Flashback: Summer 2010 part 2

After some very rain-filled days here in Santiago I'm happy to bring my thoughts back to the summer again. So, I was on my way back to Norway after a great vacation almost all over the states. This was the first week of June and I had a few days to get my sleeping on Norwegian time before the weekend, and the first practice with the national team. I was extremely excited to be back with the team and meet old and new teammates. It felt good to not be one of the youngest on the team anymore and it was good to see a lot of young promising players:) According to the tradition of weekend workouts with the national team we were able to look out at the sunny and warm weather from the inside of the gym...


The next couple weeks consisted mostly in basketball, working out and hanging with family and friends. I was also lucky to be invited to play with 3 of my girls in a street tournament!! Of course we became the queens of the Kuba-court and the price money wasn't bad at all :)

Switzerland was our opponent in a couple of exhibition games and I got to see my two teammates from Sierre; Katia and Alexia! (Hop Sierre/Helios!) We managed to win both games and I'm proud to say that Suisse is undefeated so far in the Eurobasket Division B. Then after another 10 hour workout-weekend in the end of June we got a break... well I didn't really take a break from basketball since I left for Tønsberg the next day. I had signed up for a coaching class at the famous "Basketskolen" basketball camp. It was fun going back, even though I'm too old to actually participate, and I got to see a lot of good friends and coaches again. I also liked hanging out with the kids and pretend I was a teenager again :) The best part was seeing my friend Erik again and show him that I'm still the better shooter :-P

My first all-star game as a coach:) 

Spis!

Back in Oslo the following weekend the triple T's (Tina, Torunn and Tori)  were ready for a night out!! I love Oslo in the summer! But not the pouring rain that starts right while you're waiting for the night bus to take you home... I don't know why I decided to get a job this summer too, but I did work as a mailman for a few weeks (and yes I drove the the little red car around on my route :-P ). The money is great, yea that's about the only reason I woke up at 6 am to work with hopeless people and walk around in the rain for hours... I'm happy now though as it paid for my new laptop and some other things I'm sure I could live without.
In the middle of July it was time to meet up with my Norway teammates again for some friendly games against Luxembourg. We got away with two wins again, but it wasn't pretty as it looked more like a wrestling match than a friendly game of basketball at some points. It was nice to see another player from the swiss league on the court though! (Good luck this season Laure, and hop Elfic Fribourg!)
The last preparation we did for the Eurobasket Division B games was a trip to Estonia to match up against another team in the other group. After a really close second game that we won in OT team Norway was undefeated and ready for the part of the season that really mattered! I hate to remind my teammates of the first game in Coimbra facing Portugal, but I think we all learned something from that loss. Moving  on to the next and a much better effort against Sweden later in the week... We were unable to hold on to an early lead, but at least there was no shame in the performance we put on that night. We kept our heads up before the final game facing Slovenia, but disappointed we left the game being outscored by a team that I think shot over 50%  from the 3pt line. The games didn't go as I had expected, but thankfully it's not over yet and we get 3 more chances in May! (For dere som kan norsk, her er link til Landslagsloggene fra i sommer: Landslagslogg)

One season ends and another begins... but not yet! I had already signed my contract with my new team in Spain earlier in the summer and I was just waiting to find out when they wanted me to fly down. I made the most of the last time I had at home. The summer had been the best in a long time and it was prefect to get the feeling that it was time to move on to something new as my birthday and last Saturday in Norway was approaching. And what a way to end it! My best friend Kristina and I wanted to celebrate our birthdays together and invited a ton of people to party with us. More than just a few showed up and now I know how fun birthdays are supposed to be!!

Flashback: Summer 2010

Since the weather here in northern Spain is exactly like Norwegian summers, with rain and cold morning and nights, I decided to share some of my experiences from this summer! My only real vacation was a 4-week trip to the US and it has been a long time since I spent more than just a few weeks at home at a time. I survived living with my parents again for almost 3 months!!! Anything to save some money and be able to borrow a car right ;) Not sure I can do that again... (Just in case they read this: I love you guys)

