customs part apparently wasn't too daunting as they only read the microchip in her and looked over the papers.  Of course though, as they were looking through the papers, Thom was worried about any questions they would have asked....but they were easy questions and they were allowed to come through the gates within 5 minutes of starting at customs.

Once they got here, I had them walk with me through Hagaparken (where Reese got very filthy!!) so they could get some fresh air, Reese could get her blood pumping to move the drugs through her system, and just move in general to try and keep them up a little longer to get them closer to a Swedish schedule.  At

2:30 they were down for the count....and napped until 9:00...and then we were all up until about 4:00 in the morning on Saturday...then back to sleep for a few hours, and back up at 10:00 to go to Skansen where they have a Christmas Market.  This park also has a zoo (where I saw Rudolph and his clan) and is near an amusement park, so

 it was neat to see all of that stuff - we will go back to that area to see the Vasa Museum.  I was hoping to find some good Swedish crafts there, but was a bit disappointed to see more food than crafts.  Oh well...    Later that

 night we went to Elin's house so Reese could meet Roberr because he would be letting her out of her crate on

 Sunday as I had an away game.  We also made Marsipan and had some Glogg.  Yum!  All was

very good and of course the company was great too with Elin, Roberr, Maria, and Linnea from the team.  Back home early and to bed we went because Sunday was a 4:00 AM wake up call.

From the house to the bus station in the morning, then we had to get a ride from there to the ice rink as the buses do not run that early in the morning.  We had a 5:30 departure from the ice rink to get to Kareby where we would take on yet another team.   The bus ride is kinda fun to see different areas of Sweden - as you can see in

 one of the pictures, we stopped near a place that had a really cool old ruin building along a lake.  This was just outside of Jonkoping.  Kareby is about 5 hours SW of Stockholm.  Norma

lly, we

 would have 3 subs on the bench, but we only had 1 sub this game and we were missing 2 of our super stars from the team.

We knew we'd play ok, but without them being some enforcement, it is a bit different on the team.  We did do OK - getting down 1-0 in the first half, then I scored at about the 30 minute mark of the first half to tie it 1-1.  Ended the first half at that score, then we weredown 2-1, but Mikkis tied it up for us again 2-2 and that's how we ended.  We weren't too happy, but at the same time, we had SO many opportunities where we either hit the post or missed the net, or the ball bounced just the wrong way for us, but the right way for them. I even had a rebound that if I had been 1 or 2 strides quicker, I might have beat the goalie to the ball and taken it in for yet another.  We are sure that we will beat them by a lot more in the next meeting with them.  Back on the bus for the ride home....and the bus made a grand entrance to the rink...by hitting the wall of the locker room and busting a few of the windows on thebus!  No real damage to the locker room, but the bus looked like it had been through a riot.  Oops!   We were all commenting on how well the drivers had been doing too....oopsies, maybe we spoke too soon!

Monday we slept in a little bit because we exhausted from the trip, but I got up and did some work while Thom cleaned the apartment and took Reese for some potty trips outside.  Then off to training where we did do a lot of skating and Thom got to take a lot of shots against him.  Unfortunately, his sports hernia is still bothering him as is his shoulder, his back, etc....  the joys of getting older I guess ;)  

Tuesday, I got up and started working and got quite a bit accomplished before we set out to get new bus passes and get money to pay the rent for the month as well as get some "Thank You" gifts for those that took care of Reese while we were off to the game, and for those who have invited us to spend Christmas dinner with them.  We are excited to have such open and welcoming people helping us out here.

The rest of this week - I hope that Old Town is open tomorrow so I can get a few last minute gifts, then we will relax and Christmas Day, I will go to the rink to do some training - some running followed by skating an hour with one of the teammates, then training for an hour or so with the men's AIK team.  I'm sure that I'll be skating really hard that day!!!  Training schedule is a bit altered this week due to the holiday, but it's great to see that so many people still want to take to the ice!  I love it - as Thom pointed out, it's amazing the dedication that the team mates have to getting out there and training.

That is it for now - the family has arrived and we are all getting settled in together.  I didn't

 realize how independent I had grown in a short period of time....I'm not used to having to get 2 people on a schedule and planning for it...takes a bit of adjustment again.  Thom is dealing with it pretty well though I'd have to say :)  I think we are all just happy to be back together again.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas (God Jul!) and a very Happy New Year --- I have to

figure out how to say that yet --- but I have another week and I'll post those wishes too ;)  If you travel anywhere for the Holiday, I wish you very safe travels.

God Jul,

Kristy, Thom, and Reese

(PS - Random picture of a bruise - yeah - you know I'm playing bandy when the bruise lasts for over a week and a half and is that dark still....;)  )

Last few moments as a "single" girl in the city

Here it is...the countdown is really on now (under 24 hours) before Thom and Reese get here. I can't wait!


Last weekend we played against West Strand AIK - "VAIK" - one of our close competitors and a rival of "AIK". It was a known fact that it would be a great match since they do have some of the top players on their team - some of their team members play for the Women's Swedish National Team. I will admit, I was nervous and afraid of messing up!!! The game was definitely a great one, and I loved it. I had SO much fun!! I even had a challenge against me with 2 of them against me while I carried the ball and I ENDED UP WITH IT! That was the best feeling - a great feeling of "I can carry the ball through traffic....Finally!" I also had one play that I was quite proud of where I was backchecking and took the ball away from their team right in the middle of our zone --- she just had to walk around 1 more person and she could have been in for a good shot on our awesome goalie - she probably wouldn't have scored because Linda (our goalie) is the best there is...no kidding either. But at least I felt like I contributed by taking that chance away from her. The final was 7-1. Great score for us! This weekend, we have a game that is another away game and it is about 5 hours away from here. Long bus ride, but I love it...we watch movies (in English with Swedish sub titles), and it's a way to get to know some of the players even more. The team is really fabulous - so very generous and warm. I feel like I have a family away from my family here. I can't say enough about the team...


