Well last night we played against Fram...Needless to say it was a disaster. We lost 4-1 and it was miserable.
On a positive note. Tomorrow I am going to go see the Hunger Games and I CAN'T WAIT!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Travel, Practice, and Game!
Things got off to a crazy start Monday. I didn't get the ok to come from immigration until 10:30 while waiting to board my flight to New York. I was a little nervous and thought I might have to spend a night or two in NYC. Luckily that was not the case. The flight to NY went well and I was able to get all my luggage (two huge suitcases, a small duffel, and backpack) into the cab over to JFK airport. Like last year, the Icelandair counter was not open yet and wouldn't open for at least an hour and a half so I had to sit in the entrance lobby and wait. I was entertained by a small bird that ate some banana I put out for it on the chair next to me.
The flight to Iceland was ok, I guess. I tried to sleep but just couldn't. We arrived an hour early and I took my time getting the luggage and went to the duty free store. Ulla and Ida picked me up and I got to go to Ida's house to sleep for the day and then go meet the family I would be living with.
I arrived at the house and the only thing in my room was a small stool. I was a little hesitant about the living space as it is only big enough for my twin size bed, a clothing rack, and the small stool. I finally got all of my stuff situated and it is not so bad. The family is very nice. The mom, Sigrun, is a sign language interpreter at the University of Iceland. She has two daughters, Margret (22) who is into fitness competitions, and Rosalie (11) who plays soccer and handball at IR. I met Rosalie last year when I helped coach the 5th age group. She is a lot of fun and helped me by translating to her teammates what I wanted them to do. Sometimes it feels a little weird living here but I think it will get better with time once I get to know them better.
My first day back I went to practice. It was so good to see all the girls again. We had a good session and I really like our new coach, Siggi. It started hailing in the middle of practice and we just kept playing. Iceland doesn't get big hail like in the States, but it is small, about raindrop size and feels very sharp when it hits you. I gave Ulla a hard time about it and said, "You didn't tell me it was going to be like this!"
Saturday we had a practice match versus Haukur. We tied 1-1. The game went ok. The team definitely has more potential this year and I am excited what we will do with better coaching :) It was fun to be playing again and I can't wait until our next game, Wednesday.
Tomorrow, we are doing the Cooper fitness test. YAY! Haha. At least it is only 12 minutes. I was joking with Siggi and said that I might only get 6 laps. He just said "you're a goalkeeper." That made me smile. I will do my best, but it is just nice to know there isn't a lot of pressure.
I had nothing to do today, so I just watched a lot of movies. :)
We bought a zoo---pretty good
John Carter---really enjoyed it and want to read the books
Young Adult---not worth the time, kinda weird
The Big Year---fun story, entertaining
A Better Life---good, would recommend, but don't expect a conclusion :(
I hope you are all doing great!
Love you!
Walls
The flight to Iceland was ok, I guess. I tried to sleep but just couldn't. We arrived an hour early and I took my time getting the luggage and went to the duty free store. Ulla and Ida picked me up and I got to go to Ida's house to sleep for the day and then go meet the family I would be living with.
I arrived at the house and the only thing in my room was a small stool. I was a little hesitant about the living space as it is only big enough for my twin size bed, a clothing rack, and the small stool. I finally got all of my stuff situated and it is not so bad. The family is very nice. The mom, Sigrun, is a sign language interpreter at the University of Iceland. She has two daughters, Margret (22) who is into fitness competitions, and Rosalie (11) who plays soccer and handball at IR. I met Rosalie last year when I helped coach the 5th age group. She is a lot of fun and helped me by translating to her teammates what I wanted them to do. Sometimes it feels a little weird living here but I think it will get better with time once I get to know them better.
My first day back I went to practice. It was so good to see all the girls again. We had a good session and I really like our new coach, Siggi. It started hailing in the middle of practice and we just kept playing. Iceland doesn't get big hail like in the States, but it is small, about raindrop size and feels very sharp when it hits you. I gave Ulla a hard time about it and said, "You didn't tell me it was going to be like this!"
Saturday we had a practice match versus Haukur. We tied 1-1. The game went ok. The team definitely has more potential this year and I am excited what we will do with better coaching :) It was fun to be playing again and I can't wait until our next game, Wednesday.
Tomorrow, we are doing the Cooper fitness test. YAY! Haha. At least it is only 12 minutes. I was joking with Siggi and said that I might only get 6 laps. He just said "you're a goalkeeper." That made me smile. I will do my best, but it is just nice to know there isn't a lot of pressure.
I had nothing to do today, so I just watched a lot of movies. :)
We bought a zoo---pretty good
John Carter---really enjoyed it and want to read the books
Young Adult---not worth the time, kinda weird
The Big Year---fun story, entertaining
A Better Life---good, would recommend, but don't expect a conclusion :(
I hope you are all doing great!
Love you!
Walls
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Return to the Land of Ice!
I can't believe it has been six months since I left Iceland. I didn't know whether or not I would be returning and was busy trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had the opportunity to be the assistant coach at Hill College which was definitely a learning experience for me. I got to get my feet wet in college coaching and was grateful for the opportunity. As the season finished up at Hill I was given another opportunity to coach at Nolan Catholic High School with the girls varsity soccer program. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed working with the girls and the other staff at Nolan. It is a very special program that invests a lot into the players and encourages their development not only as players, but as people. I was very fortunate to be a part of it.
Since returning from Iceland I tried to get my new contacts to help me find a way to get back to Iceland. I never got a response and had pretty much given up on returning. I started to work on my "life plan." I want to go to PA school at UNT HSC in Fort Worth and started working on my pre-requisites. I am currently taking Genetics on-line and also need Anatomy and Physiology. The last thing I need to make my application look good is "patient contact hours". Basically, I need to find a job where I am working directly with patients. My ideas are pretty limited.
In January I contacted one of my friends in Iceland to get an idea of how my old team was doing. My team got a new coach and some younger players have moved up. We started off joking about me coming back and then it turned into a real option and plan. By the next day, I was talking to the team manager about my return. Once again, the visa process is long and is testing my patience, but overall it is much easier than last year. I know what to expect and how to do things more efficiently. Right now I am waiting for my background check from the FBI to come back clear and then my application will be complete and it should only take a week once the immigration office has that. So, I am looking to return in a week or two from now and I couldn't be more excited. I will be there almost twice as long as last summer. Hopefully you don't get sick of posts ;)
Stay tuned for more updates
Since returning from Iceland I tried to get my new contacts to help me find a way to get back to Iceland. I never got a response and had pretty much given up on returning. I started to work on my "life plan." I want to go to PA school at UNT HSC in Fort Worth and started working on my pre-requisites. I am currently taking Genetics on-line and also need Anatomy and Physiology. The last thing I need to make my application look good is "patient contact hours". Basically, I need to find a job where I am working directly with patients. My ideas are pretty limited.
In January I contacted one of my friends in Iceland to get an idea of how my old team was doing. My team got a new coach and some younger players have moved up. We started off joking about me coming back and then it turned into a real option and plan. By the next day, I was talking to the team manager about my return. Once again, the visa process is long and is testing my patience, but overall it is much easier than last year. I know what to expect and how to do things more efficiently. Right now I am waiting for my background check from the FBI to come back clear and then my application will be complete and it should only take a week once the immigration office has that. So, I am looking to return in a week or two from now and I couldn't be more excited. I will be there almost twice as long as last summer. Hopefully you don't get sick of posts ;)
Stay tuned for more updates
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