Ørum, 15. BFH, 14

 Today we played what is, without a doubt, the best game BFH's second team has played this season. Despite having barely enough players to field a team and our regular coach being in Egypt, we managed a devestating 15-14 loss to Ørum, the number one team in our division.
 After what could only be described as an interesting first encounter acting as captain for my team with a referee who did not speak English, our game began.
 We knew the game would be interesting to start with, as due to injuries and some Americans already having taken off back to the states, we were left with a total of 7 players - just enough to field a team. Knowing this, none of us expected much to come out of this game, but somehow the idea of this being the last game with an American-Danish combo team lit a fire under us.
 We started out behind by 3, and the game seemed as if it would play out exactly as we imagined - long. However, a few quick shots put us behind by one, and then up by 2. Half time put us up by 9-10.
 After half time, things started gettng a little more difficult. I moved from right back to left back, and then into circle runner. In the circle, I was unable to draw a 7-meter penalty or 2-minute suspension-despite the obvious want my defender had for a piggy back ride. At one point, we were forced to play with only 4 players because of a 2-minute suspension and an injury. The game ended with me finally sinking a penalty shot, but unable to bring us up one more for the tie.
 This game felt more like a win than any others, though. Our defense was the tightest it has been through the entire season, and we moved the ball extremely well. We would not have been nearly as successful, though, if it had not been for our goalie- Camilla Holm Pedersen. She's only 13, brought up from the younger team, and she had close to 10 one-on-nobody blocks, a 7-meter save, and countless other blocks. Did I mention she's only 13? Seriously-remember that name.
 Speaking of remembering names, Jennie Bergsma and I were lucky enough to wrangle up some tickets to go watch the EHF Women's European Handball Championship in Aalborg with Randers Elite Sportscollege, a school that two girls from BFH attend. We had amazing seats, directly behind the goal. I know I've said it before, but the energy in the Aalborg Gigantum was AMAZING. Despite not playing in top form, Denmark defeated Spain in what was, without a doubt, the best sporting event I have EVER been to..

It's beginning to look A LOT like Christmas..

If you're like me, then you probably scoff when the local Macy's subtlely starts putting up Christmas (excuse me, Holiday) decorations the week before Thanksgiving while silently counting down the days until December 25th. In Denmark, however, I've found that you scoff when a stores decorations aren't in full swing by November 20th. Downtown Bjerringbro has a Christmas tree wrapped around every light post, and giant balls of lights strung up between wreaths hanging over the street. (Don't worry, pictures to come) All of this is without even mentioning the amount of snow that covers EVERYTHING, or the Danish & American christmas carols playing where ever you go.

At our school, Bjerringbro Gymnasium, we (along with the entire school) took off the hour before lunch to participate in Christmas arts & crafts, eat æbleskivvers, pebernødders, and sing Christmas carols. A girl from our club, who saved us from our awkward American walk around the cafeteria/auditorium/main area, was extremely suprised when we told her that this would never happen in a US school. She explained to us that every class in Denmark does this, and until 9th grade, you take off the full day to have classroom 'hygge.' When we brought up that the school can't even allow Christmas carols to be played because of seperation of church and state, she made the point that in Denmark, Christmas isn't just a holiday, but a part of the culture. After that, we shut up and enjoyed the chance to meet some new people, eat, and pretty much fail at making paper stars.



These took us about the entire hour..

Christmas hasn't just invaded stores and schools, either. At home, I'm responsible for not one, not two, but THREE different 'julekalender's or Advent Calendars. These aren't your average Advent Calendars, either. One is the typical US Advent Calendar with small square chocolates mesauring roughly 1/2 inch square, one that typical US Advent Calendar, but on steroids. It's about 16 inches high, and 2 inches wide, and made by 'Tomsen' chocolate-meaning that I get an epic mini european chocolate bar every day. Example: Today, I got a full sized chocolate frog filled with caramel. My final julekalender is less like an Advent Calendar, and more like a scratch and win lottery ticket. A giant scratch and win lottery ticket. Pretty much, for every day until December 24th (Did I mention Danes celebrate Christmas the 24th?) there is a little scratch off box, where you hope to uncover a little Christmas tree. Uncover 9 of them-10,000 Dkr. Uncover 4-1,000 Dkr. etc, etc, etc. Pretty much, they are like Advent Calendars for Grown-ups.

It's so weird to think that in less than 2 weeks, I'll be headed back to the states. (Pending some visa issues, I may be coming back in January :) ) What seemed so weird when we first arrived here now seems normal(Tucking our sweatpants into our socks, walking or riding bikes everywhere, the Danish language, just to name a few.) Bjerringbro has been so good to us, and I cannot explain how at home we all feel here. Not only has the club opened it's arms to us, as well as the families from our team and people from the school, but the community in general has welcomed us. We've been blessed to have families open up not only their homes, but their lives and their schedules. Both Amber Turner & I have had times when we needed to go to a doctor (Her with swimmers ear, which I am still dumbfounded as to how she managed that, and myself with my knee injury) and our host mothers have set up appointments for us to be seen. They've fed us, housed us, done our (my) laundry, driven us around, and treated us like family. We've had so many adventures here, so many good times, so many experiences, and I know I'm not alone when I say thank you so much to the Bjerringbro community, to BFH, and Bjerringbro Gymnasium, for this trip has truly been life changing. I know that personally, going 'home' is starting to feel a lot more like leaving it.

