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!