Finland is Melting

I haven't "blogged" recently because nothing really important has been going on lately until this past weekend. We have been patiently, yet not so quietly, waiting to play the qualification matches (matches to play to stay in the league) for 3 weeks now and the time has been finally brought upon us. This past weekend we traveled 10 hours by night train to Roveniemi to play the winners of the first division league. When we saw them play last, they were competing in the finals against a team in their league. Their level of play wasn't all that impressive and it seemed they were going to be an easy team to beat. They must have pulled out the big guns for us because they were playing very well against us. We were able to still beat them 3-0 but all 3 of the sets were very very close. We have seen their best now, so there is no reason to be afraid of whats to come because we have seen and experienced it all. I was a bit nervous because of the pressure of winning was high. The next match I wont be as nervous because like I have said before I have seen what they can do and am ready for everything they have to give now. They travel to Kangasala this Wednesday and then we go to their house this Friday for what will hopefully be the final match of our season. I have no doubt that we can beat them this up coming match. Passing has been our main struggle the whole time I have been here. With confidence and good enough passing we can rise above and win.

Our traveling situation on the way up north was something I had never experienced before. We were traveling in a sleeping car. Becca and I shared a room with a bunk bed and barely enough room to stand side by side. The beds were very comfortable though and the rocking of the train was what I thought was going to put me to sleep....wrong. The train made many stops making it a bit hard to get to sleep. I finally konked out to the sounds of our coaches snoring in the next room around 3am. Woke up at 7:45 only to realize our alarm had not gone off! Our train was supposed to be arriving at the station at 7:50. Luckily we were late so we didn't actually get in until around 8. The "city" of Roviniemi was accompanied by 2 to 3 taxis that morning. It was, to say the least, a bit interesting getting to the gym. Once there, we enjoyed a very European breakfast, sandwiches and porridge. Our one hour practice was moved, thanks to the guys team, from 8am to 10 am. After, we had ourselves a little relaxing time and watched the guys practice. Our match started at 2pm with a pretty sizable crowd. I was surprised how they came out of the gates swinging, but I would have done the same thing. When you'r fighting for your spot in the top league, laying out everything you have is important.

On our way back to Tampere, we ran into some basketball players we had met at the gym in Tampere. They had just finished a game as well, but unfortunately they lost. Being that Becca and I could not sleep we ended up talking with them for about an hour in the food car. After which we hopped 10 train cars back to our sleeping quarters and proceeded to try and fall asleep. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, the sleeping cars had 3 beds per room instead of 2.... I was on the top bunk, nose bleeding from being up so high, if I was to fall it would have been a long way down. Every time I moved around a little light show happened from all the static, felt good to touch metal later, only to get an electric shock that I could feel through out my body. We got home at 5am and I immediately fell into bed and said goodnight until 1:30pm the same day. With some regeneration at the local swimming hall and a good practice Tuesday run by our assistant coach, we felt we were ready to take this team on again Wednesday night.

Game day arrived and it felt all to much like a normal day in Kangasala, it didn't feel like we even had a match. This worried me a little because a game day should feel like a game day, excitement, pumped up, ready to rumble, those types of feelings. Don't get me wrong I was pumped to kick some tail that day, we had been hearing that the coach of their team was saying the first match was a gift, they had given it to us....what an insecure little jerk! I wanted them to swallow those words from the moment the first to the last whistle was blown, it was on! Got to the gym and began to warm up getting in the right mind set for the match. The first couple points of the set were shaky and we weren't able to pull out of our funk until about point 8 for them. That was when we said "enough" and caught up taking the set with a little room to spare point wise. The second set was a blow out, they didn't get more then 16 points. The 3rd set was a little more of a fight. We were neck and neck for a while but once we hit 20 we broke away to finish the match 25-21. To top off the night, I was awarded player of the game, exciting! It was a good night and the team did really well, I am confident that we can finish the series this Friday and be done with this season still in the premier league! Wish me and my team luck, back on the night train tomorrow and hopefully a win for us Friday night :)

Back to work...and some more waiting.

