Mallbacken IF vs. Tölö/Kungsbacka DFF

       The week before we played Mallbacken, training went on as usual, but in the back of our minds we knew that we were going to be playing the first place team in our league on Saturday. We also had a semi-final district cup game to play on Tuesday. The team was in the second division so we were able to rest some of the starters. We won the game without much of a problem, but unfortunately, one of our starters and also one of the girls who scored against Mallbacken in the spring, sprained her knee in the cup game. She attempted to train over the next couple of days, but it was no use, she was going to have to miss the game.
    On Saturday morning, we all met at the train station to board the bus for the 5 hour drive to our game. It was 6:45 a.m. so my thinking was a little hazy, but it seemed like our bus looked a little empty. When we stopped at our first rest stop of the trip, the absences on the bus were explained for. The starting left midfielder was at at wedding, Frida was not there due to her knee injury, the starting center midfielder was sick, as was our head coach. Our only 2 substitutes were a girl who had joined our team that week and our back-up goal keeper. As if the game wasn't going to be challenging enough, now we were down 3 starters, 1 coach and a full bench.
    The game proved to be difficult as we had predicted. The first half was off to a great start when we scored in the first 12 minutes. It was good to get an early goal and let out a little sigh of relief. The rest of the half was difficult, but we managed to fend them off and our goal keeper only had to make a couple of saves. The second half was a different story. They came out with a vengeance and started to break us down. The relentless attack from Mallbacken, along with our inability to keep any sort of possession, resulted in a goal for them in the middle of the second half. We were visibly tired and made our only substitution of the game shortly after the goal. I was thankful when the final whistle blew and the final score was 1-1. It was the 3 points we wanted, but it was good to get 1 point against a team at the top of the table.
   After the game I was excited to see a former Gator teammate Katie Fraine. We were only able to chat shortly, but it was great being able to see her. She has been in Sweden since the beginning of the season so it was interesting to hear how she was liking it. She said her team is located in a very small town. That was apparent to me from our drive there. As we neared the field, the roads became smaller as they cut through woods, mountains and alongside lakes. It seemed like we were going to be lost in the woods before we finally turned a corner and saw the field surrounded by fences and nets. Katie explained the fences were there in order to keep the moose off the field. Besides being in such a small town, Katie said she was having a good time. We arranged to meet up in Gothenburg after my game on Saturday, so we will have a better chance to catch up and exchange stories of life in Sweden.

Took a quick picture after the 1-1 tie. 

Gators in Sweden. We couldn't resist haha. 

   Once everyone had showered and boarded the bus, we drove about 20 minutes to the restaurant where we would be eating dinner. Before the game, our manager walked around and asked everyone, fish or meat for dinner. I was in the middle of napping so I didn't inquire into exactly what the meal entailed, but quickly answered meat and went back to sleep. When we got to the restaurant, it turned out to be a cozy hotel with a spacious back porch overlooking a picturesque lake. We were led down a flight of stairs to a private room with a long table set with lighted candles and cold pitchers of water with lemon. They served us salad and bread as soon as we sat down. Next came our meals of fish and meat. The fish turned out to be a cold salmon with broccoli and carrots. Then came my meal. When they placed it in front of me I thought it looked delicious; it looked similar to the giant meatballs that our frequently served where we eat lunch. But I was quickly told that they were not meatballs, but in fact, they were moose, or in this case, mooseballs. I was hesitant to try them but they actually turned out to be quite good, and even had the same consistency as a meatball would. The meat wasn't tough at all and even had a good flavor. The girls on the team thought it was strange that Marissa and I had never had moose before, but then our manager made a good comparison He said that it was probably similar to me eating alligator in Florida. As soon as he said this, the girls were shocked that we eat alligators and wanted to know what they tasted like. After dinner, we continued our drive and arrived back in Kungsbacka around 11:30 p.m.
      This weekend we have a home game at 4 p.m. It will be nice to win and get another 3 points!


   

Island Adventures Part 2

    After touring the lighthouses and the islands from afar, we took the RIB boat in for a closer look and docked at the main island. A few of the passengers were staying the night in the cabins, and the rest were spending the day on the island like us. Stefan helped some of the guests to their rooms and then met us back at the main building, which is used for different events by the companies holding retreats there. From the outside the building looks like an old worn down house, but once you're inside you realize that the whole interior has been refurbished. When you enter the building there is a staircase straight ahead, with a kitchen to the right and a dining area to the left. Upstairs is a cozy loft with candles and over-sized couches. There is even a little nook with a seating area near a window that you have to hunch over to get to.
   When we got done exploring the old house, Stefan had set up a spread of food for us. There was cheese, butter, some sort of condiment that you squeezed out of a tube and tasted like a sweet mayonnaise, and meat that looked like and tasted like a stick of salami, but with a consistency more like pâté. Then he pulled out 2 different herring dips. One looked like a white tartar sauce and the other looked like someone scooped   out algae and pieces of herring straight from the ocean and tried to call it a dip. Despite having a less than appetizing appearance, both dips actually tasted pretty good. I wouldn't go to the store and buy them, but they were still fun to try. 

