Merry Christmas/Glædelig Jul and the Rest of Break

Lots to report here so grab a cup of coffee or take a nap you might need a little extra boost to get through this post. Ok, wake up, lets go...

My birthday wish for a win over Middelfart in the Pokal semifinal came true. We won 3-0 at home to advance to the final versus Gentofte at the end of January. The game went smoothly we took control early in set one and built a solid lead. This is nothing new against Middelfart. The two previous matches we had big leads in set one but managed to miraculously lose that lead right back and eventually lose the set all together. This time, however, we just kept the pedal down and sprinted straight to 25. Set two was a bit closer, but we had the lead the whole way. Taking set one and getting another early lead made them back off on thier serves and that really helped us sideout at a high percentage. We won set two and three largely due to this. And you also can't forget that we don't lose in the black jerseys. That might have been the most important variable of all.

After the game we had our usual post game beers in the sauna to unwind and regenerate any bones sacrificed in the "bone yard." Our home court is the "bone yard" because the court is concrete with the thinest layer of rubber ever, if you can call paint rubber. So whenever you play in there the floor claims one random bone in your body. You won't know which one and you won't know when you will get it back. So yes, the sauna helps to speed up this recovery process. The first round of cold pool from the sauna was substituted with a run outside into the snow where we did snow angels on the soccer field. It was classic!

The next day was our team Christmas party. We got to the gym and played a few rounds of hagabow. No idea how to spell it but it's a combination of soccer and volleyball. Got a good run in while sipping on a few beverages to set up the feast that was to come. Grabbed a quick shower, cleaned up, and then sat down at the table for an epic feast and a lengthy snaps session. All the Danish dishes that I have come to know were present. There was at least 5 rounds of food. And there was no shortage of snaps. We went through 4 bottles and there was only 15 people there at the most. Not only was the snaps flowing at a ridiculous rate the julebyrgs were practically jumping out of the box. Whoa...Let's just say getting up at noon to go to Norway with Joakim was interesting.

Morning came quicker than I'd like. And Joakim, who I had just seen in my place 4 hours earlier, was at my door and ready to roll. We were pretty banged up to say the least. Joakim's dad came down for the match and stayed for the Christmas party so he could drive us back to thier home for the holidays. Joakim invited me to come a while back and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some skiing in and see another country that I had not been to. The weather was a little sketchy so it took somewhere around 8 hours to get from Odense to Joakim's home town of Sarpsborg, Norway. We unpacked and sat down in the kitchen for a nice dinner with Joakim's mom and dad. It was a nice dinner and they were really nice people they made me feel right at home. After dinner we went upstairs to get settled in and prepare the guest bed room. I layed down at 8pm. No intentions of sleeping but did...for 14 hours!

We got up had some breakfast and Joakim said we had a mission to do. His brother was admitted to the hospital the night before with some sort of flu and was unable to get a Christmas tree. So we put on the warmest gear we could find, grabbed an ax and a hand saw and headed out into the forest to get him one. It seemed like an easy enough task, but to find a tree that was just right proved to be pretty tough. After probably an hour of searching we found a winner. Joak took a few hacks and tiiiiiiiiiimber...ok it was only 8 ft tall so it was more of a slow fall and roll, but still we conquered the forest. I had a flannel on under my jacket so I looked the part at least! We carried the prize to the street where it could be transported to his brothers house later.