After 5 days off we were back to work with a physical practice on Monday...outdoor running (which I huffed an puffed through after doing nothing and being sick all weekend) plus weights with 2 kilos strapped to our ankles for that little something extra, thanks to our strength coach El Jarno. No, he is not Spanish, he is pure Finnish blood, someone started to call him that and it stuck. He doesn't seem too bothered by it...yet. Tuesdays practice was a match against a young "junior national" team. Becca was out from being sick so it was just Lauren and I on the court as the only foreigners. Being away from volleyball for a week really has its negative affects on the mid and body. We lost pretty horribly against them, passing was crap, our hitting was crap, defense was crap, serving was crap....you get it...pretty much everything was crap. Nothing was working for us and it was nothing less then embarrassing. After the embarrassment of "getting back into it" receded and the strong thought of getting a little more then tipsy that night was out of my mind, I looked to the rest of the week for some inspiration and motivation.

Wednesday morning we woke early for the gym, it was time for "Body Pump" with some of the team at Fressi. What "Body Pump" entails is a lot of weight lifting with a bar and free weights to a sound track meant for techno addicts and aerobic maniacs. Our instructor sounded like he was this Australian "Body Pump" expert with high energy techno music to back his loud cries through the microphone of "OK HERE COMES THE BODY PUMP.....TEMPO!!" It was a struggle to keep from busting out laughing sometimes. I snuck a look at Lauren to see I was not alone, she to was trying not to laugh. By the end of the class my 2 1/2 kilo weights on my 1 kilo bar were looking and feeling heavier then ever. My shoulders burned and I was positive I wouldn't have been able to punch my way out of a paper bag if my life depended on it. The instructor said goodbye at the door and asked where we were from. I in turn asked him and he surprised me by saying he was from London! When I told him he sounded like he was an aussie he immediately said "everyone says that!" Next week we do it again, I would honestly rather do the aerobics class over the "Body Pump" but I don't really have a choice here so, moving on.

Wednesday and Thursday nights practices were same old but a lot better then Tuesday. I believe that we need to take this time seriously if we want to stay in the top league. This is the time we need to work the hardest to prepare ourselves fully for what's to come. Even if what is to come is supposed to be easy, we don't know that for sure so we need to be able to cut the other team down and out of the picture from the start and not take any chances with a stupid loss. I just hope everyone else sees it that way too in one degree or another.

Friday Becca and I got intense massages so we were allowed to skip practice that night. After our agonizing beat downs by the talented Jenni, we decided to take a walk up to the tower looking over the city and grab ourselves one of their famous and oh so amazing donuts. The secret ingredient must be crack because they can only be described in one word, "addictive". After fulfilling our cravings and seriously considering just spending the day there stuffing our faces with those donuts, we made our way down to the main street to catch our bus back to home base. As we walked down the hill, however, I noticed a group of snowboarders doing tricks on the steps leading down to the main street. They were pretty talented so we watched them for a second, chatted and were on our way. Once at home, Becca and I exhausted from our massages, had a few beers to ease the pain...it worked. We ended the night at the local bar "The Caroline" with Lauren where we were joined by an overweight guy with a lion on the front and back of his t-shirt accompanied by his friend the "skinny/weird" one. Both were equally as nice and equally as creepy. Regardless we danced with them and had a great time people watching. There were so many different personalities in the bar it was incredible to witness. We went to the bathroom once and this guy yelled that he didn't speak Swedish to us....we never said we had. Assuming he was just really drunk we ignored him. The next day we went to a mens volleyball match where we got to see Kawika and Dustin (both play for the US national team) square off against one another. Kawika's team won, excited for him! Kawika is an amazing setter, every set he puts up is golden. No offense to the setters on our team but sometimes I wish that he would slap on a wig, don some spandex, put on a little rouge and play for our team. Now that I think about it, my setter from last year and Kawika are almost identical in technique...hmmm. Nah couldn't be possible, my setter last year is a lot shorter then Kawika. Anyway, it was a good match and both teams played really well.

That night we went out to the a club in Tampere called Kuuba. The place was packed and the music was so much fun however the majority age was 19-21 on the ground floor and older people but crappy music upstairs. Ok, question, what is it with people just letting their bodily functions go on the dance floor when they are drunk, or not drunk?! There were 4 specific times when I stopped dancing and looked around wondering what the hell was dying in someones pants. If your talking to someone and the smell of a fart creeps in (and you know it was definitely NOT yourself) the person your talking to might think its you or he or she might be the culprit. Either way, someone is embarrassed which makes for an awkward conversation. I guess some people get so drunk that they don't realize they are releasing tear gas/stink bombs on the people around them. Please, if you have stomach problems remove yourself from the dance floor so the rest of us can carry on with our super cool dance moves and refrain from pre mature vomiting.