Handball-it's not for wimps.

Today had been a beautiful day in Bjerringbro. Temperatures of nearly 8 degrees, and some weird shiny thing in the sky that Danes call 'The Sun.' It rarely appears in Denmark, but on the off chance this 'Sun' decides to show itself, it is only to cast a deceiving glow across frigid land.

But enough about the weather, let's get to the good stuff. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have "college' training, seperate from training with our respective teams, to balance out our practice schedules. These practices consist of 1 hour of physical training (cross-training using gymnastics, CrossFit, and body weight excercises on Tuesdays, traditional weight training on Thursdays) and 1 hour of personal handball skills including, but not limited to one-on-one moves; shooting; footwork; and personal defensive skills. These practices also give us U-16 and U-18 players to shoot on US National Team goalie Natascha King. This last Thursday focused quite a lot on shooting drills, and during the last five minutes of practice it was decided that the girls would practice penalty shots. Personally, I think I've got a pretty good shot-somewhere close to 10 years of water polo will do that for you. I love shooting around, over, and under defenders, as well using one-on-one moves to blow past them, but if you give me a big open goal with a goalie in front of it..we've got a problem. Handball is not a sport that you can spend hours an hours perfecting your shot to the top right corner, and expect the ball to go in when you shoot that corner in a game. (I learned that with the first practice penalty shot I took.) Handball, as I've mentioned before, is a game of opportunities, and therefore you must take the shot based on the opportunity you are given-not the shot you've practiced. Anyways, we lined up for penalty shots, and despite the fact that-had my ball continued- it would have been perfectly in the top right corner of the goal, but Natascha's hand was in the way. Bummer. We lined up for shots again, and this time I decided to pull out the big guns. Thanks to stickum (harpiks), I've figured a nasty way to move the ball in which my hand goes one way and sends the ball, with brutal force, in the opposite direction. It's useful when passing (to mess with a defender, especially in 5-1 defense) or shooting on a goalie (hand goes right-goalie goes right, ball goes left.) I lined up to take the shot and let'er rip. My hand went right, and the ball went left-unfortunately, so did Natascha. This time, however, her hand was not in the way-it was her face. Again, a picture is worth a thousand words...

I personally believe this photo does my damage no justice-she's got two black eyes and something we'll describe as a partially broken nose. Natascha refuses to take a picture with me, so a small amount of Facebook creeping (with her permission) will have to suffice. I'm torn between feeling bad for the amount of pain and inconvinience I caused Natascha, and, well, pride. I mean, c'mon, that ball had to have been going pretty damn fast.. I fully recant my previous statement to goalies.

Weather Update

I don't have a clever way of putting this, but for all you Californians-rain when the temperature is below freezing does NOT always mean snow. There is a point between rain and snow, which is pretty much shaved ice falling from the sky. I'm not a meteorologist, but my best guess is that somewhere over Denmark, someone is trying to make a snowcone in an open air biplane, and failing miserably.
Current temperatue: 2 degrees celsius, 1 degree celsius with windchill
Yesterdays temperature: 0 degrees celsius most of the day, -5 degrees celsius with windchill.

Rødgrød med flød revenge

If you ever happen to stumble across a Danish person, chances are that, sometime in conversation, they WILL ask you to say Rødgrød med Flød. Let me tell you now, it is impossible to say. I personally believe that it's all a giant conspiracy against non-Danish speaking people, because every time someone new says it, they sound COMPLETELY different than the last Dane who brought it up.

However, I have come up with the perfect anti-Rødgrød med Flød weapon: Hippopotamus.
That's right, Danish people lack the ability to say hippopotamus. Usually, the first response is "What?" followed by "ep-po-tep-po?" then "hap-po-nap-po-nas" ending with a cacophany of flustered attempts before you finally break it down for them -Hip-po-pot-oh-mus.
Don't worry, they still don't get it after that.

Bjerringbro FH 13-Viborg HK 13

First off, I'd like to apologize for starting my last two blogs with the words 'First off.'..

Tonight our team played against Viborg HK, a game not nearly as close as the score indicates. Our team opened up beautifully-settling into a rythm, looking for the open player, speeding up and slowing down as necessary, and an amazing defensive flow. All these things led us to an 8-1 lead at halftime. That's right, we were outscored 5-12 in the second half. Though I can't exactly put a finger on where we went wrong, I have to give props to the girls from Viborg, who came in for a strong second hald. Though my positioning on offense was fine, I had trouble communicating with my backs- my sole providers of the ball- which I take full responsibility for. The defensive end was definitely more of un upside for me. Since being in Denmark, defense has become my favorite part of the game, and I never miss the chance to hit someone (yes Mom, that's allowed in Handball) or attempt for the shotblock. This game was no different, as I pulled out many key hits and shot blocks in our game.

