Handball, Handball, and More Handball

Not much going on. The weekend was pretty mellow, but included lots of handball.

Yesterday, we had an away game against HF Eslövtjejerna. At times, we struggled a little bit. It was not our best game, but we pulled through with a win, 26-18.

On Saturday, I went to Gothenburg with our coach, trainer, and club president and their families to watch a match between Kungälvs HK and Kärra HF. They are the 2nd and 4th place teams, respectively, in our league. We play Kärra this Friday and Kungälvs in a few weeks so it was good to see the competition.

Afterwards, we went to a restaurant, who sponsors us, in downtown Uddevalla. They even have a dish that was created for our team. I don't even know how to describe it, but it had chicken in it and it was delicious.

After dinner, we then went to the president's house for some ice cream, goodies, and tea/coffee. We also watched some more handball on TV because the Statoil World Cup was held this past week in Sweden. So we saw a semi-final match between Denmark and Tunisia. I noticed one of the players on the Tunisia team because he plays for Montpellier, the French club team. My USA teammates know what I'm talking about because we saw them play against Paris in the championships this past summer when we were in Europe. His name is Wissem Hmam; he's the really tall, exotic-looking left back. Anyway, Tunisia beat Denmark in penalty shots, but eventually lost in the final to Croatia.

This week, the Swedish National Team is coming to help us train and we're going to play them on Wednesday. Apparently, the head coach is from Uddevalla. It should be a good experience.

"It's a Beautiful Day..."

"...don't let it get away."

[Sorry, this entry is meant to be for Wednesday, the 25th, but it's past midnight. When I refer to the day, I'm talking about yesterday.]

Seemed like 2 was the number of the day. Why? Read on...
So I woke up excited today for two reasons.

1.) "T" was getting in today.
2.) The sun was shining in brightly through my window.

Unfortunately, the first reason turned out to be a bust when I checked my email. Some minor problems, but she should be here towards the end of the week. Actually, I don't want to say anything anymore because I don't want to jinx it. Don't worry...I'll let you know when she arrives. To celebrate, maybe we'll have a parade for her. j/k

OK so I was really happy about the sun because...

1.) It's been cloudy/rainy for the past few weeks.
2.) I'm from CA-- SoCal in fact and we're spoiled with the sunshine.

While walking back from lunch, I just kept staring at the clear sky (see photo above), which seems to be a rarity around here at this time of year.

Since I didn't know when the weather would be so nice again, especially since it's getting colder, I decided to go out and take pictures. So, with my camera in hand, I spent the afternoon walking around town snapping photos of anything that looked pretty/interesting/colorful. I think I got a lot of stares because:

1.) I was taking pictures of everything so I looked really touristy.
2.) I'm Asian.

Although, I guess some would argue that because I'm Asian, I take pictures of everything. Well whatever, because you would take a lot of pictures if you were in a new country too. Also, unless you see me posing in photos holding up the typical peace sign, you can't throw me into the stereotype. I think that's fair...

I'll just post a few pictures because they're really not all that interesting. I seriously took pictures of plants and flowers. Anyway, this one to the right is kind of funny because I was walking on this road and I saw some really pretty trees up ahead so I kept going. I crossed over some railroad tracks, passed through a gateway, and found myself in a cemetary. Good thing it was the daytime because otherwise, I might have been a little spooked.

Back to the story--I was in a cemetary. But it was so nice and charming that I kept walking around. Don't get any weird thoughts...this was a first for me. I don't normally go strolling through cemetaries. Anyway, I couldn't help but look at some of the tombstones and I noticed that they were from the 1700s. I'm sure there were even older ones, but visiting other countries always reminds me of how young the United States is compared to the rest of the world.

Anyway, so that's it. We have a game on Sunday in the southern part of Sweden again. It'll be another long bus ride, but we'll have movies to pass the time. Last time, we watched The Hot Chick and Shanghai Noon.

This is a dock with some boats. The buildings towards the left of the photo (the grey and red ones) are part of the museum.




Look at those dark clouds creeping in trying to ruin my nice day...