After the club had closed around 3am we headed to the bus station to catch our ride home. While we were waiting and talking to friends in this crowded outdoor bus station, all of the sudden I turned around to see this chick popping a squat in the middle of a busy sidewalk and start to pee. She smiled and kindly waved at the people who blatantly were staring. It had been almost 2 minutes before she stood up and walked away, again waving at her "fans". To end the night we had to take a 35 Euro taxi home because our 4:20am bus never showed, S.O.B!! I was so happy to be home that I ended up not really caring to much at all about the taxi home.

Woke up late the next morning, made "Linner", watched "He's Just Not That Into You" (great movie), and then went to bed. Pretty boring Sunday but the weekend was worth the late sunday afternoon. This next week coming up is our last "week off" meaning a week not leading up to a match. I am so excited to get this season over with but at the same time I am sad to be leaving this place for the summer. Scandinavia is a place I never thought I would be experiencing at this stage in my life, its a wonderful area of the world even though its a freezing tundra for most of the year. There are so many beautiful things to see here besides snow and I am glad I got to spend another half year in this area of the world. I hope that I can continue to do what I do now for a little while longer, maybe play here again, you never know :) Until another time, take care everyone!

TV match, last league game, and a little misfortune.

After the loss against HPK, as a team we were determined to strike back with a win. How possible was it to accomplish this against a team at the 3rd spot on the totem pole in this league? Seemed a bit of an impossible feat for the team at the bottom of the rankings, some people would think. We were under our own pressure to win, even though people said the match didn't mean anything, that it wouldn't move us up or down in the rankings, blah blah blah. But wouldn't it be nice to win on Finish National television to a team that was supposed to kill us? Hell yeah it would. Well, thats exactly what we did! We played Orpo on national TV and beat them in 4 sets. This team is stacked with tall players, aggressive middles, a consistent setter and a pretty damn good libero. The odds were definitely not in our favor. People who bet against us losing, well, to bad for you! We all played consistent, shutting down the outsides, serving tough, hitting smart and most of all, we were passing. Personally, I wouldn't say it was my greatest match but it was a good one. I wasn't positive 20 points or anything but I contributed to the win with other areas of my game not just through attacking. Overall, I felt proud of my team. So what if it didn't matter who won or lost, it mattered to us and everyone who watched saw that we beat them, thats enough for me. A win is a win, no need for an explanation and I like that...a lot, who wouldn't? The one teammate who was killing it that night was Lauren Bledsoe. I believe 98 percent of the sets she received she put down...and hard. She was awarded best player on our team that match and I think she deserved it.

The last league match was two days later against Eura, the 4th place team in the league. Well, needless to say some of our heads were still in the clouds and just down right exhausted (including me) and we bombed the first 2 sets. We went into the locker room for the 15 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd sets for a chat. Our coach was pissed as were the rest of us. How could this be happening after such a great win? We needed to get our collective heads out of our asses and play. Which is what we ended up doing in the 3rd and 4th set, but unfortunately it was to late and we lost 27-25 in the 4th set. That, was a slap in the face. Our passing wasn't very good, some of us couldn't put the ball away, the referees were bothersome and our team confidence was a bit low. The fight was gone in a few teammates which hurt us. It was a hard loss but at the same time the momentum we gained at the end of the match will help us later when we play to stay in this league. I refuse to let this team drop down to division 1, it won't happen.