After we won gold at the outdoor games we took the car into the towns center area. Joakim's younger brother was in from Oslo and he came along as well. It was so cold out that we didn't get much walking done, but we did more of a pub crawl. Made it into some old taverns right on the water and had a few Borgs which was the local favorite beer there. After getting a few beers in a few different places we stopped for pizza. Had a really good taco pizza and another beer, and continued the mini pub crawl. We had made arrangements to see Avatar later so we were just burning some time until then. We hit up one pub that had a pool table but it was ridiculously expensive to play so we only played two games. It was 20kr a game which is $4. Pretty bold at a pub on a coin taking bar table. Anyway, we bounced to one more place then made it to the movie. Avatar was a pretty incredible movie. The only problem I had was when the Na'Vi spoke in their native language the subtitles were also in Norweign! It was funny because I asked Jaokim what did they just say and he looked at me oddly. I was like dude the subs are in Norweign!! Oh yea...But it was fine I got the gist of what was going on none of the dialog was that far out there. We got home around 1 am and Joakim's mom was still up. She had some Gløk out on the stove. It's a Christmas beverage that you add raisins and almond bits to as well as alcohol if you wanted to. We wanted to get up early to go skiing so the virgin blend did just fine. Really nice either way. Bed by 2 am.

After Joakim hit snooze literally 9 times we finally got up. I wasn't arguing I was so comfortable I couldn't get up either. So we got out of the house an hour later than we wanted to but our goal of to be on the top of the Kongsberg mountain at noon was only off by a half an hour. It was -12 degrees Celcius at noon. It was quite a site riding up the lift for the first time all the trees were heavily covered in snow. The top of the lift was 1600m and you could see down to the city below when standing at the top. The mountain was an old silver mining site. Joakim was on a snowboard and I had skis. My first run was a little shaky took me a while to get to the bottom. But by the third time down I was pretty much settled in. I didn't fall all day! We could have stayed and skiied all day but it came to a point where our hands, feet, and faces were just too cold to continue. We made at least 16 runs over a 6 hour period so it was a good day. Walked away with no injuries we were just so cold it was unreal. We left the ski resort and headed into Oslo.

We were on the way when we figured out that Joakim's brother accidentally gave us the wrong keys to his apartment. So we luckily were able to get a hold of Joakim's uncle who lived in Oslo as well. Really nice and interesting guy. He made us some dinner, we had some wine and chatted for a bit. It was funny I just asked Joakim if it was wierd having to speak English to his family when I was around. Not a minute later Joakim's uncle came in and said you know it's wierd talking to my nephew in English, we have never done this before. It's strange for me because obviously they would never speak English when I am not there but it's really cool that they can so easily just go into either language so effortlessly. And since they don't use it all that often, them being so good at it is really impressive. Joakim and I agreed that we wouldn't set an alarm because we didn't need another 10 snooze morning. Bed by 1am.

The next morning we had breakfast and rolled out into Oslo city. The traffic was incredibly hectic. There were street cars whizzing up and down, cars everywhere, and pedestrians crawling everywhere. Coming from Chicago and knowing congestion I would even probably have to pass on trying to navigate Oslo by car. We made it to a parking garage and headed out by foot. Again it was super cold. And now I'm not dressed in 40 layers for skiing, so it's really really cold. We did a quick walk around the town and got some Christmas shopping done. Oh and there are Subway franchises in Norway! I had to eat there even though it was 3x the normal price. I asked them what the hell happened to the $5 foot long? The commercial in Norway must say $15 dollar foot long, geeez! After lunch and a bit more walking and shopping it was time for me to head to the airport. There was an express train that only took 25 minutes from the Oslo train station. I got to the airport in plenty of time to check out the duty free shops and sit down and have a $15 dollar Carlsberg .6L beer, man these prices make my head hurt! Flight was on time and I was back in Denmark an hour later.

