With the sun rising around 4 am local time, it's not as difficult to wake and get the day started. It also helps when you remember you're in Sweden and have a wide variety of breakfast (and not-so-breakfast foods) waiting downstairs in the hotel restaurant. With eggs, pannkakas, multiple types of yogurts, breads, meats, cheeses and fruits, we've been beyond spoiled.
After breakfast we had free time to get packed up before we would have a delicious chicken lunch and head on to Landskrona Soccer Golf Course! We split up into teams of five to get the game started. The course was amazing, starting out in grass and leading you into the woods for a few holes. One of these holes was designed where you had to bend the ball through tree branches that somehow formed a triangle to get it in the hole, which by the yelling and whooping coming from the coaches group, we learned Owen had in fact done. We all really enjoyed this game and commented on how we need to get one opened up in Texas! It tested your aim and precision while being fun and a great way to get our legs ready for the upcoming game against IS Halmia at 19:00 (7 pm).
After a slight hotel mix up (or just practicing unloading and reloading, whichever you prefer) we checked into the Best Western, gathered our game gear and headed to the fields. After hearing we were playing their first team, we were pumped! We came out with great intensity, really putting pressure on the other team. The first goal scored was within the first ten minutes by our very own Kim Polasek with a second coming from Emily Jorgens not too long after. As always in soccer, it's hard for one team to keep momentum for a whole half, and Halmia came back with some goals, tying the game 2-2 at the half. From then on the game was back and forth, but we got one more in the middle of the second half from Kelsey Falcone. We held strong the rest of the game and ended with a 3-2 win that felt better than ever! Our first of hopefully two Swedish victories! We were ecstatic.
After the game we got a team picture with the other team and socialized a bit. One girl told us how she had been an "au pair" (nanny) in Massachusetts for two years before returning to Sweden. It's been nice finding people here who have connections to the US and we all get excited when we see an American flag while walking about. After returning to the hotel we headed out for a late dinner. We walked into town for the first time in Halmstad and found the first restaurants we could come across. It was already 9:30 but still light out so it seemed earlier. My group found a nice Italian restaurant with a very patient waitress who let us in 10 minutes before closing.
To say the least, each day has been fast paced and fun filled. Next up we will be heading to Tylösand beach for some beach soccer at Halmstad's famous wide strip of white sand. How lucky are we!?
More to come,
Tara Sparks, Senior
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