The game was on Sunday, so let me back up to the fun I had on Saturday ---- Friday night I was exhausted from the week of work and training, so I went to bed at 7:00 PM and didn't get up until the alarm woke me at 9:00 AM on Saturday - I was up and ready to go shopping with some of the tjejer (girls) downtown. WOW! That was fun! We met around 11:00 at Sergels Torg - one of the landmarks in the area. Then we went shopping at a ton of stores. I had a blast just tagging along, taking in all of the great stores, wonderful fashion, and the laughter we all had. We had fika (coffee break) and did some people watching to rest our legs, then we went along and into one of the largest shopping areas of the city where I got a glimpse of Lucia!!! (Saturday was Lucia Day where they have a big celebration and sing songs, as well as indulge in Lucy-Kattes - a bakery treat with saffron in them). I have attached some of those pictures here. We managed to cap the day off with Sushi...oh my - it was WONDERFUL! I ate so much I thought I was going to explode...yummy and fresh! mmm! Also, in the store front of the shopping area, there are some very grand displays that all of the children try to see...very cute. It's like an animated story book is displayed in the store front. I did not get any pictures of this due to the numerous people that were taking it all in, but it was quite impressive. Perhaps I can take Thom down there some time this coming week and we can be the tourist and happy snappy with the camera. We have a busy weekend ahead of us once he gets here - Friday I will try to keep him and Reese awake and go for a walk with them through the park, then we'll head to bed early as I'm sure they will be exhausted from the time change. Saturday we will go to Skansen - one of the largest Christmas Markets! I will definitely buy some goods there - I've been waiting for it!!! The market is only open from the first weekend in November through the weekend before Christmas. Then, we have a "cookie baking" to go to with Elin from the team - like I said - the team is SO great. Elin has been absolutely wonderful with her hospitality, encouragement on the ice, willingness to invite me to training, parties, and social events; she is very sweet and always willing to translate for me...I am a very lucky person!! I have another bus mate who I try to ride the bus with to practices - Anna Munson - who has been working with me on my Swedish and helps me to understand some of the traditions and things that are going on!! So sweet! On Sunday we will go to my game - perhaps Thom will not go if he doesn't feel up to it and wants to sleep on Sunday instead. If he does go, Reese might need a baby sitter for a day - but maybe Elin's boyfriend can help us out. We will see and play that all by ear at this point.


It was yet another typical week this week with training and work. I did however manage to get out on Thursday to a wedding shoppe - I will not post those pictures here as that is a surprise :) Thom and Reese arrive tomorrow morning and I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep tonight in anticipation of their arrival - keep the prayers rolling in that Reese will make it just fine. I'll be tracking Thom's progress on flightstats.com ;) It's like mapping Santa's journey to my house...

I should post another blog next week, but in case I don't, I hope all of you have a VERY Merry Christmas!!!


As for now - off to another training session...

Board of Agriculture, Customs, and "Who the hell knows?"

It's been a week (and it's only Wednesday!)....a trying week, a tiring week, a fretful week that I am hoping will soon be behind me. The bandy was good --- it was the disaster that struck the day Thom took Reese to our vet, then took Reese to the USDA Vet who proceeded to tell him "Your order of operations of executing the defined requirements is out of sequence. They will not let her into the country." UM!? HELLO!? Couldn't they have told me that BEFORE? Like the first 10 or 20 times I called "Pamela" to get the information (Pamela is the "expert" on exporting animals - dear God, if our country puts someone like this as the "expert" in anything we're screwed!) Needless to say, we've not dealt with Pamela since the whole ordeal started this week.

Note to anyone taking a pet to Sweden:

1 - Implant the Euro Chip FIRST!

2 - Vaccinate against Rabies

3 - wait 120 days to do a blood draw to test for Titre (the antibodies to prove she is ok with Rabies) - but allow yourself 4 weeks for test results!

4 - 10 days or less before you will ARRIVE (not depart as Pamela told us) in the country, have your dog injected for de-worming and a flea/tick topical treatement administered, and a health certificate.

5 - AFTER you have that deworming and topical treatment, get the USDA vet visit done and obtain the Health Certificate endorsement.

6 - Ensure that your airline will NOT make your dog travel cargo...if your dog DOES travel in cargo, you will have to have a visit within 24 hours with the USDA Vet to get a "note" put on the certificate that your pet is healthy to travel in cargo. (*NOTE - CARGO is NOT the same as "Checked Luggage"....ahhh...yes...there in lies some of the issue).

We did all of this - except - we had steps 1 & 2 in reverse order. You see, Reese had her annual vaccinations in May. I found out in June that I'd be able to come to Sweden. So, I did some research, found out I had to have a European chip/ISO certified chip implanted, so I did that in June....wrong order! HOWEVER - If I were to leave in October, to get her Rabies Vaccination in June - - - 120 days puts you past October departure.

Another side note --- If this happens and you are like most people that you keep your pet up to date on shots, find out you need a chip so you go get it - there is a way to notate it! Call the Board of Agriculture and have them send you an instruction sheet on what the letter should be that the Vet can write to say "Yes, this is the dog that does not have Rabies, yes this is the SAME dog that has the microchip". HOWEVER - do not ask the Board of Agriculture if your dog will need the vet visit within 24 hours of departure...THEY HAVE NO IDEA! What I found most interesting is that the person who was helping me was reading some of THEIR own documentation and said "Pets will not have to have..." and then said "Oh, but this says something different, which do I....I will have to put you on hold." Great - they write the rules, but they don't know what they've written and apparently, 2 different people have written them. If the country that is setting the rules doesn't know what to go by....how am I??? Who the hell knows!

