France

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And the saying goes, "practice makes perfect." If thats the case then getting my stuff in a bag, tying up loose ends, and saying my good-byes should be similar to a hot knife through butter. Instead it feels more like I'm pulling my head out of a jumbo sized Chinese-finger-trap whilst walking through a large vat of quicksand. Throw in a stomach full of gluten, shake and bake in a plane for 10 hours and Vua-la!! ......the adventure begins.

If you didnt understand all that basically heading out here was hard. If you dont know where "here" is, allow me to update everyone on my status. A couple of weeks ago I got a call from an agent saying there was a team in France that may be interested in my services. After much debate and heartfelt conversations the conclusion was that this was an opportunity one couldn't pass up. I now sit in a small city south west of Paris (Tours) not knowing if I will be here for one week, or three months. The tryout will last about a week after which I could be sent home or asked to stick around and get paid to play volleyball. Either way I got a free trip to France.

Now I know that most of you are thinking how cool it would be to get a call from someone telling you theres a free ticket to France if you want it. To be perfectly honest it is fairly exciting to know that a call like that might come in. However, the reality is much less romantic. Once that decision is made the wheels start moving pretty quickly and before you know it your at the airport feeling completely unprepared. Not the type of unprepared like I didnt pay all the bills or find a permanent place to park my car, its the kind of unprepared that sneaks up on you. It happens when the guy in line behind you at security almost knocks you over with his butt as he bends down to put something in his bag. At that moment you realize the, "is this guy joking?" smile thats on your face has no one to share with. Theres no one to run through the Paris airport with you because your flight was delayed and you are literally the last person they let on board. When you have to wait for your bag after arriving because you made the connection but your stuff didnt, theres no one there to share in the irony of what you just went through. If there happens to be a tall thin pasty skinned french guy wearing the cliche red and white stripped shirt SNL would use to mock the french you start to understand that trips like this are not that fun to practice.

Things do seem to be looking up though. Since my arrival i have been set up in a nice holiday inn and met most of the guys. The level of volleyball here is very high and the team seems very profesional. Two qualities I am not used to esspecially in this line of work. I will describe some of the more interesting guys from the team in my next entry. Thats all for now.

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Photos

Holiday Inn
This was the view from my window on the first day here. Im taking it as a good sign. I also have not had to much time for picture taking so more of them to come.

Comments

[Amy Sather]

OOOh La La!
I love reading about your adventures Nils! Can't wait to see more pictures... Hugs-

[jon muench]

paris in springtime
At the very least, while you wait to hear something, you might indulge yourself with the French food and fine wine. Worth the trip right there. Oh, and go visit the caves, my ancestors painted some very nice pictures there. :-)

[Carol Lisbona]

Smiling
Love to read your blog! You always make me laugh!