Hey all,
So today were my last games in Sweden, not to mention my last games (as a player) for God knows how long. We played Sundsvall again, and beat them both times, with significantly better performances than last time we beat them. I pitched well, and the team played much better defense than our last outing against Sundsvall. So it was good, but kind of bittersweet, because I'm starting to realize I only have 11 more days here, and that really makes me sad. The people here are just amazing, and have welcomed me into their team and families with more sincerity and warmth than I ever would have believed possible. I feel like no matter how many times I thank them, I won't be able to communicate exactly how much it's meant to me or how wonderful they've made this experience for me- so wish me luck in using my last 11 days to try and show them as best I can.
On the major plus side, I'll be back stateside and will be much easier to see/talk to very very soon! And that's great, as I miss all of you a lot and can't wait to see you!
I'll have some pictures from this weekend up soon.
Jen
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Pictures form Holland!
This is the Swedish harbor that our first ferry left from- the one from Sweden to Denmark.
The Senior team in a huddle
Ankan and I- Annakarin is Johanna's younger sister, and caught and acted as captain for the senior team
Me and the other two Americans, Ashley and Annele
Me and two of the four other coaches- Pernilla (l) and Helena (r)
The Senior National team
'Honk' is dutch for 'base' apparantly- all I know is this poster always made me giggle a bit.
The Junior national team
Me on the ferry to Germany
The bus (aka our second home)- cool decals, no?Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Holland!
Pictures from this post coming soon- it takes awhile to load them and I have to go to practice!
Hey everyone!
So I’m back from Holland, exhausted but otherwise great! It was a really fun week both from a softball perspective and a social one- both the junior and senior National Teams have great kids on them, little to no drama occurred, and the dynamics on the coaching staff were good. We were participating in an international tournament in Appeldoorn, Holland, which is outside Amsterdam. The junior team came in first and the senior team came in second, both to Netherlands national teams. There were also teams from Czech, the USA, and Italy there.
I was on the coaching staff as the pitching coach, but ended up being more of a general assistant coach, which I preferred anyway; basically that meant that I worked with the pitchers and called the pitches for the semifinal and final, but also worked on hitting, baserunning, and some infield with the girls during practices and warm-ups- all the coaching staff worked together on a lot of things, with each of us specializing in whatever area we knew best (Lina, the assistant coach, used to be a catcher and infielder, the head coach knows more about outfield, etc). It ended up working out very well; Mattias (the head coach) is not that experienced in softball yet, he’s a baseball guy, but Lina knows what she’s talking about and they both really want to improve softball in Sweden. They both told me how much they enjoyed working with me and how good the dynamic was between the three of us, so that was nice to hear.
The Blue team (the junior team), had three of our best players from Enköping on it, and had all Swedish pitchers. The senior team had two American pitchers (which is pretty standard for these European countries), both of whom are very good. I wasn’t too crazy about not having a Swede pitch at all for the senior team, but after taking to the senior team and the Swedish pitchers it seems like this arrangement was what hey preferred- this way they got experience pitching at an international level, but at a level more suited to their current abilities. The biggest weakness in Swedish softball is pitching, no question, so the senior team was happy to play behind an American pitcher, especially since Ashley and Annele (who are from Maryland and Seattle) are really good people and non-pretentious players. It was really fun to coach two such experienced pitchers as well- Ashley pitched DI and Annele DII. They both graduated already, Ashley this year and Annele a year ago.
Most of the players were girls I had faced in games here, with the addition of two Swedes who play in Holland right now year-round. Emelie, who played short for us and is a very powerful hitter, was the coach last year and was the oldest player on both teams at 26 years old. She had a rough time coaching and has gone back to just playing- she was great about listening to me and respecting my coaching even though I’m younger and she knew nothing about me, which I really appreciated. Annakarin, the catcher, is actually the younger sister of Johanna, who plays with me in Enköping. Before I left for Holland I had several people, including Johanna, Ingrid and the Leksand coach, tell me how well the two of us were going to get along, which made me a bit nervous- after the 5th person told me that all I could think was “what am I going to do if I end up really not liking this girl? What am I going to say to these people?” Turns out they were all right, she’s great, and I would give an arm to have even one player like her on my future teams. So having those two on the team was a big boost- they’re also older than most of the other girls so they were great leaders.
This is why I’ve gotten so into developing softball here, why this summer’s been so exciting for me as a coach- we did that well in the tournament, and there were only two girls on the team above 22 years old! And with Swedish pitchers, the junior team won it- is says a lot about the potential for great softball in this country, but they need help in getting younger kids going on the sport, and in winter training programs. Anyway, so the tournament was good. The best Netherlands players were not there, they’re training for Beijing with the Olympic squad (which Sweden does not have right now- they need two to five years of concentrated softball development in the country before they’ll be able to pull it off, and more money than they have access to right now), but the national teams, the feed teams for the Olympic squad, were there and are coached by a Dutch man who is basically single-handedly responsible for softball in Russia (he build it up from literally nothing), and who’s very very good. The US teams weren’t bad, either, they were two of those pay-to-play groups that end up being kind of hit or miss. One of the teams wasn’t anything special, the other was pretty good and well-coached- she also happened to get six girls who are great hitters and faster than anything- we beat them in the semifinal after a tight game on Friday. We beat Czech in the quarterfinal in a great game Saturday, which I called the pitching for- Annakarin had been calling the games very well, but wanted me to call it for that game, and man, was it fun! It worked well and gave me a huge rush watching batters strike out exactly like I plan- it’s like… I don’t know, a composition or something- it’s all planned in my head, then just falls into place, pitch after pitch.
Anyway, so then the senior team was in the finals on Sunday against the Dutch National team, and the Juniors were playing Sunday against the Dutch Juniors. I wasn’t calling any of the Junior games because Amanda How, my catcher in Enköping, was the catcher for that team. Not only is it necessary experience for her to call the games at that level, she’s also been working with me all summer and has been doing a terrific job calling pitches- she’s 16 and I’m already recruiting her to wherever I am in a year or two, she’s a great player. The Junior team played first and won it relatively easily, then the senior team played- they came out flat for the first time all tournament and unfortunately that was all it took, one flat inning. Part of that was because of how close together the games were- the coaching staff was split and there wasn’t time for a full warm-up before the senior games, they had to do part of it with only one coach on a different field before the junior championship game was finished. Not very well organized by the tournament directors. So it was a disappointing finish, but it really showed the girls as well as everyone else at the tournament that softball in Sweden is definitely on the upswing. The junior national baseball team from Sweden was there as well (they were on the same bus as us), they also came in first. Baseball here is pretty good, always competitive within Europe and on the rise with help from a year-round baseball school in Leksand where players meet weekly to practice and work with coaches from all over Europe and the US.
We stayed in a youth hostel within easy walking distance of the fields; it had a full kitchen and served meals dining-hall style, which was convenient. I stayed in a room with the other three females on the coaching staff- Lina, the assistant, Helena, the manager in charge of food, lodgings, getting us everywhere on time, etc., and Pernilla, team psychologist and personal coach. It was a bit awkward the first night as they adjusted to having to speak English at least some of the time in order for me to be able to participate in the conversation, but then it was great. The four of us got along really well and had a good time hanging out together.
Apparently the Dutch traditionally have huge parties at their tournaments, and this is an expected part of the whole week- there was a dance on Wednesday night, karaoke on Friday, and a BBQ Saturday. We didn’t go to the dance Wednesday (much to the dismay of the baseball teams- they’re BIG fans of the Swedes) but we went to karaoke directly from a double header, and got lots of applause. We sang Mamma Mia (of course) first off, and somehow I got stuck holding the microphone- I felt like a bit of a fraud in my Sverige shirt, but what the heck. Then Lina, the assistant coach, sang “I’m Too Sexy”, with three players as backup dancers, and I laughed harder than I have in a LONG time- she just went for it all out. Some of the girls sang “Summer of ‘69” then I sang “The Time of My Life” (from Dirty Dancing) with Annakarin, which was pretty funny as well. There was a lot of twirling each other around and trying not to step on the mic cord (it produced a huge screech if you did).