I did some searching and decided that Customs should know - they are the ones that make the call at the airport anyway of letting a pet in or not...call them. The Customs phone number you can find on the web through http://www.arlanda.com/ does not work. You dial it, you get some operator (who sounds nice) telling you the number is not in service (in Swedish of course) and she hangs up on you. (b!tc*) Didn't anyone tell her it's rude to just hang up??? I figured a way around it....call the airport directly. After 5 different numbers that the airport staff told me to call (call #1 - hang up, call airport, get #2, call #2, hang up...repeat through 5), I finally get a human on the other end who speaks very broken english, but we figure out how to communicate together....I ask "I have dog coming to live here, what steps must we take to get right papers?" (Sounds barbaric huh?) She replies in steps 1-6 above - very broken English, but I've read enough about it, I know what she's saying. I respond back with my question of "Should I take my dog to the USDA vet within 1 day before she flies here?" She responds back in the Fargo stereotype accent "Only if you plan on puttin' her in da cargo area". I ask "is 'checked luggage' considered cargo?" She replies back a firm "No". WHEW!

So, now we are waiting to see if Reese will fly in Cargo or not. Strange that I cannot find a non 1-800 number to call SAS in the US to ensure that she will not fly Cargo (I guess it's a European based company, so they would have a European # - but they won't know what SAS in US does necessarily - at least, after this run around I would assume that they don't know)...so, I have to bother Thom, once again as he's swamped at work and stressed out as it is...to call SAS.

As I've learned to say here --- "Fi Fon!" as an expression of exaspiration and frustration.

All I want for Christmas is Thom and Reese....is that too much to ask?? I now retract my answer to anyone who has asked "Is it easy to bring your dog to Sweden?" I was saying "Yeah - the removed the quarantine period in 2004, so it's a snap!" Now I respond "We'll see...."

Game time on Sunday against West Strand - BIG game....stay tuned...I'll have the latest on Reese and the game at that point.

As for now.....

How much longer til I see that doggie in the picture(arf, arf)

The one with the waggley tail

How much longer til I see that doggie in the picture(arf, arf)

I do hope that doggie's cleared to fly like mail

I must take a trip to Sweden

And leave my poor sweetheart alone

If he has a dog he won't be lonesome

And the doggie will have a good home

How much longer til I see that doggie in the picture(arf, arf)

The one with the waggley tail

How much longer til I see that doggie in the picture(arf, arf)

I do hope that doggie's cleared to fly like mail

I read in the papers there are robbers (roof, roof)

With flashlights that shine in the dark

My love needs a doggie to protect him
And scare them away with one bark

I don't want a bunny or a kitty

I don't want a parrot that talks

I don't want a bowl of little fishies

He can't take a goldfish for a walk

How much longer til I see that doggie in the picture(arf, arf)

The one with the waggley tail

How much longer til I see that doggie in the picture(arf, arf)

I do hope that doggie's cleared to fly like the mail

Rooooooooo!

KP

Routine...

Yes, I'm falling into a routine here --- so, I guess that means I don't have much to post from last weekend's blog.

Monday was a typical day of work and then Monday Night Skate Night!  This week, we really did skate a lot too.  (Last week, we were in the midst of the 8" of snowfall and ended up playing soccer (futboll) instead of bandy on the rink....yes, we still skated in the 8" of snow, but not as much as we did this week.)  I really enjoy our practices.  I'm noticing that I'm capable of more, therefore I expect more of myself, and when I don't perform as I think I should, I get frustrated with me.  That led me to doing more shooting practice later this week! :)

Tuesday more of the same - work and skate.

Wednesdays we don't have structured practices - it's more of a "train on your own night", so I decided to get my physical exercise in by going for a 5k run...that 5k run ended up being an 8k run through Hagaparken.  It's so beautiful there.  I will find a trail and decide to "see where this one leads" and I just follow it.  One of the trails I decided to follow took me up a hill to the

 highest point in the park, giving way to a beautiful view of Solna to the north and Stockholm to my south.  I didn't have my camera with me (I only anticipated running a 5k!), so I will have to make that adventure again (darn!) and take my camera with me to share the views.  

Thursday was more routine of working and training....

Friday I did manage to break away from work for a little bit (at 4:00) when I went to go hit some balls at the rink and then have a little more recreational fun after that...by heading to Gamla Stan with the equipment managers and one of my teammates.  We were going to go to

 a Medieval bar, but that was booked for some special event, so we went to an Irish pub instead - O'Connells.  I had a yummy dinner (fish and chips), and we all had some yumm

y adult beverages.  There was an authentic Irish band that came and played as well, and it was interesting how they could get everyone in the bar to quiet down when it was time for a slow, sad song.  (I learned that the Irish songs that were being sung were all about life experiences)  It was a fun (and late) night!!!

Saturday I got up to go take to the rink, but when I got to the rink, there was a game going on, so I came back to the apartment, cleaned a little bit, and logged into work for a little.  Sunday - woke up to get to the rink early and when I got there, Elin and I joined into a game of pick up 'hockey/bandy'.  Some of the guys had hockey sticks, some bandy sticks and we were playing with a ball.  It reminded me of the pond hockey tournament back in MN.  

The guys were some ankle benders, so I was trying to not go all out as I didn't want to take a stick in the shins or get tripped by someone else.  After we did that for about an hour, I took some shooting practice!  Then we were both starving so we took the skates off and headed home.  Laundry beckoned and relaxation was on the agenda for the afternoon.  As you can also see from the pictures, I managed to sample some of the beers here...I liked them all :)

Next week, I will FINALLY get my hair cut on Monday, head to the office on Tuesday to lead a meeting and pick up a package that was mailed to me (Thank you Thom! ---although, we are

 perplexed as to why the package was delivered to the office instead of my address --- you see, "SJM" was written on there, but the address was my apartment address....strange!).