The 2 different herring dips

    Once we finished our lunch, we decided to go kayaking. We had seen a few seals laying on some rocks as we neared the island, so we decided to try to paddle out to them. As we started paddling toward them, they started jumping off the rocks and into the water. We were still pretty far away from them so it was hard to tell where they went, but soon little heads started popping up around us. We had paddled about halfway to them before they jumped off the rocks and met us. They didn't come up close enough to touch, but they were definitely very inquisitive and kept an eye on us. I had only ever seen seals at SeaWorld so it was definitely an experience for me to see them up so close. Stefan said that normally there are hundreds of seals on those rocks in early June and July, but we were there in late July so we only saw about 20. 

The tiny dark spot that is a little right of the center is actually a seal head. They were so hard to take a picture of because they kept popping up for a second and then going back under the water. 

Marissa and I kayaking. 

Relaxing in the kayaks. 

   After we were done kayaking, we went back to the main island. From there we were able to tour a couple of the lighthouses and go to the very top. There was an amazing view of the entire island from the top. In the late afternoon we packed up and headed back to the harbor. 
    The next weekend, we were invited out on a boat by another one of our teammates. This time we only went about 15 minutes from the harbor and stopped at one of the closer islands. When we neared the island, we threw in the anchor and secured the boat by wedging a hook into a crevice of a rock. We unloaded our necessities from the boat, which included towels, folding lawn chairs, and a lunch basket. Lunch consisted of    slices of flat bread with different flavored cheeses that came in a tube. There were 3 different flavors; bacon, ham and salami. We also had a thermos of coffee and peaches. 
    Our first activity when we got there was to go exploring. It was like a game trying to find the different rocks that connected and would lead you higher up to the top of the island. There were also little paths that lead you down to the water, although we didn't go in. For one, it was very cold, and two, there were red jellyfish all over. We were told that there are 2 different types of jellyfish; red and blue. The blue ones are harmless, and the red ones will sting you. We did put our feet and legs in. The water is so cold and crystal clear that it seems like it is coming from a natural spring. Even when you take your hands out of the water, it doesn't feel salty and dry like it does from the salt water in Florida.

Marissa and I at the harbor after boating to the island. 

   It was kind of strange to see so many boats docked at these rock islands and people sitting in lawn chairs everywhere. It is not the typical islands I am used to where you pull up to a beach and lay out on your towel on the sand; you pull up to a massive rocky island and sit in a lawn chair on top of a giant boulder. Although it was not what I am normally used to, it was still a lot of fun and a cool experience. 

Island Adventures Part 1

    In the weeks before I was planning on arriving in Sweden, I kept a constant watch on the weather there. The forecast seemed to remain a consistent 60 degrees and raining in the weeks leading up to my arrival. When I actually stepped off the plane, I was shocked to see the sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 70s. Our teammates informed us that this was the first good week of weather they had in Kungsbacka all summer, and it was already late into July. I tried to take advantage of our opportune timing by going down to the harbor as much as I could. It was nice being able to lay out on the grassy spots of the small island in between the rocks, but I soon longed to be out on one of the dozens of boats that were constantly going back and forth from the harbor.
     Luckily, on our day off, Marissa and I were invited out to an island by the owners of the hotel we stay at. They own the hotel on the mainland, but they also rent a few buildings on an island off the coast, about a 20 minute boat ride from the harbor. They take people to the island by a rigid inflatable boat, or RIB boat, which is the type of boat you see used a lot by the military and the coast guard. People generally spend the night on the island for a day or two and then are picked back up by the boat when they are ready to leave. A lot of companies also hold conferences there.
   Our tour guide and captain of the boat for the day was Stefan, who is the owner of the hotel and also the father of Antonia, a girl on our team. On the way to the main island, we stopped near a few smaller islands with lighthouses on them. Stefan told us a story about one of the islands in the 1800's, which was only about 50 yards long and 30 yards wide. The island consisted of a lighthouse operated by 2 men. There was also a small house on the island for the men's 2 families. When the children would play outside they had to tie a rope around their waists so they wouldn't fall into the water. Can you imagine living with close to 12 people in such a small vicinity, and the only way to leave was by boat?

