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Published: March 15th 2007
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Rollerblading
We went rollerblading. I am bad at it, and was afraid I was going to fall in the river. It has been an interesting ride thus far here in France.
About a month ago I got an email from Jean-Luc, the manager of the Bois-Guillaume Woodchucks, a team competing in the Nationale 1 league in France. Bois-Guillaume is a suberb of Rouen, a city about 100 kilometers west of Paris in the Normandy region.
So I received this email, a formal invite to come spend two months playing for the Woodchucks. The contract ends mid-may, at which point I will fly to Lithuania where I will spend the rest of the summer. I arrive in Lithuania just in time to get ready for the European Championship 2007, which Kaunas Lituanica (my team) will be playing in, which will be in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands.
But I am getting ahead of the story. At the moment I am in France playing for the Woodchucks. First I would like to apologize for the scatter-brained-ness of this entry, it is probably the best reflection of the place I am at right now (in terms of locality and 'profession' moreso than mental and spiritual place), which in turn is a reflection of the team I am playing for.
My first adventure once arriving in France was tracking down my two checked bags, which did not make my connecting flight from Newark to Paris. They did not show up at baggage claim, and I later learned that Baggage Services were having trouble locating them. Two days later, they were found and delivered to my house.
I had been given detailed instructions as to what train to take from the airport to the train station in Paris, then from Paris to Rouen, and I was not looking forward to this trek after having just arrived on an overnight flight from the US and after the news about my bags. But to my delight, when I exited the baggage claim right there in front of me was a scruffy guy with a baseball hat and a piece of cardboard on which was written
‘BASEBALL William GORDON’
Two of my teammates had made the trip to Paris to pick me up, thinking it better than me having to take the train. I was very appreciative.
My new teammates were named Eric and Eric. One is a history professor at a university not far from Rouen, and the other is a manager of sorts. After two explanations of what he does, I am still unclear. It has something to do with selling things, like furniture and office articles.
They drove me about 2 hours to a McDonald’s (of all places), where we had a Coke and waited for Florent, our coach. He arrived and led us back to his place, which is now my place as well.
The following morning Flo woke me up at 9AM—I began speaking to him in English and it was only after my first few sentences I realized that he didn’t understand me. I had completely forgotten that I was in a foreign country for about sixty seconds.
We ate breakfast, cookies and coffee, and headed to a nearby gym to work out.
There are many things to be said about the French gym and my impressions of it, but the most striking thing I noticed is that when we arrived, we went around and shook the hand of EVERY person in the weight room before we put our bags down and began our workout. If someone was ‘mid-exercise’ as we were passing they would stop their workout to shake our hand. I explained to Flo that this simply does not happen in the US, if anything the majority of gym-goers are antisocial at the gym and are focused on themselves and their workout. He responded by saying that it is normal to say hello to each person when you enter a room for the first time, the gym is no exception. The more I thought about it the more logical it seemed.
That evening we had our first practice. I think we had six players at practice. One of the players, Ardo, who is our left fielder, hurt his knee during practice and had to stop playing. he Now, by doctor's orders, is not allowed to run until after Easter. Then later in the evening when we moved to an indoor gym for a practice with the youth team, another one of our players had to stop throwing because of a hurt arm. So far, things are not looking good for us.
So now I have been here for exactly a week, we have had one practice match and one practice. We have another practice tonight. My days are very relaxed; I wake up, go to the gym sometimes, send emails, read, do yoga a few times a week. Sometimes I feel anxious like I should be doing something, then I remember that this is my job; to relax, stay in baseball shape, and play baseball a few times a week. I get to practice my French, play baseball, and meet new people, all things that I enjoy doing. All in all it is a great gig, and it gives me time to write!
Some evenings we spend watching baseball games on the internet, Major League games. Flo's favorite team is the Yankees. I don't like the Yankees. But it is refreshing to watch the games because I haven't really followed baseball for atleast seven years. I don't know why, but watching the game is not the same as playing it for me. It is kind of like watching golf, or watching paint dry.
So I am back on the blogging trail. I should be in Europe for atleast six months this time, so expect to get occaisonal blog emails. I hope everybody is well. Anybody want to come visit me in Europe? 😊
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Ann Mom
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greeting people in the morning
Hi Will! So fun to read your blog again! Ask Pop about Gerard when he first came to the U.S. and went to work! Great story! Also, I love the analogy of 'watching paint dry'! Thanks for your wonderful writing!