  Wednesday and Thursday will be routine, Friday back into the office (if needed), and then we have a game this weekend!!!  yeaye!  It will be a big match as it is against one of our

rivals.

Thom is only about 10 days away from being here now!  The countdown is on...and I'm making a list of the things we will do once he gets here.  So exciting!!!

Giving Thanks - Swedish Style....

Giving Thanks – Swedish style…

Unfortunately, Wednesday this week, I was ‘encouraged’ to work a few ‘extra’ hours, so I managed to work well into the morning here (after going into the office here in Sweden at 8:00 and working a full day there – I came home and logged in to work the US hours as well…cest la vie), and that late working led me to sleeping in on Thanksgiving day – the day I was going to go explore the Kungsholmen area of the city. The change of plans led me to explore closer to home since I had to be back for practice later that night. So, I walked the northern portion of Vasastaden to Sveavagen and over to Varhallvagen where I would see some sights. I did find a dog and cat pet shop on this walk, so I have a place now to get Reese some dog food – perhaps the way to transport it back home will be to take my wheeled suitcase and load it in there….55 lbs will get heavy on a long walk. I walked for about 2 hours and I started to really put locations together when I came by Ostra Station and saw where I had gotten off of the train the first time I went to look at an apartment! It was all making sense to me. I then walked along until I went by Tekniska Hogskolan - which accounts for 1/3 of Sweden's technical research and engineering education at University Level. 15,000 students - founded in 1827. While there, I saw some of the neat sculptures they have there as well as the fountain structure that Carl Milles created - The Industrial Monument, and it rests on a marble base; quite massive in size! I rounded out my walk by going past the Olympic Stadium which was the host spot to the 1912 Summer Olympics and is still a functioning facility – in fact, I didn’t take pictures of it this trip because there were some tents being put up or taken down and it would have ruined the neat shot I know I can get; Thom will be here and I’ll have to go back by there with him anyway! At that point, I had to hop onto the bus and head home to make it to practice in time. Not much of a “Thanksgiving Day”, but I would make up for it tomorrow.

Friday I set out to do cover as much of the city as I could, and I did cover a lot. I started walking down one of the main drags here “S:T Eriksplan” and decided to fuel myself for the day with a mocha from a café. While sitting there and people watching, I started to take an inventory of what my senses are experiencing here as well as my physical being. Being a Holiday and all, I felt compelled to really appreciate all that I have to be Thankful for --- I listened for a while and loved the sound of laughter from the table next to me, the smell of the stereotypical “Strong Swedish” coffee, and the warmth within the café. I hear a buzz of the shopping plaza around me (which almost every town has it’s own mall…even if it’s only 5 miles from the other shopping mall), the sound of the studded tires outside on the streets, and the honking you usually hear in a busy metropolitan area where congestion is common. I see tons of moms pushing their “push seats” (strollers) with their little ones bundled up in some kind of wrap or ‘sack’ that looks so cozy and snuggly. The strollers they have are all very rugged and seems like they could go on almost any terrain – I guess that’s why you always see people outside walking, even if they do have little ones.
I have been asked a lot of “what kind of food do they have there?” I see a lot of shrimp everywhere I go! (As you can see from the picture, it is in abundance, and this was just one sidewalk window I took a picture of.) I had a baked potato, and on it, they put shrimp. Salads have shrimp, sandwiches, pizzas, you name it, shrimp is common as is corn on everything, whereas salad dressing seems to be limited to one option – 1,000 Island!
I see a lot of Hot Dog stands – just like in NYC. McDonalds and 7-11 seem to pop up on about every other corner. The abundance of McDonalds makes sense too – you see, in the US, we have diversified our fast food venues…we have McD’s, BK, Wendy’s, Taco Hell, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut, and the list goes on and on. Here in Sweden, they have McDonalds, Max (competitor to McD’s), and maybe one other one that I haven’t seen much of…So, the ratio of fast food ‘spots’ is probably the same, it just seems like there is a lot of McD’s here. SUSHI – totally see that is almost every other restaurant I come across. Plenty of the raw fish to be eaten. Well, I finished my coffee, time to move along…the journey continues along the busy streets of the City.

I didn’t walk around Kungsholmen all that much, but I did walk by the large Police House, and then by the City Hall (Stadshuset). It is quite a neat building - The three crowns that you have probably seen as a symbol in reference to Sweden are on top of the building and were designed by Ragnar Ostberg. The three crowns, (tre kronor) date from before the 14th century. *I wonder who gets up there and polishes them - they were shiny! This is also where they hold the Nobel Prize ceremonies – cool.

I made my way back over the bridges to Gamla Stan and just walked part of the small island and headed to Sodermalm (South City). I took the time to walk to the top of the hill where I could take in a good look of the city from a higher spot. Quite impressive with all of the buildings and activities going on. As I came down the hill, I then decided to walk through some of the residential streets to see how some other people live, and yes, there are actually houses amongst the many apartment buildings – not many, and they are very old, but there were a few. I headed down one of the main streets on the west side of Sodermalm and what do I see? A random bandy rink??! Later, I found out that this is actually one of the rinks where the men’s World Championships will be held this year!! Sweden versus Russia will take place on this ice – I cannot wait to see that game! I took a deep breath in of the bandy field, then cut back north to start heading home through a main street in the center. It is here where I saw where much of the shopping must go on! I headed back to Gamla Stan, and then to Ostermalm (East City) where I had read of a Pub that I should try to experience, and I did just that. Headed to the Pub named Tudor Arms which opened in the 1960s and most people speak English here. After relaxing my feet for a bit, I decide that it’s probably time to head back home and call it a night like the sun has already done, especially since we have a game the next day.