Yesterday’s trip back was not so fun- 16 hours on buses and ferries followed by a four hour wait in the train station before finally getting back to Enköping. The long bus ride actually wasn’t too bad, because it was broken up by the ferries- one from Denmark to Germany, another from Denmark to Sweden. The train ride was the worst just because it was HOT. It was hot the whole week, actually, and in Holland it was super-muggy as well, I felt like I was melting most of the time- but that was better than the weather our first day there, which was cold and rainy.
Well, so that’s all I can think of right now. It was a fun week! I had a great time coaching, and went to Holland, what more could you want? Hope all is well where you guys are, I’m practicing a bunch this week before my last games here this Sunday (against Sundsvall). Then I have a couple weeks before heading home. Time’s flying!
Love to all,
jen
Hey everyone!
So I’m back from Holland, exhausted but otherwise great! It was a really fun week both from a softball perspective and a social one- both the junior and senior National Teams have great kids on them, little to no drama occurred, and the dynamics on the coaching staff were good. We were participating in an international tournament in Appeldoorn, Holland, which is outside Amsterdam. The junior team came in first and the senior team came in second, both to Netherlands national teams. There were also teams from Czech, the USA, and Italy there.
I was on the coaching staff as the pitching coach, but ended up being more of a general assistant coach, which I preferred anyway; basically that meant that I worked with the pitchers and called the pitches for the semifinal and final, but also worked on hitting, baserunning, and some infield with the girls during practices and warm-ups- all the coaching staff worked together on a lot of things, with each of us specializing in whatever area we knew best (Lina, the assistant coach, used to be a catcher and infielder, the head coach knows more about outfield, etc). It ended up working out very well; Mattias (the head coach) is not that experienced in softball yet, he’s a baseball guy, but Lina knows what she’s talking about and they both really want to improve softball in Sweden. They both told me how much they enjoyed working with me and how good the dynamic was between the three of us, so that was nice to hear.
The Blue team (the junior team), had three of our best players from Enköping on it, and had all Swedish pitchers. The senior team had two American pitchers (which is pretty standard for these European countries), both of whom are very good. I wasn’t too crazy about not having a Swede pitch at all for the senior team, but after taking to the senior team and the Swedish pitchers it seems like this arrangement was what hey preferred- this way they got experience pitching at an international level, but at a level more suited to their current abilities. The biggest weakness in Swedish softball is pitching, no question, so the senior team was happy to play behind an American pitcher, especially since Ashley and Annele (who are from Maryland and Seattle) are really good people and non-pretentious players. It was really fun to coach two such experienced pitchers as well- Ashley pitched DI and Annele DII. They both graduated already, Ashley this year and Annele a year ago.
Most of the players were girls I had faced in games here, with the addition of two Swedes who play in Holland right now year-round. Emelie, who played short for us and is a very powerful hitter, was the coach last year and was the oldest player on both teams at 26 years old. She had a rough time coaching and has gone back to just playing- she was great about listening to me and respecting my coaching even though I’m younger and she knew nothing about me, which I really appreciated. Annakarin, the catcher, is actually the younger sister of Johanna, who plays with me in Enköping. Before I left for Holland I had several people, including Johanna, Ingrid and the Leksand coach, tell me how well the two of us were going to get along, which made me a bit nervous- after the 5th person told me that all I could think was “what am I going to do if I end up really not liking this girl? What am I going to say to these people?” Turns out they were all right, she’s great, and I would give an arm to have even one player like her on my future teams. So having those two on the team was a big boost- they’re also older than most of the other girls so they were great leaders.
This is why I’ve gotten so into developing softball here, why this summer’s been so exciting for me as a coach- we did that well in the tournament, and there were only two girls on the team above 22 years old! And with Swedish pitchers, the junior team won it- is says a lot about the potential for great softball in this country, but they need help in getting younger kids going on the sport, and in winter training programs. Anyway, so the tournament was good. The best Netherlands players were not there, they’re training for Beijing with the Olympic squad (which Sweden does not have right now- they need two to five years of concentrated softball development in the country before they’ll be able to pull it off, and more money than they have access to right now), but the national teams, the feed teams for the Olympic squad, were there and are coached by a Dutch man who is basically single-handedly responsible for softball in Russia (he build it up from literally nothing), and who’s very very good. The US teams weren’t bad, either, they were two of those pay-to-play groups that end up being kind of hit or miss. One of the teams wasn’t anything special, the other was pretty good and well-coached- she also happened to get six girls who are great hitters and faster than anything- we beat them in the semifinal after a tight game on Friday. We beat Czech in the quarterfinal in a great game Saturday, which I called the pitching for- Annakarin had been calling the games very well, but wanted me to call it for that game, and man, was it fun! It worked well and gave me a huge rush watching batters strike out exactly like I plan- it’s like… I don’t know, a composition or something- it’s all planned in my head, then just falls into place, pitch after pitch.
Anyway, so then the senior team was in the finals on Sunday against the Dutch National team, and the Juniors were playing Sunday against the Dutch Juniors. I wasn’t calling any of the Junior games because Amanda How, my catcher in Enköping, was the catcher for that team. Not only is it necessary experience for her to call the games at that level, she’s also been working with me all summer and has been doing a terrific job calling pitches- she’s 16 and I’m already recruiting her to wherever I am in a year or two, she’s a great player. The Junior team played first and won it relatively easily, then the senior team played- they came out flat for the first time all tournament and unfortunately that was all it took, one flat inning. Part of that was because of how close together the games were- the coaching staff was split and there wasn’t time for a full warm-up before the senior games, they had to do part of it with only one coach on a different field before the junior championship game was finished. Not very well organized by the tournament directors. So it was a disappointing finish, but it really showed the girls as well as everyone else at the tournament that softball in Sweden is definitely on the upswing. The junior national baseball team from Sweden was there as well (they were on the same bus as us), they also came in first. Baseball here is pretty good, always competitive within Europe and on the rise with help from a year-round baseball school in Leksand where players meet weekly to practice and work with coaches from all over Europe and the US.
We stayed in a youth hostel within easy walking distance of the fields; it had a full kitchen and served meals dining-hall style, which was convenient. I stayed in a room with the other three females on the coaching staff- Lina, the assistant, Helena, the manager in charge of food, lodgings, getting us everywhere on time, etc., and Pernilla, team psychologist and personal coach. It was a bit awkward the first night as they adjusted to having to speak English at least some of the time in order for me to be able to participate in the conversation, but then it was great. The four of us got along really well and had a good time hanging out together.
Apparently the Dutch traditionally have huge parties at their tournaments, and this is an expected part of the whole week- there was a dance on Wednesday night, karaoke on Friday, and a BBQ Saturday. We didn’t go to the dance Wednesday (much to the dismay of the baseball teams- they’re BIG fans of the Swedes) but we went to karaoke directly from a double header, and got lots of applause. We sang Mamma Mia (of course) first off, and somehow I got stuck holding the microphone- I felt like a bit of a fraud in my Sverige shirt, but what the heck. Then Lina, the assistant coach, sang “I’m Too Sexy”, with three players as backup dancers, and I laughed harder than I have in a LONG time- she just went for it all out. Some of the girls sang “Summer of ‘69” then I sang “The Time of My Life” (from Dirty Dancing) with Annakarin, which was pretty funny as well. There was a lot of twirling each other around and trying not to step on the mic cord (it produced a huge screech if you did).
Yesterday’s trip back was not so fun- 16 hours on buses and ferries followed by a four hour wait in the train station before finally getting back to Enköping. The long bus ride actually wasn’t too bad, because it was broken up by the ferries- one from Denmark to Germany, another from Denmark to Sweden. The train ride was the worst just because it was HOT. It was hot the whole week, actually, and in Holland it was super-muggy as well, I felt like I was melting most of the time- but that was better than the weather our first day there, which was cold and rainy.
