Day 2: Continued...

After my morning exploring I had lunch with my coach at a local buffet style restaurant that seems to be popular in Kangasala. The menu changes daily so I'm able to try various Finnish foods. On the menu today was a type of onion soup, potatoes, rice, chicken in a sort of tomato cream sauce, spinach crépes, and salad. I tired everything expect the salad, how different can salad be, and really enjoyed it! The food is not bland but I would have spiced it up a little if I were to make the dishes at home. I've been doing a lot of walking which I like, it allows me to see the area better. When I got back home from lunch I attempted to talk to some friends just waking up back home but ended up knocking out until practice time. At 4:30 my coach picked me up for practice, we also stopped to get the teams libero on the way. She is young, like most of the girls on the team as I came to find out, but very passionate about the game and a balls out player. My first practice with the team went well, getting adjusted to the setters was a little hard at first but that will naturally take time. Drills and play are not very different from American ball, practice time however was SHOCKINGLY short. After roughly a 10 minute warmup and two thorough drills practice ended in about 90 minutes. Coming from three hours of practice plus film I was definitely thrown off but I wasn't going to argue! Lifting followed practice but was cut short due to a group that had to use the weight room. The girls were great and spoke English. Later on in the night the second American arrived, a middle from Purdue. Her personality is certainly refreshing and she seems like a down-for-whatever type of girl, looking to be the best player she can be to win but not missing one minute of what life and youth has to offer. All in all it was a good first day, a good day to get use to everything. I'm ready for our first two-a-day tomorrow with the girls, I've missed practice. 

But it is now time for bed. 12:16 AM over here and the sky looks like 9:30 pm. So crazy.

Moi moi!