Saturday morning I wake up, prepare (and consume) my usual pre-game meal, and head to the rink. Time to challenge Edsbyn the way I took on the city; with authority and ownership as if I knew exactly where I was going and knew exactly how to get there. This game should be no different. I get out onto the ice and the butterflies are swirling in my stomach. I knew I shouldn’t have checked the online stats of the teams in the league – we needed to rack up a large score to take the lead in the standings. First half, I had a few chances to carry the ball, and a few passes which also set me up for some great hits against me. Doh! One of the passes was a nice pass to me, but it wasn’t quite in the right spot because as soon as I got the pass, I managed to hit head on with one of their bigger defenders. We both went down, but I popped up quicker than she did (good!). The next chance I had in their zone was another pass where the ref straddled the ball, so I couldn’t really “go to it” like I would have wanted to, and my timing was off in order to catch it in the right place, so a minor bobble and instead of going around the girl who was coming after the bobbled ball, I went knee to knee with her. Owie – glad I had my brace on! I shake it off and continue on. I did manage to carry the ball up the sides in their zone at one point too, walked it towards the baseline and popped it off of one of their girls to set us up for a corner stroke. The first half was ok – I was not completely satisfied with my play, but it would do – no major flubbs, and we were up 5-0 at the end of that half. Second half, I was determined to have a better half, and I did. I carried the ball quite a few times and tried to set us up – learned a few things on my carries as well, and will work on those things that I talked to the tactics coach about. Towards the middle of the half, one of their girls and I were going for a ball which was a pass that had gone off of one of our players and I was racing another girl for it to make sure it didn’t go over the end line --- I was determined to beat her to the ball, and I DID! Even though she was trying to block me from the ball, I managed to beat her to it enough to bounce the ball back off of her to get us another corner stroke. Towards the end of the game, I carried the ball and attempted a shot which was blocked by a defender, so we race to the ball at the boards. I win the race and face another opponent, but still come away with the ball – 2 defenders on me opens the ice to pass to one of our forwards who sets a nice pass out there for another midfielder who puts in yet another goal, ending the game with a 12-0 victory. Yes, we put in a lot of goals…that was the objective, I hope it’s enough.

This week, I will go for a 12-15k run on Sunday, training Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Stay tuned for more adventures as I plan to hit the streets more to see what else this great city has to offer! I may not have had any turkey for Thanksgiving this year, but I will say that I am really full and still digesting the great sites I have seen and the culture I devoured. I give many Thanks for the opportunity to be here, the friends and family that have supported me in this, and the great place I am at in life. I have a lot to be Thankful for…and I’m happy that my “leftovers” consist of exploring more of the city and experiencing more culture and fantastic sites.

Hej då - KP

I mean so much ice, they yell "Skate Wayne"

Holy smokes it's been a week!
Sorry to keep y'all on the edge of your seats as I took my time getting this post up...the week contained a lot of 'mundane' activity for work and lots of exciting training. For the work part, I'll spare boring you with the details, so if you were looking for a long novel, my apologies...it's not that exciting to read about the woes of work when I want to focus on the positive changes I'm making in life! (This coming week - I will be taking the Thanksgiving Holiday time off --- I think I deserve it by now!)

Last Sunday we had our first game --- that's where I left off.

Monday - more of the same routine with work - get up, log in, work work work. Then it was off to practice on the ice, and I didn't know this, but Mondays are "Skating days" --- where we do LOTS of skating. Any drill we did consisted of lots of skating either end to end, or lots of dips and doodles, loops and curls. Awesome! My legs felt like Jell-O after that skate, and I was exhausted; 90 minutes of pure skating bliss. Tuesday, again - work work work, then take to the ice for another 90 minute session. We did some drills that I completely sucked at (in comparison to these gals). Oh well...lots to improve upon, right? I try to keep myself positive and tell myself "This is why I'm here!" Wednesday, I had high hopes of getting a small run in, but I got a call from the work facility in Brussels first thing in the morning, screaming "CRISIS!" So, I dealt with that for work for the first 6 hours of the day, then it was a typical 10 hour day for the US side of things --- dang it - no luck getting out of the apartment that day as I was tied to the phone or computer all day long - that was a drag, and I longed for the Monday skating session, even if it WAS painful; nothing can top the internal pain of having to work for 16 hours! I was anxious for Thursday to get here so that the work fire could be put behind me and I could get on with 'normal' life. I decided to go for a walk around Solna on Thursday morning BEFORE logging into the system to do some work - that was a smart idea! I got a good 2 hour walk in, learned a bit more of the layout of Solna, and then did some work, followed by another great training session on the ice. THIS one ROCKED! I totally wiped the mistakes I did on Tuesdays drills out by learning from them, and NOT repeating them. My chips were on target, my ball handling was solid, I even had some great shots. Weee! I am getting it! I felt so great from that skate, I couldn't wait for Saturday's game. Friday I headed into the office here to join the team meeting with the SJM folks, answer a few questions, get a few more tasks assigned to me, etc.. I left work at 3:30 to get to the rink for a "Shooting Session". Just me, the ball, the net and a stick to wack the ball into said net! There were 3 other gals that showed up to this session we had set up, and it was a beautiful night for shooting the ball around. 90 minutes later, I take the skates off again and head to the grocery store to get some grub, head home to get some rest, and relax before the game on Saturday (today!)

Unfortunately, someone else in the apartment complex didn't seem to think that Kristy needed the rest, therefore, they were doing BAD Karoke until about 2:00 in the morning and my alarm was set to ring at 5:30. UGH! Crappy night's sleep....don't dwell on it, move on...think about the positive Thursday session and repeat the execution of that 90 minutes on the ice.