That night after the match we went to the ABC rest stop for some food and a little ice cream. The ABC menu is pretty good considering its a "rest stop" but rest stops here are not even slightly the same as ones in America, they are clean, safe, and the food is so much better then what you would find at an AMPM or 7/11. So I decided to go the "healthy" route and order salmon with shrimp and potato. I didn't realize that was going to be the worst decision EVER! A couple hours later, a cider and half a beer deep at home, I was full and feeling super tired. I went to bed only to wake up an hour later with a stomach ache and vomit sweats. Yep, you guessed it, I got food poisoning. I thought for a second that it was the alcohol I drank but I hadn't drank nearly enough to be sick, trust me. Then it flashed in my head the fish and shrimp I had eaten at the ABC and thats when I knew I had made a big mistake. Well needless to say I got to see it again that night...so fun. The following day I spent my day off going from the bathroom to the couch every hour. I couldn't eat very much for two days except over cooked rice, Ritz crackers (best decision ever), and chicken broth. Note to self: order pizza like a normal person from ABC next time. Now, I am happy to report that my stomach is back to normal and I am eating normal foods again :)

Tomorrow morning we are going to check out what brunch is like to the Fin's at a well known restaurant with some of the girls. I can only hope that it is very very good since I am coming off a bland food diet. Monday its back to work and I am very thankful, this time off has been long and with out working out (for obvious reasons). I am excited to get these 3 weeks off underway  and to work hard through them all finishing this season with a bang and hopefully another job :)

Great Feelings and endless views.

Its been a long time since I have blogged, written, caught up, whatever you want to call this, but I am here now ready to sit down and punch this out for whoever out there is reading and or viewing. Since my last entry the girls and I have moved upstairs to a bigger and brighter apartment. There are two bedrooms, a huge living room and equally as big a kitchen. The place in one word "dwarfs" the other apartment. Our view is really nice on sunny clear days and the sunsets we can usually see to the horizon.

Our setter Outi wanted to take us to a bright red tower a little outside of town one clear day. We drove up to this red and white painted tower on a hill that looked out over Kangasala and if it was really clear,which it was, all the way to Tampere. It was one of those buildings you only see in a place like Finland. Heights have never been an easy feat for me so climbing the wooden steps up to the top was dizzying and sometimes I felt I was holding my breath. Once at the top I stayed away from the edge even though it looked very sturdy and safe. The view was breath taking, everything was covered in snow and the sky was bright blue with a few whispy clouds here and there. That day we could in fact see the smoke from the factories in Tampere. I snapped a few pictures of the tower and the landscape and then we decided to head out. Luckily the weather wasn't so cold enabling us to stay for more then a couple minutes to take in the sites.

Last saturday we had our last home game against Pieksamaki. They are a pretty good team and are in the middle of the league. After my disappointment of the last match I had played I was ready to give it my all and not look back. Which is exactly what I did. We ended up winning in 4 sets and I was awarded player of the match! Felt good to finally be myself again and to show people in the league that I can be someone to watch out for. I feel like the last team I was on there was so much pressure to be perfect that I forgot how to play like me on the court. This team allows me to relax a bit and just play. I felt like I was totally committed to that match, I was in it, ready for anything. Plus I had my teammates out there supporting myself and each other. We all came together to win that match, out there was a team to be reckoned with. This league doesn't respect this team, therefor we have nothing to lose and everything to gain in each match. I honestly like being the underdog, no one expects us to do well so when we do, people start to second guess who we really can be, putting more pressure on themselves instead of us. Bottom line, it was a good win for us and a good win for the moral of the community. Three more league matches to go and then we have a long 3 and a half weeks off until qualifications.

This week has been extremely frigid and cold. The weather has gone from warm to ridiculously cold in about a day. Its been rough going outside at all. Walking to the bus stop which is 100 meters away is hard enough. Hopefully this week will be the only week that it is this cold. Its supposed to be Spring right? But I for one know that being this high up North, Spring doesn't really arrive until mid April. Heres to hoping for better weather and no more snow.

We had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off after the last home match. Thursday night there was a dance at the school we play at for the seniors in high school, therefore leaving us no time to practice that night. Instead we all met up at the gym we are allowed to work out at and did an aerobics class. This woman kicked our butts! During the squats and lunges section I thought I was going to collapse because my legs were shaking so much. Needless to say, going to the gym out here and taking a class is just as hard or harder then going to the gym and taking a class at the Spectrum in MB. The only difference was the language. Luckily for the three Americans in the class, myself included, she opted to speak English and Finnish. She had great English so it all worked out for the best. Being who I am, I took a spot in the front with Outi. My Mom always said to sit in the front of the class as to get the most out of each session, thanks Mom! Friday Outi took us to another high tower that looked over the city of Tampere. On a clear day (the day we went luckily) you can see for miles. The cafe at the base of the tower sold these unbelievably delicious poppy seed donuts coated in sugar. After eating one of those, I was on an immense sugar high deciding after the elevator was not working for us, to run up the tower stairs. Bad idea. I was winded and also in need of some water. We snapped a bunch of really great pictures and then descended the tower to the mini pineapple (aka Outi's car) and drove home.

