Weeks 12-15 Recap
Hello!
It's been a month since I last blogged. A lot has happened in this last month. We have officially played every team in the league at least 1 time (we will play everyone 3 times total). After being 1/3 of the way through regular season, it is crazy to say that we are still UNDEFEATED! 10-0 in league play, along with 1 win in the Finnish Cup = 11-0. I have never been 10-0 before. This team has never been 10-0 before. The team has NEVER ever won at the Viesti gym, so it is cool being a part of history in the making. Being 10-0 is kinda fun hahaha. Our management is pretty excited--as are we! It was also cool to get selected as the setter of the month in my first month overseas! If you are interested in watching a game or two, just shoot me a message! The Viesti game was streamed on Ruutu+ with announcing and had great coverage.
These past 4 weeks have consisted of the following matches: Hameelinna (W:3-0); Kangasala (W:3-2); WoVo (W:3-0); and Viesti (W:3-2). Of the total league games we have played, we have played five 5-set games. To talk a little bit about the team, the offense is ran much faster than what I did in college. Similar to college, there is a break between the 2nd and 3rd set (the college is only 5 minutes now). What is different is our breaks usually range from about 15-18 minutes. It's a little weird having a full break and having to keep focus/get refocused. We are continuing to try to expand our offense and work on new things defensively...so here is to the games until our Christmas break!
To talk a little bit about the weather here, we got our first snow November 2nd. The locals say that November is usually the worst month in Finland due to the lack of sunlight, and all the rain. Snow this early is not unheard of, but not as common. The snow helps with the "darkness" and makes the nights a little lighter. As of today, the sun is rising at 8:38am and setting at 3:25pm. Can't wait for the happy lights and depression :') While we were away this past weekend, Pihtipudas got about 2 feet of snow! It is melting some now since it is 33° F; therefore, it is a literal ICE RINK walking to the gym. I already had my first fall today so yay me!! It has only got down to around 5° F, and it will get all the way down to -35° F eventually. On the bright side, the snow is super pretty.
To have some team fun outside of the gym two weeks ago, we had a team Halloween party after the WoVo game. Mav, Alexis, Sofia, and I dressed up as the Power Puff girls. The most fun part was definitely the food. Everyone made something ranging from the velveeta cheese dip (shoutout to the Thiltgen's), a salmon cake, pizza, cinnamon rolls, jell-o shots, and apple pie! It was a success...and after Manta even had a live band. We didn't understand any words, but we had a good time off the court. I am looking forward to a friends-giving sometime in the near future.
We had 3 days off after this last game (Viesti game). Alexis, Mav, and I went to spend those days in Helsinki with Sofia (the youngest setter). The days were well spent with some shopping, many coffees, doggie kisses (ft. Sofia's dog Oona), and seeing The Joker in theater. Sofia was a great guide and showed us the library in town, along with many other parts of the city. The library was probably the coolest building considering the unique architecture. In the library there were also some stations for sewing, 3D-printing, and many books in English. I wish we had a nice library like that one in town. I am trying to read more, but I usually get sidetracked/nap between practices.
It's been a month since I last blogged. A lot has happened in this last month. We have officially played every team in the league at least 1 time (we will play everyone 3 times total). After being 1/3 of the way through regular season, it is crazy to say that we are still UNDEFEATED! 10-0 in league play, along with 1 win in the Finnish Cup = 11-0. I have never been 10-0 before. This team has never been 10-0 before. The team has NEVER ever won at the Viesti gym, so it is cool being a part of history in the making. Being 10-0 is kinda fun hahaha. Our management is pretty excited--as are we! It was also cool to get selected as the setter of the month in my first month overseas! If you are interested in watching a game or two, just shoot me a message! The Viesti game was streamed on Ruutu+ with announcing and had great coverage.
These past 4 weeks have consisted of the following matches: Hameelinna (W:3-0); Kangasala (W:3-2); WoVo (W:3-0); and Viesti (W:3-2). Of the total league games we have played, we have played five 5-set games. To talk a little bit about the team, the offense is ran much faster than what I did in college. Similar to college, there is a break between the 2nd and 3rd set (the college is only 5 minutes now). What is different is our breaks usually range from about 15-18 minutes. It's a little weird having a full break and having to keep focus/get refocused. We are continuing to try to expand our offense and work on new things defensively...so here is to the games until our Christmas break!
To talk a little bit about the weather here, we got our first snow November 2nd. The locals say that November is usually the worst month in Finland due to the lack of sunlight, and all the rain. Snow this early is not unheard of, but not as common. The snow helps with the "darkness" and makes the nights a little lighter. As of today, the sun is rising at 8:38am and setting at 3:25pm. Can't wait for the happy lights and depression :') While we were away this past weekend, Pihtipudas got about 2 feet of snow! It is melting some now since it is 33° F; therefore, it is a literal ICE RINK walking to the gym. I already had my first fall today so yay me!! It has only got down to around 5° F, and it will get all the way down to -35° F eventually. On the bright side, the snow is super pretty.
To have some team fun outside of the gym two weeks ago, we had a team Halloween party after the WoVo game. Mav, Alexis, Sofia, and I dressed up as the Power Puff girls. The most fun part was definitely the food. Everyone made something ranging from the velveeta cheese dip (shoutout to the Thiltgen's), a salmon cake, pizza, cinnamon rolls, jell-o shots, and apple pie! It was a success...and after Manta even had a live band. We didn't understand any words, but we had a good time off the court. I am looking forward to a friends-giving sometime in the near future.
We had 3 days off after this last game (Viesti game). Alexis, Mav, and I went to spend those days in Helsinki with Sofia (the youngest setter). The days were well spent with some shopping, many coffees, doggie kisses (ft. Sofia's dog Oona), and seeing The Joker in theater. Sofia was a great guide and showed us the library in town, along with many other parts of the city. The library was probably the coolest building considering the unique architecture. In the library there were also some stations for sewing, 3D-printing, and many books in English. I wish we had a nice library like that one in town. I am trying to read more, but I usually get sidetracked/nap between practices.
Also, yes...we did stop at a Finnish Taco Bell. It was good...but there are more food choices back home (for those of you wondering). The best part of being in Helsinki was being welcomed into Sofia and her mom's house. Her mom cooked for us and welcomed us as her own. It was nice to get away for a little, but now it's back to work! Here are some more pictures below of Helsinki!
Very cool pics and great blogging! Glad you got to see Helsinki too. Congratulations on teams 11-0 record, wow!!
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying your blog and learning about a different part of the world. Thanks for sharing.
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