Day off

Its Thursday which means we have to day off today, from practice that is. Of course I still got up at a decent time and went to the gym and got a shooting workout in. So far one of the best things about the team I play for is they have a "Gun", which for those who have no idea what I am talking about, it is not a firearm but instead a machine that rebounds and passes to you. One of human's greatest inventions. So after about an hour of shooting on the Gun, which come to find out is equivalent to 500 shots, my arms were dead and I called it day. Fun fact to go along with this, one of the best things in the world is to shoot in a empty gym. The only sound you hear is the bouncing of a ball and the swish of a net, pure bliss.
So far this has been a pretty busy and exciting week. Monday I decided to make a trip to InterSport, which is one the sports stores here. Reminds me a lot of a Scheels or Dicks, but unfortunately the prices did not remind me of these places. I just wanted to look and wasn't expecting to buy anything unless there was something I really wanted. Well I found a Nike sweatshirt that I fell in love with but the $100 price tag was a slap in the face and I immediately put the sweatshirt back on the shelf and continued to look around the store. The only other thing that caught my eye in the store was a winter coat that I am in much need of. But like the sweatshirt, the price tags on most of the Coats were a little out of my range, for now that is. Ask me in a few weeks when my body is an ice sickle and it might not be out of my range then. Monday was also my first visit to the physical therapist/trainer. I have been having some weird pain in my left leg, not my typical knee pain so I figured I should probably figure out whats wrong before I make something worse. I tried to explain to the guy what was wrong but not sure if he or I completely understood what was going on. So he did some treatment and told me to come back on Wednesday. In the end attempt number one at the PT.. Fail. We had practice Monday evening, which was the typical 90 minute practices, I am still getting use to only practicing for 90 minutes as I am use to the 3 hour practices back in College. Is it a problem I can honestly say I miss the 3 hour practices?!
The big news of the week was the snow storm that came Monday evening. Before I went into practice there was some freezing rain mixed with flurries in the air. Not thinking it would turn into much was a bad idea. When practice was over, everything was covered with a blanket on snow. I will admit it was pretty but snow this early in October was not ok with me. Good thing it didn't last much longer than 24 hours!
My Tuesday was pretty unproductive, which reminds me of a recent friends twitter updating stating that Tuesdays might be the most overlooked day of the week.. I think they might be right. Maybe next week I will make Tuesday my big day, just so it doesn't feel worthless. With that brings on Wednesday, hump day for those of you who work and are excited for Wednesday cause it means the week is half way over! My Wednesday began with a trip to the immigration office, which remind me why government offices are suppose to be the most organized and professional places yet you have the feeling of not only yourself feeling lost but the people who are trying to help you are just as lost. After aimlessly walking around the office trying to figure out where I needed to do (Note none of the signs were in English, Its the immigration office for Iceland, clearly most people that go there are not from Iceland so why not use another language on the signs?) I finally found the right desk, talked to the man (who once again seemed lost with what I was asking) and after a lot of clicking of the mouse on his computer screen, I signed a piece of paper and took a picture and that was it. Wow seemed like that could have taken a lot less time instead of the 45 minutes, oh well. I then headed back to the PT, on the drive there I tried to think of other ways to explain the pain I was having that maybe would be easier to understand. I think it worked because after attempt number 2 with treatment I could sense a slight improvement. So in the end attempt number two... Success. Scheduled again for Friday hoping to go 2 out of 3 this week!
Other than all that I have one entertaining story before I leave you. Before practice one day I decided to go to the fitness center to sit in the hot tub to just warm up my muscles. Before you get into the pool, like an many fitness places, you must shower. I clearly knew about this rule and was in no way trying to get around it. But unlike most I choose to take my pre pool shower in my bathing suit.. bad idea. Before I knew it I had a lady worker yelling at me, in Icelandic of course, and pointing at the sign. This is the sign that says "please shower before entering the pool area". I soon realized that for some unknown reason this pre pool shower can not be taken with a swim suit on, as if my swim suit, which i will be wearing into the pool can't be cleaned in the shower, instead lets not wash my swim suit and let whatever germs that are on it get into your swimming pool. So this is what the lady was yelling at me, and while now I have the attention of everyone in the locker room I proceed to take off my swim suit to finish showering, only to put it right back on to go into the pool. Note to self, common sense can not be taken into account sometimes. I look back on the experience and laugh and also realize that every culture is different, and adapting to it is the key.
With that, I am adapting well to the culture of Iceland. And although I usually have no idea what the people at the stores are saying to me, if I smile say takk (thank you in icelandic) and walk away all is well.
That is all for now, until next time have a great day and Go Cyclones!!

Take Care and God Bless!

Above: Before Practice

Below: After Practice