Okay, back to our second half fiasco. I know it's never fair to blame the ref's, but..well..c'mon, this kid was honestly 15 years old, at least 4 inches shorter than I am, and a solid 30 lbs heavier. Our team managed not one, not two, but THREE double 2-minute suspensions leaving us to play defense 4 on 6- a task which we managed to complete fairly well. On the other side, we were able to earn merely 2 or 3 suspensions againt Viborg, despite their lack of trying. More than once I was legitimately picked up in the process of pivoting, and dropped on my face-all while I'm attempting to shoot-only to earn ordinary foul after ordinary foul. Looking back, this may have been fair enough, as I managed to miss BOTH penatly shots I painfully earned-I'll admit one was simply a misread shot in which the ball hit the lower left post and ricocheted out, and not in as I had intended. The other shot however, is proof of the lack of competence by said baby ref- My base foot (When taking a handball penalty shot, one shoot-usually your lead foot-must stay planted throughout the shot. Your other foot may move freely, as long as it stays behind the penalty line) was planted roughly 3 inches behind the 7-meter penatly shot marker. I took the shot, my loose foot never touching the ground, and only after I made it did the referee call that my base foot had moved over the line. I had not yet moved, and therefore I was able to look down and note that his call was fully incorrect. I could write quite the rant about this ref, who also happened to be the same kid who judged the game in which I hurt my knee, but it's gone midnight here.




End Note- Goalies, please stop complaining about getting hit in the face, you choose to stand there. This game was the third time I've gone up for a shot block and succeeded in blocking the ball with my face, and I'm closer. Love, Molly. : )

Busy, Busy, Busy!

First off, I'd like to open this blog congratulating all players who have been selected to represent the United States this coming December when USA plays Canada to try and qualify for the 2011 Pan American games, and send my best wishes to those travelling to Cuba to try their hand at qualifying for the World Championships.

It has been a busy few weeks in Bjerringbro-Amber Turner, Gaby Rapp, Jennie Bergsma, and I traveled to North Carolina for 5 days mid-October to participate in the Womens National Team Try-out, as well as the Tar Heel Invitational womens handball tournament, hosted by UNC Team Handball. I was unable to play in neither the try-out nor the tournament, though there were moments where I was itching to rip off my brace, throw on some shorts and play some handball (Okay, when I say moments I mean the whole freaking time!)  It was painful to have worked so hard in Denmark and not be able to show my improvements, but I still managed to learn quite a lot from watching. I was a part of of the new Handball club from Colorado, Dynamo HC, which gave me the chance to work with people who paved a road in the U.S for Womens Handball, such as Chryss Hires and Sam Jones, current Handball legends Anca Stevens, T Ebuwei, and Sarah Gascon, and future Handball heroes Stephanie Hesser and Sophie Fasold. Losing only twice, both times dropping close games to Alberta, Canada, Dyanmo took home Bronze medals.

After returning from North Carolina, I recieved some excellent news-I'm able to play Handball again! Through the obvious language barrier, there was a miscommunication, and I did not get an MRI as I thought I would, but the doctor gave me his tentative go-ahead to play, which I have taken full advantage of.

 My doctors appointment was Friday morning, and Friday afternoon I was on my way to visit a family friend in Berlin. The trip to Berlin included a train from Bjerringbro to Århus, Århus to Padborg(where my train would be delayed enough to make me miss my connecting train in Hamburg), Padborg to Hamburg, and Hamburg to Berlin. From Århus on, each train ride averaged around 2 and a half hours. After arriving in Berlin, and some slight trouble actually meeting up with my friend, I was able to enjoy a relaxing weekend sightseeing, sleeping in, and just relaxing. Berlin was full of History, and it was great to finally see some of the sights I've heard so much about!



Krystal Treberg & I in front of the Brandenburger Tor

Returning from Berlin was an adventure in itself. I bought my ticket to Århus at Berlin Hauptbrauhof at around noon, my train was scheduled to leave at 2:48..damn. I managed to kill an hour peddling around and buying chocolate for my parents, and then another 45 minutes buying a Döner Kebab and Coke "Light" and conversing with a couple traveling from Texas. After that, I was still left with an hour to kill, and waiting on the FREEZING cold platform was NOT an option, which resulted in me walking around the station as slowly as possible, creepily staring into every store window and reading every train schedule and map. After 45 minutes of that, I finally descended down to the platform for the 18 coldest minutes of my life-and then, the worst possible thing to hear echoed over the PA system. My train was experiencing engine trouble, and would be 15 minutes late..then 20 minutes late..then 30..then 45..and so on, so forth, until my train was expected to be 80 minutes late. It may have been the cold, but I had never felt more homicidal than at that exact moment. Luckily, an ICE (direct) trian to Hamburg was coming through on the next platform at 3:37. After much pleading with the ticket taker on the ICE train (BEFORE it left), he agreed to let me take the ICE train without paying the fare diffrence (roughly 150 Euros..). I arrived in Hamburg 15 minutes AFTER my train to Padborg was supposed to depart. Lucky me, trains in Germany really hate leaving on time, and I was able to hop on, and STILL wait an hour before it departed. (Mr. Underhill, if you're reading this-you were wrong. Trains in Germany are late ALL THE TIME!) Finally, the train engine started up, and we were on our way. I shared a compartment with a German couple who found it quite novel that I could speak German. Needless to say, there was not much sleeping. When I finally arrived to Padborg, my train to Århus had already left (On time, imgaine that! You go Denmark!) I waited roughly another hour for the next train, with put me into Århus past 11 pm. Surprise, trains don't run to tiny towns that late. I found a cab to the Idrætshøjskolen, and turned up on Julia Taylors doorstep. I'm really lucky to have such good friends, who also happen to be major Handball studs! Congratulations JT!!! The next morning I hopped on a bus to the train station, missed my stop, walked back to the train station, and finally got on a train to Bjerringbro around noon- more or less bringing my totalt travel time between Berlin and Bjerringbro to 24 hours.

