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
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Coming to an end
Our last game of the season was against Fjölnir, the team I was originally in contact with and was going to play for. We ended up losing 3-0, but I got to meet Thorleifur, the coach who contacted IR for me. It was nice to finally put a face to the person who helped get me to Iceland.
Monday, I woke up ready to ride my bike to the club by 10 a.m. so that I could go to the Westman Islands with the 16 girls team only to find out they weren't going anymore. I decided to just hang out all day and had no plans. At 10:40 the apartment doorbell/buzzer/speaker rang and it was Dori. He was downstairs and was asking if I wanted to go with the U14 boys team. I had about 2 minutes to get dressed and grab a what I needed to take with me. To get to the Westman Islands you take the same road as you do when heading toward the Golden Circle but instead of turning just keep following the coast, so I got to see a part of Iceland I hadn't seen yet. It is about 2 hours from Reykjavik to the ferry which takes about 30 minutes to go to the Islands. These Islands are amazingly beautiful. I don't know how to accurately describe what they look like, other than just saying extraordinary.
It is mainly a fishing island and is very wealthy. They have a large club and they host a big tournament every year. A little history about the Island: In 1973, a volcano on the main (inhabited) island erupted and a portion of the town was completely covered in lava. You can see a few buildings halfway covered in volcanic rock. Fortunately the boats were in the harbor and people were able to escape. Also, in order to keep the dock open they had to pump sea water onto the lava to cool it down and slow the flow. You can still go up to the volcano and feel that the rocks are still warm. Another interesting tidbit is that Keiko, aka Free Willy, is from Iceland and was reintroduced to the "wild" in the Westman Islands. They closed off a part of the ocean that met up with one of the islands as a habitat for him where he lived until 2003.
One thing that everyone who goes to Westman Islands has to do is swing on a rope from the side of a mountain. It was my turn and some locals were explaining the best way to do it. I listened and tried to do what they told me. I jumped and then started to twist around with my back towards the upcoming rock wall. Everyone down below was yelling "NO!" So I got myself turned back around. Unfortunately when I got to the wall I didn't push off hard enough and didn't quite make it back to the other side. I ended up just hanging there with no way to get back to the ledge. They told me to lower my hands down the rope so that I could just let go and fall down. I wasn't able to get me hands any lower and just decided to go ahead and fall. I wasn't too high up maybe 8 feet off the ground but it still messes with your nerves. After I let go my hands hurt for about 15 minutes. They were burning and aching. Even today they are still a little sore. It was definitely an interesting experience. It was fun and I would do it again. Especially now that I know how to do it right.
On the drive back to Reykjavik, we stopped at an amazing waterfall. It comes off a ledge so you can actually walk behind the waterfall. It was incredible.
I will post some pictures soon.
Today, Tinna's mom had us over for a traditional Icelandic fish dinner. We had fish, potatoes, rye bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and hard boiled eggs. It was fantastically delicious. There was also one other item she had me try. It was a rectangle mold of bits of lamb meat. That's all I knew when I took my bite. After I ate it and said that it wasn't bad I was informed that it was sheep head. They take several sheep heads and boil them for a long time which causes the meat to fall off the bone. Then they take the meat and put it in a pan (loaf pan). It has a similar texture to chopped brisket, but with a little gelatin to bind it. All in all it wasn't bad and if served it again I would be able to eat it, even knowing what it was. Definitely not something I would go out of my way to eat again though.
One more full day in Iceland and then back to the real world. Tomorrow I am coaching in the morning, hanging out with Tinna and Linda in the afternoon, practice in the evening and then a goodbye party with my girls. I am going to be sad to say goodbye. It has been such an incredible experience and I hope I can come back.
Monday, I woke up ready to ride my bike to the club by 10 a.m. so that I could go to the Westman Islands with the 16 girls team only to find out they weren't going anymore. I decided to just hang out all day and had no plans. At 10:40 the apartment doorbell/buzzer/speaker rang and it was Dori. He was downstairs and was asking if I wanted to go with the U14 boys team. I had about 2 minutes to get dressed and grab a what I needed to take with me. To get to the Westman Islands you take the same road as you do when heading toward the Golden Circle but instead of turning just keep following the coast, so I got to see a part of Iceland I hadn't seen yet. It is about 2 hours from Reykjavik to the ferry which takes about 30 minutes to go to the Islands. These Islands are amazingly beautiful. I don't know how to accurately describe what they look like, other than just saying extraordinary.