Christa called me while I was in Norway and thought it was funny that the lamp and the table were in odd places when she stopped in to grab a few things before going home to Middelfart while I was away. She just thought we had a crazy time here after the team Christmas party. Not for a few hours after I talked to her did I have a weird feeling that something was off here. When I walked into the front door I saw the bowl on the table where I knew I left money and the bowl was on the couch. Now why would that be. I saw the coffee table drawer was out as well and we never use that. I said ok Christa we've been robbed. She said wait how do you know. Well apart from those two things I mentioned, one look in the bedroom and I saw two more drawers that we never used opened. I pulled up the blinds and saw the window clasps were busted. The only things that were taken, thank god, was the money I had left in the bowl and Christa's camera. We had all of our other belongings with us but still that was not fun to come home to. Just knowing someone was stalking this place looking in the windows is enough to make your skin crawl. Upon further inspection the dude tried three other windows before he was able to bust the bedroom one. He actually tried to get into the bathroom window which is less than 2ftx2ft and that made me laugh a little bit. I already mentioned this in my Thanksgiving post but I have the greatest grandparents in the world but this just confirms how great they really are. After my mom told them what happened they wrote her a check to replace the money that was stolen because they felt bad for me during Christmas. It doesn't get any better than that. I love you guys absolutely amazing!

And now we are on to 3 more Christmas parties in a row...Is anyone still there??? Here are a few pictures from the Middelfart game on December 18th for a brief intermission. These pictures appeared in the Odense newspaper.

Jordan dishing to a middle who is going to crush

Celebratory dive for the fans!

I like Lots of line...

Thanks for coming, yea we are pretty happy!

Ok so you made it this far just 3 more Christmas parties to go! December 24th is the day that is celebrated as THE day. I went to Svendbog to Christa's grandparents on her mothers side. It was a nice party lots and lots of food and I absolutely love the duck that they serve on Christmas Eve. So good. The wine also spectacular. After dinner we got up lit the candles on the tree and did the traditional walking and singing around the tree. All the songs were in Danish so I couldn't sing them but I had heard them before. After all this is my third Danish Christmas. I was even allowed to pick a song so I just went with Jingle bells and we got through the first verse, but two times. All in all, a great nite. I got a juicer, a diesel belt, a long sleeve shirt, and some Dior cologne. Christa and I went in together to get all the presents for her family, but the one I did have to get all on my own was a present for Christa. I got her a purple Ipod nano and she has practically had those ear buds glued into her ear canal since then. So I think I did well.

Party 2 on the 25th was back in Middelfart where we went to Christa's parents friends to do it all over again. Another great time. Great food great people, and pretty much everyone made an effort to try and talk to me at some point. I need to learn Danish because these long dinner parties are tough when 95% is in Danish. After a nice dinner they busted out the Wii dance game not sure what it's called but it was pretty funny. Some of the dances are hilarious to watch as an outsider and even funnier to be a participant. After this we headed to Buddy Holly the bar where there is an annual Christmas party. Bo who was a teammate of mine when I played in Middelfart came to the end of the house party so it was nice to catch up a little bit with him and once he came I knew I then had to go out. I also had to beat him in Wii bowling!

Party 3 - Whoa, tough to wake up again, oh man, lots of refreshments at these Danish parties. On the 26th this party started a bit earlier but it was just as long if not longer and this time we were near the German border at Christa's fathers sisters house in Aabenraa. This one is more of a lunch/dinner. Starts off pretty light with breads and meats and slowly builds up to sausages and ends with tons of cheeses. I mean round after round of food just kept coming. We must have been seated at the table from 2-7. Just the list of food from these parties would probably be longer than this blog in itself! Three parties so much food so many cocktails, but really all great people which made for really nice and unique parties. I had a really nice holiday this year.

So now what? I leave for Copenhagen tomorrow for a few days. Going to stay with a friend of mine as well as Christa's. Definitely making a stop in Tivoli it's supposed to be really nice this time of year. New Years we don't have any plans but I'm sure something will pop up when it gets closer. All for now. Congratulations you made it all the way through this blog, well done! I promise none will be longer than this again! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

That's Real Good Pant...

Here in Denmark most cans and bottles are bought with a Pant (deposit) added to the cost of the product. I think there are just three levels A at 1 Kr, B at 1.5, and C at 3 Kr. Cans are under the A level so when you buy a case of beer or cola in Denmark you get slapped with the extra 24 Kr. which is $5. Now, you can't possibly keep all of these cans after consumption. It's just not reasonable to think you are going to get 100% of your deposit. Between taking some to parties, some to the gym, some as roadies, some are just going to get lost in the shuffle. So all I'm trying to say here is that when you are able to save some of them from the trash, that's what I like to call "good pant." Every time I bring some back to the store it's like getting a small gift. Granted a small gift you paid for, but either way "good pant" will put a smile on your face. Just saying, "Oh man that's good pant right there" makes me laugh!