Wednesday brought my first handball game since I had hurt my knee, against the number one team in our league. It was an embarassing game for everyone on our team, losing 9-17. The only player on our team deserving any praise would be Chanel Turner, who tallied her first 2 Danish goals at right back. The rest of our team had trouble settling into a rythm, and therefore it was a selfish game with many opportunities missed because a player would shoot instead of passing. Coach Greg Morava, once told me "Handball is a game of opportunities" and with the amount of opportunities our team missed, it's no suprise that we lost.

Friday was another party at the Gymnasium, and the beginning of Halloween weekend for Team USA in Bjerringbro. We did not have classes on Friday, so Amber Turner, Jennie Bergsma, and I took the short trip to Viborg to finalize our Halloween costumes. After a day of searching, we happened upon a kids toy store which carried childrens costumes, just like those you would find in the US. A picture is worth a thousand words, and since this post isn't quite over..

After we got back from Viborg, we started getting ready for our Gymnasium party. It's still a trip to see the lunch lady tapping kegs to sell beer to students, but the loud euro-pop and laid back nature of the dances gives us a chance to connect with our Danish counterparts outside of Handball & School. Well, that, and I must say Amber Turner and I are pretty good dancers...

On Saturday, my host family-The Risgaards- hosted a Halloween party for BFH's U-16 Piger (The U-16 girls from my club.) It was alot of fun, and although the Americans were slightly dissappointed with the lack of Danish costumes, dance games on the Wii and good company more than made up for it.


Not the last time our costumes would be put to use...



3 costumes...3 Americans...Apparently overly-teased hair counts as a costume in Denmark.



Myself with Sofie Lauge




Wii Just Dance-Cotton Eyed Joe.




Food-the perfect way to attract teenage athletes.

After our Saturday night Danish Halloween, the Americans still had one thing to cover-real Halloween. A sad attempt at Trick-or-Treating wielded 1 bar of dark chocolate, and the 10 remaining cookies of a package of 50-yes, we marked it a success.



Well, That's all for now, folks!

I'll try to send up another quick update tomorrow after our game in Viborg!

Go BFH!

NOTE: While I was in North Carolina, I got the chance to meet many people who have been following my blog through the USATH website. It definitely motivates me knowing that I'm entertaining someone besides my mom and my grandpa, and possibly providing insight to USATH youth thinking about travelling abroad for training in the future. 

Thanks, guys!

27-6 Løvskal, 9-13 Overlund F

First off, let me apologize for the space in between my updates. Between school, handball, and the fact that everything now takes me 3 times longer to do it (keep reading!), I have not had much time to update.

2 weeks ago, Amber Turner and I were lucky enough to get to go visit a good friend of ours in Århus, Julia Taylor. I shared a room with JT this summer during our training camp in Colorado Springs, and it was great to see another familiar, English speaking face! JT is training seriously for handball at the (try and sound this out) Idrætshøjskolen in Århus. October 1-3 was the schools "Family & Friends Weekend," so Amber & I gladly made the trip to act as JT's family, spending Saturday night with her in her dorm room. We met lots of people from all over the world, including members of Men's National Teams from Iceland, Great Britain, Estonia, and Kenya as well as handball and soccer players from Denmark, Norway, Ghana, Germany, Luxembourg, and Brazil. All the people were incredibly friendly towards the "American Girls," so we felt plenty at home.
  JT met us at the train station in Århus, and we did a little shopping and looking around before heading back to the school. We always seem to make interesting friends in Dowtown Århus...


Amber Turner & I



Julia Taylor



Myself with Ben 10

After our night with Julia, Amber and I had to get a move on Sunday morning to get back to Bjerringbro to meet for our game against Løvskal. We made it, and went on to a 27-6 route of Løvskal. This was not a completely positive occasion, however, because after a slightly more than 'controversial' 2-minute suspension awarded to me for fixing my shirt, and missing not 1, but 2 embarassing free shots, I twisted my knee awkwardly in the final minute of the game. This resulted in my first trip to a European Hospital! (NOTE: I was given pain medication, got X-rays, and received a brace & crutches in under 3 hours-my quickest roundtrip in the ER, EVER-Woo Danish Health Care!) I'm out of handball, wearing a brace that makes my left leg look bionic, and on crutches for 2 weeks (1 down, 1 to go!) until they will re-assess. This, sadly, does mean my trip to North Carolina for the Pan American team try-out and Tar Heel Invitational tournament will be only as a spectator..

  This last weekend, however, has been fully positive! (Not saying that I didn't have fun in Århus with JT and Amber! I love you both!) My host Mother, Helle, Stine, and I ventured into Viborg on Saturday to do a little shopping, and visit the biggest store I have EVER seen. This Wal-Mart meets Costco meets JC Penny's type store was probably the size of 2 or 3 American Football fields-HUGE! I got some socks (Europe has given me a new obsession) and a new release movie for the equivalent of 8.00 USD.