It is mainly a fishing island and is very wealthy. They have a large club and they host a big tournament every year. A little history about the Island: In 1973, a volcano on the main (inhabited) island erupted and a portion of the town was completely covered in lava. You can see a few buildings halfway covered in volcanic rock. Fortunately the boats were in the harbor and people were able to escape. Also, in order to keep the dock open they had to pump sea water onto the lava to cool it down and slow the flow. You can still go up to the volcano and feel that the rocks are still warm. Another interesting tidbit is that Keiko, aka Free Willy, is from Iceland and was reintroduced to the "wild" in the Westman Islands. They closed off a part of the ocean that met up with one of the islands as a habitat for him where he lived until 2003.
One thing that everyone who goes to Westman Islands has to do is swing on a rope from the side of a mountain. It was my turn and some locals were explaining the best way to do it. I listened and tried to do what they told me. I jumped and then started to twist around with my back towards the upcoming rock wall. Everyone down below was yelling "NO!" So I got myself turned back around. Unfortunately when I got to the wall I didn't push off hard enough and didn't quite make it back to the other side. I ended up just hanging there with no way to get back to the ledge. They told me to lower my hands down the rope so that I could just let go and fall down. I wasn't able to get me hands any lower and just decided to go ahead and fall. I wasn't too high up maybe 8 feet off the ground but it still messes with your nerves. After I let go my hands hurt for about 15 minutes. They were burning and aching. Even today they are still a little sore. It was definitely an interesting experience. It was fun and I would do it again. Especially now that I know how to do it right.
On the drive back to Reykjavik, we stopped at an amazing waterfall. It comes off a ledge so you can actually walk behind the waterfall. It was incredible.
I will post some pictures soon.
Today, Tinna's mom had us over for a traditional Icelandic fish dinner. We had fish, potatoes, rye bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and hard boiled eggs. It was fantastically delicious. There was also one other item she had me try. It was a rectangle mold of bits of lamb meat. That's all I knew when I took my bite. After I ate it and said that it wasn't bad I was informed that it was sheep head. They take several sheep heads and boil them for a long time which causes the meat to fall off the bone. Then they take the meat and put it in a pan (loaf pan). It has a similar texture to chopped brisket, but with a little gelatin to bind it. All in all it wasn't bad and if served it again I would be able to eat it, even knowing what it was. Definitely not something I would go out of my way to eat again though.
One more full day in Iceland and then back to the real world. Tomorrow I am coaching in the morning, hanging out with Tinna and Linda in the afternoon, practice in the evening and then a goodbye party with my girls. I am going to be sad to say goodbye. It has been such an incredible experience and I hope I can come back.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Busy, exciting, awesome, adventurous Week.
Last week was crazy and awesome. On the 5th, my parents arrived and picked me up. We had to leave immediately for a drive up north for a game on the 6th. We drove about 5 hours to a teammates house in Olafsfjordur to meet up then head out for practice. After practice the team went swimming and back to the house, but my parents and I continued on 2 more hours to Husavik and arrived at 10:30 pm. We stayed at a cute guesthouse. The next day we played Völsungur and won 1-0. Getting a win and a shutout was a nice change of pace :)
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| Our Guesthouse |
Immediately after the game we went and got Fish and Chips then caught Silvia to try whale watching again. This time we were way more successful and saw both Minke and Humpback whales as well as some Puffins. I am particularly good at spotting Puffins, my strategy is to just look for the birds on the water that suck at flying.
 |
| Humpback Whale Diving |
On Sunday we took a detour and continued up North a bit more to see some more sites. We attempted to find a Puffin colony, but all we found were cows.
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| Running away from the cows |
The next stop was Ásbyrgi, a horseshoe shaped canyon believed to be the hoof print of the god Odin's 8-legged horse.
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| Ásbyrgi |
Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe was the next destination and we accidentally took the wrong road there. The road we took was supposed to be closed to passenger vehicles for good reason. It was a one lane unpaved road with no shoulder or guardrails. It was the bumpiest hour in a car I have ever experienced. The result was fantastic though.
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| Dettifoss |
Going off plan but heading back to Reykjavik we stopped at Hverir, an area that smells like the worst rotten eggs ever. It is a sulfur field and has some pretty interesting geography and sulfur pots.
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| Hverir |
We finally made it back to Reykjavik after a weekend of driving, driving, and more driving. The next morning we woke up and got on the road again. It was my dad's turn to see the golden circle.
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| Strokkur Geysir |
We got back in time for practice and then grabbed dinner at my favorite place Saffran. The next morning was our horseback riding adventure. The Icelandic horse is awesome. It's small, sturdy, and has an extra gait. Who knew?
