Tons of New Stuff

Ok I know I haven't been keeping up with my blog very well and I apologize. My computer hasn't been working and it's too hard to type on the German keyboard where the Z is where the Y should be and the apostrophe is too difficult to find. My computer is now fixed and I will try my hardest to keep y'all updated.

Where do I begin....well I will begin with our win over Mannheim. Mannheim is the team that is made up of mainly national team players and was undefeated before we beat them :). We lost the 1st game like 11-0...wow what a great way to go into game 2. Game two was probably the most intense game I've played for a couple of years. It was me versus the American from their team who played at a Division I school on the East Coast. She threw very hard but didn't have much movement...thank goodness...my poor teammates looked like deer in the headlights when she started to throw. We managed to put across 2 runs and then had none...until the 5th inning when they had back to back triples...and scored 2....we went into international tie breaker in the 8th and we squeezed a run in...when it was there turn (because they were home) we held them...I ended up with 12 strike-outs and gave up 5 hits....Who says NAIA players are just as good as DI.

After that game I got invited to pitch against the German National Team. They were having a training camp about 2 hours away from Munich and asked that I be apart of it. The first day I pitched against them, I played with the local team there....um...not so good. The catcher didn't want to call pitches and told me just to throw it and she would catch it....that was on a Tuesday. I spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Regensburg, Germany which is a beautiful city north of Munich...and then back to the team camp Thursday where my team met me and we played against them in a real game. We lost 2-4 but they had no earned runs....our errors allowed them to score....boo!

One of the coaches for the National Team also coaches a team that plays in the Northern league in Hamburg. (We are in the South league) The Hamburg Knights won the German Championship last year (Haar got 4th) and because they won they get to go to the European Cup this year, which will be held in Milan, Italy. Long story short they invited me to be a pick up player for their team this year in the cup. So I will be going to Italy for a week in August...all expenses paid! My American teammate also got asked to play for a team in Austria in a different tournament in Italy...AWESOME! I am so excited...I'm glad that I don't look as old as I feel on the field!

As far as travelling goes...I am on my way to Leipzig on Monday. A couple of the Americans in my club and I signed up for a 2o euro round trip vaca to somewhere...we didn't know where it would take us until we booked...and now we're goin to Leipzig, Germany....I was hoping for Athens or something but I guess it's somewhere different. I will be there from Monday to Thursday...it's super close to Prague so we'll be headed there for one day as well.

Everything is good...no I haven't met any German boys worth mentioning (I've found they are the same as American guys...they just speak a different language..no offense). The night life is awesome and there is always something to do.

I am missing home and my family right now, but they will be here at the end of July for 2 weeks. I can't wait. Hope all is well in the States!

1 month down.....

This month has gone by so quickly and I really don't feel like I've seen a whole lot. Since my last update we've had 6 more games. We played a team out of Herrenberg, which was a 2 1/2 hour drive, in a mini-cooper, with my legs nearly at my chin the whole way....I was not a happy camper (I have to remember to call shotgun so I don't get stuck in the back). Anyway, we ended up splitting with them. Lost the 1st game and won the 2nd. I'm only allowed to pitch in the 2nd game. I broke a girl's nose, on accident. She went to bunt an inside pitch and she fouled it off into her face. I have never received so many terrible looks from a crowd or a coach. Then I hit a line drive into the pitcher's stomach and she was pulled from the game.....they don't like me much there.

We then had a 4 game weekend this past weekend versus Freising and Darmstadt. We split with Freising winning the 2nd game and beat Darmstadt both games. I hit my first homerun against Freising...YAY! I am leading the league in strikeouts and ERA. We start our schedule over next weekend.

When I'm not at the field, which is nearly every evening except for Wednesday, I have managed to see a couple of pretty cool things. Mandy, the other American and I, made our way to Neuschwanstein, a castle and to a church called the Weis Church. The caslte was amazing! It only had a few of the rooms completed because the king was crazy and died before it was done.

The church was the most ornate church I've ever seen. I can't really explain it. It was literally in the middle of nowhere and took forever to get there. There was no town or village near it...but it was very popular. The scenery reminded me of something right out of The Sound of Music. BEAUTIFUL!

