Update

      Softball is different here. The last stretch of games we had was a makeup game on Friday the 8th and a double header on Sunday the 10th. The game on Friday was against Gauting, one of the bottom dwellers in our league. The pitcher was  Mandy's 16 year old host sister, Caro.  Her pitches were so slow I think they may have had an arc to them. I was having an off day and did not hit too well. The game was slow, boring, and we won in 3 innings.

     Two days later we played Karlsruhe, the team who we are tied with for second place. In the first game, the pitcher, who is literally in her 40s (my mom could be playing !), pitched almost as fast as Caro. My first two at bats were bad and I would like to forget they ever happened. Moving on, in the bottom of the 5th, we were still down by one run. It was my third at bat, there were two runners on, and we needed to score. All I kept hearing in my head was my Dad saying 'take it to right field. take it to right field.'  A little creepy haha but after my first two at bats I needed something.  After fouling one off, I drove the next pitch over the right fielders head for a triple . After this everyone started to hit and we eventually run ruled them the next inning. Crazy sport. 

     The next game was very important. Karlsruhe has a good American pitcher, a big lefty with a drop ball who hadn't had an earned run all year. Hitting wise this game was no problem for me. I think it had to do with the fact that I was use to seeing lefties with curve and drop balls (Julie Dimatteo and Ali Grab). Unfortunately, Mandy was having an off day. After the first inning Karlsruhe was up by a couple of runs.  After they scored we came back and took the lead even going up by three runs. By the fourth or fifth inning we had a solid lead. Then....some fatty pitches and a couple of errors later it was a tied game.  They held us to zero runs the next inning and another bad inning  put us in a three run deficit. We had some solid hits and runners on but couldn't manager to come back. It was a tough loss but it wasn't the end of the world seeing as though we are still tied for second place and we would win the tie breaker rule if at the end of the season we are still tied with Karlsruhe.  Also, I was very impressed with our hitting we put up 6 earned runs against a pitcher who hadn't given up any all season. This will be good as we face the first place team,Mannheim, this weekend.

    We had a week off from games but I still had to coach the second team. Actually, I was the head coach for the second team game. I was not told any of the other coaches were not going to be there so I had to make the line up and organize everything on the spot. It was somewhat stressful but Sarah (who is on the first team but sometimes plays for the second team) helped me. We were successful in our head coaching debut winning both games! The first in four and the second in three. The hardest part was getting everyone playing time. With only seven innings to work it was pretty difficult. Not too mention the fact that neither Sarah or I knew the substitution rules. We both joked that we never had to think about it because we have always been players and  the coaches handled stuff like that. It was a good game and all of the girls were very excited afterwards. 

     Aside from softball, I have done some pretty interesting/fun things:

    Watched the World Cup game at my host family's house with my host family, their friends Nikki and Ingi (who are always around) and Nils. It was an intense but great game and everyone was cheering for the U.S. which was nice. After they choked the game away I was sad so Mascha offered me a shot Vodka (real Russian Vodka of course!) 

    I went to this festival with my host family. We had to get up at 3am (Yes, 3am!) and leave the house by 3:30 to ride our bikes 35 minutes to downtown Munich near the English Gardens. There was 12,000 people at this festival eating, drinking, and dancing. It was a crazy experience and I was veryyyy tired afterwards!  

    I also finally saw the last Harry Potter movie with Mandy, Lisa, and Nils. It was very good :-) 

  

:-) :-)

     Believe it or not, I wanted to be a professional soccer player when I was little. Soccer was my life...until softball came along. On Wednesday the 29th, part of my dream came true... I went to a World Cup game!!! It was an amazing opportunity and awesome to be a part of a world event especially in another country! I went with Sonja, Julia, Tanja, Kathi, and Toni. Tanja and Kathi are on the second team and Toni is Sonja and Tanja's dad (he also a big part of the club). We saw Norway vs Equatorial Guinea. Norway, the  favorite, won the game even though Equatorial Guinea played better. That's soccer though.


    Sunday was Mascha's birthday. Of course there was a huge party to celebrate. It started at 10:30 am and lasted until 10 or so at night! Lisa and I made peanut butter balls and ants on a log (celery, peanut butter, and raisins). It took about 30 minutes to describe what ants on a log meant haha but they loved it. We also came up with a dance to one of Mascha's songs. It was so popular we had to perform it about 4 or 5 times. I ate entirely too much food but it was a great day !!