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| Icelandic Horse with Hair to match the rider |
When we got back we grabbed some food and I headed back to the hotel for a nap while my parents explored downtown. We had against Haukur that night and we lost 3-0. The first half I dominated on corner kicks and crosses so in the second half they put 3 girls on me. I thought I played well, just played a better team. The next day we woke up early and walked down to the Arctic Adventures office to be picked up for our final day of Adventure. We went arctic rafting and it was incredible. I had never been rafting before and was really nervous, but decided I was just going to suck it up and enjoy every part of the experience that I could. I was the first to jump off the high cliff (6m). It was amazing, and kinda terrifying.
I also jumped out of the boat mid rapid, and played a balance game standing on the end of the boat. I was pretty good at balancing while facing inside the boat, but the minute I turned to look outside the boat I fell in. We played some other fun games and mom got pushed in by dad. We got in a 12 passenger van with monster truck tires and drove out to Langjökull, a nearby glacier to go snowmobiling. Mom got her own while dad and I shared one. I was terrified and that wasn't made any better when a group behind us flipped their snowmobile. After they fixed that and switched drivers went a little further they flipped again and the passenger was trapped under and injured her leg. I didn't want to take my turn driving after that but decided I had to. How often do you get to drive a snowmobile on a glacier in Iceland? I was tentative, but ended up enjoying it. Not something I want to do often though.
Had to say goodbye to my parents the next morning which was a little easier than when my mom and sister left in June, because I knew I would be home in a week. I am so thankful for my time in Iceland and that I got to share it with my parents and Erin. I just with Ryan and Corey could have come too. Maybe next summer ;)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Whale Watching
Had a blast with mom and dad this weekend. We won our second game 1-0 then went whale watching in Husavik. We were fortunate enough to see minke whales and humpback whales. It was fantastic. My mom got soaking wet, but my dad and I were up on the roof with the captain and the guide so we stayed nice and dry. Today, we drove back to Reykjavik and stopped at some pretty cool spots along the way. Asbrygi, Dettifoss, Godafoss, and Myvatn.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Better late than never (right Tracy?)
Well, I haven't posted in two weeks. OOPS.
Not much has happened the past two weeks, just work, coaching, and practice. We did win our first game last week. It was 2-1. The goal they scored was a deflection off one of my players and I almost had it.
I helped out at Rey Cup. It is a large tournament and I was there all day everyday for about 8 hours. I was in charge of warming up IR goalkeepers. We had several teams competing, but I helped out with 3. Overall all of our teams did pretty well. The last night of the tournament they had a huge barbecue for all the participants. There were hamburgers, grilled lamb, and grilled pork but no hot dogs. The lamb was delicious. After that my team had a party and went downtown. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the girls away from soccer.
In just a few days my mom and dad are coming for a visit and I couldn't be more excited. We are going to do a lot of exploring, mainly up North, and also give whale watching another go. Hopefully we get to see some Humpback whales for my mom's sake. We are also gonna go arctic rafting, snowmobiling on a glacier, horseback riding, and drive the Golden Circle one last time. It is gonna be awesome.
I am headed back to the states on August 18th. Still working out details, looking for a job and housing.
Everything in Iceland has been such an awesome adventure and experience of a lifetime. I am so thankful that I had this opportunity.
Not much has happened the past two weeks, just work, coaching, and practice. We did win our first game last week. It was 2-1. The goal they scored was a deflection off one of my players and I almost had it.
I helped out at Rey Cup. It is a large tournament and I was there all day everyday for about 8 hours. I was in charge of warming up IR goalkeepers. We had several teams competing, but I helped out with 3. Overall all of our teams did pretty well. The last night of the tournament they had a huge barbecue for all the participants. There were hamburgers, grilled lamb, and grilled pork but no hot dogs. The lamb was delicious. After that my team had a party and went downtown. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the girls away from soccer.
In just a few days my mom and dad are coming for a visit and I couldn't be more excited. We are going to do a lot of exploring, mainly up North, and also give whale watching another go. Hopefully we get to see some Humpback whales for my mom's sake. We are also gonna go arctic rafting, snowmobiling on a glacier, horseback riding, and drive the Golden Circle one last time. It is gonna be awesome.
I am headed back to the states on August 18th. Still working out details, looking for a job and housing.
Everything in Iceland has been such an awesome adventure and experience of a lifetime. I am so thankful that I had this opportunity.
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