My plan for the rest of the month is to make it to Prague, Rome, Austria, and the Netherlands (we have a two week break coming up and I am ready to travel).

Hope all is well in the States...

Two weeks, two wins, and a couple of beers....

Two weeks, two wins, and a couple of beers....

Two weeks, two wins, and a couple of beers....

It's been two weeks or so since I arrived here in Germany and it feels like time is flying by. I have met a lot of fun people and I feel like I'm always going. The first couple days here were rough. I had a hard time sleeping at night and couldn't stay awake during the day. I think one night/day I slept a total of 15 hours consecutively. I would find myself staring at the ceiling at 3:00 am and wanting to be in bed at 1:00 in the afternoon. After my jet lag wore off I was ready to travel to the City (Munich).

My house is a 25 minute train ride from downtown Munich...which is so much better than taking a car because the drivers here are crazy. So I get on the train to go just about everywhere...which is awesome because all I have to do is make sure I get off at the right station (which at first was a real challenge).

The first time I went into the city I went with my "roommate" and one of my teammates...they showed me all around and we did a little shopping. I saw so much and could hardly take it all in.
So the next time that I went to the city I went by myself...I figured how could I mess this up if I follow the exact route we took before. Boy was I wrong. I got off at the same station...but there were so many exits I couldn't remember which one we took. I ended up on the wrong side of the road and couldn't get across....walked forever and ended up on the wrong side of Munich...oops. I found my way back by looking for the tall Women's Church they had shown me the day before. I did a little shopping to cheer myself up and then went home...what a stressful day. :)

Our first games were terrible. We lost both. The team we played was the best in Germany. I started at 2nd base (I think that is the only position on the whole field that I've never played). I didn't get very many balls hit to me...most of them flew over my head and over our outfielder's heads...great game we got spanked. The 2nd game I started and we were tied 1 to 1 going into the 6th inning....then we decided that we didn't know how to cover a bunt and they ended up scoring on 6 errors. The final score was 6 to 1 and I had 13 strike-outs. I wasn't a happy camper but...oh well I'm in Germany.

Our next two games were a different story. We came out ready to play. Everybody hit and our errors were minimized. I started in Centerfield (which made me feel right at home) and I am hitting 4th in the line up. We won the first game 6-4. The 2nd game I figured I would start since that's the only game I can throw in....but I was wrong...I started in center again. I warmed up just in case. We scored 4 in the top of the 1st and they didn't score any. The 2nd inning was a different story and I was brought in with a tied score (4-4) and the bases loaded with no outs...just a position a pitcher wants to be put in. We ended up getting out of the inning and winning the game 14-4 and I had 17 strike outs in 6 innings.....that made me feel a lot better.

We play again this Sunday at home.

The other American finally arrived and we have been out doing some sightseeing and shopping. She's tons of fun and I love being able to speak English to her without slowing down my speech. Y'all know I can talk really fast. I made it to the Haufbrauer House as many of you suggested and it was quite a fun experience. I've seen a couple of super ornate churches and some amazing architecture. Next week I will be travelling to Dachau and some castles....Hope all is well in the US. Miss you!

I made it!

HALLO- (hello)

It's my first official day in Germany and surprisingly I am not experiencing any jet lag...yet. When I arrived at the Munich airport I was concerned I would not know what or where I was going...I just followed the stream of people. I made it through immigration with no problem and went to pick up my bags.....and found all of them but one...so I'm out a huge suitcase of clothes, toiletries, and socks...I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to get here.

Yesterday I arrived at the home I would be staying. It's very nice and the family I am staying with is great. I unpacked the luggage I had and sat outside in the sun for a while. The weather is beautiful right now...all the windows and doors are open in the house. Anyways...back to yesterday...we (Mirium and I) went to get ice cream. The guy serving us the ice cream asked me where I was from....I think I stressed him out a little because he ended up giving Mirium more change back than what she actually gave him to begin with....it was funny. He thought I was from England...I told him Idaho and he looked at me like I was crazy...I keep forgetting not everybody knows where that is...Ha Ha!