We were heading to "Nässjö" (sounds like "Nehk - whua") to take on the 2nd place team from last year; this is the team that AIK faced in the finals and defeated to be the champions of 2007/2008. Apparently, last year when the 2 teams met for the first time, AIK was not the winner, and therefore it was to be a great match this year with both teams trying to prove something, and it was an awesome match! Nässjö is about 4 hours south of our home ice in Solna. We had a very nice coach bus to ride on so it wasn't a bad journey and I got to see quite a few sites, including the FIRST Ikea store as we made the venture. Nässjö is where 3 of our players on the team this year come from. They have a "bandy school" here where students can train 2 times a day for bandy amongst their studies. No wonder they have such great bandy - I would have LOVED to have trained 2 times a day growing up! We arrived and took a walk to get rid of the stiff legs from the bus trip and get ready for warm ups on the ice. I absolutely love the way AIK is a "TEAM". We warm up together and we have this great 'circle' we do at the end of warm ups that gets us pumped up and going....I am now to the point that I understand most of the words that the girls will shout out in this circle (things like 'strength', 'patience', 'goal', 'win', etc) and it gives me the goose bumps and butterflies before a game; what a feeling. Game time - I'm in the STARTING line up. WOW! I'm even more nervous, and therefore over thinking everything. I just need to calm down, and I realize this....I get out there and within the first shift I had a real eye opening experience - P-H-Y-S-I-C-A-L bandy. Normally, I'd consider this a "gentleman's game" where the physical contact isn't much more than a little rubbin' and bumpin'. Not today. All out aggressive play - with or without the ball. Including the time where I was NO where near the play, just minding my own business, watching play on the opposite side of the field and one of their girls came by and used 2 hands on her stick to chop my arms! I couldn't believe it. Not even in the play, no where near the ball, didn't do anything to her, and "WHACK!" owie - that hurt....I got her number. Let's just say by the end of the game, she had pissed enough of our team off that she was stood up; she did not like that and therefore tried to "shove" the girl who stood her ground (the initial play was not a cheap play as our team member was going for the ball and stood her spot on the ice). The refs didn't take control of the game from the beginning, so I think that it got a little out of hand (from both sides - not claiming innocence here) and left me not as happy with my play as I wanted, but still a bit happy with some of the carries I made, passes I gave, and plays I set up - one almost resulted in a goal. The first half was against the wind, and was NOT our best 45 minutes of bandy that our team has played. Tied 1-1 at the end of the first half, the determination from the team emanated from each person, and we came out at the end of the match with a 2-1 win! We will face this team again on January 31 on our ice and I hope that it will be less "hockey/bandy" and more "bandy/bandy" that we play.

Next game is a week from today - home game against Edsbyn; Edsbyn is where we played the first tournament of the year where they have the indoor rink. This again will be a great match and most likely, less physical. I'm already looking forward to it!

This week was a tiring but fun one with how much training I got to do on the ice. 6 of 7 days; 9 hours of ice time in one week. I think I've only had 5 or 6 hours of ice time in a week before back home, and that was during the World Championship Tournament! I can imagine that training week after week like this, getting less than 7 hours will seem like I've done very little. I am considering hitting the ice tomorrow for 30 -45 minutes just to work on "quick starts" and skating, maybe a little ball handling. Then Monday --- well, as previously stated "Monday Night Skate Night" ;). Tuesday more ice --- that would mean 9 of 10 days with ice time....that would be WAY more than I've ever had before...bring it! I can see the improvements in my bandy abilities, but I'm no where near where I want to be. One day at a time, but at this rate, every day is a bandy day!

Getting to know my home - on and off ice

Hej!
I'm beginning to speak some "Swenglish" these days - kinda funny actually if I were to listen to myself I bet, but I'm picking a word each day to try and get into knowing how to speak more of their language here. It's quite a fun challenge that I put myself up to each day - Today was "Tjejer" - sounds like "shea - yar". Meaning "young woman/girl/tough girl"...slang for "girl" basically. So, it's fun to hear the team mates saying "Bra Tjejer" - meaning "Good job Girls!" Our first home game was exactly that - "Bra"!
The weekend started out with a great run on Friday through "Haganparken" - I was told that it is a beautiful park, and that it is. Lots of open space, and Reese will just LOVE it when she gets here. On my run through part of the park, I see that there is actually quite a bit of history - but I need to take a translator with me to understand everything. As I was running through the park - I had a map in my mind that would be a big loop that I could do many times if I wanted to stay to a 30 minute run - this was an "off" day of training after all...but I came to an interesting map that showed how I could run around this 'lake' that is in my neighborhood. Ahhh, what the heck!? The sign says it's only 12 km around the lake on this trail...only 7.5 miles...shouldn't take me more than...65 minutes?? So, I take off on this trail. I imagine that if it hadn't been raining, the sights would have been more enjoyable and the trail less muddy - but none the less, it was an amazing run! I came up on some random "cafe" in the middle of no where (or what seems to be the middle of no where) and it smells delicious! I will have to walk there with Thom and Reese when they get here! As I looked closer at the map, I realized that I ran from my apartment to the bandy rink, around the other side of the lake, back to my house. Not bad! 63 minutes later, I'm back to the place where I started from and I know how to get home from here...whew...that was quite a run! I loved it! The pictures I took cannot do it justice!