  After our shopping excursion, we made it back to Bjerringbro to watch my team play Overlund F, again, this time for real. Sadly, this game did not go as expected. We started out slowly, unable to find a rhythm in offense or defense, and found ourselves too far behind to catch up. It was not a good game for anyone, and in the end Overlund F came away with the win, 9-13. It was a bummer watching my team struggle on our home court and not be able to play, but in 7 days, you best better believe I will be out there again! On a happier note, our team was able to reschedule this game for a Saturday so Chanel Turner, who cannot play Sundays due to religious reasons, was able to play! : )
 
  Tomorrow, Gaby Rapp, Jennie Bergsma, and I will hop on our plane to North Carolina! We're all very excited to go back to the States for just a few days.

  Also, if you are following this blog on it's original server-blogger.com- and not the USATH site, please take a few minutes to sign up as a follower! I'd really appreciate it, as I know I'm writing for more than 6 people, and I'd like to know who my audience is. Towards the top of the page, on the left hand side, under the title, you're given the option to sign up with your Google account. If you do not have a google account, click 'sign in' and then 'create a new google account' Thanks Guys! : )

Pictures of our game vs. Overlund

Warming up- 7 meters

Half Time-Bjerringbro Blue!

Despite how it looks, I am NOT arguing with the ref (dommer)



Defense

Note: Romania beats Norway (again) to become GF World Cup Champions. Another EXTREMELY close game, played right to the end with a key 7 meter block from the Norwegian goalie to a time-out with 9 seconds left, to another important block from the Romanian goalie as time expired. We watched Romania come from behind to beat Norway on Tuesday, and this time it was Norway coming from behind for another excellent game.

Bjerringbro FH for the win! 13-9

We had our first 'practice match' as Bjerringbro FH U16 Team 2, and it went quite well. With the help of the Team 1 goalie and right back, we pulled ourselves together in the second half to pull aherad in a close game. Due to personal conflicts for Jennie Bergsma and Chanel Turner, and lack of a goalie, we borrowed from Team 1 to field the minimum 7 players needed for a game (6 field players-1 goalie.) It was a rough first half personally, as there was some adaption needed-I'm so used to playing a team my size! Our team had a small problem with 2-minute suspensions, two players-including myself-rounding up two in the first half. The second half, however was much better. The 'first game jitters' seemed to calm down and I was able to settle into my game, despite lack of substitutes. I managed to score 3 or 4 goals, drew two 7-meter penalty shots and definitely felt an improvement in my game. I found myself moving or "peevotting"(Julio!) much quicker, and my positioning in the circle (Stregspiller) was much better. My favorite moments of the game we probably catching the ball with my left hand, spinning while transitioning to my right, and shooting (it went in, but was wrongfully called a turnover,) and a few 'American-on-American' plays between Amber Turner and I.

The Danish game is much different from what both Amber & I were used to, as Danes tend to prefer setting up a play than looking for a fast break, and offensive & defensive play was much less aggressive. On the offensive side, it is much less likely for a Danish U16 player to come past the 7 meter line to hit you or wrap you up, if at all. My Danish mother explained that the younger players focus much more on the technical skills, and the physical aggresiveness comes later on. Defense, on the other hand, had many more similarities to the play we were used to, differing mostly in the speed of attack and not moving much past the 7 meter, if straying from the 6 at all. We did learn a LOT in our game, though, and overall it was a success-especially the second half, when it all seemed to come together.

Now, it's time to relax the swollen knees & elbows (and NOT SWOLLEN ankles, I love modern medical braces!) and watch Norway play Romania in the GF World Cup final. NORGE! NORGE! NORGE!

Handball Update

We found out tonight at training that we will have our first match this Sunday in Viborg. Our first 'real' Danish handball game! Wish us luck!

Canoeing and Handball and Shopping, oh my!

After quite the weekend, and a busy start to the week, we're back into our normal schedules. Saturday marked a fun team bonding event when the 5 U16 girls from the USA went canoeing with many U16 Danish girls from Bjerringbro FH. Despite typical Denmark weather conditions - cold wind & rain - we bundled up in rain jackets and sweatpants underneath our lifejackets and were on our way. We put in at a small town above Bjerringbro, and paddled about for a little over an hour-putting us right into the heart of Bjerringbro. It was a really fun trip, and gave all of us a chance to bond and meet the Danish girls outside of Handball.

After canoeing, we had a less than an hour to relax before meeting at the train station for a bus to Silkeborg to watch Bjerringbro's professional team-BSV, play against Kipling IF in Silkeborg. It was an awesome experience, as much of the arena was full of fans of both teams, and a GREAT game. BSV and Kipling stayed close throughout the game, but in the end BSV pulled ahead to snatch the win. It was fun to watch, and I'd wager that there were more people in the arena watching handball than in the entire United States.

The rest of the weekend gave way to relaxing & school work, and Monday was back into Handball and School. Tuesday, however, began another adventure of Team USA in Denmark. Århus is hosting the GF World Cup of Womens handball this week, and we were lucky enough to travel to Århus in the morning and watch the opening games. The first game, at 14:00, was Russia against Sweden. After a small mishap in walking from the train station to the NRGI Arena, we arrived about 10 minutes into the game-just in time for things to get interesting. After settling down into our seats, I received a huge shock-I RECOGNIZED the goalie playing for Russia! She had also participated with Russian 1st Division team Rostov-Don at the Robert Schumann tournament in Oldenburg, playing against the USA Women's Select team. I was thoroughly suprised and, of course, found myself rooting for Russia throughout the game. Russia and Sweden found themselves locked goal for goal through the 2nd half, and Sweden scored off the left wing as time ran out to secure the win. After that, we watched Hungary pull away from Germany, much to my dismay, and Norway give away an early lead to fall to Romania. But those were the small games. We were there to watch Denmark play France. Natascha King and I had our Denmark jerseys on, and Gaby Rapp and myself had found someone to paint Danish flags on our cheeks- oh yeah, we were ready. People began to pour into the arena, leaving few seats open, and red & white enveloped the crowd. After introductions and an acapella Danish National Anthem sung by the crowd, the game was on. Denmark scored early, but France held up through the first half. The second half, however, was completely controlled by Denmark who, despite France's best efforts, pulled ahead for the biggest win of the day 32-29.