The island that 2 families lived on. Talk about close quarters. 

   Another area we stopped at was a lighthouse located in front of the main island. Right next to it was about a 10 yard section of pebbles that formed a tiny island. Stefan said that at that spot, 2 different water currents collided and pushed the pebbles together. Every time he goes there, the pebble island will change sizes, and at some times of the year it is almost none existent. Then about 10 yards to the left of this little island, the water gets dramatically deeper and is the start of a reef that continues to the main island and then to the other side of the island. The main island is also made up of the same type of rocky pebbles as the tiny island. Stefan said that after the ice from the iceage melted, these rocks remained and came to form the island.

To the right of the lighthouse is the tiny pebble island. Farther back to the right is where the main island begins. 

   Now on this island, there is a lot of history of different lighthouses being built and torn down. It was probably the most vital spot for the lighthouses since the reef stretched out along the coast of the island and caused hundreds of shipwrecks. When the fog was so thick that the lighthouses' signals could not be seen, they would set off 3 cannon shots as a warning for the ships not to come any closer. It took many different men to manages the lighthouses and cannons, so the island was soon populated the families and children. They even needed a teacher to come at one point.

One of the newer lighthouses that operates automatically. 

An example of the rocks that make up the base of the island. Some parts toward the center  of the island managed to start growing grass and other vegetation.

2 of the older lighthouses that are no longer used. We climbed  up the inside and at the very top is  a place where people can sit and hang out with candles and seat cushions. 

Automatic lighthouse. 

A hot tub on the island! 

View of the island from the top of a lighthouse. Way out in the distance you can see  the lighthouse with the tiny pebble island I mentioned earlier. 

  Today, the remaining houses are rented by the hotel, but maintained by the government in order to preserve the original state of the buildings. Half of one of the buildings is rented out to a bird watching association, which tracks birds all year long. A special species of birds originally only known to live in the cliffs of Norway have made their home on this island too. It is the only place they are found in Sweden. They look kind of like seagulls, but have softer features and are much cuter.

This is where most of the birds from Norway live. You can see one in the corner of the middle window of the lighthouse. 

The other stone lighthouse. Marissa and I think that the birds stopped hear on the way back to Norway because the rocky outer structure of the lighthouse reminded them of the rocky cliffs they lived on in Norway. 

First 3 Games

  Our fall season has been off to a pretty good start. We won our first game with a goal late in the second half against our rival team. The second game didn't go as well when we lost 2-1.  It was an improvement from losing to them 4-1 in the first half of the season, but it was still disappointing. This past weekend we won 9-0 to a team at the bottom of the table. It was a good game to get our confidence back and rack up some points for the goal differential. After our game we had a team party at our training fields and locker room. We played Swedish drinking games and attempted to sing some traditional Swedish drinking songs. I also learned a few Swedish sayings, but luckily the girls decided that they would speak in English the rest of the night. I thought it was a really nice gesture considering there was only 2 of us who couldn't speak English and over 20 of them that could. It ended up very long day, but it was good to bond with the girls on the team.
   This upcoming weekend will be a true test of the competition in our league. We play the first place team at their home field. It will be a long bus ride on Saturday to get there, but we will have to be ready to play.

Here is a link to the table and results:
http://svenskfotboll.se/cuper-och-serier/information/?scr=table&ftid=35358


This is one of the current popular Swedish songs we were listening to at the party:

Alina Devecerski - Flytta på dej

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfcDvOzU6pQ&list=PL56BBAADCD3CB7FF4&feature=mh_lolz