Well, so that’s all I can think of right now. It was a fun week! I had a great time coaching, and went to Holland, what more could you want? Hope all is well where you guys are, I’m practicing a bunch this week before my last games here this Sunday (against Sundsvall). Then I have a couple weeks before heading home. Time’s flying!
Love to all,
jen
Friday, July 18, 2008
surprise!
Okay. So- you are now reading the blog of the official interim Swedish National Team Pitching Coach- which happened kind of by accident, but hey, who's complaining?!
Basically it went like this- I've worked with several of the girls on the National team while I've been here, including that tryout up in Norrkoping a month and a half ago. So I was supposed to go with the team to Holland and help out with coaching, which I wasn't too sure about, since I didn't want to step on the toes of the actual pitching coach, especially since this year was her first year and she seemed to not really want any help. So I didn't even think I was GOING to Holland at the beginning of this week, then I called Paulina, the pitching coach, and she told me she couldn't go. Turns out she has a serious skin condition on her hands that's taken a turn for the worse- nothing life- threatening, but she needs to stay at home, inside, and take her meds and not pick anything up. Which really is awful for her, but she was glad I'd called, since she wanted to make sure I was going to Holland so the team would have a pitching coach. Then I got a call from Mattias asking me to officially take the position for this tournament. So here I am!
Anyway, conclusion: you probably won't hear from me for a week or more (not that that's anything too unusual!), unless the hotel we're staying at has internet access that isn't too expensive. So! Have a lovely week!!
Basically it went like this- I've worked with several of the girls on the National team while I've been here, including that tryout up in Norrkoping a month and a half ago. So I was supposed to go with the team to Holland and help out with coaching, which I wasn't too sure about, since I didn't want to step on the toes of the actual pitching coach, especially since this year was her first year and she seemed to not really want any help. So I didn't even think I was GOING to Holland at the beginning of this week, then I called Paulina, the pitching coach, and she told me she couldn't go. Turns out she has a serious skin condition on her hands that's taken a turn for the worse- nothing life- threatening, but she needs to stay at home, inside, and take her meds and not pick anything up. Which really is awful for her, but she was glad I'd called, since she wanted to make sure I was going to Holland so the team would have a pitching coach. Then I got a call from Mattias asking me to officially take the position for this tournament. So here I am!
Anyway, conclusion: you probably won't hear from me for a week or more (not that that's anything too unusual!), unless the hotel we're staying at has internet access that isn't too expensive. So! Have a lovely week!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Hej!
I'm posting from Sundsvall, a town about 4 hours north of Enköping. We played two games here yesterday and won them both, though the second game was one of the ugliest wins in which I've ever participated. When the team headed back home I stayed here, I'm in a hostel now and am checking out in a minute before catching the bus to towndown Sundsvall. Hostels here are actually moe like budget hotels. The prices are like high-end hostels (20-30 USD a night), and there's kitchens, shared bathrooms, etc, but you can also get rooms with bathroom in them, and there aren't really dorms like in most hostels, instead it's divided into doubles or quads. Interesting. Makes it harder to meet people but it was nice last night, I was wiped after the games and had a double room to myself, so I was able to shower, relax, and go to bed early. And despite the bathrooms being ouside my door it was still quieter here in the morning than it is at Ingrids!
So now I'm going downtown to figure out where I'm going next. Originally I was going to take a bus to Umeå, a university town another 4 hours north, but the regional buses are on strike so that's out. I'm thinking of renting a car and heading north a few hours- this is actually a more interesting prospect anyway, since some of the most beautiful coastline in Sweden is just north of here, but isn't on any bus routes even if they weren't on strike. So it depends how much a one-day rental will cost me- I'm planning on trying to be back here on Monday afternoon to catch the train to Uppsala, where Ingrid says she can pick me up.
So I'll try to post after I get back to Enköping, hope everything's going well back in the US!
Jen
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Mom and Dad's visit, plus more
WARNING- MASSIVE UPDATE AHEAD.
So I lot has happened since I updated last! Mom and Dad visited, we won some games, had some fun, and I turned a year older! So yes, many things to report!
Saturday the 28th (29th? I don’t remember the exact date) is when Mom and Dad were
supposed to get here, and was also a game day for us- we were playing Söder, a team based just outside of Stockholm. We won both games, and it was a lot of fun because they were both good softball, though in both we pulled ahead by at least 4 runs by the end of the 7th inning. Unfortunately, due to a cracked windshield on the plane and US Airways inability to get anything done in a time-effective manner, Mom and Dad didn’t get in until 3am Sunday (only 18 hours after they were supposed to). Sunday we were playing Norrköping at home, we won both games easily and I actually didn’t play in the second game, in order to give some of the younger girls some playing time. Jonna, one of the girls I’ve been working with pitching on, did very well, which was pretty exciting to see- and on Saturday Ingrid pitched the best she has since I arrived- she’s really starting to pick up speed and accuracy. 
Funny story: When booking the rooms for this excursion to Leksand, Ingrid suggested the hotel we stayed at, and showed me pictures of a cute little cottage that’s part of the available rooms. I thought it looked great, and like a lot of fun, so I told her to book it (it was also cheaper than two regular rooms, which should have tipped me off right away). We got to the inn and mom and dad were oohing and ahhing over how pretty it was, and I announced that we were in fact staying in this place:
After a small stunned silence dad said “the one with the grass on the roof?” and then we pulled up in front of it and I realized, UNLIKE what I thought I saw in the picture online, the door is about 4 ½ feet tall. The inside of the building matches this- dad couldn’t stand up in either of the two tiny rooms inside. I just about died laughing at all this, because I had NO idea it would be so small, and mom and dad’s reactions were priceless (they thought I was joking at first, then were horrified when they realized I wasn’t, and hesitant to show their horror for fear of hurting my feelings). The lady at the front desk thought I was completely crazy because I was crying I was laughing so hard when we came in to ask to be switched to different rooms.
Anyway, I got control over myself and the hotel turned out to be very nice, with lots of outdoor seating and a tea cart left out at night. We got dinner at an excellent restaurant in town and headed back to the hotel. We ran into a reporter from Leksand who I’d met in Söder on Saturday- he’s affiliated with the Leksand softball team and knows the coach, and he helped arrange for dad and me to go to their practice Wednesday evening and run a clinic.
Wednesday we traveled around Lake Silijan by car, stopping in several really cool towns along the way, including Tällberg (a tiny town with great pottery shops, a bizarre gallery, and eight super-swanky hotels all sprawled among the rocks and trees in the middle of nowhere), Rättvik, Nusnäs, Mora, and Sollerön.
So, you’d think after all that the excitement would be over but NO! On Thursday night Emil and Maria invited me to go with them Saturday on a surprise adventure, they wouldn’t tell me what. It turned out to be a boat trip to Åland, which was wicked fun- the boat was pretty big, and had a large duty-free shop in it. Turns out this shop is a large part of the reason people take this trip- the boat tickets are pretty cheap, so then you enjoy the two hours out to Åland, the half hour on shore, the two hours back, and stocking up on perfume, makeup, candy and, most significantly, copious amounts of alcohol. Maria and Emil wanted to take me just for fun and to see a little of Åland- it was a great day trip and excellent birthday present.
Finnish scouts!! Like our girl and boy scouts, apparantly. They're standing under the Åland flag.
Sunday I recovered from the week’s adventures, and then Monday was my birthday. I got sung to by the whole family in the morning (they were supposed to come sing to me in bed and wake me up, but I spoiled that by getting up too early, to they surprised me in the kitchen). I got a beautiful pair of silver earrings and a ring from the family, which was incredibly nice of them. We had cake around 11am because Ingrid had to go to the airport to fly to Amsterdam for a business seminar until Wednesday evening. So the rest of the day was very quiet, and I wasn’t expecting any more celebrations (especially since we had to cancel practice due to rain).
