August 25th

I haven't written in a while. I haven't had the time and when I did I was tired and didn't feel any words coming to mind. I feel tired. Mentally and physically, I think more so mentally though and it is effecting my physical aspects as well. We have had three exhibition games and two haven't turned out how we wanted. It is difficult to bring 7 or more different nationalities and over 16 different playing styles and put them together on one ice sheet with no systems and expect a good outcome, but like always it will come with time. Systems play will be implemented in practice eventually and then we will be able to implement that into games. My body is working hard for me and it is okay for it to be a bit tired at the moment. I have blocked some pretty hard shots in the last few games and my body is showing the results. I however, know I need to be more aggressive and more goal driven. I am going to work on this in practice and in games this week. We have been playing boys teams, and they are physical and strong. Much like the top teams in our league will be so it is nice to get a sense of that kind of play and prepare ourselves. Losing is hard but it is apart of winning and we are only getting better. We have started going to a city clinic that the team has set up for us and it will be nice to get massages and help to recover our muscles as much as we can. I enjoy the grind and am looking forward to more work and more getting better. I am going to be better with scoring and better with using my teammates. All will come with time.

As for the other aspects of life, we have been having Fika often and our little cottage in the woods is cramped and full of people. Four of us are living in close quarters here and are excited to be moving within the week. I think that it will be nice to finally have our own space and to have independence in our daily routine. I think I am going to find a coffee shop and make that my morning ritual because of our nightly practices. I think we have night practices at least. We are still waiting on the administration to allow us access to the complete schedule for our practice, workouts, meetings and games. I find that difficult that we don't have full access because I like to plan my weeks and my months, but as always it will come. The most notable day that stands out in my mind was our last off day, we went on a long hike, in the archipelago. Over 7 miles so it was really not a day off. On one of the islands we walk on there were goat that we kept on the island by one entrance point, a small gate. They were friendly goats and it will fun to pet them and almost cuddle with them. It was a fun day and a relief to breath some fresh air. I am missing home but I know that I am living a life that not many will ever experience. I talk about it with Lex often. She is becoming my closest friend, and we have many similarities that make us both think that we have come from a very similar background. It is interesting, almost everyone of the players here was a captain of the hockey teams in college for more then one year. It shows the quality of the people I am around and that makes me happy. More Fika, hockey and adventures to come.