Myself with the Danish National Team Mascots




Myself with the Russia National Team Goalie-Inna Suslina



Danish and French Teams warming up



Team USA in Denmark
Left to Right: Myself, Natascha King, Gaby Rapp, Chanel Turner, Amber Turner, and Jennie Bergsma



Settling into a routine

The Americans in Denmark have finally started settling down and getting into the swing of things here in Bjerringbro. Our school schedules are nearly finalized (pending the possibility of being involved in English classes), including intensive Danish lessons every other day. We are training 5 days a week, lifting on Thursdays and Cross-training on Tuesdays.

This Saturday will be busy for all of us, as the Bjerringbro FH U16 girls are taking us on a canoeing adventure through Bjerringbro. Bjerringbro was built around the largest river in Jutland, and if you drive about 20 km out, you can take a canoe all the way through Bjerringbro. After canoeing, we will go to Silkeborg to watch Bjerringbro-Silkeborg [our clubs professional team] play against Kolding IF. Our canoe trip will begin at 12, however my day will start at 2 am, as I will be watching my beloved Longhorns massacre the Texas Tech Red Raiders online at 7 pm central time. Hook'em horns!

More after our weekend!

Billeder!!

It seems that Facebook and Denmark do not get along well, so I've attached some pictures here...

Chanel Turner, Gaby Rapp, Myself, and Jennie Bergsma at the Bjerringbro train station before our trip to Århus

Giant..Giants?
Big Overly-Friendly Giants in downtown Århus



The Mexican Food section at the local grocery store.



Church in Downtown Århus

The Biggest Å in Bjerringbro-the letter 'Å' is also the Danish word for 'river.'

My house in Tindbæk

They don't have trucks in Jutland, they have trailers. So every car in Jutland has a trailer hitch...even my Danish mothers Mercedes-Benz

Feeding Danish Ducks! [and reppin' the USA Handball Jacket!]





More to Come, soon!!!

 

Hjernerystelse

Hjernerystelse is the Danish word for concussion. This Monday, early in our training, I somehow managed to miss a weight ball being tossed down to me during an excercise in which you do a sit-up with a weight ball above your head, throwing it to your partner on your way up. On the way down, your partner would toss the wieght ball back. On the very last rep, I missed the weight ball, which smashed into my face, forcing my head to crack the wooden floor. It's believed that I incurred a minor concussion, and after a day of rest, I'm back at school and feeling much better.

We've had our first offical Danish lessons, and it's become quite apparent that the pronunciation [or lack thereof] will be the biggest thing to overcome, along with the extra letters [Æ, Ø, and Å] I'm sure we'll learn quickly, but if we could not laugh at ourselves, we would be in a very different position.

Online classes are tough! We are given about 4 class periods a day to do work, but those periods are interrupted by Danish lessons, Math & Science support [more Danish lessons], and Sports. We're trying our best, but it will definitely take us a few more weeks to get the hang of things. Reading lectures and responding to the occasional discussion topic, along with assignments, are much more difficult than you would imagine.

Last night was my first practice after my knock on the noggin', and ooh-rah! It felt good! I can really tell the training out here is going to be amazing. Last night began with 30-minutes of cardio, followed by some ball work, offensive drills, more fast-breaks than i can count, and finally scrimmaging. The girls and I learned alot of positioning, catching with one-hand, picked up on not dribbling, and really learned the importance of strong communication on defense-despite the language barrier. These next 90 days will be extremely beneficial for all of us.

Jeg taler ikke Dansk

It seems the only Danish I've seemed to pick up as of late has been "Jeg teller ikke Dansk" or "I don't speak Danish." Yesterday was Bjerringbro Gymnaium's "Sportenfest" or "Sports Day." All classes-or homerooms- picked a theme to dress up as and play in a small tournament of 3 sports- Football(soccer), Volleyball('wolleyball' in Danish), and something similar to 'Whackbat' from "The Fantastic Mr. Fox."  We were assigned to class 2a, who dressed up as cyclists. It was only our second day at the school, so none of us were all too keen to show up in helmets and spandex, but the team had extra supplies for us when we showed up. We managed to sneak off and have our computers set up, but our team did well without us-winning first place in Whackbat. The prize? A case of beer. After Sportenfest there was a school party- which consisted of extremely loud, thumping European techno music and cafeteria ladies serving beer on tap to students for 20 kr- about $3.50. We got out of there relatively quick-it was MUCH different than a US school dance!

Today we watched the Bjerringbro FH U-16 team play 2 matches in Viborg. They won both, qualifying them to move up to the next highest division. The girls were all very excited-at least we assumer so, with the language barrier and all..