But I stopped over at the house of one of the girls, whose mom is American, to drop off some books I’d borrowed, and found a surprise party awaiting! All the team was there, and they sang and had cake and decorations and flowers- it was one of the sweetest and best things that’s happened to me in a long time. It continues to get harder and harder to imagine leaving, the people here are so wonderful. It feels like I’ve been here two years rather than two months.
Me being surprised:
So since then things have been tame (I’ve been trying to catch up on sleep)- Tuesday evening I went to Söder to work with five pitchers on their team- I worked with three less experienced girls for an hour then with two older girls for 1 ½ hours. I stayed overnight in Söder, with the family of one of the younger pitchers, whose older sister is a catcher and is on the National team. They were also very nice and really welcoming, as was the Söder coach, who I chatted with for a couple hours before I started practice with the girls. Wednesday morning I worked with one of the more experienced girls a second time- Minna, who’s 21 and has huge potential. She already throws well enough now to be a DIII level pitcher easily- and that’s without any kind of formal coaching, EVER. I’m still trying to get over that, because she’s got a great motion and incredible snap. She was throwing beautiful curveballs five minutes after I showed her how, without ever having thrown them before. It was a lot of fun working with her- we’re probably meeting next week as well.
And that leads me to today, which has been pretty average- pitching with Ingrid in the morning, playing with the kids a lot, practice and a couple pitching lessons in the afternoon. The weather was beautiful today, tomorrow I might go to the beach with Maria in the morning before going to Eskilstuna in the afternoon to work with Amanda (our catcher) and Jonna- they both live about 45 minutes away and can’t make it to all the practices, so I’ve been going there and working with them individually.
We make the long haul up to Sundsvall this weekend- it’s about 5 hours north. We play Saturday, and then I’m planning to stay up there a few days and poke around on my own some- not sure exactly where I’ll go yet but probably not too far out of Sundsvall, as the Northern bus lines just went on strike today- looks like I’ll be taking the train back to Enköping!
Okay, that’s the end- HUGE update I know, sorry for those of you who got bored, congrats if you made it through the whole thing!
Jen
So I lot has happened since I updated last! Mom and Dad visited, we won some games, had some fun, and I turned a year older! So yes, many things to report!
Saturday the 28th (29th? I don’t remember the exact date) is when Mom and Dad were
supposed to get here, and was also a game day for us- we were playing Söder, a team based just outside of Stockholm. We won both games, and it was a lot of fun because they were both good softball, though in both we pulled ahead by at least 4 runs by the end of the 7th inning. Unfortunately, due to a cracked windshield on the plane and US Airways inability to get anything done in a time-effective manner, Mom and Dad didn’t get in until 3am Sunday (only 18 hours after they were supposed to). Sunday we were playing Norrköping at home, we won both games easily and I actually didn’t play in the second game, in order to give some of the younger girls some playing time. Jonna, one of the girls I’ve been working with pitching on, did very well, which was pretty exciting to see- and on Saturday Ingrid pitched the best she has since I arrived- she’s really starting to pick up speed and accuracy. A couple pictures form Sunday's game: .jpg)
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So Sunday night we had a barbeque here at Ingrid and Micke’s with Maria, Emil and Agnes- it was a lot of fun, good food and then we played Kubb, the traditional Swedish game we played on Midsummer as well. Mom and dad both did well, I stunk (it was sad). I drove mom and dad back to the super-cute bed and breakfast they were staying at, which is pretty close to the center of Enköping.
Monday I met mom and dad and we drove to a ceramics store where they bought me some early birthday presents, and then we drove back to Enköping and walked around downtown so they could get more familiar with the area. We grabbed sandwiches and fika treats (to have later that day with Ingrid and the kids), then walked through the botanical gardens (picture at top) and by the harbor. We went back to Ingrid’s in the early afternoon, when dad was supposed to pitch with one of the girls I’ve been working with, but she blew us off (not unlike her), so we just hung around Ingrid’s and played with the kids, which was kind of nice. That afternoon we tried to have a fika out by the lake but got chased out by a massive thunderstorm, so we had it in the kitchen instead.
Tuesday we left for Leksand (Mom, Dad and I), which is about 2 ½ hours north of here. Leksand is in a beautiful area shaped by an ancient meteor impact, and is on the shore of Lake Silijan. The surrounding country is a lot like Wisconsin (minus the cornfields) in some parts and Vermont in others, very very pretty all around! We arrived in Leksand and found our hotel, which turned out to be a lovely inn that overlooks the huge athletics complex in Leksand, including the softball field.
So Sunday night we had a barbeque here at Ingrid and Micke’s with Maria, Emil and Agnes- it was a lot of fun, good food and then we played Kubb, the traditional Swedish game we played on Midsummer as well. Mom and dad both did well, I stunk (it was sad). I drove mom and dad back to the super-cute bed and breakfast they were staying at, which is pretty close to the center of Enköping.
Monday I met mom and dad and we drove to a ceramics store where they bought me some early birthday presents, and then we drove back to Enköping and walked around downtown so they could get more familiar with the area. We grabbed sandwiches and fika treats (to have later that day with Ingrid and the kids), then walked through the botanical gardens (picture at top) and by the harbor. We went back to Ingrid’s in the early afternoon, when dad was supposed to pitch with one of the girls I’ve been working with, but she blew us off (not unlike her), so we just hung around Ingrid’s and played with the kids, which was kind of nice. That afternoon we tried to have a fika out by the lake but got chased out by a massive thunderstorm, so we had it in the kitchen instead.
Tuesday we left for Leksand (Mom, Dad and I), which is about 2 ½ hours north of here. Leksand is in a beautiful area shaped by an ancient meteor impact, and is on the shore of Lake Silijan. The surrounding country is a lot like Wisconsin (minus the cornfields) in some parts and Vermont in others, very very pretty all around! We arrived in Leksand and found our hotel, which turned out to be a lovely inn that overlooks the huge athletics complex in Leksand, including the softball field.
Funny story: When booking the rooms for this excursion to Leksand, Ingrid suggested the hotel we stayed at, and showed me pictures of a cute little cottage that’s part of the available rooms. I thought it looked great, and like a lot of fun, so I told her to book it (it was also cheaper than two regular rooms, which should have tipped me off right away). We got to the inn and mom and dad were oohing and ahhing over how pretty it was, and I announced that we were in fact staying in this place:
After a small stunned silence dad said “the one with the grass on the roof?” and then we pulled up in front of it and I realized, UNLIKE what I thought I saw in the picture online, the door is about 4 ½ feet tall. The inside of the building matches this- dad couldn’t stand up in either of the two tiny rooms inside. I just about died laughing at all this, because I had NO idea it would be so small, and mom and dad’s reactions were priceless (they thought I was joking at first, then were horrified when they realized I wasn’t, and hesitant to show their horror for fear of hurting my feelings). The lady at the front desk thought I was completely crazy because I was crying I was laughing so hard when we came in to ask to be switched to different rooms.
Anyway, I got control over myself and the hotel turned out to be very nice, with lots of outdoor seating and a tea cart left out at night. We got dinner at an excellent restaurant in town and headed back to the hotel. We ran into a reporter from Leksand who I’d met in Söder on Saturday- he’s affiliated with the Leksand softball team and knows the coach, and he helped arrange for dad and me to go to their practice Wednesday evening and run a clinic.
Wednesday we traveled around Lake Silijan by car, stopping in several really cool towns along the way, including Tällberg (a tiny town with great pottery shops, a bizarre gallery, and eight super-swanky hotels all sprawled among the rocks and trees in the middle of nowhere), Rättvik, Nusnäs, Mora, and Sollerön.
This is a strawberry stand outside a grocery store in Leksand- I just thought it was fun :)
We got lunch in Rättvik, home to the longest pier in Sweden, as well as a neat market and several great craft shops. 
