White Christmas #2

As the 21st approached, I was anxious to get the week and final match done, but was thinking about the work that had to be completed before I left. The televised match was on the monday before I was to depart for Sweden, so as you could imagine it was tough to think about just the match. When we began I knew I wasn't going to start in the first set, but I told myself to try and stay positive and to have a good warm up. So I pushed through the warm up and then took my place on the bench ready to cheer on my team for better or worse. We started out very well taking a big lead. Then all of the sudden around point 10, the lights, cameras, microphones, and music went out in the gym just before we were about to serve. The team came together in the middle of the court and started to sing and dance with one another. We were told the TV vans outside were taking to much electricity from the gym so it just gave up and shut down, ha! Finally after about 15 minutes everything was back up and running except for the score board,  which was done manually. I got to play in the last part of the first set, a little more in the second, a lot more in the 3rd, and then started in the 4th set. Personally I played well and had no hitting errors, I was in the positive, finally! After 2 matches in the minus I was happy to be where I was after the match. We unfortunately did not win, but we could have beat them. They seemed to be more hungry for the win, more motivated. Next match we all need to be on the same page and change our attitudes so we can play and win as a team. Its true we can do our job individually but we must support one another through out the match. We have to go for it, plain and simple. I have to go for it most of all.

Anyway, enough volleyball for now. That night, after the match a teammate and I took a night bus to Helsinki where her dad picked us up from the station in the center. Once we got to her parents apartment we went straight to sleep for 4 hours, woke up, had some food, got ready, and then drove to the airport to drop me off. My teammate was so nice to let me spend a couple hours at her parents house so I thanked her, wished her a happy Christmas and then went inside to check in. I thought about all the trouble the airports were having, so I expected the worst. Once inside, I realized quickly that things weren't as crazy as I imagined they would be. I saw one really long line that looked as though people had been standing in it a really long time near my check in area, but other then that the airport was pretty calm. I got through security in less then 10 minutes and was at my gate with 2 hours to spare. I saw a few people here and there sleeping in some of the empty waiting areas but like I said before, the airport was fairly calm and collected. I was more then certain that if I had been in LAX or any major airport in USA it would be nuts. My other American teammate and her friend who had come to visit for 2 months, had been at the airport since 3am, trying to get on an earlier flight to California. I saw them wondering around outside the gift shop I was browsing. They looked tired and told me they were sure to be there until the next day, such a bummer. A lot of European airports were closed, including the one they were headed to first, Frankfurt. Lucky for me, Copenhagen was open and working well at the moment. I said good luck to them, bid them a Merry Christmas and was on my way to Sweden, only about an hours delay. Not bad considering what other people were going through. I got to Copenhagen airport around 7pm and was so excited knowing who was waiting for me beyond the baggage claim doors. I quickly grabbed my bag and hauled ass to the double doors. I only had to look around once and then I spotted them. My old teammates and good friends Sara, Muck, and Alex. Sara was dressed in a santa hat , red dress, red jacket, black tights, and boots. Muck was dressed like rudolf the reindeer and Alex was just there to say hi really quick because his flight to London had been delayed quite a bit. They held up a sign that read "Shitney" (another story to tell later) and Sara drew a stick figure in the corner with red hair (me obviously haha). I laughed and then teared up as I got closer to them hugging them for at least a minute and a half. I couldn't believe I was finally seeing those girls and Alex again after 6 months. It was the best feeling I could have had at that moment.
Since everything was going haywire with the trains we opted for the ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden and was picked up there by Ulf, my "Swedish Dad". We went to his house and had a late dinner with him and his wife. Also got to see his twin boys who are 15 now and have grown a couple inches since I last saw them, one of them is almost as tall as myself! It was crazy. We laughed, ate, and drank well into the night. Unfortunately we had to get going since Sara had to work early the next morning and I also had a long day of working out, shopping, and meeting up with friends for lunch. We were in bed and asleep by 1am, it was the perfect first day :)