The Netherlands has great Heineys

On Monday we all traveled from Amsterdam to Den Haag, Netherlands.  We are split into groups and are staying with Dutch lacrosse players.  Four of us are with a girl named Dieke—she is a nuts!  She was a standout at the tournament because she traveled everywhere with a sombrero and a horse’s head (stuffed, of course).  It’s interesting to stay in the homes with foreigners to see how they live.

We had a practice with some of the U-19 Netherland Lacrosse players and some other club team members from the area.  My favorite part of the day was when all the Dutch players sang “happy birthday” in Dutch to one of our players.  It was funny to hear such a common song sound so different!

On Tuesday morning we went to the beach.  Yes, a real beach.  I wasn’t expecting it to be so legit but this beach takes the cake over the Jersey Shore… sorry.  There were a ton of beach front restaurants and bars, a huge pier, and a lot of speedos—perfect.  At night we walked down the beach to a spot where we played 4v4 lacrosse games with more Netherlands players.  We played coed half-court basketball style with 2  fields made up of cones.  We then were honored enough to shower at “a club” as long as we promised to buy a beer afterwards.  This was no ordinary club.  It was a surf hostel.  There was a mini skate-park, a bar, hostel rooms, and a hut to shower in.  There were 30 of us going in and out of this hut with very limited supplies—it was a humbling experience to say the least.

Today we went to the International Peace Court and watched the trial of a man being arrested for sex crimes, sex trafficking, illegal distribution of weapons, and forcing children to become soldiers.  We wore headphones to translate the trial into English but had to leave when the court went on a “private recess.”  I guess we didn’t deserve exclusive access.  Whatever.

We took a tour of Den Haag, got lost for an hour and a half coming back our homestay, and now I have the most free time I have had all trip… 3 hours.  We are going to Cologne, Germany tomorrow.  I just learned that “hello” in German is the same as “hello” in Dutch—HALLO—so I am pumped about that.  As for the rest of the words, I have no clue… we’ll see what happens.

Adios!… why aren’t I going to Spain?

#Winning

The Global Players have taken 1st place on the men's and women's side-- RA-RA GP!

I am still incredibly sore from all these games and the constant walking isn't helping much. Tonight I will be fashioning my first place medal for all to see.  It already got us a free tram ride so I want to see what else I can finagle out of it.

I am learning that European laxers are hilarious.  During our celebratory photo shoot after the final game, a member of a British team ran to us with her beer and before we knew it she was down on one knee as my coach poured her beer into her mouth.  I can't even explain some of the conversations I have had with players on the field-- they're so funny!

Also, I think it has to be mentioned that last night I had to check the top shelf of a locker in our room for a converter (picture a high school locker) and so I stood on the floor of it to give myself a few inches in order to see.  Well, the lockers are not mounted to the wall or ground so slowly but surely the locker started to fall.  Next thing I knew I was on the floor with two lockers on top of me, unable to move.  It gets worse.  I yell for help and another roommate was luckily on her way down the hall.  She responded to my SOS call and came to my rescue... but not alone.  She was accompanied by 4 British men who were staying at the hostel.  If you can imagine what 4 Brits sound like when they are dying laughing while attempting to remove the lockers from my mangled body, you can picture the hilarity of the situation.  Fortunately, I walked away without a scratch.  Contents of the locker are still being found around the location of impact.  #success.


That's it for now!  Sorry Mom and Dad...

Laxin' with the Europeans

The first day of the tournament was yesterday.  It rained all morning, typical of Amsterdam, but was then nice all day.  We played 3 games and had a shut out for the whole day-- holla.  We played another USA team, a team from France/Ireland, and an Amsterdam team.  The Amsterdam team didn't have enough players so I volunteered to play with them for a half--very interesting.  This tournament is not exactly like ones I remember from high school... they're way better.  All the teams from all different parts of Europe go out together the night before and these people are WILD and hilarious.  On Thursday night I spent most of my time with British laxers and a soccer team from Germany.  Everyone loves the old school American music and has a lot of fun doing an American accent for us.  At the tournament, it is not uncommon to see people smoking and drinking.  In fact, there is a full bar in the middle of the fields- we do not take part in the "party-time" festivities during the day but it is hilarious to see everyone else doing it.  The teams we play against are so funny and happy to be there-- it's great.