That Saturday night the girls and I went to a club in Tampere to celebrate the win and also to get in our own personal work outs on the dance floor. One of our teammates Triin came over before for some drinks and to play Quarters. I found out quickly that I was pretty bad at the game since I hadn't played since College...but lets be honest, when was I ever any good at that game? Mm never. We headed out to Tampere via bus ride around 10:30pm. We were told to go to this club called Tivoli and not to worry it was only a couple minutes walk off the main street. What I haven't told you was that night it was the coldest night I have ever experienced, in my life. We practically ran to the club only to realize there was a line that seemed to be getting nowhere fast. Reluctantly we got in line and proceeded to wait it out. One butt grab from a passer by, breathing in cigarette smoke, and some "VIP" walk ins later we were at the front of the line staring down at the door man. He checked our IDs and smiled seeing we were all from California, questioning us, asking if we liked Finland. We were all at our breaking points since all of us had ice blocks for feet and tears were starting to well up in my eyes (yes, it was that cold, -30 degrees celsius to be exact). Once we got in, checked our coats, and met up with the rest of the group of rowdiness we got to dancing. After being there once, I think that is enough for me. Tivoli reminded me to much of clubs in Hollywood, which I almost never go to because of all the egos that show up. Plus I'm no fashionista and definitely do not rock the latest brands so I leave the Hollywood style clubs and bars to the people who actually give a crap about that kind of stuff. I'll stick to the local bars where "everybody knows your name" and fun dance spots which allow you to wear shoes that don't ruin your feet and ankles by the end of the night (even tho I enjoy wearing those types of shoes on occasion). In conclusion, I would rather not go there again, it was a one time thing for me, glad I did it, over it, moving on.

We played a match this past Friday against the second place team HPK. Their coach is a highly mechanical, extremely stressed out, hyper active German coach. I believe some people come to their matches to watch him blow up about a call that was as clear as day and to yell at his team when they aren't doing exactly what he wants them to do. His quiet conserved "assistant" coach sits there on the bench and goes along with his tirades which makes me wonder, if he were to contest him at all, would the vein in the head coaches giant forehead pop? Anyway, enough about their insane coach, because he must be doing something right, they are winning. Would you say that instilling fear in his players "doing something right"? Eh, whatever, I have had my fair share of crazed coaches, he doesn't scare me, all his yelling and red faced anger does is make me smile and know that whatever we are doing on the court is working. Back to the actual game, we lost in three sets, bummer. However we were able to give them a run for their money and their coach most likely crap himself in the last set. The score was 27-29, enough said. It was a fight and I am proud of my team for how well we hung in there.  Its going to be a fight to the end and I'm ready to give it all I've got, it doesn't end until that final whistle blows.

TV match on monday, final league match on wednesday and then we are off for quite a bit until qualifications. I hope I can stay on top of this blog deal and get messages out every week, just been a little more busy then when I was in the middle of nowhere. Until then, take care all!