Saturday I waited for my couch to be delivered! Yeaye! I can sit on something other than my bed...er...mattress. Until it came, I decided to stickhandle in my living room...something to do besides sit there and read, or look at the walls. When the couch arrived, it was an easy installation, and then I was off to explore Stockholm. I walked and walked, aimlessly, just wandering and taking it all in. Of course, I was taking some mental notes of sites I came across and streets I was wandering down so I could find my way back home...but, I went without a real destination in mind, and I saw lots of neat stuff. I made my way to the streets where Thom and I had been exploring with the US Bandy team in February, and that brought back some good memories. I strolled in front of the Royal Palace and happened to be there at the time that they did the "Changing of the Guards". That wasn't quite as bone chilling as the Changing of the Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington DC, but it was quite an experience that words cannot portray the level of respect you feel for the Guards as they go through the routine. I tried to capture some pictures, but as night was falling on the city and my camera is a point and shoot, the flash just made the picture too dark - so you have to look at my "shakey" hands as they tried to hold the camera long enough for the shutter to let in enough light. I found some cute clogs that I will have to go back and get --- they didnt' have my size at the time that I was there. DARN - looks like I have to go back!??! ;) (ok, twist my arm).

After wandering around for a couple of hours, I decided it was time to head back. Gave Thom a call and surprised him by hearing my voice, then called mom and dad. Talked with them while I walked home, to the grocery store, and into my apartment to cook some dinner, and then took time to relax the night before the first home game. The walk was very enjoyable and I love the way the city is basically in my backyard, as is a lake, a trail to run, a mall....ahhhh, yes....I'm enjoying the location very much!


The first home game was moved from Saturday to Sunday, and that was actually unfortunate for the weather and outdoor bandy. Rain was falling all sunday morning, and by game time, slushy snow/rain was falling from the skies above. Oh well - if we are playing in the 'bad' weather, so are our opponents. Lace 'em up and deal with it.

First half, the ice was covered in about an inch of slush/snow stuff, making it hard to carry the ball. Well, hard for everyone but the slow one on the ice (that's me!). Our team resorted to the chip shot method to get the ball from one end to the other, and lots of little flips from teammate to teammate. It was quite effective, and had the other team sitting back, waiting on our attack. At one point, the ball came to me as I was curling back in our zone, and I pulled my head up to see LOTS of open ice in the middle....so.....remembering the tactics and plan of attack I went over with our strategy coach, I took to the middle of the ice, carrying the ball, almost coast to coast. Ha! The other team was sitting back, waiting for a chip, and I got to carry it. That was nice until 4 white jersey's converged on me....I should have "Cheese Doodled" back...I started to, but was too late on the decision to do that. I learned lesson #1 of the day - don't wait to cheese doodle. First half ends with us up by a few goals - I think it was 3-0 at that point, and the snow was starting to taper. The zamboni was out on the ice as we stepped into the locker room for a brief strategy session and re-fueling of the bodies. Taking to the ice in the second half, I did a bonehead move and curled in front of my half back instead of behind her - Lesson #2 for the day - don't do that! I caused a pass to hit my skate and potential danger --- lucky for me, they weren't able to do much with the ball, and my teammates recovered for me very well. Duh! Ok...lesson learned...not to be repeated again!!! I continued my game plan of the strategies that the coaches and I had talked about before the games and I kept finding the open ice very easy to find --- so I kept occupying space. Finally, we were in their zone, I was occupying the white space, the ball was being bounced around to the right of the net, I was standing left center --- and what's that??! The ball pops out of the scrum in front I take a shot (on my BACKHAND!), and put the ball just about 3" to the inside of the post!!! I SCORED!!!! WOW! I was like a kid that just unwrapped a bike at Christmas and I threw my arms up in victory and jumped around like the earth was on fire below my toes! That was an amazing feeling.... Patience paid off. The studying I had been doing of our strategy, paid off. I think I'm getting somewhere with this bandy thing...


So, I sit here in my apartment, on a couch, and reflect back on where I started and where I am now - started out with dryland training, the area unknown to me, the language so very foreign. I pushed myself so hard, trying to 'get it all' in the first day of training - trying to train my body and my body retaliated and told me I had pushed too hard, and had therefore hurt my quads. Today, I have an apartment, I can find my way around Stockholm, Solna, Taby, and Bergshamra (4 different areas of "Stockholm" and suburbs). I have my own dryland training areas, I know my own limits on the physical challenges I put my 'old' body through. I have learned enough words to understand some of the concepts in the locker room, and my game is already 5 steps ahead of where I was just a month ago. I'm getting it - - I'm figuring it out, and I love it. I fear I may be settling into a routine I may not want to get out of...again, just missing 2 components - - Thom and Reese. (32 days until Thom and Reese get here! yeaye! but who is counting??) I love this life.

I think I'm green...

I haven’t used a car in almost 5 weeks – instead, I’ve been walking, running, taking a bus, train, or “tube” to get to places, even if I head to Ikea and come back with tons of stuff that I would otherwise at home think is "too heavy to carry". I have started to try and conserve the soap I use – learned a Martha Stewart like trick from my host family – putting some of the dish soap into a squirt bottle and diluting it with water makes it really easy to wash dishes in the sink – cuts down on how much soap you waste, as well as how much water you waste when washing dishes! I purchased a re-useable shopping bag, and I’m buying wine in a bag!!! Yes, wine in a bag – not a box even! It’s 90% less waste and a smaller carbon foot print than any other wine container. Pretty darn cool, and I do have to admit, the wine tastes pretty darn good! (and if you’ve ever looked at the wine in a box – it’s in a bag anyway, just surrounded by cardboard to make it ‘look nicer’). FYI – Wine in a box is very common here! Yes, I am going greener!
I moved into my new apartment this past weekend (6th floor - as you'll see in the picture "6 tr" for "trappe"...I'm "six 'trappe upp" - meaning 6 floors up), and even though it is quite lonely, I have to say I LOVE IT! I don’t have children coming to me at 8:00 on a Saturday morning, asking me to read to them about Mollie and her Opposites. Granted, I did learn some words through reading those books, but when I’m training until 9:00 at night and taking the train/bus back home, I treasure my sleep too! I have 3 lamps – that’s all that lights my way for me right now, so it’s kinda weird when I come in and use the light from the hallway to take my shoes off. I need some hangers and then I think things will be pretty much organized – who would have thought that finding hangers like we have in Target (where we have rows and rows of color selections even for $1/10 hangers) would be hard to come by here in Sweden?!? I can only find “the best” wooden hangers – 3/20 SEK --- meaning – 3 hangers for almost $3. Oh the things we take for granted in the States!

