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Published: March 16th 2008
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The following blogs have been a work in progress over the past few days as we have had very little internet access...
My pictures have been uploaded to this blog, but Zuzu's camera cord is not with us, so we will upload more ASAP!
Zuzu wrote the following:
Hej everyone!
It’s only our fifth day across the ocean yet we’ve been lucky enough to experience so much already! Thursday, the day after our game, was a light practice day. We did some speed ladders, passing drills and shooting. Boyer had to work hard in goal during our shooting because according to Bula the goalie coach, game day was a light day for her! On the way to and from practice we got a quick rundown of the hottest Swedish music compliments of Josephine, our teammate and chauffeur. It’s not all that different from American techno and rap, and we decided we could get used to it. Josephine also threw on some Shania Twain, thinking it would make us “country” girls feel right at home. We’ve already decided to introduce the team to our favorites and teach them some dance moves while we’re at it. At home later that
Americans in the Karlstad Square
From left: Shana, Erin, Zuzu, Hope night we had enough time to perfect our culinary skills, making our new favorite meal…Swedish meatballs!
Friday was a day off from practice and we took full advantage of the extra time, making a trip into downtown Karlstad. The center of town is a 30 minute walk from our apartment, but time flies when you have someone like Boyer to talk to! Plus, we were able to improve our Karlstad navigational skills. First order of business once we got to town was to find the Varmlands Folkblad, the local newspaper, where we were featured in a sports page article. To our surprise there was a large color picture of us and the other 3 Americans (Erin, Shana, and Hope) trying out for the team (check out the link)! After that, we met up with the girls to explore the city and do a little shopping. Much to our dismay, we found we were so behind on Swedish fashion. Maybe that explains all the funny looks we’re getting!
While in town, Boyer made sure the girls and I were able to experience our first proper fika, which is a small, sit-down meal between lunch and dinner. It usually consists
of coffee or tea and a small sandwich or pastry. The cafes get really busy around fika time, but it’s easy to understand why; the treats are so good, and who doesn’t enjoy a nice little break at a Swedish café?! After our lovely fika we headed over to the movie theater to catch “10,000 B.C.” which none of us recommend, but don’t let that stop you from seeing it if you want to…
Once again the Karlsbad McDonald’s, complete with Wi-Fi, proved to be the answer to our internet problems (which is not yet hooked up at the apartment). Thank goodness for fast food globalization! We were able to catch up on emails and phone calls in a warm familiar environment; much better than walking through our Bellevue neighborhood with the laptop looking for a signal…which, of course we haven’t tried…haha. That would be silly.
The next day we woke up after another night of barely sleeping, but still looking forward to playing in our second match of the trip. I am not a coffee drinker by any means but found it has worked well in the battle against jetlag. So after a pregame breakfast and a
A tribute to Miller
I couldn't believe I found it here! good chug of coffee we were off to the locker room to put on the QBIK jerseys for the last time during our stay here. The girls were at the field getting ready for the game and we joined right in, getting pumped up by the Swedish pop music. The match would be against a Division 2 team, which is in the division right below QBIK. We started off slow, but then got into a nice rhythm, leading 2-0 at halftime. Goals were quick to come after the whistle blew for the second half and we ended the game with a 5-0 victory for QBIK! Boyer did not get much action again this game, but still managed to lead the defense through her directions…and let me tell you - they LOVE having her back there. She fits right in! We actually scored most of our goals off of set pieces, and I managed to put one away as well today. On the sidelines today we had some special visitors; Laura’s uncle Dennis and her two cousins Eva and Helene. It was awesome having fans on the sidelines cheering for us! All in all, it another good preseason game for QBIK
and the coaches were very happy, complimenting everyone’s play. I’m glad I got to be a part of it!!!
After the game, we headed back to the locker room where we celebrated the birthday of Hasna, one of our attacking center-mids, who turned 17 on Saturday (she is the youngest on the team)! Sure makes me feel old. There was a huge cake in the shape of a soccer ball and we sang to her in Swedish and English. Laura and I also made sure she got the traditional Marquette Soccer happy birthday chant. If that didn’t freak her out enough, Shana, one of the other Americans, played a nasty American joke on her. Shana started complaining that the cake smelled bad in order to get Hasna to take a sniff. We all know what happened next; Swedish face in birthday cake
After the game we drove back into town with Laura’s family and I’ll let her take it from here…
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