New Town, New Team, New Adventures

After a week and a half of being here in Kangasala, the two other Americans and I moved upstairs to a bigger apartment, have spent the better part of this week getting settled in to the new digs (however I am still sleeping on a mattress on the floor...hopefully a bed will be arriving soon) and continuing to explore the town and city near by. The weather has been more than bearable in the past couple weeks with temperatures dropping to about -2 degrees celcius at most. Practices have been pretty good however, the mentality here is different then my last team. The trainings are a little less strict and discipline can be lacking at times. I try to keep the mentality that I had with my last team, believing that someone is trying to take my spot giving myself motivation to work hard at every practice and eventually in every game. Its not that I "have" to think that way in order to work hard but it doesn't hurt. I believe the coach here has faith in me and trusts me to do the right thing. I just hope that I can deliver this weekend. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I need to just release the timid Whitney within. To let go of the immense pressure I put on myself whenever we begin to play, to let go of the fear of being yanked out of a game, letting go of the mistakes I make during a match because no matter what happens there will be a few. When I feel like I am needed on a team, I tend to play and lead better, so heres to hoping for the best, cheers!
This past weekend I went out for the second time since I have been in Finland (amazing I know!). However before we could have our fun night out, we had to endure a 3 hour long practice that afternoon, awesome. Once that practice was over, we were able to relax, make some food, get our make up on and get our butts to the city for some much needed and earned fun. Becca (roommate and fellow South Bay local), Erica (teammate), Kahwika (on the Tampere mens team hailing from Hawaii), and Dustin (another fellow Californian also playing on a team out here) went to a bar called Ale for some "cheap" beers ("its 9 dollar beer night", if you know where this quote is from you'r a champ!) and then on over to a club called Kuuba for some off the wall dancing. Unfortunately our other roommate Lauren was so tired that she passed out around 7:30pm and said she was done for the night,  hopefully next time. I am pretty sure the Americans and one Finish girl took over the club that night. At one point we developed a rally circle and jumped around for a solid minute yelling into the middle of the circle. Bottom line, we all had a really great time, and everyone went home with busted ear drums and a little sway to their step.
Sunday, Becca and I went to the Sauna down the back street from us on the lake to sweat off the night. The idea was to get really hot in the sauna first and then jog down to the lake, hop in and then jog on back to the sauna. We did this twice since we were not used to the traditional 4-10 times... The first time we went in up to our knees and the second up to our chins. Screaming the entire time as we dipped our soar bodies into the lake, taking relief and de-numbing our skin in the sauna after. It was truly amazing to see some people swimming laps in the water. I guess there comes a point when you just can't feel how cold it really is. My goal is to let go of the railing and tread water for at least 10 seconds before I go home. It starts to hurt after a while being that cold. Becca and I left the sauna house feeling refreshed, hang over free, and ready for a nap. That night all the roomies and a teammate went to the American Diner in Tampere. Best day after partying food ever! To finnish the meal we all ordered pancakes with ice cream, however these pancakes were small, thick, buttery, and dusted with powdered sugar.....perfect. Great end to a great weekend.
Our new place is starting to look more and more like people actually live in it. Club members arrived with our washing machine, a couch, two big rugs, and the hopes of another bed. So spirits are high in la casa de california natives. Tonight we have video and then practice, I am excited and pumped to rip it up tomorrow at the game and show the people who didn't believe in me that I can play well. Wish us luck :)

PS The pictures are of the sauna place and the church in Kangasala built in 1800. Enjoy!

"Lap pool"

















                                                                                  

Change of plans..

Ok, so its been almost an entire month since I have been back and a lot has happened. First off, we had a match 3 days prior to getting back from break. After a good showing at the last match we played before the break, I was not in the starting line up and barely saw court time during that match, bummer and slight confusion. Post match they told us that a player from Canada was coming for a try out. I knew my head was on the chopping block if she was any good. I had to buckle down and play hard in practices and hopefully get another chance to play in the matches. I had a meeting with the two coaches and a sponsor, in short I told them that I would not stop trying, that I was not going to quit unless they wanted someone else to come in for me. I am not a quitter and I made sure they understood that. She arrived on a Monday and was practicing with us by Tuesday. I knew of her since I played against her in Slovenia but I wasn't sure how she was playing now since that had been 2 years ago. I had heard that she hadn't played in about a year so I had a little bit of hope. At her first practice we got to talking and it turned out that we had a lot more in common then I was expecting. We clicked right away which was something I was not expecting to happen. Through the week I could tell that she was in fact a little rusty and was not really ready for the level of play at the moment, I think she knew this as well. Personally I was going for it, I didn't want there to be any reason why they shouldn't keep me on the team. I did everything I could do while in practice but still was not given a chance to play when it came time for our TV match. The coach told me that I had two very good practices but that she was going to start the other Finish right side over me. I would be lying to say that I was ok with this, I definitely was not. But I put on my game face and tried to cheer on my team as I tried to mask the annoyed feeling I had deep down. In all fairness I hadnt been doing that great a job all season (like a roller coaster) so I can understand why the coach didn't trust me but if I was showing that I could get the job done in practice then you would think she would give me at least a chance to show in the matches. Anyway, that is neither here nor there anymore. I ended up having a great time with the Canadian girl and was actually hoping that she would stay so the next couple months we had left would fly by. Unfortunately we were informed again that another Canadian from a team in the league was coming to us because she was out played by another foreigner who in turn took her job. After a week and a half of proving myself, I had to do it again with someone new. Once this other player showed up I knew I was on the outs. She walked in at 6'3-6'4, she was huge. She ended up wowing the club with her height and was starting in the next match while I watched from the stands. The worst that could have happened to me that night amazingly happened. She was awarded two awards for most points and something else, but since I can't speak or understand Finish I didn't know what for.

