There is a great deal of nonsense to tell, however in the aspiration of brevity I'll try not to bore you and get to the point. I'm thinking a list is probably the best way to do that; plus it allows me to sidestep the necessity of all those useless transitional phrases. But first. ..

 

The story doesn't make sense unless I mention the following: I am traveling with another girl by the name of Fanta Cooper who played for the Chicago Cobras and UW Milwaukee. I have come to believe that the two of us are polar opposites. She is loud and borderline crazy, likes to pretend she speaks random languages to foreigners and when she met her family grabbed the children off the coach and gave them a bear hug. She lives next door to me here in Sweden.

 

THE KIDS

 

Instantaneously I was nervous, thinking that I wouldn't be able to connect with the kids, because I am not like Fanta, who works with kids back home and has a knack for making them laugh. And so obviously all the kids (There are 4 of them) loved Fanta immediately. They thought her grunting and silly faces amusing. Her Family has two kids, a girl Elsa,8, and a boy Eskil ,10. Mine have two boys Gustaf ,10, and Oscar,6.

 

That first night was tough. The kids were terrified to be alone with us because they don't speak English and also just because it's always tough the first night. It's also some-what relative to know that our families are drastically different in personality. Fanta's is very comparable to her's, bear hugs come standard, and mine is more reserved. So that part worked out nicely.

 

And now two days later, I am happy to report that after an extensive pillow fight, a wrestling match and four fabulous games of playstation soccer, which I dominated, (along with some made up game Oscar plays with Lord of the Rings figurines and a dice) I have broken the boys down.

 

"She's magnificant!," Gustaf yelled at his father, Mats, when he came home from his ski trip this evening. And then when Anna (the mother) saw that I had my own webpage her eye's lit up and now she thinks I'm a technological wizard. Little does she know. . .And Mats likes to watch football with me and tell me about the different players. So I fit something for everyone in the family. It is a bit exhausting stretching myself four ways though.

 

And tomorrow we go to school for show-and-tell. We are to make an appearance at English class and Gustaf wants me to go to gym class and teach them how to play soccer. All the kids in the neighborhood know we're here and they run by just to spy on us. For the time being, we're like minor celebrities. When we got off the plane there was a woman there taking our picture like the Pavarazzi.

 

I am told that we were in the local paper this morning along with our picture and news of our arrival. Anna's mother has a copy for me so don't worry Mom it's being taken care of.

 

And I am happy to report that the food is wonderful. Very healthy, you know, vegetables, pasta, meatballs, chicken and all with lots of flavor. Fast food is not big here. Note: This is a good thing.

 

 

We played our first game today in an exhibition match; the season starts next weekend. The team plays a 4-4-2 formation and the style is (according to Fanta) drastically different. They look to build out of the back with small passes and then go long in the final third, whereas in America we do the opposite. So there will be an adjustment phase.

 

Today we won 3-2 against another local team. I had an assist and Fanta had a goal. I think Fanta played well out of the central midfield postion and I was OK, but know that I will get much better when I get adjusted (please note I am very hard on myself and I don't know how to stop). Our new teammates were "impressed" and continually told us so. Same with the owner of the club and the coach. So things are well.

 

We're getting to know the girls on the team and Fanta is making herself known as the crazy American who screams and yells random things at the girls. They, like the children, think she is quite comical. All in all, I think we'll both find our own place within the team.

 

We also have two teammates from North Korea, but they haven't played yet (a forward and a midfielder). They come with a guardian and a translater, which are both with them at all times. I'm curious to see how they play. The level of competition right now is similar to that of the W- League in America and so I am anxious to see how they fit in.

 

 

Blonde, Tall, Skinny, Puma shoes, Tight jeans, Very European. This is my mass generalization of the day. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda like the clothes out here in a weird sortof way (In that I would never wear that, but it's ok on her sort-of-way). And there is a big group of people who look sort of Indian\Puerto Rican (very attractive) but I don't know their origin (my brother would like the girls).

 

And they listen to the same music as us. John Legend was playing in one of the girl's car as we drove to lunch. I asked to hear Swedish music, because like I said I am a music fanatic, so they played for me a guy named Timbuktu. I suppose it was hip-hop (very cool you know). No it was good, I'll have to swipe it for my ipod. They all say they don't like Swedish music. I think because it's considered cool to listen to American music instead.

 

 

Well I'm just about spent, so I think I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll write later and download some of the pictures I've taken. The town is very beautiful and the weather is like back home and very sunny. It's still a little cold but soon it will be warm (I hope).

 

Goodnight everyone. I miss ya.

 

Til next time,

Kent 8