Skål! (Cheers!)

This past weekend, my team beat Vasalund 2-1.  I started the match at right midfield, which I haven’t played since freshman year in high school, but I managed to pick it back up quickly… And I scored my first goal!  It was a header off a beautiful indirect kick from about 25 yards out, crossed in by Emelie. I ran in towards the back post and blasted it in the net.   The goal turned out to be the game winner too.  This was a special goal and one I will remember for a long time, (however there will be more where that came from!) It felt awesome – and relieving - to win and score an important goal for our team.  We have to keep our momentum rolling because this weekend we play Hammarby, which is the rival team in Stockholm. Kom igen Rågsveds!!! 

Starting Line Up on 8/18/12

On that note, apparently I say “here we go white!” and “Let’s finish this!” a lot during the games? I don’t even notice half the time, but my teammates were joking with me after the game saying “Here we go, white!”  I think I learned that from Bowdoin basketball (ball, ball, ball!!!) I usually don’t even notice what I’m saying-- I'm just saying something to say it.  But apparently the coach liked the chatter and wants everyone to talk more… but maybe next game I should say “kom igen vit” instead!

If you want to follow, I found a website with the results and standings for our league: http://www.women.soccerway.com/teams/sweden/ragsveds-if/ 

There is a more in depth one in Swedish, but you probably won’t be able to understand it.. I know I can’t.

On Saturday after the game, I experienced my first kräftskiva, or crayfish party, which is a popular Swedish summer tradition.  It is an outdoor party with food, drinks, and traditional songs to celebrate the end of the summer, as vacation comes to a halt and everyone returns back to work.  Crayfish are a small version of lobster only saltier.  It was a lot of work for only a little meat but it reminded me of lobster bakes in Maine… Sweden isn’t really that foreign.  Also, Swedes like to drink a type of licorice flavored alcohol called Blue Fish, so I of course had to try some of that!  Kika’s host family hosted the party and I met a lot of their neighbors and family, who were all very kind to the American “Elle”, although their accent comes out as "Eel" sometimes :) Also, the word "eller" in Swedish means "or", so I hear that a lot in conversation, (but hopefully the Swedes aren't talking about me!)   Everyday I become a little bit more immersed in the Swedish culture, although I am still having difficulty picking up the language; I guess it's still early, right?  I have learned some words and phrases, but everyone can speak English too, and most seem to like practice their English so when they get the chance to do so they will. 

Speaking of culture, this past week was Stockholm Culture Festival, with various events going on everyday throughout the city.  A lot of street performers, music and dancing and some free Häagen-Dazs ice cream!  (Did I mention my weakness is ice cream? And it is everywhere! So difficult to resist.. ) Out of the five days the festival was going on, we managed to catch some of the least Swedish events, including a Brazilian celebration (which got me super excited for Rio 2016) and a skit by “fitness guru’s from Miami”, basically making fun of the U.S and our obsession with plastic surgery, tanning and lypo… touché.  Regardless, Stockholm is definitely a very festive city; there always seems to be something fun and random going on.

Brazilian Night - Kika's favorite kind of night 

And I will leave you with some fun facts…

-Vikings did not have horns on their helmet; it is a common misconception.

-Yoga in Stockholm (at least the classes I go to) is done with soft music in the background, mostly hits by Sting.

-H&M was created in Stockholm, and there is literally one on every corner. I would say in the city, you see about 50% of the people-- regardless of age, sex or race-- are holding a plastic H&M bag.  If you want to shop, come to Stockholm! 

-'Hej' (pronounced 'Hey', so that's easy) means 'Hello', and 'Hej då' means goodbye. So hej då til next time! 

Sunset in Gamla Stan

Tourist and/or Local

After another week in Sverige, I am starting to feel more and more at home, rather than just a tourist.  However, with that being said, there is a lot of time to be a sightseer because our training sessions are held in the evenings.  So during the day, I have plenty of time to explore this beautiful and historic city.  I visited some museums, including Fotografiska, which had a photo exhibition on the Olympics, specifically the Stockholm Olympics, which occurred 100 years ago and was proclaimed as the first “modern Olympic Games”. 

Museum Fotografiska

Stockholm's Olympic Poster

I also did a walking tour to help me get my bearings, as well as to learn more about Sweden and Stockholm.  The tour guide was great and offered some interesting historic and modern facts about the area such as...

• Gamla Stan, the older part of the city, is mostly built on trash that people threw out on the streets, which is ironic since today Stockholm is one of the most eco-friendly cities in the world.
• 10 % of Swedes under 30 years old were conceived on IKEA beds…
• Queen Christina was mistaken as a boy when she was born in 1626 and they misinformed the country that they had a new prince and then had to clear up the mistake, however there was speculation about her gender throughout and after her life.
• Stockholm Syndrome originated in Stockholm (who woulda thought?) after some hostages felt sympathy for the robbers of a city bank.  Later, one of the robbers was invited to be part of one of the hostages’ wedding party.

View of Gamla Stan from across the water

Despite my tourist tendencies, I have been asked a few times for directions, so I must not look like a complete visitor- must be the blonde hair and blue eyes.  I have found that it is also impossible to overdress here- no one really wears athletic wear, definitely no sweats, (even on the way to gym or practice), so I if I want to look even more like a Swede, I have to dress nice. And this week is Stockholm Fashion Week, so I may have to look extra nice. 