Sunday will be our 'no alarm clock' day, as we are all EXHAUSTED. I'll stay tonight in the apartment, and head back to the farm tomorrow afternoon. As for now, it's nap time!

Rødgrød med Fløde

We had our first danish lesson today [informal], and we found that currant pudding with cream, or rødgrød med fløde, is one thing we will NOT be ordering any time soon! Danish schools are extremely casual, something that will take some time getting used to. Teachers are called by their first names, and students are told to leave the room quietly without interrupting class for bathroom breaks, water fountain visits, or if they feel the need to leave class for any reason. We were really suprised to find that kids are not required to have a note to skip class if they have to go to the library and work on a project-just explain it to the teacher later.

Today was also a move-in day for the girls in the apartment or 'flat' as the Danes call it. We all met Natascha King, who is a lovely person whom we are all glad has finally arrived. Natascha is an Army Sergeant who was recently accepted into the World Class Athlete Program, and has agreed to share her living situation with 2 of the girls playing with the youth teams. The apartment seems nice, and will serve as a place for us in-town for us to hang-out in town between school and practices.

We spent the day in Århus yesterday, exploring, shopping, and celebrating what Allan called our 'Last Handball-Free day for a long time.' There was some sort of festival going on, which included what would best be described as Big Over-Friendly Giants. They were crudely constructed costumes, controlled by people inside, that were 15-20 ft high. These BO-FG's absolutely LOVED to start chasing anyone who made eye contact with them, and had creepy wooden hands that would reach down and grab you-quite the shock when you one sneaks up behind you! With the festival, many of the shops were decorated with Danish Flags, and many claimed to be having 'sales'-everything was the same price at nearly every store. The overall presence of Hummel gear [http://www.hummel.dk/Sport.aspx], which is practically unknown in the US, was ASTOUNDING. Everyone had Hummel gear, and we raided every store that seemed promising of low prices. We finally found a department store in which we found the deal of a lifetime-16 pairs of Hummel socks{a handball must-have}, a pair of Hummel shorts, a Hummel jersey, AND a Hummel bag for 300 kr; slightly more than $50.00 USD!

Tomorrow we will attend the Gymnasium's "Sports Day." This is a day in which the whole school takes off and classes compete against each other in Soccer [football], Volleyball, and "Something like Softball." The class to which we have been assigned is dressing up as bicyclists, and I've got my helmet ready!

Also, the qualifying matches for our youth teams to move up in divisions are this weekend. U-16 will play in Viborg, but U-18 will be at home in Bjerringbro. We are very lucky to have learned that extra parents have volunteered to drive us 'American Girls' to watch the match. Go Bjerringbro!!!

And on the first day...there were lot's of firsts! 8/31

I really should work on making clever titles. Maybe I'll being dating them instead.

A day full of firsts! My first 'real' day in Denmark, my first Danish breakfast, my first day at my first danish school, my first danish handball practice, and my first danish bus ride!

I woke up this morning, and it was around 14 degrees celsius, brrr! Apparently it had gotten as low as 4 degrees during the night, but now right now we are at a beautiful 16 degrees. I had breakfast with Danish Mom & Dad and Irene, an awesome little piece of whole wheat bread with butter and Danish Jam. DANISH JAM IS AMAZING. Around 7:30, Danish Mom drove Irene and I to Bjerringbro, her to school, and I to our traning hall. When I arove at the training hall, Jennie was already there, Amber & Chanel met us soon after. Allan took us on a more detailed tour of the training center [Bjerringbro Idrætspark], and off to the bank to exchange Kroner, and finally to Bjerringbro Gymnasium to see our new school and meet our new Headmaster [he did NOT wear a robe, have a beard, wear half-moon spectacles, nor have a golden eagle protecting the entrance to his office. Needless to say, I was disappointed]. The school seems pretty cool, but HUGE for only about 300 students TOTAL. Not 300 in the graduating class, not 300 incoming freshman. 300 students.
After a short meeting with the headmaster and a few teachers, we heading back to the training center [from now on referred to as the Hall] to relax for just a few moments before changing and going BACK to the Gymnasium for 'Handball College.'-our first danish practice!

We began practice with a warm-up in the Gymnasium's gymnasium, and the first thing our coach said to us was "The first 2-minutes are in English, after that, follow along." He stuck to that statement. Luckily we will be taking a crash course Danish Class at the Gymnasium. After our warm-up, we moved into a smaller room set up with little physical training sessions. Allan paired us off, Americans with Danes, and we began. 30-seconds for your partner, 10-seconds to switch, 30-seconds for you. The Danes went first, and that made a world of difference! Things like ring dips, lunges, kettle-bell swings, wall sits, and push-ups on a ball were not foreign to me, but rope climbing, balance beams, 'spider-mans,' and something best described as reverse sit-ups were new. 2 times through was just enough to get my adrenaline going, thanks to similar training with CrossFit Ventura [http://www.crossfitventura.com/], I was ready for more!! We then ran some simple ball drills in the gym, and it felt great to play handball again! Handball College is seperate from Bjerringbro FH, but it will fill out out weeks with handball training Tuesdays and Thursdays to Bjerringbro's Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

After Handball, Stine picked me up and got me on the bus. I'm sure she was embarassed, because I had NO idea what I was doing, and there were 6 year olds getting on, sitting quietly, and pressing the stop button for their homes, while I couldn't figure out which way to put my ticket in the stamper.