Last weekend we faced off against Gentofte, who were technically ranked higher than us even though in our only meeting we won 3-0. We came in confident that we could win again, especially at home. After the previous weeks loss to Middelfart we knew that we needed this win to get back on track to become the team to beat in the Elite division. Game 1 we came out really sharp, we really did most things perfect. It seemed like it was going to be a nice easy match where we were just going to take over from start to finish. We won game 1 easily they never really threatened at any point. I think we won the first set by 10 points. My arm was feeling great. I don't know if it was the days off that week, the swim the day before, or just my back feeling better so my shoulder hasn't had to do all the work but it was nice getting some pop back into the ball.

Game 2 they made some changes, by subbing in some new bodies. This seemed to help them out a bit because, well we lost game 2. It was fairly close most of the way through the set but I think we had some passing break downs especially with some float serves and they got on multiple point runs that we never could recover from.

Game 3 we got back into it had strong serving and a strong side out that allowed us to cruise to a fairly easy set win if I remember correctly. We had a decent handle on what they were doing, and really I think they just made too many attacking errors.

Game 4 we had the float serve passing blues again. Same story multiple point runs from the same guys that got us in the second set. We expected Gentofte to fold in the fourth set and they didn't they wanted to win just as much as we did.

Set 5 uh oh not again! This was a tight one back and forth. We reached 8 first for the side switch. We were up 11-10 when we made a serving sub. Søe our outside hitter/libero/vocal leader extraordinaire came in and hit two epic terror floats at a passing sub which were both practically aces, free balls coming back to us. Just two huge plays at the end of the game turned it in our favor and we didn't even for a second let them back. We finished 15-11 and got the much needed victory at home!

The night after was a Jule (xmas) party at the Marienlyst Centret where Nelly, Joe, Travis, Joakim, and I had to basically work as bouncers. The start of the night was easy. We just make sure everyone had a wrist band that entered. A few knuckleheads tried to break the rules, but no big deal. We were pretty much there for after dinner to make sure that nobody got out of control and started fights or anything. This party was from 5 pm-1 am and the booze was flowing the whole time, so yea, it could get interesting. There were 4 incidents spread throughout the night that kept it really entertaining for us.

1- A table full of guys wearing red party hats had been drinking in the party room at our gym since the afternoon. They were all over the place but the red hats made them easy to spot and keep an eye on them. One of the old guys in the group was so hammered some of the guys had to get a taxi for him. Understandable. But the funny part was the guy was using the parking lot as a toilet with his pants around his ankles and most of his aim was off. Yeah hopefully he had on those liquid resistant Dockers!

2- Guy 1 by the bar gets pushed. Guy number 2 grabs and holds the lapels of guy 1's sport coat. We sweep in. The guy who is using a kung fu grip on guy 1's suit jacked is doing this weird intense staring contest move, and still won't let go of the coat. There is all 5 of us surrounding them both, but there is nothing we can really do. The guy just will not let go of the jacket or the bizarre stare. This goes on for what seemed like minutes either way it was a ridiculously long time to do whatever he was doing. The only way we got it to stop was someone from behind basically started choking the jacket holding guy. Not one of us but one of his friends believe it or not I started prying his fingers off one at a time. I got to the second finger while this guy is turning purple from being choked from behind before he finally lets go. It was totally insane but both guys were fine after that.