After we got back I took a nap...then I went to practice. Practice was good for the most part. My legs were a little tired and my brain was as well. After practice we had dinner (nothing that I can't eat yet) and lemonade with beer in it...oh my gosh it was so good. The lemonade really took the beer flavor away....try it!

I got to talk to my mom so that was nice...I was feeling a little homesick because I was unable to talk to my family on demand! That's something I'll have to get use to. They got me a cell phone but it's a pay as you go kind of thing...no set plan...which means no texting...I don't know if I'll survive!

Today we're going to Munich (or the city as Mirium calls it). I'm going to try to replace some of the essentials that are lost and take a lot of pictures. I'll update this when I get back with some pics of the City.

tschüss (bye)

Family Vacation Spring Break '09

We started our short little vaction early Thursday morning of spring break with a little bump in our long road. My mom had rented a car for us to take to Eugene and the coast so we got up early and drove to Caldwell to get it. When we arrived the rental guy told us that he didn't have a car for us....my mom was not a happy camper. He told us that nobody returned the 3 cars that were supposed to have been returned, but that he did have a little compact car for us if we wanted it. Now if you could have seen the back of the van you would have laughed like the rest of us did. There was no way we would fit everything into a little car....so after my mom had her say we got back into the van and headed out. We stopped in Sisters, Oregon for a little walk because we had been in the car for so long and stumbled across a $3 store...heaven for my mom and I. I bought a shirt and a little jacket and my mom bought herself a jacket and my sister a jacket (she was sure Jody would love it). We continued on and finally found our hotel in Eugene...after many wrong turns and missed exits, it was time to get out of our car. The U of O Stadium could be seen from our hotel and we decided that a walk would do us some good and we went on an adventure to the stadium.

We started in Eugene because Jody had games versus Northwest Christian University. We actually had really pleasant weather for the games and they ended up winning both games. Jody pitched really well and had 15 Strike outs. Almost beating her big sister's record (but not quite).

After the games we continued our journey west, with Jody. We drove for what seemed like hours and came to our destination in Florence. It was too dark to see the ocean so we went to check into our hotel...HOLY GHETTO! After being completely disappointed, we figured food would cheer us up....especially Mo's, and we were right. The next day we checked out and headed north to Newport and into Lincoln City....hitting every possible antique/junk store we possible could. Before we got trapped indoors by the rain and wind, we made it to Strawberry Hill where we saw starfish and sea anemones.

We shopped our socks off at all of the cute little shops in Old Newport. We stopped to look at some sea lions playing on the docks, but that only lasted about 10 seconds because of the cold wind. Pretty much we stayed inside.

Our journey home took FOREVER. I tried to sleep most of the way. We ran into a blizzard coming into sisters but made it out only sliding a couple of times. I was really glad to get out of the car when we arrived home. It was nice to get out of Idaho for awhile with the family and hard to go back to work for my last two weeks. ONLY 6 DAYS LEFT of teaching!

Getting Ready!

I've officially started the countdown! Only 15 more days of teaching and 27 days total until I get on a jet plane and head over the Atlantic to Munich, Germany. I am so excited and the closer it gets the more excitement comes. I have been busy making many "to do" lists that I keep pushing aside and have found myself completely swamped with a million little things that need to get done before I can leave, but I am truely enjoying every minute of it. I am very sad to be leaving my students....I actually have come to kind of like them. I'm moving back home with the parentals to help save on costs while I am away (which won't be all bad at least I might get some actual meals other than McDonalds and Taco Bell). I am having a difficult time deciding on what I should and shouldn't take...I imagine the 9 bags I want to take won't be acceptable...I always over pack. I guess all I need are my cleats and my glove and I'll be set!

My plane leaves April 13th at 6:35 in the AM! During my long journey I will stop in Chicago and Pittsburg before arriving in Munich at 9:30 the following morning. I hope they don't expect me to look presentable after all of that travelling...they will be very disappointed.

While over in Munich I will be playing a couple games a week and hopefully working at a coffee shop to earn some extra money for all of my travelling I plan on doing when I'm not playing ball. Any suggestions on where I should visit let me know.....