Tomorrow we will head off to Aarhus for our final 'free' day before starting school Thursday. There is a festival going on there, and I hope to meet up with a friend training for Handball there.

http://www.bfh.dk/index.php
this is our club's website...I recommend translating it with google translate.

so..how do you pronounce that?

I'm in my new home for the next four months in the small village of Tindbæk, Denmark, just outside of Bjerringbro.  I'm living on a farm, with a family of 5. The oldest brother has moved out to study at university, and the Risgaards family has been gracious enough to let me use his room. The next eldest, Stine (Christina without the Chris), is my age and goes to school in Viborg, but plays Handball for Bjerringbro FH. The youngest, Irene, is quiet, but was nice enough to show me how to open the windows- which involved pointing and motioning before she understood what I meant. My host parents have been extremely gracious, even though the father speaks very little English. Luckily, my host mother speaks excellent English. Neither of the girls seem comfortable speaking another language, though I'm sure their English is MUCH better than my Danish...

Getting Here was an adventure in itself, what with our first train from Bremen to Hamburg being delayed 25 minutes (EXTREMELY rare in Germany), causing us to miss our connecting train to Aarhus. Luckily, we were travelling with the Bergsma family, and we were able to figure it all out. It went much slower than we expected, but we got here! On our train from Bremen to Hamburg, we got out at the first stop called 'Hamburg'-no easy feat. 8 people, 15-ish bags of luggage, and 9 carry-ons. We fought through throngs of small children rushing to get on the train for a field trip, and about 45 seconds after getting everyone off, we realized we'd gotten off at the wrong stop. Everything had to go back onto a completely packed train of small mammals called 3rd graders, thus delaying the train another 20 minutes after a teachers luggage got mixed into ours, causing a frantic search of the ENTIRE platform, only to find it safe in the luggage compartment. Never before had I been called a 'stupid head' in another language. Insulsted by a foreign 3rd grader.

This adventure was after loading all of our things onto a train, only to find it was the end of the line.

Only once more did frantic on-again, off-again loading have to happen.

After we arrived, all of our baggage went to the Club as we walked with Allan Friis and learned a little more about Bjerringbro. It's a beautiful little town, and all the kids from the club seemed happy to see us (especially the U16 boys!)

More to come!



p.s. Denmark public toilets cost money- exchange to Kroner BEFORE arriving!

And 10 days later...

We have had pretty much zero internet access lately, so forgive the lateness of this update. Almost everyone left for the States today. Early wake-up call, and a mix-up about breakfast times raised stress levels, but everyone got off in one piece. Somehow, American converter/adapters tend to get stuck in German sockets, so Diva left 2 converters lighter. Now I’m left with around 24 hours of free time! We leave for Bjerringbro by way of Copenhagen tomorrow. Germany has been amazing, and I’m really glad I got the chance to have this experience. Handball is so popular here, it’s hard to believe; over 400 people showed up to watch our game against TSV Hahlen. I can’t begin to explain the feeling of wearing your country’s colors while listening to your national anthem in front of hundreds of fans! Some highlights of the trip –


1) Dönner- German take on Turkish food. It’s meat & french fries, need I say more?

2) Tournament in Oldenburg along with teams from Russia, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and Czech Republic.

3) Practicing on a cool outdoor court in Oldenburg. It was covered in grit and sand, making fast breaks and jumping difficult, but after ~14 hours of being on a plane, it felt good!

4) German Food in general.

5) Being followed around by a German Photographer.

6) “We’re like a little airplane. We’re night flying high, and we’re not flying far, but we’re flying!”

7) Game against TSV Hahlen- an amazing game, and amazing experience! With a little more time, no doubt we would have one.

8) Partying in a German bar with guys from TSV Hahlen. Due to our code of conduct, none of us drank, but that did not slow the other guys down at all. We drank Pepsi, danced, and cheered ‘hoo-hoo hyena’ late into the night.

9) Using a city bus for private team transportation in Minden.

10) Playing on a REAL handball court!

11) Going to a Level 1 Bundesliga Soccer Game. Werder-Bremen vs. FC Köln. The energy in the stadium was amazing, and the fans were CRAZY.

12) German Rain. It’s real rain. Like, it messes stuff up.

13) Finally, our little excursions for internet access- a school computer lab, the kids section at Burger King [TINY chairs], and an ‘American Food’ restaurant.

Tonight I’ll share a room with Amber & Chanel, and then we’ll join the Bergsma family for the final journey towards a HUGE new adventure.

Quiet before the Storm?

Tonight is my last night in the states. I've said most of my goodbyes, and most of my life is packed into 1 1/2 suitcases (both UNDER 44 lbs!) Tomorrow I fly out to Denver, and I'll spend the night with a team mate in Monument. On Thursday, our head coach, 4 team mates, and I will fly out of Colorado Springs, meet a connecting flight to Munich in Chicago, arrive in Munich Friday morning, and continue on to Bremen. For 10 days we'll play in 2 tournaments in and around Bremen, and train with a local team in Minden. After those 10 days are up, I'll say goodbye to my team mates and coaches- who are returning home - and hop on a train to Aarhus, Denmark; and somehow find a way from Aarhus to Bjerringbro, which will be my home for the next 4 months of my life.
Here we go!