     On Monday, the 4th of July (my favorite holiday), I got up at 5am for my trip to visit Sits in Switz aka I went to see Kristin in Switzerland. I caught the 6:00 am train to Hauptbahnhof (central station) for my 7:13 train to St. Gallen. It was a one way shot so there was no way for me to get lost. I arrived at about 10:40 and Kristin and Nadja ( the daughter of the family Kristin stays with) picked me up. We headed to the farm where Kristin lives to pick up some tables and such for the 4th of July party at Nadja's apartment. I was able to meet her host family and see her room. It was nice to see everything in person :-) 
       We helped prepare food and the apartment for the rest of the day until the party. Kristin made pizza dip and I made rice krispie treats! Again...I ate way too much food but everything was delicious. I  got to meet most of Kristin's team which was awesome. We also taught them how to play some American "games"  It was yet another great day...


    On Tuesday, we (Kristin, Nadja, and her boyfriend Andi) headed off for our trip to Tessin which is in Southern Switzerland close to Italy.  Although Kristin and I slept through the first part of the drive we woke up in time to see the best part, through the Alps. It was stunning :-) We stopped for a bit, ate, and headed back on the rode for the remaining hour and half drive. When we finally arrived we unloaded everything, set up our tent, and chilled. Kristin and I went to swim and sun  (pictured right) while Andi and Nadja went to the store. They met us at the lake and we continued to sun for awhile until we decided to head back for some food! We grilled different types of  sausages, had some veggies, bread, and pasta salad. Yum. After this we played a game that Nadja made up on the spot. We later named it Swissican pong. After a couple of rounds we finished and headed off to bed.  


   Wednesday we slept in a little which was wonderful. We ate breakfast and packed up some things for our day trip to a spot that Nadja and Andi knew. The first stop was this huge dam which reminded me of the Hoover Dam. :-) This dam, however, was used in a James Bond movie. cool. 


   After the dam we headed to our destination for the day. It was a rocky area with water flowing through and of course mountains surrounding it. It was beautiful. We found our own private beach area and set up our things for the day. We layed out, listened to some music, and grilled. The weather was perfect. After our wonderful food was devoured we went swimming and did some exploring. This turned out to be a great idea because Kristin and I spotted a platform where some kids were jumping off of. Being the crazy risk takers that we sometimes are (sorry mom and dad) we decided that this was something we should do. We got Nadja and Andi and headed off to the platform which was about 20 feet from the water. Kristin was the first to jump. Then Kristin and Andi went. Finally, Nadja and I who were both a little  nervous went. It was soooo much fun!! Kristin and Andi decided to be even more adventurous and headed to the steel bar that was over the platform which was about 40 feet from the water. It took them awhile to climb up and get their barrings but soon enough they we flying through the air (pictured right). 


    After our adrenaline rush, we headed back to our little spot. We stayed there for a little bit longer and then packed up and headed back to our camp site. We showered, played Swissican pong, and ate some more food. It was such a great day :-)!!


      Thursday we woke up early, packed everything up, and headed off to the train station. It was raining all morning which reflected  how I felt having to leave. I was having so much fun! We stopped at a little place next to the train station to eat some croissants and chocolate milk. Nadja also ran and got me some Swiss chocolate. It was so nice of her!  Finally it was time to leave. I got on the train in Locarno, waved good-bye to my friends, and headed off for my very long 7 1/2 journey back to Munich. This time I had to switch trains twice and was a little nervous especially traveling alone through foreign countries. The first switch was in Bellizona which was 25 minutes from Locarno. Luckily, I overheard some English speaking people and asked if I was in the right spot for the train to Zurich. I was! I got on the train for the 2 1/2 trip. It was a gorgeous ride (pictured right)!!  Once I got to Zurich, I had about a half an hour until my train to Munich. I had no problems finding it and was soon heading back on the final train. I met two people from Ohio State who were on a trip for school. Also, the man that sat across from me who looked like Colin Firth from The King's Speech was very friendly and I had a good conversation with him. 


   I finally arrived at Hauptbahnhof around 5:30..I caught an S-train back to Gronsdorf, grabbed my stuff, and headed for practice at 6:30. Just in time. 


What an adventure!! It was a great trip and it was so nice to see Kris and meet her life in Switzerland :-) I can't wait to travel more...