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Published: March 13th 2008
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O'Hare
First picture! First and foremost- let me say a HUGE thank you to my aunt Kathy and uncle Dennis for everything they have done to make this happen...
It’s Wednesday night and we have just returned to our apartment from our first practice game with Qbik. Zuzu scored one goal and had an assist in our 4-1 victory! The goal was a 1 v 1 slot to the left of the keeper and the assist was a beautiful flick with her back to goal to an oncoming midfielder who had a magnificent finish. The team plays a flat back four, so other than the goal the other team scored, I didn’t do much but switch the point of attack with my feet. The opponent’s goal came off of a set kick just outside the arc. She hit iron to my upper left as I dove to try and save it and it ricocheted to the right side of the goal where the defenders were sliding to clear it, but their forward cleaned it up.
Before I continue about our experience with the team, let me describe our journey here so far. We left Milwaukee around 4:00pm Sunday and joined the Zwolski
On the plane
London here we come family for a delicious lasagna dinner in Libertyville, IL before heading to O’Hare for a 9:10pm departure to London, England.
Interesting note from the plane ride: I was wearing my Kansas Jayhawk jacket and shortly found out that a Missouri Tiger was to my left, a K State Wildcat was behind me, and a Texas Longhorn was in front of me. Apparently the entire Big 12 was fleeing the country.
We spent a very tired layover in London, but did not neglect to step outside and get a picture with the British flag. Zuzu also paid a tribute to the Beatles with a reenactment of the Abbey Road cover. (Check out all pictures below for a visual recap of our trip). Afterwards, we found the only patch of carpet in the entire airport and stretched out for a nap. Parents had to explain to confused little kids walking by that we were “very tired because we were on a long journey.” The departure screen told us that our flight to Oslo was delayed, but never gave us a time. Z finally woke me up to go check gate #2 and our flight was boarding! Lucky break for the
Americans…
Getting past customs in Norway was like trying to get tickets to a Hannah Montana concert. After about a 30 minute wait, we were the last two to get through and found Freddy, Qbik’s manager, anxiously awaiting our arrival. Freddy is a really sweet older man. He brought us chocolates and juice and took us to McDonalds for a fine American welcome (it was the only place open). I must say, however, McDonalds is a pretty classy place in Sweden.
Freddy’s English is better than our Swedish, but we still have somewhat of a language barrier with him. In any event, he drove us three hours to a small apartment in an area of the city called “Bellevue.” Having lived in the Mashuda dorms together, this quaint apartment has suited us well so far. We were happily surprised to see our pals Oprah, Ellen, and Jay Leno on TV during the day, as well as many other American shows. Z was like, “It’s so great to hear your voice, Oprah!”
We adapted well to the time change the first day. We woke up around 9:30 and took a jog, introducing ourselves to the neighborhood the Marquette
soccer way. Freddy picked us up later and took us on a driving tour of Karlstad before my aunt came with my cousins, Helene & Eva. They brought us chocolate chip cookies among other goodies (Start granola and blackberry Jam-- my favorite) and took us grocery shopping. Our first practice that night was on an indoor field turf for an hour. The session was quick and consisted mostly of passing, shots, and a small scrimmage. The coaches and the team spoke English very well and were very welcoming of us. Most of the girls on the team are younger than us since they were pulled up from the Qbik D2 team to roster the new Qbik team.
There are, however, three other Americans who showed up to tonight’s game tonight and who will probably play on the team this season. They are from the University of San Francisco and have been traveling around Sweden practicing and playing with different teams. Their names are Erin, Shaina, and Hope. They are 22,23, and 24 years old. Z and I are going to hang out with them Friday since it’s our day off. Apparently they are staying in a hotel that has
free wireless so I have to hit that up in order to keep in touch with everyone! It’s been rough without my Internet!!!
Anyway, after the game tonight, the team headed to a workout facility and trained with a man named Unas. We went through a tough med-ball workout, which left our arms and abs REALLY sore! It should be interesting to see how we feel tomorrow…
That’s all I can really tell you about for now! I hope everyone is doing GREAT and having a wonderful March! Midterms are over, so happy Spring Break!
Much love to all,
Boyer and Zuzu (p.s. it’s pretty funny to hear the Swedes say Zuzu)
p.s. stay tuned for Zuzu's next blog tomorrow...
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Laura Culhane
non-member comment
I love your blog!
I should be studying for my midterm but stumbled upon this and I love it. Please keep sending the blogs whenever you can. Congrats on your first victory and Zuzu, congrats on the goal and assist. I'm proud of you guys, keep on keepin on that Marquette way!!!!!!!!