3&4 - The start of this story leads to the climax of the night. Joe and I went to take a break and were just hanging out in our locker room when I got a text from Nelly saying, "Boston Tea Party in 5, 4, 3..." I was like uhoh Joe we have to get in there. This was a ridiculous code word we were using to say "start taking people down." It was a joke but he really was having a problem with one of the guys in the gym. And of course it was the guy who was the biggest man/bear/pig who we just knew was bound to start something. I think he had some words with the bartender so Nelly and the rest of the guys stepped in and I think the man beast got a little aggressive but he calmed down ok for a bit. This is a 3&4 because the fourth and final part I guess you could say stemmed from this first incident. It had to do with this guys co-workers or buddies who were all at the same table. Some of these guys start pushing we come in and right away the guys started acting as if we were doing something wrong we were just asking them to please sit back down, let it go, or you will be asked to leave. They pretty much controlled themselves for another hour. One hour later two guys from the same table start another fight at the bar with the bartender. The bartender motions over to us saying these guys are out of here. We just say ok guys that's enough let us show you out. This however was not so easy. The guys refused to walk and when they did they kept trying to make it back to the bar to fight the bartender. They would be walking straight then just start bending their path in a not so sly way which was more back to the bar then to the door. These guys were really drunk and not at all physically intimidating but they just wouldn't cooperate. It took probably 30 minutes to get the guys outside. But even when they were outside they still wouldn't leave. We just stood in the doorway and made a wall and they still tried to keep just walking in. Picture a remote control toy car just driving straight into a wall and bounce off and do it again and again. This is what they were doing but really with no real force to break through or really even break our balance at all. It was really funny. Then some of thier friends came over and started saying we are provoking them when literally all we were doing was making a wall at the door and saying you cannot come back in. More and more of them started showing up and the ones that were still in the party started getting more angry with us and started threatening us. So we just started saying ok you are out too. Get your coat. No big deal the party was over in 20 minutes anyway they were just being ridiculous. Then out of nowhere some dude starts trying to swipe at me from outside. He tries more of a slap but he misses thankfully and by this point we can see that we might need to call the police because these guys really won't leave. We reached our last resort. We had to phone the police. I had to hand my phone to someone because I couldn't tell you how to call the police, even still I don't know. 112 or 211 but now is that for emergencies or for everything? No idea. I had to leave the scene anyway because these guys were really getting on my nerves and I began to not help the situation. The end was nice though. The guy who tried to slap me got taken to the ground hard by the cops, so he was obviously a goof ball.

All in all a great night though. We got to take a ton of food home, had some beers, had a little excitement, but I think a bouncer is not really for me.

This week we play Middelfart who have been a thorn in our sides this season. Our only two loses in the regular season have come at their hands. This time around it is in the Pokal Cup Semifinals which is single elimination so this is win or go home. This is a big game arguably more so than the loss three weeks ago because winning the Pokal Cup is something everyone wants to achieve. A regular season loss, while a set back, doesn't eliminate you from winning the Danish championship so this one we really want to win. We are luckily at home again and this time we hope it goes in our favor!

I know this was a long one but I missed last weeks post so hope this makes up for it. If anyone can actually get through it consider that achievement "a good pant!" Hej Hej

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday and were able to take full advantage of the holiday for me, because sadly, I consumed absolutely no cranberry sauce, no mashed potatoes, no stuffing, no turkey, and certainly no hot gravy goodness smothered over it all! I did however get the priveledge to practice twice and lift weights once so I basically did the opposite of what 98% of Americans did on last Thursday. So yes I missed out on the fatty feast and the NFL games, but what I did not miss out on was a chance to think about all the things that I am grateful for:

• Family - I have the best family in the world. From top to bottom. My parents have done so much for me over the years to get to where I am today. Most of the experiences that I have been privileged to have so far have all been made possible because of them. And for that I am truly grateful. My brother and sister seem to be on a good path to working to achieve their goals and I am happy for both of them that they are doing so well. Jen with her hair and make up expertise, and Beetle venturing out into a field that is new and exciting for him. So when I get home hopefully I can get a nice haircut and my blood pressure checked! My grandparents aunts and uncles really are some of the nicest people that I have ever met and I know are always there for me no matter what and for that I do realize how lucky I really am.