After Rättvik we went to Nusnäs, home to two Dalahast factories, or collections of buildings wherein the famous Swedish Dalahast is carved and painted.
We stopped briefly in Mora, the largest town around Lake Silijan, and then headed back to Leksand, stopping once for about half an hour to detour to a random historical sight marked on the side of the road, which turned out to be an old mill complex.
Dad and I helped out at the practice (mostly working on hitting, and dad working with a couple of the pitchers), then made arrangements to meet with two of their younger pitchers the next morning before we headed out. We ate at an excellent pizza place in town. Thursday morning we worked with the pitchers for 1 ½ hours, then went into town and wandered around an open-air market for a bit before heading off home.
Of note: on the way to Leksand we stopped at a huge Swedish supply and tool store called Clas Olsen, which has everything from lawn chairs to lightbulbs to digital camera to chainsaws. Mom and Dad flipped over a pair of branch cutters that aren’t available inside the US without special mail-order and were apparently really cheap- Ingrid and Micke both gave them really strange looks when they triumphantly placed them on the duffel bag being packed for them to take back to the US.
Thursday night we had practice and then afterwards we took Maria, Emil, and Ingrid’s family out to dinner at a Thai buffet place in the middle of town- it was very fun and relaxed. Friday morning mom and dad and I walked around town a little more, and saw the church as well as a couple ancient runestones that are placed around the city and date back to 1000 AD or so.
Friday mom dad and I went to Stockholm to explore Skasen, a preserved village with old buildings from all over Sweden, and a village with shops such as a potters, glassblowers, goldsmith, woodcarver, etc. There’s also a huge zoo in this park, and a bunch of other attractions. It was cool, but a little daunting, we got tired after a few hours and took the ferry back into Stockholm to look around the Old City a little before we caught our train back to Enköping. We ate a relaxed meal at Ingrid’s again, then I drove mom and dad to a hotel just outside the airport so they could take a shuttle in to catch their 6am flight (ew).
Bears in the zoo- this mom had three cubs running around, crawling al over her- I told Ingrid it reminded me a bit of her.
Skansen street
We got lunch in Rättvik, home to the longest pier in Sweden, as well as a neat market and several great craft shops. 
After Rättvik we went to Nusnäs, home to two Dalahast factories, or collections of buildings wherein the famous Swedish Dalahast is carved and painted.
We stopped briefly in Mora, the largest town around Lake Silijan, and then headed back to Leksand, stopping once for about half an hour to detour to a random historical sight marked on the side of the road, which turned out to be an old mill complex.
Dad and I helped out at the practice (mostly working on hitting, and dad working with a couple of the pitchers), then made arrangements to meet with two of their younger pitchers the next morning before we headed out. We ate at an excellent pizza place in town. Thursday morning we worked with the pitchers for 1 ½ hours, then went into town and wandered around an open-air market for a bit before heading off home.Of note: on the way to Leksand we stopped at a huge Swedish supply and tool store called Clas Olsen, which has everything from lawn chairs to lightbulbs to digital camera to chainsaws. Mom and Dad flipped over a pair of branch cutters that aren’t available inside the US without special mail-order and were apparently really cheap- Ingrid and Micke both gave them really strange looks when they triumphantly placed them on the duffel bag being packed for them to take back to the US.
Thursday night we had practice and then afterwards we took Maria, Emil, and Ingrid’s family out to dinner at a Thai buffet place in the middle of town- it was very fun and relaxed. Friday morning mom and dad and I walked around town a little more, and saw the church as well as a couple ancient runestones that are placed around the city and date back to 1000 AD or so.
Friday mom dad and I went to Stockholm to explore Skasen, a preserved village with old buildings from all over Sweden, and a village with shops such as a potters, glassblowers, goldsmith, woodcarver, etc. There’s also a huge zoo in this park, and a bunch of other attractions. It was cool, but a little daunting, we got tired after a few hours and took the ferry back into Stockholm to look around the Old City a little before we caught our train back to Enköping. We ate a relaxed meal at Ingrid’s again, then I drove mom and dad to a hotel just outside the airport so they could take a shuttle in to catch their 6am flight (ew).
Bears in the zoo- this mom had three cubs running around, crawling al over her- I told Ingrid it reminded me a bit of her. Skansen streetSo, you’d think after all that the excitement would be over but NO! On Thursday night Emil and Maria invited me to go with them Saturday on a surprise adventure, they wouldn’t tell me what. It turned out to be a boat trip to Åland, which was wicked fun- the boat was pretty big, and had a large duty-free shop in it. Turns out this shop is a large part of the reason people take this trip- the boat tickets are pretty cheap, so then you enjoy the two hours out to Åland, the half hour on shore, the two hours back, and stocking up on perfume, makeup, candy and, most significantly, copious amounts of alcohol. Maria and Emil wanted to take me just for fun and to see a little of Åland- it was a great day trip and excellent birthday present.
Finnish scouts!! Like our girl and boy scouts, apparantly. They're standing under the Åland flag.Sunday I recovered from the week’s adventures, and then Monday was my birthday. I got sung to by the whole family in the morning (they were supposed to come sing to me in bed and wake me up, but I spoiled that by getting up too early, to they surprised me in the kitchen). I got a beautiful pair of silver earrings and a ring from the family, which was incredibly nice of them. We had cake around 11am because Ingrid had to go to the airport to fly to Amsterdam for a business seminar until Wednesday evening. So the rest of the day was very quiet, and I wasn’t expecting any more celebrations (especially since we had to cancel practice due to rain).
But I stopped over at the house of one of the girls, whose mom is American, to drop off some books I’d borrowed, and found a surprise party awaiting! All the team was there, and they sang and had cake and decorations and flowers- it was one of the sweetest and best things that’s happened to me in a long time. It continues to get harder and harder to imagine leaving, the people here are so wonderful. It feels like I’ve been here two years rather than two months.
Me being surprised:So since then things have been tame (I’ve been trying to catch up on sleep)- Tuesday evening I went to Söder to work with five pitchers on their team- I worked with three less experienced girls for an hour then with two older girls for 1 ½ hours. I stayed overnight in Söder, with the family of one of the younger pitchers, whose older sister is a catcher and is on the National team. They were also very nice and really welcoming, as was the Söder coach, who I chatted with for a couple hours before I started practice with the girls. Wednesday morning I worked with one of the more experienced girls a second time- Minna, who’s 21 and has huge potential. She already throws well enough now to be a DIII level pitcher easily- and that’s without any kind of formal coaching, EVER. I’m still trying to get over that, because she’s got a great motion and incredible snap. She was throwing beautiful curveballs five minutes after I showed her how, without ever having thrown them before. It was a lot of fun working with her- we’re probably meeting next week as well.
And that leads me to today, which has been pretty average- pitching with Ingrid in the morning, playing with the kids a lot, practice and a couple pitching lessons in the afternoon. The weather was beautiful today, tomorrow I might go to the beach with Maria in the morning before going to Eskilstuna in the afternoon to work with Amanda (our catcher) and Jonna- they both live about 45 minutes away and can’t make it to all the practices, so I’ve been going there and working with them individually.
We make the long haul up to Sundsvall this weekend- it’s about 5 hours north. We play Saturday, and then I’m planning to stay up there a few days and poke around on my own some- not sure exactly where I’ll go yet but probably not too far out of Sundsvall, as the Northern bus lines just went on strike today- looks like I’ll be taking the train back to Enköping!
Okay, that’s the end- HUGE update I know, sorry for those of you who got bored, congrats if you made it through the whole thing!