The location of my apartment couldn’t be better, and the price isn’t bad either. At 45 square meters, it’s not bad in size, and it has what one needs to get through 6 months of life – granted, if I bought this place, there’d be some re-modeling getting done, but…for the time – it’s perfect. The location is SO awesome! If I walk across a bridge, just 5 minutes, I’m at a park – HaganPark – a great place to take the dog or go for a trail run (on my “own training days”). It’s just one bus ride (2 if I’m lazy) to the bandy rink that is about 20 minutes. It is 15 minutes walk to “Solna Centrum” (basically a shopping mall) by foot, or 5 minutes if I’m lazy and want to take the bus. It is under a 5 minute walk to the grocery store, liquor store, and a sports store; probably would take me longer to wait for the bus than it would to walk there! If I walk just 5 minutes past that, I’m in the northern side of down town Stockholm!!! I couldn’t believe it today when I got off of the train on my way home from work (which is only 30 minutes from the apartment) and looked around as I strolled from the commuter train to the bus back home; the ride home on the bus was very short --- I realized then that I could have walked on a sunny day….or even at night if I had already done this route before! I’m also learning that to walk around here – CARS STOP for people!!!??! Yeah, really! I saw some lady carrying her dog to get onto the train (dogs are only allowed on certain cars of the trains) I cannot wait for Thom and Reese to get here to experience this stuff with me - including my new "dessert' - "Nutella" on "Digestive" Crackers -- it's like a chocolate spread on top of graham crackers! YUMMY! I LOVE IT!


Training this week – we were supposed to get back onto the ice, but there were some problems with the tractor (that floods the rink) and some other issues with the compressors that chill the rink. Therefore, the warm temperatures (about 8-10 C = roughly 46F – 50F) have not helped with creating good ice. We are supposed to have our first game this Sunday , and we can only hope we will have ice. I hear that in Minnesota, there is snow, and the men have already started their season!!! I’m a bit jealous --- but it’s not to say that we haven’t been doing our training! Monday, we went by the rink – through the running trails to a hill. Ugh – yes, hill work again! Sprints up and down the hill, backward jumps (try doing them uphill…not so easy!), lunges, long steps, more sprints…An hour of hill work plus 20 minutes warm up, 20 minutes cool down and I was toasted! We had a strategy session afterwards, and I was mentally and physically exhausted, but I had yet to move everything into the apartment – thank you Miska for being such a great person and doing so much for me!!! Tuesday was running at the track in the pouring rain with interval sprints. Yes…again. 1 hour worth of that, and today (Wed), my body is ready for the day off!!

I went to the office for the first time today and was well received. I jumped right in with a meeting at 9:00 and discussed the planning for the project, how they should try to prepare for it, what things they need to think about, and I helped them create their visual planning board. I have an “office” here (better than in the states with a cube!) and it will also be the project meeting room. Each Friday, I am expected in the office for the meeting – should be ok – as much as I’d rather work from the apartment – exposure to helping is awesome and I’m learning new things and meeting great people. The project team here is only 8 people or so (including me), so it’s quite a great group and very receptive to me.

I’ve been asked the same question(s) by many people back home
First one is along the lines of “Are you glad you did this?” I can honestly say “YES!” If I put aside the fact that I miss Thom and Reese, I’m having such a great time here. If there wasn’t the visa issue (and my friends and family I’d have to leave behind), I’d love to stay here and continue life forever – as if it were normal. It is very easy for me to pick up on the language (more written language and some verbal language) and my vocabulary of Swedish words is expanding daily. I seem to impress many people that I talk to with some of the phrases I can already say.

Next common question: Yes, the days are shorter... The sun rises around 7:30 and sets around 4:00, and the day shave mostly been overcast. The days that are not wet are cold and windy – but that is typical for their “fall”. Their winters will be more mild than they are at home in Minneapolis (whew!), but they will have short days as well. The weekend Thom gets here it will be the shortest day of the year, and the days will get longer. I can see how some people would get depressed as I’ve heard the stories, but I guess I just don’t have time to be that way. My days are pretty packed trying to figure out where I am and where I’m going (as far as the metro is concerned), training and learning plays (I have asked one of the veteran players to write down some plays for me so I can “study”), to trying to get the things that one needs to get through daily life – like light bulbs, food, and figuring out the laundry system in the apartment complex!

Because it is all so new to me, there is so much to figure out. One thing I have learned is that you have to be willing to embrace the adventure. I feel safe in the city, but a little fear never hurt anyone. I don’t roam alone at dark – I pick a mission and stick to it – get there, and head back, know the route and don’t stray from it. Carry both phones at all times – one for Swedish communication one for US communication. Carry some maps of the city bus lines and you are set to get to where you want to go.

My times of missing connections are fewer and far between. My wrong turns to get to the stations are almost non existent now, and if you were to watch me from afar, I might even start to look like a local…listen to me speak, and it tells a different story. I’m green – I’m new here, but I’m also learning how great it is to be able to work with the systems set in place, reduce, reuse, recycle, and live like a minimalist.

So, with that I sign off as I sit on my foam mattress that has been my office, but also acts as my couch and bed for the time being – yes, I’m living the lifestyle of a stereotypical bachelor – playing a sport, training daily, going to work to pay my bills, and living with the basics. Can’t say I’d change a thing, other than having someone to enjoy this adventure with me.