Sweden Part 3, Back to Work

The title of this entry says it all. Still lethargic and tired from the holiday of eating and laying around, it was indeed back to work. It felt good to get back into the gym, in a way detoxing my body from everything that was ingested with in the past few days. The new gym smelled like fresh paint, rubber flooring, and plastic seats. Tina, the coach was ready as well, pushing us hard the first practice knowing we needed it. We always knew we were in for it after a holiday, because she wanted to shake off the cobwebs as soon as we touched the gym floor. The practices that entire week were good, however a little strange for me since it was my old team but with so many new faces. I felt a little slower too since playing in Finland the game is slightly different. Meaning higher sets and bigger blockers. So Muck the setter for EVS was working me, at one point I just laughed at how I had forgotten how fast she was. One week with them proved great for me since I was able to stay in volleyball shape while on vacation.

The week went by quickly with the double day practices and before I knew it we were getting ready for New Years Eve at the EVS team apartment. This year was a lot different then years past. Usually I get dressed up, go to dinner with friends or family and then to a party. This year we were going to a themed party. The theme was rubix cube. Rules: dress in multiple solid rubix cube colors, once at the party prepare to exchange clothes with others to achieve one solid color. First person dressed in one solid color wins! To me it sounded like a total blast. Sara and I went looking like girls from the 60s, except I was sporting an orange visor flipped up and blue fake Ray Ban sunglasses. I was also sporting a green dress, red tights, white socks, and a yellow tank top. Once everyone arrived, the party turned into a colorful array of outfits. We decided that everyone would make something and bring it to the party for dinner, ending up with a crazy awesome buffet of food from all over. There was Greek salad, home made sushi, cheeseburgers, exotic fruit and cheese, zucchini pie, figs wrapped and cooked in bacon (my favorite), etc. Just trust me when I say we ate well that night. After eating and drinking a bit we headed to the city by train. Once we got there we quickly realized our entire group and a few of the guys from the mens team were the only ones dressed in themed outfits. I sort of saw this coming since it is pretty much tradition for Swede's to dress nice (and in black) and have a dinner party with their friends on NYE. However I was proud of the Swede's who did participate and come out of their comfort zone that night, it turned out to be a really fun party. After the clock struck midnight some of us decided to go home and so I was in bed by 1:30am. It felt good to get in bed that early since I was exhausted by the time the fireworks in the city had subsided to a low roar.

The next morning Sara and I went for pizza at a new place in town, slipping and sliding our way on the frozen deserted side walks. We went to Ulf's place that night and had coffee before we returned to Sara's for another movie, which was just what we needed :) While I was packing up and getting ready for the morning I had ahead of me, I was sad to be leaving. I didn't want to go, although I am sure once I left sara was able to breath a little easier not having me in her space all the time, but it actually worked out really well. She and I know how to live with one another I believe, know when to leave each other alone and when to be bothersome. In the future, she wouldn't be a bad roommate at all and that is another reason why I love her.

Woke up the next morning at 4:30am, Ulf was to pick me up at 5:15am to Helsingborg so I could catch my train to Copenhagen for my flight back to Finland. Ulf has been like a father and most of all a great friend to me from the beginning so I was glad to have the opportunity to spend my last half hour with him before hopping on the train. I said my goodbyes to a half awake sara and a wide awake Muckie who had come over to see me off. At the train station Ulf parked his car and came in with me to make sure I got on the right train, always looking out for me :) We hugged and then he said something to me that made my chest tighten and my eyes well up, he said "I love you, you know." We pulled away from the hug and I said back "I know, I love you too." We said our millionth goodbye, he turned, waved and was gone. I stood there on the platform waiting for the water works to come unhinged when the train arrived, so I stiffened up, no need to have strangers see me cry. In my head I said farewell to Sweden with a heavy heart. However, I had to smile because I knew I was going to be back sooner rather then later. It was back to work for now, with 3 months to power through. I can do this.