Jen
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Mom and Dad were here and have left! Their visit was really fun, and now I'm exhausted and need to sleep. So no long post, I'll update with pictures soon. We hung around here (Enköping) from Sunday to Tuesday (after they went though the trip from hell on the way here), then drove up to Leksand, which is about 2 1/2 hours north of here. Leksand is in a huge valley on a lake, all created by a meteor impact thousands of years ago. It's a beautiful region, so we spent a few days exploring around there, relaxing in our wonderful inn (funny story behind the inn to come), and running a clinic and pitching lesson for the Leksand softball team. It was really fun coaching with dad, and mom was a terrific sport about us spending so much time on the field.
Thursday we came back to Enköping, and Friday we went into Stockholm, into a tourist area called Skansen. More on that later.
So it was really fun, nad I miss you guys already! They made it home safe and trouble-free, thank goodness.
Good night!
Thursday we came back to Enköping, and Friday we went into Stockholm, into a tourist area called Skansen. More on that later.
So it was really fun, nad I miss you guys already! They made it home safe and trouble-free, thank goodness.
Good night!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
BIG update (and Midsummer!)
Hej!
Sorry I’ve taken so long to update, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy- lots of softball, events, and then Midsummer this weekend, which is a major holiday here in Sweden.
So let’s recap! A couple weeks ago I went to a High School graduation ceremony in Västerås, which was very interesting to watch- the graduates start with a champagne breakfast, then meet their families out in a courtyard in the middle of town. The families all make signs for their children, with varying levels of detail, some were very elaborate!
Sorry I’ve taken so long to update, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy- lots of softball, events, and then Midsummer this weekend, which is a major holiday here in Sweden.
So let’s recap! A couple weeks ago I went to a High School graduation ceremony in Västerås, which was very interesting to watch- the graduates start with a champagne breakfast, then meet their families out in a courtyard in the middle of town. The families all make signs for their children, with varying levels of detail, some were very elaborate!
As you can see, it’s traditional for the graduates to wear hats that look a little like sailor uniforms. So after this meeting the grads then get on huge carts pulled by tractors, and ride around the town playing loud music and getting fantastically drunk. It was pretty funny to witness, though as they kept going around (for over two hours), they got drunk enough that some of the graduates thought it was funny to spray beer out at the crowd, etc., which was gross.
After that we went back to Jonna’s house (her brother was the one graduating) and had a party for him with a bunch of their friends. It was a good time, lots of good food and fun people, including a family that’s half American and loves baseball- so I was grilled about my coaching styles and softball for awhile, which was fine by me!
That weekend we played Skvöde, the best team in the league and winner of the class B European Cup last year (they’ve since moved up to Class A). They had an American who played in Seattle at an NAIA school a couple years ago as their pitcher in the first game. We ended up winning 2-1, which was very satisfying, considering how good a team they are. I pitched much better than I had thus far in Sweden, so I felt good about that.
Sunday after the games I went with Ingrid, Vidar and Freja to the King’s palace that he actually lives in (the one in Stockholm is just for work, obviously…). I liked this castle much better, it was very pretty and had beautiful gardens. After the castle we went to Ingrid’s mom’s house, which is on an island next to the island the king’s palace is on- Stockholm harbor is surrounded by a network of islands connected by bridges. It was a very relaxing afternoon, we walked down to the lake and had a fika and just lazed around.
The week was mostly softball and coaching stuff, I went to see a chiropractor to help with pretty intense lower back pain I’ve been having trouble with- now, almost two weeks after my first visit, I feel pretty much back to normal, which is wonderful. I was highly skeptical when Ingrid suggested it, but the woman I saw was great.
Last weekend was crazy busy. We drove two hours up to Leksand to play on Saturday- they were a pretty bad team, so we took care of them pretty easily. It was a nice opportunity to play some of the pitchers I’ve been working with and let them see some live batters. Jonna did well, Ida had some trouble and walked several people- but we’ve made a lot of progress this week so hopefully she’ll do better next weekend when we play Norrköping (who’s even worse than Leksand).
After the games we drove directly back here to run to a 50th birthday party for the stepdad of two of our players. 50th birthdays are a big deal here, so they had a pretty big shindig, with a band and open bar in the restaurant owned by Lewis, the New Zealander whose birthday it was. He’s married to a Swedish woman whose daughters play with me. It was a very fun party, I made good use of the open bar and talked a lot with several Australians, Irishman, and a Welshman who were there.
Sunday was the christening for Agnes, Maria and Emil’s baby girl. I’ve never been to a christening before, so it was fun, and the church in town where it was performed was really beautiful.
So it was a busy weekend. This past week has been primarily preparation for Midsummer and softball. We don’t have games this weekend because of the holiday, which is close to Christmas-level in its importance and how much it’s celebrated- everything shuts down for a couple days- Friday, which is when all the eating and drinking etc. is done, and Saturday, which is a recovery day when most of the country is hungover (and that’s not much of an exaggeration).
So Ingrid decided we should host Midsummer rather than going out anywhere, so we had Maria and Emil and Agnes over, as well as the family of the New Zealander who owns the restaurant. His wife has four kids from her first husband, including two girls on the team and Erik, who, along with his girlfriend Cissi, took me to Stockholm to show me around a couple weeks ago and invite me out pretty regularly to hang out or go to parties. So it was a good crowd, about 15 people or so. Before all them came over, however, we met in the town lawn and went to the Midsummer festival and danced around the Maypole (that’s not what they call it but that’s essentially what it is). It was fun, I danced mostly with Vidar and just tried to copy what everyone else was doing, with moderate success.
Last weekend was crazy busy. We drove two hours up to Leksand to play on Saturday- they were a pretty bad team, so we took care of them pretty easily. It was a nice opportunity to play some of the pitchers I’ve been working with and let them see some live batters. Jonna did well, Ida had some trouble and walked several people- but we’ve made a lot of progress this week so hopefully she’ll do better next weekend when we play Norrköping (who’s even worse than Leksand).
After the games we drove directly back here to run to a 50th birthday party for the stepdad of two of our players. 50th birthdays are a big deal here, so they had a pretty big shindig, with a band and open bar in the restaurant owned by Lewis, the New Zealander whose birthday it was. He’s married to a Swedish woman whose daughters play with me. It was a very fun party, I made good use of the open bar and talked a lot with several Australians, Irishman, and a Welshman who were there.
Sunday was the christening for Agnes, Maria and Emil’s baby girl. I’ve never been to a christening before, so it was fun, and the church in town where it was performed was really beautiful.
So it was a busy weekend. This past week has been primarily preparation for Midsummer and softball. We don’t have games this weekend because of the holiday, which is close to Christmas-level in its importance and how much it’s celebrated- everything shuts down for a couple days- Friday, which is when all the eating and drinking etc. is done, and Saturday, which is a recovery day when most of the country is hungover (and that’s not much of an exaggeration).
So Ingrid decided we should host Midsummer rather than going out anywhere, so we had Maria and Emil and Agnes over, as well as the family of the New Zealander who owns the restaurant. His wife has four kids from her first husband, including two girls on the team and Erik, who, along with his girlfriend Cissi, took me to Stockholm to show me around a couple weeks ago and invite me out pretty regularly to hang out or go to parties. So it was a good crowd, about 15 people or so. Before all them came over, however, we met in the town lawn and went to the Midsummer festival and danced around the Maypole (that’s not what they call it but that’s essentially what it is). It was fun, I danced mostly with Vidar and just tried to copy what everyone else was doing, with moderate success.
So the festival was very fun, they had petting zoos and amazing roasted almonds and horse rides, which Freja and I did together. Around 3 we went home and ate a TON of food.
I ate the traditional sill (raw herring) with sour cream and chives, which you then wash down with snaps (which made my eyes water profusely, it was strong). The sill was a little gross, but I’m considering it a cultural experience.
I ate the traditional sill (raw herring) with sour cream and chives, which you then wash down with snaps (which made my eyes water profusely, it was strong). The sill was a little gross, but I’m considering it a cultural experience.