When I am not playing soccer, I have had ample time that I have tried to make the most of.  I have always been good at balancing my time between going hard and relaxing, and the Swedes seem to have the same idea… Stockholm prides itself on “fika” which is a coffee break.  Swedes drink more coffee per capita than just about any other country in the world.  Which I can believe—you cannot walk more than a block without finding a coffee shop or café.  The coffee is AMAZING… (although I do miss Dunkin Donuts iced coffee!)  There are a lot of parks and outdoor seating near the water, so while the weather is still nice (its been about 70 degrees), I have been trying to take advantage of the outdoors, along with the other locals… Us Americans were wondering if they have jobs; Either they have long lunch breaks, don’t work the grueling 9-5 or a lot of them are on summer vacation that lasts a few weeks, so it may be wrapping up soon.

Local park in Sodermalm

This past weekend Ragsveds IF had a tough loss. After going up 1-0, we gave up our lead. It was a frustrating way to lose but things are starting to look up.  In the past few weeks, we have lost some key players due to injury, however we finally have a set coach (there was some drama I didn’t understand) and we are gaining momentum.  After two practices with the new coach, I still managed to get some time. Out of the 12 teams in our league, we stand in the middle. Our goal is to finish top 6 because they are creating a league for the top 6 teams in Division 1 north and south, which will be a division higher than what we are in now.  As always, when I get opportunities I try to do whatever I can to help the team's success. I am excited for the next few months of soccer! 

Our home field, Hagsätra IP

Small world moment—today at practice I met a Swede who went to Bowdoin for two years.  He knew some of the girls I played with when I was a freshman.  He actually recently began working with Ragsveds IF, and he couldn't believe that a girl from Bowdoin was playing on the team.  It’s amazing that there are Polar Bears on all ends of the earth, and we always end up finding each other.  This encounter definitely made me feel closer to home. Go U Bears!  

First Attempt at Blogging

I have been in Stockholm for one week today.  This is the first time I have actually had time to sit and reflect on the past two weeks (which have been some of the most exciting weeks of my life).  I will try my best to summarize these past two weeks, starting with my first ever voyage to Europe: London for the 2012 Olympic Games… not a bad first trip to Europe if I do say so myself.  My cousin Ally and I have been dreaming about going to the Olympics since we were young and we made it happen this summer. Ally got very lucky and scored tickets to the games—we were able to see women’s volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s fencing and beach volleyball.

We arrived in London a few days before the opening ceremony, which meant we had to fit in all the sightseeing in just two days (which we did very successfully!) I think we saw more in those two days than most people see in a week.  We rode the double-decker tour bus, like any tourist in London probably does to get a great overview of the city.  Other highlights in those 48 hours included touring Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London, The Tower Bridge, Kensington Palace, seeing the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, riding the London Eye and renting bikes to ride through Hyde Park.  

And after all of that, the Olympics hadn’t even started yet!  We watched the Opening Ceremony in a British Pub near our hotel with some locals, however we were decked out in USA gear, clearly out of place.  For all of the British references that went over our heads, the nice Brits filled us in.

All of the Olympic events we saw were in a different venue, so we got a taste of everything.  My favorite arena by far was beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade. We were able to scalp tickets – which was pretty sketchy and very illegal in London! – however the tickets were not fake and our seats had a great view of the London Eye and Big Ben at sunset. It was a lively atmosphere with many rowdy Americans cheering on team USA.  The next day at the fencing match our seats were so close that we were surrounded by the close friends and family of “Team Maya”, an American fencer. The last day we had tickets to Men’s basketball inside the Olympic Park, which is huge!!!  It took us 40 minutes to walk across the park, therefore making us miss half of the China v Russia game.  We had awesome seats (mostly because they were the only ones left) and got to catch Spain v. Australia. We spent a good portion of the day in the Park trying to stalk some athletes near the athlete’s village, but no luck.

It was moving to see people from all over the world in one city supporting their countries and appreciating the world’s finest and most competitive athletes.  This truly was a trip of a lifetime.  Ally and I are already making plans for Rio 2016.  I’ve decided that I love London. I’m sure the fact that the Olympics were there helps, but I know I would love to go back soon!  

On to Stockholm…

After all that non-stop excitement I arrived in Sweden to begin my professional soccer career.  So far I have experienced many firsts… my first time to Sweden, my first apartment, and therefore my first trip to Ikea, my first time attempting to speak Swedish, my first time playing professional soccer, my first time being on my own in a foreign city, and my first blog.  Before I got here, everyone back home said that Stockholm is a beautiful city and that the Swedes are very nice… all of which I have found to be true.  The club I play for is called Ragsveds IF, which is in the Division I Swedish league. The girls are extremely passionate and super competitive and I am happy to be a part of the team.  The coach does not speak English, so myself and Kika, the other American, get the quick translation after.  Kika has been here for a few months so she has been my personal tour guide.  Me, Kika and Ally took a boat cruise to the Archipelago Islands on a beautiful Stockholm summer day.

 Back to soccer... I played in my first game last Sunday, after only one practice, but got some time on the field. Ally got some action shots and I was hoping she could stay as our professional photographer. I will have many more posts on Stockholm and soccer, so I will wrap up this rather long first attempt at a blog.  I feel so lucky that soccer, the most beautiful game in the world, has given me the opportunity to have this amazing experience to live abroad, meet interesting people and see the world.