Back to the fun part about the summer of 2010; One week after the end of my first season as professional basketball player (swiss champs baby!!), I got on the plane to Chicago. The visit at my former teammate and friend's parents was a nice start to my trip ( R.I.P Star <3 ). I then headed to Fort Wayne just in time to celebrate my best friend and college roommate/teammate Sammy's birthday!! I only stayed a few days, but it was awesome to see some of my friends again. To all of you I didn't get to see: You better be around next summer! After a week in Indiana and Michigan (and some sad goodbyes...) the plan was to head south to Dallas, TX to see some more friends, but a T-storm wanted it differently and cancelled my flight :( Fortunately my insurance is awesome, so 36 hours and some new shoes and clothes later I finally arrived in the Lone Star State to see Therese and Lydia. That was the weekend we realized Six flags might not be the best idea the day after a late night down-town Dallas ;)

Therese left to go back to Norway and I my next stop was Forth Worth and the Atkins family that I hadn't seen in 6-7 years!!! I stayed with them one summer while playing AAU basketball with my "sis" Megan, and I had a great time with her and the rest of the family the two weeks I was there this time around. The trip to the lake with the quick stop at Hoot 'n' Holler in Gun Barrel City was definitely a high-light :) We even tried wake-boarding, with emphasis on tried :-P (On a side note; Megan is coming to see me here in Spain next week!) I hope I can go back to Texas next summer too.

The last stop on my trip was Washington DC which is a city I had never been in before. Pavla, who I used to hang out with all the time when we played together at IPFW, had planned out the perfect end to an already amazing vacation! Wine was for sure the theme of my stay with her haha. I met a bunch of great new people as we did everything from participating in a game-show, exploring the night-life in DC including a root-top party (I think Pav agrees that we did a little too much walking in high heels?!), creating our own "fairy-tale picnic" on a vineyard in Virginia, playing ball with some talented youngsters, to seeing the White House and the Smithsonian. O, I almost forgot we also got to watch men in tights at a free ballet event... Pav knows I'll come back soon for some more of those cupcakes she got me too. Yummy!!


I was sad to leave  after what seemed like a way too short vacation, but I knew the summer had just started and more fun was waiting for me at home :)

TO BE CONTINUED...

In a Field of Stars...

That's what I choose to believe the name means; Santiago de Compostela or "Campus Stellae", which is the city where I will be living for the next few months (at least)! It has been 4 weeks since I left Norway to join my new team Pio XII (LF2, Spain), but it feels like it has been at least a month :-P Finally I am completely settled in with the team and my new home. I was mostly excited and happy to get the chance to live in Spain, and I have not been disappointed so far. Except for a few issues with my apartment they take good care of me! I'm sure they will fix my shower 'mañana'...


The apartment is actually not bad, I share it with my teammate Vero (who did an awesome job decorating the living room btw). The location couldn't be more convenient, if you like shopping that is, as it sits right on top of the biggest mall in Galicia! That makes up for the time it takes to get to the gym I guess :) The view from my bedroom window could be a lot better though. 


The other place where I spend most of my time is of course the gym, or should I say the soccer field outside of it since we ran laps there every day the first 3 weeks of pre-season. I never liked running long distances, but we did have some fun a few times when for example the sprinklers came on and we had to keep going like nothing happened. I must be crazy for saying that I was extremely happy last week when we started doing sprints instead... Next weekend we have our first league game and coach Jacinto said that this is the last week with "a large volume" of training. 


Even though the season hasn't officially started, we have already played a number of games against teams in our league and teams in the top league. This coming Saturday we match up against RC Celta Indepo who we lost to after a terrible first friendly game a few weeks ago. The winner will move on to the final of Copa Galicia and I have no doubt that we could be that team. I got used to winning gold medals last year playing in Switzerland so I don't see any reason not to keep doing that ;) After reading that Pio XII appearently is a league favorite this season my motivation is on top! 

My team consists of both experienced and younger unexperienced players and I think we have a great balance of talent. During the first week here I realized just how "small" the basketball world is when one of our pg's Lidia told me she played in Switzerland some years ago. Turns out we are both ex-teammates with my very good friend Katia. I found another connection with Andrea, our center from Pittsburgh who in High School competed against two of the girls I played with at IPFW. How is that for a coincidence?! 

I'm happy that I'm not the only one on my team that doesn't speak Spanish because I basically didn't know anything until I came here. I'm starting to understand what's going on in practice, and sometimes I even think that it's easier to follow what the head coach is explaining in Spanish than what the as coach is trying to translate to English for me. With a captain that speaks no English whatsoever communication can be a problem at times :-/ Andrea and I went on a mission last weekend to find some more English-speaking people. Preferably tall and hot basketball-playing boys... I'm not gonna go into more details about the result other than let's say: jackpot! 


I think that's a long enough first update, but I have more stories to tell so come back soon!