First Game

Day before game day! 

Lets go Ploki

We have our first game of the Pre-Season tomorrow against WoVo (pronounced vovo). With the exception of two years at Pepp I have been #12 since I was born. This season I will be #10 and I think I kinda like the change. This whole adventure is about change so why not mix up the number while we are at it. Apparently we are just playing a "friendly" game tomorrow, but I'm not sure if that means it is a scrimmage or if it is official or what... I just show up when they tell me to and try to pretend like I know what I am doing or what they are talking about. We don't have our real jerseys yet so they gave us a few T-shirts to wear in the mean time. They are mostly to promote our sponsors and one of them has a huge CAT right on the front. As soon as I saw them I thought of Jeremiah Larsen. This summer I worked a camp with Miah up in Heber. Attending the camp was one of the largest, and out of shape girls I have seen in a long time. After several funny experiences with this girl (one of which was an uncontrollable farting attack) she showed up to the afternoon session with a new shirt that just happened to have a huge CAT right on the front. So of course Miah starts Meowwwwwing at this girl, and I am trying not to pee my pants from laughing so hard- hahaha Yes, it was one of those 'you had to be there', but as soon as I saw our shirts Miah and sweet Deedra came to mind.

Training has been good this week. Pertsa, our coach, had an operation on his finger Tuesday so he has been out of town until today. It was good to have him back, as it seems practices go much quicker when he is there. I am so grateful for GMS, and the type of training I have grown up with. Playing with this team I have seen so many different and funny (to me) types of training. For instance...we are a professional team and how did we warm up for practice today? None other than playing a game of football. A couple days ago we played a game to warm up where you try and kill the ball by passing it only. 6 on 6. A typical day of training usually looks something like this...

-4 or 5 laps around the gym with abs and lunges mixed in between

-Warm up Arms

-Pepper for 30 minutes (Who knew you could pepper for that long) :)

-6 on 6 one side receives ALL of the balls

-The End

So many times I see teammates doing things that I just don't see any translation into real volleyball, and I have to keep myself from asking where that fits into volleyball. My roommate will hit a ball hard against the wall and then pass it less than .000004 seconds later as it is shooting back at her head. I LOVED that my coaches always had a reason for everything we did, I loved that 90% of the time they could tell me exactly why we were doing something, I loved that we always did things as game like as possible, and I loved that we were always competing for points of some kind, and I love that Finland volleyball is different and that I get to experience it the way I am.

I am getting a lot more comfortable here, and I can tell because I am starting to get fat! Ha, when I got here I was not really hungry and couldn't find much that I wanted to eat. I weighed my self after a couple days and only weighed 85 Kilos which is like 190 pounds. While it was amazing to have my clothes feeling lose I had to start eating at some point. My problem now is that all I want to eat is carbs, carbs, and more carbs...Oh, and don't forget the chocolate! :) I have made Taco's every day this week, and today I got a little adventurous as I translated several recipes into Finnish and headed to the grocery store to spend a morning baking. I made Banana Bread in muffin tins, because we didn't have bread pans. I also made Crepes with Nutella which were soooo yummy. Is there any question why I weighed 88 Kilos today haha I finally found food that A) I really like B)I can make all by myself and C) Is really not very good for me!! Mom, please send me some beef jerky so I can get more protein in :) 

Life lesson #1 that I was supposed to learn while on my Finland adventure: If you want to eat food, you actually have to cook it...Taco Time does not exist! No fast food exists in Pihtipudas. At first I was way bummed that there wasn't even a Mcdonald's (Gross I know, but anything American sounds amazing, even Mcdonalds #fatkid). But now I know that I was sent to Pihtipudas because if I ever get married and have a family, I am going to have to know how to cook a meal. My kids might not like Taco Time for every meal like I do and I will have to make something at home. Luckily my kids will now have the option to eat Banana Bread or Crepes for everyyyyyy meal haha. I am sure I will learn to make a lot more as I am over here. I was surprised at how easy the crepes were, and so so so yummy. Maybe I could actually do the mom thing someday :)

I think that is all of my updates for the week so far...a few things that I am grateful for today in Finland are wonderful and happy teammates, warm showers, and crepes.