Turkey Day

     With Thanksgiving being an American holiday, I had all but accepted that I wouldn't be gorging myself with delicious home made food until my friend from work, Stella, decided she would be the patron saint of Turkey day and prepare the meal all on her own. Stella is Danish, but her grandfather was born and raised in the U.S. and brought the tradition back with him, so she invited me and another American friend (who was also coincidentally from Ohio) to join in the festivities.
     Stella prepared an amazing meal complete with all the fixin's that rivaled with my own mother's cooking. She made a pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin, and cooked a 5 kilo. turkey for four people--classic American. After dinner we tried to stuff all the leftovers into her refrigerator, which was obviously not made to accommodate Thanksgiving feasts, and as long as she doesn't get sick of turkey sandwiches and cold mashed potatoes, she won't have to go to the grocery store for another week.
     After dinner Bobby, the other American guest, invited us all to go out to the night club he works at for some beverages. We agree and head downtown, spending a good bit of the night in a small pub just enjoying each other's conversation. It was nice to have Bobby around to understand all the jokes and ironies of being half way across the world and still meeting someone who grew up a few towns away.

Despite a change in scenery, this Thanksgiving shared a lot of the characteristics of all my other Thanksgivings: too much to eat, too much to drink, and very good company.

Tenerife: my home away from home

      This past week I took a leave of absence from the cold, dark city that is Copenhagen to visit my good friend Kristen in Tenerife. Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands and also one of my new favorite places. It may have been because of all the warmth and sunshine, or because of my charming American company, but I had a great time. I did the tourist thing on my first couple days, taking pictures of anything and everything (see my facebook page for touristy pictures). We had a big family dinner on Friday night that Kristen prepared; and by Kristen I mean her helpful songbird neighbor across the hall. A couple of the American guys from the basketball team joined us and it was a night of pasta, wine, and Spanish karaoke. I also practiced with Kris's team on Thursday and Friday, which was fun because its a very different style of volleyball there. I indulged in some authentic tapaz on two occasions and I now have a new found appreciation for olives. 
Saturday I spent the afternoon napping on the beach, then returned for Kristen's rival match in La Laguna. They won in 4 close sets, an ideal victory for both spectator and team. We went out to celebrate afterward, keeping in mind that we had to be up the next morning at 10:45 for a barbecue with the team and fans.

L to R: Sherri, Me, Kristen, Bridgette at the BBQ

      We were told it might be "cold" at the barbecue so I brought along a light sweater. You would not believe the temperature difference between the beach and a campsite a few miles up in the mountains of Santa Cruz. We were freezing. But, if you know Kris and I, it takes more than a little cold weather to keep us from a buffet spread. 
Most of the food was delicious, then we met fish cake. At first it seemed like a harmless cake, with icing on top--then they added shrimp. We all quickly scattered and dodged eye contact so as not to be offered this dish, but Bridgette (one of Kristen's American teammates) was suckered into a big heaping piece of it. I did not try it, but from what I'm told, it was just a loaf of shark chum with mayonnaise on top. No thank you.
     We left the barbecue in the afternoon to go take a nap and thaw out. I made several efforts to change my plane ticket so I could stay for a few more days since the girls got some bonus days off for winning on Saturday. Unfortunately, it wasn't feasible so we decided to make the best of my last day and have a night on the town. By night out I mean the entire night, causing us to actually dismiss ourselves from the party when it was time to take me to the airport at 6am. I did suffer from some serious fatigue after that flight, but overall I would say my time in Tenerife was a success. I am already plotting my next visit to the island, but until then its back to the daily grind...

Chalk it up as a win!

Well, we traveled our tough road this past week and the results were somewhat surprising. We beat Vordingborg in a 5 set match last Saturday, and then lost to Brønby in 4 sets on Wednesday, which knocked us out of the Cup. It was a very discouraging loss as we all hoped to be playing in the Cup finals in February.On top of that, we played Holte, the undefeated first place team the following Saturday so coming out with a winning record at the end of the week seemed unlikely.
    We went into our match on Saturday with basically nothing to lose, and honestly I think that helped. We gained an 8 point run in the first set and ran with it to win the set 25-15. Now that Holte saw they would actually have to play to beat us, the next set was tougher. But, with a few hitting errors on their end, we escaped with another win in the second set, 25-20. The third and fourth sets were both neck and neck until the final points and we couldn't seal the deal, losing 25-23 and 25-22. The match was at 2-2 and we went into a 5th set to 15 points. A point run in the beginning and a timeout at 5-1 was all it took to break the formerly undefeated champions. We exchanged sideouts for the remainder of the set, finally winning with an ace at 15-12. The entire team rushed the court, Holger leading the charge while jumping and waving his clip board through the air. If you'd like to watch the game, it is aired on www.holtevolley.dk (Holte vs. Gentofte)
     So, we won. We beat the undefeated, moving us up to a 3 way tie for first place with Brønby and Holte. We have one more match in this section of league play and its against the 8th place team, Lyngby next Saturday. Finishing the first round of league play in first place is very exciting, and I'm looking forward to defending our position in the next round.
    Now I pack for the Canary Islands, where I'm going to visit my friend, Kristen Dozier, who plays middle for a team on the island of Tenerife. I can't express how excited I am to go see American friends on a tropical island. A genie couldn't grant me a better wish. For more fun stories on adapting to life over seas, check out Kristen's blog called "Life and everything in Between."
Time to go buy sunscreen. Pictures and stories to come!