Swedish Life

       I have been living in Sweden for about 3 weeks now, and I am finally in some sort of routine. Most of our games are on Saturdays at 3 p.m. and then Sunday is free. On Mondays we have training at 6:20, beginning with knee strengthening exercises for the first 20 minutes. They implemented this for the fall season because there were many ACL injuries in the first half of the season. Tuesdays we have training a gym in the city center. Our team has a strength trainer who gives each player an individualized workout to do. We haven't had our assessment yet, but so far we have done treadmill sprints, cycling, and followed along with our teammates' strength and agility programs. Wednesdays and Thursdays we have training at 6:45 p.m. and Fridays are free. We also have the option to have individual training with one of the coaches at anytime during the week. My roommate, Marissa, and I have been going about twice a week at 10:30 a.m. Our coach has drills planned for us, but we can also suggest areas we need to work on. The intensity of the training sessions vary depending on the day and the week. The best part of the sessions are that we are always moving and constantly have the ball at our feet.
    After the morning sessions, Marissa and I go to lunch at a restaurant in the city center where they have set up free meals for us. The restaurant looks like an old house and is very quaint inside. The food is set up in a buffet style with a salad bar and soup, and a choice of 2 different entrees. The salad toppings are always different but always delicious. There are a lot of black bean and pepper dishes, sprouts, feta cheese, cooked mushroom dishes, olives and feta cheese. The entrees are usually some sort of fish and meat dish with peas and cranberries, and boiled potatoes with a heavier cream sauce. Last week they served 2 different types of salmon, one in a sweet sauce and the other was a type of casserole with cheese and spinach. It was hands down the best salmon I had ever tasted. On the menu today were homemade Swedish meatballs that were the size of my fist. Needless to say, I stuff myself every day during lunch and don't often have to eat again until after training.
       In my spare time I have been watching the Olympics on our TV, which is smaller than the screen of my laptop. I can't understand anything the announcers are saying, but I can pretty much figure out what is going on. We get about 4 channels which have been dominated by the Olympic coverage, but now it is back to normal programming. One of the stations frequently shows American movies in English with Swedish subtitles, which is a big difference from Germany where they dub the voices to German.  I have also been able to watch a lot of American TV shows on my laptop. When it is nice out I walk down to the harbor and sit in the sun on the rocks there. No matter what time of the day or week, people are always at the harbor trying to soak in as much sun as possible.

These are some pictures from the harbor. There are a couple restaurants and ice cream shops there, but people mostly head to the giant rock islands. You only have to walk 5 minutes over a tiny bridge and you are there. 

There are a few docks and structures built to jump off of into the water. It is very different from Florida where you can slowly wade into the ocean and get acclimated to the water. Here, you just  have to jump off giant rocks into the water and hope that it's not too cold, which normally it is.

View from the rock island back to the harbor with all the boats. 

A statue near the rock island.

This is a map from the hotel Web site showing a layout of the grounds. The reception area has a restaurant, a mini golf course out front, and is also where we walk to do our laundry. We are in the red building, right where the arrow points to Studios 14-25. All of those beige colored buildings in the middle are school/daycare centers for little kids. It makes it pretty hard to sleep in when there are little kids right outside your door yelling in Swedish. 

This is where I live. There are actually four different rooms in this building and you have to walk around the back to enter our room. 

From Germany to Sweden

      After a disappointing finish to my season in Cloppenburg, Germany, I knew it was time for a change. I had been with Cloppenburg since January of 2011 and had really hoped that after the 2011-2012 season that we would advance into the top league in Germany. We came very close, but didn't quite make it. It was a very hard decision for me to leave Germany. It had become like a second home to me, and I had made so many amazing friends there. Although it was sad knowing I wouldn't be playing with the same girls again, I knew it was the best decision for me to try something new. As I left Germany at the end of May, I had no idea what was in store for me in the next couple of months. I had talked with my agent and he said we would explore other options in Scandinavia, but we wouldn't know anything for sure. I was excited to be going back to America, but I was also nervous about finding another team. What if I had made a terrible mistake by leaving Cloppenburg and wouldn't be able to find another team?

    After a couple weeks of intense waiting (well not that intense, I was mostly at the beach) I finally got an answer. A team from the small town of Kungsbacka, Sweden was interested in having me play for them. I was both excited and nervous at the chance to play there. I didn't know much about Sweden and immediately went to Google to check out my potential new home. What I gathered from Wikipedia was that there were 19,057 inhabitants in 2010 and that there was an infamous fire in 1846. To say the least, I was a little bit alarmed after reading this information. Nevertheless, I thought I would give it a try. If I hated it there, my stay would only be for 3 months since I was only going for the second half of the season.

     When I got to Sweden, I was met at the airport by one of our coaches and one of the girls on the team. I immediately noticed what amazing English they both spoke. By comparison, when I first arrived in Germany my coach showed up at the airport with an Ipad in an attempt to translate. Already, I knew things were going to go much smoother than in Germany. Another pleasant surprise was when we were driving through the city. It was way bigger than I thought and has almost 70,000 inhabitants. Gothenburg, which is the second biggest city in Sweden is only a 25 minute train ride away.

     My home for the next 3 months is a small cabin at the Gottskar Hotell. The parents of one of the girls on our team owns the hotel. Another American and I share the little cabin. We have a small living area and kitchen and share the same bedroom to sleep in.  It is about 25 minutes outside of the Kungsbacka city center and at the moment we have been taking the bus to get back and forth. The area I live in is a 5 minute walk from a harbor and place to go swimming.

     So far everyone has been extremely nice and eager to help us settle in. I am excited for the upcoming training sessions to see how I fit into the team.