We had potatoes and homemade meatballs (which I helped make), hardbread and sausages, and more. Then we sat around in food comas until everyone else arrived, and we had a fika with birthday cakes for Maria and Emil (whose birthday’s were yesterday and Monday), and biskvier (beesk-vee), an almond cookie with chocolate crème on top, coated in chocolate (I also made those, I practically have the recipe memorized by now since we also made them for the christening). Birthday cakes here don’t have frosting, instead traditional Swedish cakes are white cake in three thin layers with whipped crème and strawberries in between, with strawberries on top as well.
We played Kubb in the evening, a traditional Swedish game in which you throw sticks at the other team’s pegs and try to knock them over (that’s the very basic version, but you get the idea).
Agnes!So, right after Kubb was when I posted last, and as I said it was pretty light out, as you can see from the pictures. We barbequed and ate more (I was still full from lunch), then people started drifting out around 11 or so. Traditionally you’re supposed to stay up until 4am on Midsummer, or all night. Erik and Cissi invited me to come with them to a party at a friend’s house, which turned out to be really fun- there were some people there who were just annoyingly drunk, but there were also a bunch of great people as well, and I ended up staying until 5am or so before getting a taxi home. I met Micke when I came in the house, who was on his way to work (poor soul), Ingrid was up as well, so I was made fun of a bit for coming back so late, but then was told it was a perfectly respectable time to be arriving back after my first Midsummer’s Eve.
Today we’re all just lazing around, watching movies and eating leftovers. If it’s nice we might go to the lake and have a fika later. So, all in all, a wonderful Midsummer! This week we get ready for two doubleheaders back to back against Söder on Saturday and Norrköping on Sunday. And, most exciting of all, mom and dad get here on Saturday morning! They’ll be here for a week, and I’m sure many adventures will ensue!
Alright, time to get back to my relaxing, hope you all having a wonderful summer thus far, and I’ll try to update sooner this time!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Quick update
Hey everyone,
I'm exhausted, so this really will be short- yesterday we beat Skövde (which is pronounced huev-deh. Go figure.), the best team in the league 2-1 in the game I pitched. No one's beat them in the past two seasons, and Enköping has never beat them, so everyone was pretty excited. I finally started pitching more like my old self, and had a pretty good outing against them. The girls played great defense behind me, I was so proud of them- we worked on outfield cutoffs and infield plays on bunts and slaps for the whole week, and they executed beautifully and made two double plays over the game. Emil, the husband of Maria (our third baseman and Agnes' parents) bought all the girls ice cream, he was so happy. So it was fun. We lost the second game, and Ingrid had a tough game pitching-wise, but overall everyone felt pretty good about the day.
I'll post longer and with pictures later, but Thursday I went to Västerås (vest-ar-oas) to watch a typical Swedish graduation ceremony (Jonna's brother was graduating), and stayed overnight at Jonna's house till Friday afternoon. Pictures and more on that later. Today Ingrid, Vidar, Freja and I went to the series of islands in and around Stockholm to visit the king's other palace (the one he actually lives in, he just works in the one in the middle of the city), and to go to Ingrid's mom's house, which is on the next island over. She has a summer-home-turned-year-round house that's very pretty, so we ate lunch and then walked to the lake with the kids and had a fika (reminder- a snack with sweet pastries, juice,and/or coffee and tea). It was a very relaxing day, and the castle was beautiful- again, I'll post pictures later.
We came back and had an American cultural experience by making s'mores. I had a discussion with Ingrid about smores awhile ago- she thought they were gross, and I was horrified, until she told me she'd made them with European marshmallows which, like those available in New Zealand, are kind of fruit-sweet and not at all like jet-puff ones in the US. BUT, a couple days ago Ingrid found American-style marshmallows, so I showed them how to roast them and stack with chocolate, we used a type of cracker called a Marie, since they don't have graham crackers. It worked pretty well, everyone got very marshmallow-y and had a sugar high for the next hour.
Okay, that's all for now- I'll post with pictures soon!
I'm exhausted, so this really will be short- yesterday we beat Skövde (which is pronounced huev-deh. Go figure.), the best team in the league 2-1 in the game I pitched. No one's beat them in the past two seasons, and Enköping has never beat them, so everyone was pretty excited. I finally started pitching more like my old self, and had a pretty good outing against them. The girls played great defense behind me, I was so proud of them- we worked on outfield cutoffs and infield plays on bunts and slaps for the whole week, and they executed beautifully and made two double plays over the game. Emil, the husband of Maria (our third baseman and Agnes' parents) bought all the girls ice cream, he was so happy. So it was fun. We lost the second game, and Ingrid had a tough game pitching-wise, but overall everyone felt pretty good about the day.
I'll post longer and with pictures later, but Thursday I went to Västerås (vest-ar-oas) to watch a typical Swedish graduation ceremony (Jonna's brother was graduating), and stayed overnight at Jonna's house till Friday afternoon. Pictures and more on that later. Today Ingrid, Vidar, Freja and I went to the series of islands in and around Stockholm to visit the king's other palace (the one he actually lives in, he just works in the one in the middle of the city), and to go to Ingrid's mom's house, which is on the next island over. She has a summer-home-turned-year-round house that's very pretty, so we ate lunch and then walked to the lake with the kids and had a fika (reminder- a snack with sweet pastries, juice,and/or coffee and tea). It was a very relaxing day, and the castle was beautiful- again, I'll post pictures later.
We came back and had an American cultural experience by making s'mores. I had a discussion with Ingrid about smores awhile ago- she thought they were gross, and I was horrified, until she told me she'd made them with European marshmallows which, like those available in New Zealand, are kind of fruit-sweet and not at all like jet-puff ones in the US. BUT, a couple days ago Ingrid found American-style marshmallows, so I showed them how to roast them and stack with chocolate, we used a type of cracker called a Marie, since they don't have graham crackers. It worked pretty well, everyone got very marshmallow-y and had a sugar high for the next hour.
Okay, that's all for now- I'll post with pictures soon!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The past week, and Stockholm!
Hey All!
So it's been awhile since I updated, my apologies, but I've been settling into life here and am trying to get myself back into game pitching shape, which is proving more difficult than I'd hoped. We played this weekend on Saturday and split with Karlslund, they had a DI American pitcher and shortstop from UNBC (who plays in the same conference as UMaine and UVM), they both were excellent hitters, and the pitcher was also good. We lost that game, but walked all over them the second game. My pitching left something to be desired, but I went 5 for 8 and drove in a few runs, so that was good at least. This weekend we play the best team in the league, the one who's going to the European tournament in September, so those should be some good games.
Prior to Saturday, I had a pretty relaxing week. Practice Monday Wednesday and Friday, pitching lessons on Tuesday and Thursday. Thursday Ingrid had a business meeting in Stockholm until late in the day, so I dropped off Vidar at school and Freja at daycare, and picked them up in the afternoon. Vidar wanted me to stay and watch his classes in the morning- which is pretty common here, parents are allowed to sit in on classes whenever they want- so I watched his gym class and smiled a lot at the children running around all over the place. Vidar told his gym teacher who I was at least four times, and told him a lot of other things about me in Swedish, I have no idea what. The teacher didn't give me any wierd looks though, so I assume it wasn't too bad. I watched the kids until Ingrid came home at 7 or so, and everyone was still alive and happy when she got here, so I considered my first Swedish babysitting endeavor a success.
Wednesday I went to Stockholm with Cissi and Erik, the same people who showed me around Enköping my second day here. They're both a little younger than me and have been great about inviting me out places. We went to see the changing of the guard at the Swedish Palace, which was exceptionally cool for multiple reasons: Once every two weeks or so they have a guard change that's more ceremonial, and involves horses and bands, etc. (see video).
On last Wednesday the new militia trainees were performing with the horses for the first time, which was slightly nerve-wracking (they came REALLY close to us and some of them didn't have complete control). Another cool thing about it was the fact that Erik, who's in the military, served a year with his regiment as palace guards, so he knew all the inside info on the routine, the officers, when they were messing up, etc. It was funny to hear his commentary, and some of his stories about being a guard.