Last night all the teams took a booze cruise together, which was a blast.  There were Scotts in Tiger onezies, the French were in hula skirts (girls and guys), and there is now an Irishman with a sharpie heart tattoo with my name in it... Magatron.  These people just like to have fun... and I don't hate it.

Everyone woke up SO sore this morning from the games yesterday (lack of recovery probably didn't help any).  It rained all day today and was so so cold-- miserable.  It was a struggle to play three more games, but we are still undefeated and will play in the TOC tomorrow.  As badly as I would like to rest tonight because we've been so busy, there is of course another Lowlands Lacrosse Tournament party because apparently we all just can't get enough of each other.

I AMsterdam

I’ve decided to try to blog- let’s see how this goes.  To catch up, I flew to Amsterdam on Monday night, the 21^st, with Laura.  I didn’t get much sleep on the plane and arrived in the Netherlands at 11:00am (5:00am our time—whoa)—so I have been very jet-lagged and sleep deprived but am mastering the art of rallying because we’ve been so busy!

The hostel we are staying in is quite possibly the strangest place I have ever been to and in terms of class…. puts the Stube to shame… but I love it.

Day one was kicked off by an announcement over the PA system- yes, there’s a PA system- broadcasting the beginning of happy hour at the hostel bar- 2 for 1 beers!  All 25 global players filled the place before we took off to a comedy club for the night- so funny!  After the show we reconvened at the hostel to check out the basement club.  That’s right- the basement is a full out club- disco balls, strobe lights, techno music, the whole nine yards.  We then took it to the bars for the night and quickly found that “AmsterdamED” was going to be our favorite place.  As a night cap, my roommates and I decided to hop on the wi-fi, only available in the lobby.  Since at 3:00am the lobby is closed, we had to resort to the empty, but still fully functioning, basement club.  The four of us sat in the middle of strobe lights and loud music checking e-mails, facebook, twitter, and even skyping.  It was a sight.

The next day my only concern was making sure I got a nap in—didn’t happen.  After the complementary breakfast, which consisted of your choice of bread, a peanut butter substitute, jelly, a hard-boiled egg, or a slice of cheese, we had a 3 hour orientation, held at the Amsterdam Business School.  We got to walk around a little to get there- this was when I first fully started to understand the intensity of biking in this city.  The amount of children that a person can fit on a bike with them is unreal.  After orientation I took it to the streets myself!  We had a four and a half hour bike tour where we rode through the city and out to the countryside.  Our tour guide gave us history on the city and held back nothing when showing us the Red Light District and explaining the origin and importance of the “coffeeshops.”  On the tour we visited a cheese and clog factory— deeelicious cheese and clogs are actually more comfortable than you would think!  The tour was fun, but I could have done without the monstrosity of rain that we biked through for the entire 3 hour trip out to the country.  Even through the rain, though, the city is beautiful!  We checked out the bar scene again at night and of course ended things with free wi-fi in the club—classic.

That takes me up to today.  We had a free day and afternoon so a group of us rented bikes and pedaled out to see the Anne Frank House.  We ended up taking a very roundabout way to get there—I can now bike and read a map at the same time—but we got there nonetheless.  We waited in line for about an hour but were finally let in.  It was both interesting and very sad to see the space where the Frank family lived behind a bookshelf door in a little house in Amsterdam.  After the house we found or way to the Heineken Brewery but only checked it out from the outside (decided to forgo the 15 Euro tour… and actually couldn’t hand the thought of having a beer at the time).

After our first practice tonight we are headed back to the Red Light District area for a team party where we’ll get to meet some of the international teams that we will be playing against tomorrow!