After the match I went to talk to the team we had just played since I knew two of the girls on the team. While I was talking to them about everything that was happening their libero was saying how they needed another hitter pretty badly and that I should talk to their coach. I didn't know what was going to happen with my current club so I wasn't sure if talking to their coach was even an option. The setter went and got their assistant coach and then asked me to come talk with him, so I did. Realizing that I probably wasnt going to see court time with the tall Canadian at my current club and the fact that they didn't have enough money to fund a 4th foreigner we (assistant coach, sponsor, and myself) decided as a group that it would be best if I went for a try out with this other club. I got on a train Tuesday morning with all of my stuff in tow and was on my way to Kangasala with a new motivation, to make that team. I met up with and have been staying with the two girls I know, Becca Sarenceno and Lauren Bledsoe who are from the South Bay area of Southern California (weird we all meet up here in Finland of all places). Rebecca went to Redondo Union High School who are rivals with Mira Costa High which is where Lauren and I went to. Crazy, this world continues to get smaller and smaller. I am glad to be here and ready to do work and get the job done. I hope this team want's to keep me here because it would be a great last couple of months and also a lot of fun to play on this team.                          

                                                                                                                                                 Lauren







Rebecca                                                                                                                    




......I made the team :)

Short View of Helsinki

Before I got back to Finland I decided that I wanted to spend the day in Helsinki. Luckily one of my teammates lives close to the city and was in town the day before we had to go back to central Finland for practice. She was able to pick me up from the airport which was hugely appreciated. We had decided to eat a little lunch before heading out. After what seemed like a roundabout bus ride into the center, we were there. I was very excited to get my sight seeing on since I had heard so much about the city from my Dad. My good friend Ulf told me about a church that was built into a hill and had a circular ceiling adorned with copper wire. The church was called Temppeliaukio Kirkko (the last word means church I believe). Unfortunately my friend and I ended up walking a mile or so in the wrong direction. The good news was I got to see more of the city. Once we arrived at the church, what I saw I had not expected. It was literally built into the side of a hill. Luckily it was still open when we arrived so we walked inside to the sound of beautiful classical music. The room opens up to a high ceiling and rock faced walls. Looking up I saw the copper wire coiled into one huge circular plate, covering the ceiling. The candle lighting area jutted out of the rock face, making itself known and appealing to the eye and my camera lens. I shot off a few pictures and then we headed out. My friend told me there was another church that was pretty famous in Helsinki that we should maybe check out before we made our journey to the new Harry Potter movie (oh yeah!). Unfortunately for us, the church was undergoing a little bit of construction, so we didn't stay long. Before we walked inside however, we noticed a large illuminated cross on the steps in front of this enormous church. When we were leaving we heard music and saw people gathering where the cross was, so we opted to check out what all the commotion was about. There was a pretty sizable courtyard called Helsinki Senate Square packed with people and zen like music was consuming the square. All faces and bodies were pointed directly at the cross and the church. I thought, cult following maybe? Coming to worship God in a new way? What we didn't know was during that time of year many of the historic buildings and residential areas were to be lit up and showcased for certain hours of the night for about a week. We got lucky and saw one of the shows, which wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gotten lost :)

We traveled back to my friends parents house, ate dinner, and then drove to the movie theatre close by for the new Harry Potter movie. It was fantastic! The movies have gotten a lot darker since the very first one. I can't wait to see the last one so I can put the Harry Potter saga (like the vampire saga) to rest for a bit....or re-watch all the movies and have a Harry Potter movie marathon one rainy weekend, either way I am excited to see the last one this summer. The next morning we took an express train which was very nice, comfortable, and a very scenic ride to Jyvasckula where our other teammate picked us up and drove us all to practice that night. I had a fun trip in Helsinki and would love to spend more time there in the future, maybe after this season.