For those of you who've been to London, you've seen guards at posts like this: 
In Sweden most of the commanding officers don't require that their soldiers be quite as stoic as the London guards (though some do), so if you needed directions or had a simple question then you can ask, as long as you stay outside of the painted semicircle around their little box. If you step inside that then apparently things can get a little nasty, though according to Erik no one's really tested this in awhile. He did say, however, that not once but multiple times he's been flashed by girls walking by- all he would say about that is that it helped break up the boredom (though maybe that's because Cissi was right there).
Anyway, so the guard change was cool, the band was really interesting- I felt bad for the horses, particularly those who had to carry the percussion section, but apparently they're treated like kings and have earplugs (those must be interesting to see). 
Here's a couple more cool pictures from the guard change:
Here's a couple more cool pictures from the guard change:
I couldn't resist this one- c'mon, it's a guy on horse playing a tuba! How often do you see that? I have to admire the guy, I'd be terrified- he's barely hanging on with his fingers to the reins.
After the palace we went to the old part of the city. It's very European-looking, I suppose- lots of narrow streets broken up by the occasional breathtaking cathedral. The picture at the top of me with that really attractive troll was taken there- Cissi insisted I needed a picture with him.
After the old city we went along the harbor and around the front of the palace towards the new part of the city. We got lunch as a Chinese place and then had to head out so I could make it back for practice. For more pictures you can go to http://picasaweb.google.com/Jen.Williams.21 to find ones I don't post here. The album is Sweden Additional photos, the other album with the orange blog symbol is an album of pictures posted here (ps I love google, they make anything possible- this is all done using their blog, e-mail, and picture programs).
Well, other than that not much is going on! I worked with pitchers for most of the afternoon today, and we have practice tomorrow,and I'm babysitting for Agnes for an hour or so while Maria gets her hair cut. Thursday I'm going to Vestarås to throw and hit with one of our players, Jonna, then watch her sister graduate (apparently it's a very entertaining ceremony) and spending the night at her house. She and her mom are super excited to have me over- that's basically the reception I've been getting everywhere, and I'm invited to hang out, have dinner, spend the night, etc. at more places than I would have believed possible considering I've only been here three weeks! Ah, the benefits of being a novelty... so much for the Swedes being standoffish! Hope everyone's doing well, the weather here has been beautiful the past two weeks- I hope you all can say the same!
I'll update again soon,
jen
By the way, if anyone wants to send me mail (which I would of course love, but no pressure, since I'm told it's pretty expensive to mail things here) here's the contact info:
Jen Williams c/o Ingrid Törnberg
Jordhumlagatan 17
SE-745 44 Enköping
Sweden
Sunday, May 25, 2008
National Team and Nykvarn (neek-vorn)
Hey everyone!
So here's a brief summary of my weekend:
Saturday: We left at 7:30 in the morning for Norrköping, which is two hours North-ish of here. I had to drive, taking three of our players from Enköping to try out for the team, including two pitchers I've been working with a lot since I got here. Tryouts lasted from 10-6, so it was a long day, but it was good to meet the National team coach, a really nice guy that coached the junior National baseball team for over ten years before switching to softball, and talk with him about pitching and the tournament coming up in Holland. The pitchers threw until the lunch break, while the official pitching coach and myself walked around and helped people. It was definitely a mixed group, pitching in this country is pretty weak. The best pitcher there, though not the best Swedish pitcher (she couldn't make it, but she's on the team no matter what anyway, and plays for Mattias'- the coach's- regional team during the regular season), was a girl from Söder (Seur-dehr), who has a great natural snap and release point. Unfortunately the pitching coaching here is even worse off than the pitching itself- hence why they are desperate to bring over American coaches- so even though she should be throwing all of the pitches, she only throws a fastball and dropball. The pitching coach was working with her during the tryouts on other pitches, and I worked with her briefly on a riseball, which she picked up right away.
So here's a brief summary of my weekend:
Saturday: We left at 7:30 in the morning for Norrköping, which is two hours North-ish of here. I had to drive, taking three of our players from Enköping to try out for the team, including two pitchers I've been working with a lot since I got here. Tryouts lasted from 10-6, so it was a long day, but it was good to meet the National team coach, a really nice guy that coached the junior National baseball team for over ten years before switching to softball, and talk with him about pitching and the tournament coming up in Holland. The pitchers threw until the lunch break, while the official pitching coach and myself walked around and helped people. It was definitely a mixed group, pitching in this country is pretty weak. The best pitcher there, though not the best Swedish pitcher (she couldn't make it, but she's on the team no matter what anyway, and plays for Mattias'- the coach's- regional team during the regular season), was a girl from Söder (Seur-dehr), who has a great natural snap and release point. Unfortunately the pitching coaching here is even worse off than the pitching itself- hence why they are desperate to bring over American coaches- so even though she should be throwing all of the pitches, she only throws a fastball and dropball. The pitching coach was working with her during the tryouts on other pitches, and I worked with her briefly on a riseball, which she picked up right away.
Our pitchers did pretty well, though I think if they make it they'll both play in the field instead. Jonna (yown-na, emphasis on second syllable), who I'm trying to convince to come to the States on exchange, is a 16 year old with a great attitude and work ethic- I think she'd really benefit from coming to play softball at a US High School. Ida's 17 and has a bit of an attitude problem (though she seems to like me well enough so far), but is a great athlete and seems pretty dedicated to pitching- right now, anyway.
In the afternoon we did hitting and fielding. I basically just helped out wherever they needed me, and went over some hitting stuff with the the girls. It looks like I am going to Holland with the team, both as a coach and as a fill-in pitcher, aka someone who can hop in for a batter or an inning to relieve the Swedish pitchers. Mattias said he was hoping to get two or three Americans to do this for the tournament. He also said that if I was staying beyond September 1st he'd invite me as a walk-on to his regional team, who are competing in the European Cup starting the 1st. This makes me very tempted to ditch the first two weeks of school, I'm not going to lie.
We drove back after the tryouts and I got back around 9:30 or so. It MUST be noted that last night was the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest, which is basically American Idol (except the songs are original and are also part of what you vote for, not just the singer), but for the whole European continent. It was broadcast on the radio starting and 9, and it's a huge deal for all of Europe. Everyone here was up watching it when I got back, so it was fun to hang out and watch Freja and Vidar sing and dance to the songs and be amazed over how obsessed everyone is with this contest. The majority of the songs were awful, including one by Greece that almost won and reminded me so much of early Britney Spears it was a little spooky. The Swedish song was actually really fun, but Russia won, after a performance with a famous figure skater and violinist as well as a already famous Russian singer (apparantly Russia decided to sink a lot of money into this year's contestant since they haven't won the competition yet).
Today was really relaxing, we just lazed around during the morning, I jumped on the huge backyard trampoline with the kids for awhile (SO FUN), and helped Ingrid clean off their deck furniture. Then we- Ingrid, Freja, Vidar, Maria and her baby Agnes and I- went to Nykvarn for the afternoon, which is a little craft and pottery village right on a river near town.
We walked through the houses and looked at the pottery and art, then went to a cafe and had a fika (fee-ka- basically having coffee or tea, along with some kind of pastry or cake. Fikas are a big deal here, apparantly). There was some very pretty pottery and glass in the shops, I have to go back to check it out more closely, and to look at the silversmith that was closed today. We went back to the house and got more deck furniture out of the attic, and then decided to barbecue and eat outside on the deck- rough life, huh? It was a beautiful day, the first that was really warm enough to wear shorts since I got here. So it was great to just enjoy the sun and hang out.
Tomorrow I'm going to help out in gym class at Assar's school and teach them the basics of softball, kind of what Ingrid and I did last week for Jonna's class.
Thats all for today! (so much for a brief summary, I don't even know why I say that anymore)
Night!
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