Tough Week #2, X-mas dinner, and Kokkola

With the weekend gone and another work week well in sight, the team was underway yet again. Practicing can be tough when there is no "light" at the end of the tunnel, that light being a match at the end of the week. With that said, this week was tough and tiring, but like before we pulled through having minimal players at each practice. Luckily we had our setter almost the entire week, she was going to be a no show on saturday because of intervening family plans. No need to get into specifics about our practice schedule, just read the blog before, our time spent in the gym was pretty similar to that of the week before. However we were given one morning off, that was a plus. Since the start of the 2 week minus a league match, my knee problems have risen again. Last season they began after a few months training. I have what is called jumpers knee which is convienently affecting both my left and right knees. Not to worry (mom), I am taking care of them as much as I can. I ice after every evening session and am trying new excersizes in the weight room suggested by my coach. I will be able to stick out the last 3 and a half months of the season.

Saturday was a small blip in the routine that I am used to. We practiced twice Saturday instead of a match. The first session commenced at the all to early hour of 9am. I cannot seem to forget the practices I once endured at 6:30am for Mira Costa High School, oh so long ago. That was the earliest I have ever had to wake up for a practice and thus far have never had to go back to that. 9 am is early enough, maybe I am just getting old...but I certainly hope not. Moving on to Saturday night, the Christmas dinner with the club and some of the important faces behind the scenes. We traveled to the Hotel down the road to a nice restaurant/bar for the feast. We had the traditional gloggi which is a sweet Christmas drink you can sometimes add vodka to, not tonight however. There were many speeches and cheersing to be had. The food we ate was tradition Finnish Christmas food. There was salad with salmon, a carrot bake, a yam bake, a liver bake, then ham or turkey with spicy mustard. On the side you also had a traditional Christmas bread that is only made around this time of year. Everything tasted good, except the liver which I took one whiff of and decided to pass, smart decision I believe. After the exchange of gifts from the players , a few sponsors, and the team mom we chatted and then head out to our respective homes. Tired from the 2 practices that day I fell asleep rather quickly. Sunday was another big day for me since I and another teammate were going to Kokkola to shop and watch a mens division 1 match that my friend Eric from Texas, was playing in. The next morning the assistant coach, myself, Nikke, and her boyfriend headed out early for our trip to Kokkola, a coastal city to the west. This city, I was told, had the highest number of Swedish residents in Finland and all the road signs, menu's, etc were Finnish and Swedish, I liked that. The drive was long and we were purposely lost a few times because of our driver may have not been listening to our direction to the center, but never the less we got to our destination with enough time to do what we needed to do. Walking around the medium sized town, there were plenty of cute shops and cafes to stay busy while living there. I was jealous and envious of my Texan friend. He got to live in a town big enough to have a night life and on the coast, what a great place. Having lived in many different sized cities and towns, I can tell you that a medium sized city with the suburbs not far from the center is the way to go. One of Nikke's friends suggested an Indian restaurant for lunch, perfect idea. If you know me, you know I am pretty easy when it comes to food, as long as what I am eating is not cows tongue, brain, or some weird national delicassy then I will at least try it. The restaurant we went to was surprisingly good for an Indian food place in Scandinavia. I had the Tikka Masala and it was spot on. Very good choice and we were so full and happy afterward. The match we watched was pretty good considering who Kokkola was playing, a bunch of players whose average age was 18. Kokkola was playing a junior nationals development team. They were fired up and played all out nothing hitting the floor. Their libero was nuts, diving and running all over the place. Kokkola came out thinking they were going to win easy, so they played nonchalantly at first but then when they saw the other team was full force and going for it, all Kokkola had to do was turn up the heat a bit and shut them out. It went 5 sets but overall was an interesting match to watch. We ended up at the Texan's house for a couple of beers and then headed home. I was glad to get out of town that night and to socialize with other people then my team for a little.
The week leading up to the match against Salo was tiring and hard, no surprises there. I was in the gym every day starting on Wednesday, probably 4-5 hours a day. Sometimes volleyball and sometimes weights. I won't get into the match against Salo to much because we lost, but in 4 sets this time. The second set we took them 26-24. I was to nervous to play against them so I was taken out after 19 points in the first set but put back in in the 3rd only to finish the match on the sidelines. I was extremely disappointed in myself and boggled as to why I am so nervous playing them every time. My self confidence needs a little bit of a boost next time we play them and that needs to come mostly from myself but also from my teammates, I just hope I can perform better in the future. I hate being benched for any reason but especially because I am playing badly. But now what I need to do is focus on the next game, so practices leading up to that match are going to be tough and I am going to work very hard to earn my spot back on the court again, I promise that to myself and most of all to my team.
One week until I am on my way back to Sweden. All the packages my family sent have arrived at my "Swedish moms" house so all I need to worry about is making that flight and hoping the weather has nothing to do with delays and so on. I can't wait to be back in the comforts of Swedish life, its going to be a blast!

PS My internet is being really slow and LAME so I cant upload pictures right now. I have some so I will try when the signal is stronger. I apologize for Europe internet connections, they seriously suck!