• Friends - To all my friends and home I miss you guys/girls and think about you all the time. I can't wait to be back. Even though the internet keeps me in touch with what is going on at home I know that I am missing out on a lot. Every time I come back it is like it was yesterday that I left and everything is just the way it was and that is what I love about my friends. They too are there no matter what and for that I am very thankful as well. To Christa my gf, even though nobody from home has met her yet, she is really a genuinely sweet girl and when you get the chance to meet her I'm sure you will say the same! I could say so much more because I have a lot to be thankful for, but I really just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone that I care about and vice versa.

So what is new with me? Well last Saturday Nelly, Joe and I went to the German/Danish border to stock up on goodies and avoid the super high tax that is Denmark! Beer, candy, wine were our targets. And my god did we crush that objective. I got six cases of beer for 250 kr. ($65) , 4 pounds of gummy bears ($10), 6 bottles of wine and a 3L box of wine ($30), two ten packs of Snickers ($10), 10 Ritter Sport Chocolate bars ($18), and a case of Hustler energy drinks ($20). Dirt cheap prices along with wine tasting in the store = good time! This may seem like a lot but with the prices in DK and the tax this amount of goods would be atlreast 3-5 times that so going big or going home is a must. I was on Skype talking to my parents and grandparents about the trip because when they visited in 2007 they were lucky enough to expirience this shopping wonder. They were under the impression that I was getting food though when they offered to buy it for me!

This week sadly our unbeaten streak came to an end at the hands of Middelfart with a 2-3 loss at home. We had not dropped even a set in I can't even remember how long so this definately came as a bit of a shock. I still believe 100% that we are the team to beat and we have a chance to prove it in the last game before X-mas break when we play Middelfart again in the Pokal Semi-final. Getting knocked down a peg or two might have been just what we needed to get hungry again. At least I hope so!

The weather has been ok in the last few days. It has been consistenly wet but I feel like I have been missing the light showers on my daily bike rides which is good. I did have bike crash 1 and 2 last week as well. Crash one goes like this: I am trying to catch up to Joe after leaving the gym and as I'm standing pump pedaling my bike on it;s own switches gears and causes my chain to fall off. Now it's dark out and I can't exactly see if it's on or if it's in a super high gear because im still cruising but my feet are going at 100 rpm. As I'm looking down, the road slightly curves and I don't notice. Joe looks back and yells ohhh #$%^ look out! By this time it's too late and I hammer into a bush which catches me nicely only a few scratches but it was pretty funny either way.

Crash 2: The weather as of today dipped to where frost has started to accumulate on the grass as well as car windows. I have to coach in the early AM on Tuesdays which means the temperature is still quite low while I am in transit on the old Champs-Elysse Mustang Passion, name make and model of the hog. So I decide to take a short cut riding into the back way to get to the school. I turned one block too early on the last two minutes of my ride so I pull a quick U-eee and my bike acted as if it had shopping cart wheels. The bike just started slidding sideways on some black ice. I was half asleep at the wheel at this point so I don't know how I didn't go down with the ship, but I was able to ditch the bike and land a perfect dismount. The bike went skidding onto a nearby lawn crashing loudly. There of course had to be a witness to this. A women on her bike, her wheels acting properly, just rides by with a slight smirk. Yes I had to have looked ridiculous.

This week we have a match againt KSV near Copenhagen on Saturday. They aren't very good so we should get back to our winning ways. One more thing beofre I go. I have been extremely lucky this year with the amount of Bears coverage on Danish television. The Bears have played 4 times on national tv here. Packers, Steelers, 49ers, and Vikings. But now I must ask...why? I am actually from where this team plays and I can't stand watching it so what do the Danes think! Ugh, well the Urlacher jersey has been neatly stowed in an overhead compartment since week 1 and I don't see it making a comeback anytime soon! All for now hej hej.