So I am now in Lithuania and there is so much to say. So much to say. I am staying here in a student Dormitory, on the first floor were stays all of the foreign exchange students and visiting professors for the University, 'Kauno Kolegija'. I have my own room, with a shared kitchen and shower with one other room. When I arrived a Turkish couple, both professors, were staying in that room. They left this morning, so now the apartment is all to myself. As I was writing this blog, the ‘house mother’ came to my door to give [View Full Entry]

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My final game in France was a good one. I pitched, we won 3-0 against Dunkerque. Josh, the other American, hit a home run and so did Eric Coutu, a lead-off bomb right down the left field line. I had 15 strikeouts in 7 innings the most I have ever thrown in a single game. And even though we made some errors I was happy to finish the game giving up no runs. After, we had a small barbecue at Jean-Luc’s house. We drank Heinekens and played a game of Cranium, a board game kinda like Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Taboo all [View Full Entry]

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On the ride back from Brussels to Rouen, I had my first interaction with French Customs, and my first time being stopped in my Pink Fiat. It was at the final Tollbooth before getting off the Expressway and arriving in Rouen. The Customs Official put his hand up signaling for me to stop. As I pulled over and turned off the engine I noticed that the Customs Official was no older than I, probably younger. My first time being stopped by a law enforcement officer who looked younger than me. He asked for my license and the papers for the car. [View Full Entry]

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After our scrimmage game on Wednesday with Pole Espoir and a quick shower at the ‘stadium,’ I hopped in my Fiat and headed north for Brussels, Belgium. My good friend Kaneza had arrived a few days earlier with the Worcester Group. Kaneza is the Company Manager for the Wooster Group, a contemporary theater company based out of Soho, New York; they are touring Europe over the next month or so with two productions, one being an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the other an interpretation of ‘La Didone’, an Italian opera translation of the story of Dido and Ane [View Full Entry]

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Dunkerque; what a funny name for a town. Tuesday was a national holiday, and the Bois-Guillaume Woodchucks took advantage by rescheduling a rainout game against Dunkerque. It was probably one of the trippiest days on a baseball field I have ever experienced, from the game itself to the weather to the mood of our team. A day in which everything was off-kilter. Dunkerque is a town just off the northern coast of Paris. It is near Calais, the town where departs the tunnel that traverses the English Channel between France and England (I cannot think of the name of the [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was a matchup between the Woodchucks of Bois-Guillaume and the Marlins of Compeigne. It was the first of three double-headers we will have this week. The Compeigne Marlins are the top team in the Nationale 1 Division in France. They were 12-0 going into this weekend. They were, from top to bottom, by far the best team we have played so far. A big reason for this is that the team has many foreigners: a shortstop from Venezuela, third baseman from Cuba, a pitcher from Cuba. And a few other players of Cuban descent (who spoke Spanish the whole game) [View Full Entry]

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After the games there was a barbacue at Jean-Luc’s house for the whole team. The main event, however, was the announcement of the presidential election results between Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy, the two presidential candidates left for the run-off election that was held today. In a nutshell, Segolene represents a socialist politics, wanting to reinforce social security, unemployment and other social programs in France. Sarkowzy is a much more pro-America, pro-Bush, pro-capitalism candidate, who also speaks strongly about controlling immigration and strengthening the Frenc [View Full Entry]

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Monday morning Flo, Adele, Ian, and Fred and I loaded up the car and hit the road for Holland. We were planning on driving to a town or two, spending the day there, staying a night, and then driving back the next day. We took the GPS along with us—we chose Catherine as our navigator voice this time. When we arrived in Middleburg the town was packed. People everywhere—and everyone wearing orange. We parked and followed the crowd and the sound of a live band playing not far off. We spent a few hours walking the city, looking at people, [View Full Entry]

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Yet another weekend of sweet and sour baseball for the Bois-Guillaume Woodchucks. We were matched up against Rouen, whose home stadium is just down the hill from Bois-Guillaume. There is apparently a big rivalry between the two teams, a history of games with lots of trash talking and guys getting upset on the field. In fact this Sunday was no different. I pitched the morning game, which we won in five innings by the 10-run rule. Late in the first game, with the score already well out of reach for Rouen, one of our guys tried to steal home at [View Full Entry]

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Here is my typical Thursday living here in France (sort of). I wake up around 9 am, just enough time to have a morning coffee, have a pastry, and to check my email before going to the gym. We have an overflowing amount of pastries, like croissants and chocolate croissants, because this is always in abundance at the pig park whenever we go there. By 10 am it is time to go to the gym but flo was not yet awake. I go upstairs to wake him up. We arrive 20 minutes late to the gym, and as usual Christophe is [View Full Entry]

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