Catchin Up II

November 9, 2006 10:36pm

Hmmm, perhaps I should first start by apologizing that it’s been a couple days since I’ve written. Sorry. I’ve been busy : ) Unfortunately, in the fun of the last couple of days, we lost a game. Bummer. I’ll start there and then go on to the good stuff.

So we played our biggest rival – Solna – on Wednesday night. They are another club right here in Stockholm and have won the championship the last few years. Our team played alright and Erin played awesome (she had 28 pts!), but overall they just played better than us. We had lots of unforced turnovers, our help defense was awful, and on offense we were just running around without a purpose much of the time. I know we can be very good, but right now we have lots of work to do. The potential is great; however, we are still learning how to play with each other. It will get better (I mean it’s early and it’s not that bad). The bummer thing about the game is that we could have won… we had the ball with 10 seconds to go and were down by 3 pts. A girl on Solna missed a free throw that would have put them up by 4, so we outleted the ball and pushed it up. However, there was a bit of miscommunication… and as I was beginning to cut one way to come off a double screen for a shot, the ball was passed to me in the opposite direction. Frustrating, yes. At least though, these games do not matter a whole lot. I mean, I hate losing (!), but if we can address things now, make practice more difficult and emphasize being aggressive, then we should only get better before the playoffs (in March/April) when things really count. Tomorrow after shooting practice, Erin and I will watch game film with Anders. Hopefully we’ll have a good time doing that.

Aside from the very disappointing game (obviously disappointing because we were the better team, but still managed to lose to our rivals!), I’ve had a great last couple of days. On Wednesday morning I went to Stockholm stadsmuseum – the Stockholm City Museum. It’s all about the history of the city. Pretty neat to learn about all the ups-and-downs, growth and decline, and overall ways in which the city has changed. Lots of refugees from different wars/battles because it was traditionally pretty safe up here and accepting of all sorts of people. There were a couple floors with the permanent exhibit of the history of Stockholm (outfitted with both Swedish and English captions), then there was also a floor with a rotating exhibit. The current exhibit (this only with Swedish captions), “Döden Dö, A Gravely Serious Exhibition,” was a bit strange. There were collections of guns, knives, coffins, a guillotine, and what seemed like stories of actual people who had died (?). I think if I were to revisit that exhibition, I would like to do it with someone who can read Swedish! However, if you come and visit me, I definitely think this is stop not to be missed. After all, having a good history of something really helps in understanding why things are the way they are now.

Later that day I tried to attend the opening fashion show of the “Gallerian Fashion Awards.” lol. I showed up at 1pm ready for the show, but no one was there! Finally I realized it was only the 8th of November and the shows began on the 9th. Nice. Oh, well. Maybe I will get to one tomorrow. There are a few more left. It seems like it’d be a fun thing to get to see. Gallerian (the big mall in downtown) and the Beckman College of Design are collaborating to present fashion shows and exhibitions by their students with a focus on “young fashion” (whatever that means). If I make to a show on time or on the correct day, I’ll let you know : )

Today was a day off, but I still went to the gym anyway. I wanted to shoot, but the courts were all full; so, I just lifted instead. That was interesting because all the weights are labeled in kilograms, and of course I’m used to weights being labeled in pounds. It’s sorta funny when you at first expect to pick up 10 lbs, but it’s really 10 kg (so closer to 20-25 lbs). The guys team was lifting at the same time; they probably got some good laughs if they were watching me.

Grabbed lunch at the café in Fryshuset, then went upstairs to use the internet in the office. I’m working on booking my flight home for Christmas. Just in case anyone is interested, I’m flying into Boston on the evening of the 23rd (who wants to come get me?) and flying back to Stockholm (out of Boston) on the 27th. Then, I’m going down to Malaga (Spain) on the 28th and will be back in Stockholm again on January 2nd. I hope I get to see some of you in the time I’m back in the States!

Tonight I had a most fabulous time with Staffan, Anna, and Anton. Larry Mohr connected me with this family and I’m so thankful to have been introduced. Staffan is in venture capital (or however you put it; I don’t really understand all the business lingo) and Anna is an industrial designer for “ergonomi design” (she helps research and design a wide range of really cool products; they’re website is www.ergonomidesign.com if you’re interested). The both of them are just awesome… super welcoming, fun, interesting, helpful, and just really great to get to know. Plus, they have Anton!! Anton is just about 8 weeks old and is so precious. He’s long and thin, has blond hair and blue eyes. He’s a real cutie and was hungry the whole night. lol. I really love babies. I don’t know what it is, but I think I really really want to be a baby doctor. Anyway, it was great fun to hang out with them. Their apartment is right in the downtown part of the city and it’s in an old, old building. It’s even decorated with Anna’s own paintings… she took a year of art school in order to have the design job she now has. Staffan and Anna were very helpful in helping brainstorm things to do while I am here in Stockholm. I hope one of them in babysitting for Anton : ) It was a very fun evening. Thanks, Larry. I owe it to you!