Exploring

Check out this cool article about the US team that one of our tryouts, Kathryn Bertine, wrote for ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=olympianpart2

In an effort to see more of Uddevalla, I went to the Bohusläns Museum yesterday (Bohuslän is a province in West Sweden, where Uddevalla is the central city). It's a small, intimate museum that focuses on the cultural and natural heritage of the region. They also have some paintings and contemporary art on display. The museum is right by the harbor and there is a restaurant inside that serves traditional food of the area. I haven't eaten there yet. According to my Sweden travel book, "the town of Uddevalla was famous for shipbuilding on a grand scale until the 1970s."

Last night, some of our team and coaches went to Göteborg, or Gothenburg, to watch a handball match between two women's teams, both ranked within the top 5 in Sweden. It was a really close match, but the home team pulled away with a big lead in the 2nd half and won by almost 10 points or so. Gothenburg is the larger, more urban city in this area of Sweden. I'm told there is a lot more to do there. It's about a 45 minute drive from Uddevalla.

OK, that's it for now. Practice tonight. And for those of you wondering/reading, you don't have to sign up as a member to make comments on the entries. ok BYE.

Good Times

For those of you that don't know, "wnt" = Women's National Team. Check us out at www.usateamhandballwomen.com.

OK, so Friday, we had a home game against a team called Somby/Skövde. We started the match strong and played well. We beat them 33-26.

On Saturday, some of my teammates and I went to a shopping center called Torp, which is right outside of Uddevalla--kind of like the American version of a mall. That night, we also had our team party for the season. It was a great time with the team, just socializing and joking around. I even learned some Swedish, like "skål" (pronounced "skoal"), which means "cheers!" Everyone on the team has been really great in making me feel welcome. It makes it a lot easier getting used to a new country. Here are some pictures from the party.

Jenny, Maria, Lina, Anna, and me

Jenny, Sissi, Mikaela, Helena

Eva, Linda, and Malin

The "Cosmo Girls"-- Lina, Maria, and Anna

Anki, Johanna, and me

Niclas ("Gonza"), Helena, Jocke, Johanna, Anki, and Lina

Our coach, Fredrik, but everyone calls him "Hubba," and Helena

The Apartment

As promised, here are some pictures of our apartment. It has 3 rooms, with one being used as a TV room, 1.5 baths, a kitchen, and a sitting room. The town of Uddevalla is small so the downtown area is only about a 5-10 minute walk.

On Sunday, we played a game against H 65, Höör and beat them 31-20. We have a home game coming up this Friday against a pretty good team so it should be a good match.

It's a little difficult on the court sometimes because of the language barrier, but I'm starting to catch on more and more. The ball movement is fast and the team works well together; it's very fun to watch.

When I was talking to some of the girls on the team, I noticed a lot of similarities to our WNT (Women's National Team) and the US. Women's sports do not generate as much money and support as the men's teams. Thus, a lot of the players on the team are working to support themselves.

Here is the team's website:
http://www.kroppskultur.com/

In Sweden

Hi everyone. I finally made it to Sweden. I am in a small town called Uddevalla, which is on the west coast of the country. It's a small town, but very nice and cute. "T" will be here soon. The name of the team that we are playing for is HF Kroppskultur. We have a game on Sunday in the southern part of Sweden; they told me it's about a 5 hour drive.

I talked to some of the girls on the team last night and they were all so nice. Everyone here has been really good and helpful--always checking up on me and making sure that I'm okay. For the most part, they all speak a little bit of English, some are better than others. They told me that I should watch Idol, which is the Swedish version of our American Idol. I guess there is a guy from Uddevalla named Eric, who is one of the finalists. Anyway, I found out that these girls are a lot like us. They like a lot of the same shows, which are American...Idol, The OC, Prison Break, Grey's Anatomy, etc. hahaha good times...

I only have a few minutes left at the internet cafe so I will post pictures of our apartment/flat next time. For now, I'll show you guys this. It's so bad, but so funny at the same time. I couldn't resist. As we all know Kya and how happy and fun she is, for some reason, she just didn't like getting her passport picture taken. The lady got so flustered that I had to go back and use the camera, while "T" bribed her with a lollipop. Sadly, this was the best shot...