Styrian Cup

So recently we have been practicing more often than normal and harder than normal as well! I am liking it a lot as it helps make the days go by faster and I also love having something to look forward to doing in the evening!

The first weekend of February we had Styrian Cup. Stiermark is the bundesland that I live in, think of it as a province. So basically it was like our provincial championships. All teams from all leagues could participate and when there were only four teams left they have a tournament day to determine the champion! This year the tournament happened to be in Graz at the ASKO halle where the second division team ATC plays at. They were in one semi final against Wesser Graz II and we were in the other against Gleisdorf a team from the third division in Austria. The first semi was won by ATC 2-1 and we won the second semi very easily 2-0. I played the first 15 points of the game, we were up 13-2, and then I was able to watch for the rest of the match. Therefore we would play ATC in the finals. It was the first time this year that we had an audience at the game and it was quite exciting, not like Villingen but it was still a lot of fun to have the crowd be into the game! We won the match quite handly 3-1. We won the first set in a blowout and then decided to lose game two when we should have won. Like game one we again blew them away in games three and four crowning us the 2010 Styrian Cup Meisters. For our efforts we got a massive trophy that came up to my knees and medals with the lanyard being the colour of the Styrian flag, green and white.

Also, i won the top player of the tournament award, it was quite a surprise considering I barely played in the first match. I got a new sports bag and this massive trophy that comes to the middle of my shin! It’s awesome!

But it is too bad that it is so big because it also makes it very heavy therefore I don’t think that I will be able to bring it home at the end of the year.

Overall the weekend was very positive for us, although we were playing against teams that were below us it was very good for our team to get a few victories and remember what winning feels like again! I know I liked the feeling of it, even if they games were pretty anti-climactic.

The month of January

I arrived back on the 2^nd of January after one of the worst flights of my life over. I got sick on the plane and have never felt like such crap in my entire life. And to make things better I left the keys to my house in Williams Lake and my contacts didn’t arrive in the mail before I came back! But the best part of my return was the 3 practices we had for three straight days! That definitely made the return more enjoyable. After the first day I could barely move I was so exhausted from the jet lag, the training was fun it was not fun to tell my body to do something and it not do it because I was so exhausted. As for volleyball in January it didn’t go so well. We had 3 league games and we lost all three of them. Had we won at least one of our matches we would have finished 5^th in league and then we wouldn’t have been matched up against Post Vienna in the first round of playoffs. How our playoffs work is we have the top 6 teams from our league qualify and then the two Austrian teams that play in MEVCA (Middle European league) join us for our playoffs to determine the Austrian Meister or champion. Being that Vienna beat Klagenfurt, the other MEVCA team, we will be matched up against them in the first round of playoffs starting on February 20^th.

To start off January we travelled to Innsbruck to play Tirol. We had beaten them 3-1 in October at home so we were optimistic about our chances against them. However we didn’t play as well as we should have and lost 3-0. It was a big blow and we had 2 tough weeks of practice because of it. But the best part of going to Innsbruck was that I got to go to Mittenwald, Germany to see the Chyzowski family. It was a great 2 days there. I played and played and played with the kids.

My Girl Lucia and I

We played board games, computer games, played hockey, played in the snow and went skiing although I didn’t go the kids did. It is amazing how big they have grown in the past year and half that I have known them and I can’t wait to go back and visit again!!

The next weekend we had a Styrian cup game on the road. After the game our coach took us to the Therme for the evening something my body definitely needed!!

A very fuzzy photo of the Therme. Still haven't figured my camera out after a year of having it.

Then on Sunday Carla came to visit and we went to watch a Canadian, Jeff, play volleyball against the team from Graz. It was nice to have some Canadians around and a great way to relax on my weekend off.

That next weekend we played Dornbirn at home. We had a great first set winning 29-27 but the next 3 sets didn’t go so well and we ended up losing 3-1 putting us in 6^th place and matched up against Vienna. Even though we lost a few of the girls and I went out for a night on the town! It was a blast, rolling into your house at 6am after Kehbab is always the best way to start a Sunday.

Eva and I getting ready to head out

The last league game was in Wels against Wels. We lost a hard fought game in 5. Although we lost it was a good game for our team because we had been training really hard for the past three weeks and we were finally seeing the results. We even had a couple of chances to win the match specifically in the 4^th game when we started the game going down 15-8 and we lost 26-24. Losing was not so fun but the game was a lot of fun to play in. I also stayed that weekend in Linz with Carla and we had a relaxing time together . We did a lot of chatting, eating and most specifically dancing!! It may be the last time that I was going to be there for a while so I figured we better do it up right that weekend! It was a blast for sure but it was also nice to get home to Graz and get ready for playoffs.

Decembertime!

December:

The countdown started early in December for when I got to head home for the holiday’s. I was loving it here in Graz and was kinda sad to be leaving during the holiday season as it is the best time of the year in Europe! But I was also ready to head home for some quality family time. Teaching this month was great! I could see the improvement and confidence that the children had made over the past 6 weeks that I had been with them. The children would come right up to me in the hallway wanting to chat. It was amazing to see their enthusiasm about practicing the language with me. Now I just have to be more like them with my German!

As mentioned about Christmas time in Europe was amazing and Graz was surely not an exception. The Christmas market started in early December and the gluhwein was flowing for the entire month. Michi and I frequented the market regularly for a casual gluhwein once and a while!

Michi and I at the Graz Christmas Market

Carla and I also went to the Christmas market in Vienna. Words cannot even describe how breathtaking it was.

We spent the afternoon walking around, drinking our gluhwein, exploring all the booths and best of all I had a Starbucks for the first time in 4 months.

After that we headed to Graz for Carla’s first visit and the first night at Kololinsky, our new favourite place! That week I also headed to Linz on my Wednesday off to watch a European Cup basketball game. It was such a great experience. The game was Wels vs Tartu (Estonia) which happened to have a Canadian on the team as well. It was a great game with Wels making a late 4^th quarter comeback to win in overtime!

As for volleyball we didn’t win any matches but we did have two very strong matches against the first and second place teams in the league. We lost in five to Hartberg in a game where we were up 2-0 and had a few chances to close it out. It was a tough game to lose but it was great that we were able to get at least one point out of the game. We then had ten days off from games until we played the number one team in our league before Christmas, Linz. Again, we started the match really well and I had my best set of the year to start the match and we almost took the first game narrowly losing 26-24. The next two games Linz picked it up and we just couldn’t keep up with them. It was both a good and bad way to end before the Christmas break.

Canada was a whirlwind trip. It was 10 days, 3 cities, staying with 4 people, 20+ hours of work, daily naps and lots of family time. It was so great to be able to go home for the holidays, seeing family was the most amazing feeling over the holidays!

November in Graz

November: It was so nice to finally be settled into my life in Graz. I had finally gotten on a regular schedule of teaching and was 100% confident in driving manual. If you remember last year I wrote about my experience of learning to drive manual. It was disastrous and not so much fun for me. But my teammate Eva here was the best teacher by far! I got it after 20 minutes and was driving around Graz for the rest of the lesson. It was such a relief to know how to drive; it brought this newfound independence to me!

As for volleyball in November we had a pretty good month. It was the month where we won most of our games and we were solidly in 4^th place. Highlights included a Halloween win over Tirol at home in 4. This was a good victory because our starting middle rolled her ankle the night before the game and our back up stepped in and did a great job. Another highlight from this game was when our captain got a yellow card. When she was yelling at the referee about a call he made she told him that she was going to eat a broom. Not 100% sure what the meaning of this was but I found it quite amusing when my teammates explained it to me.

We also had a great trip to Innsbruck. It was a very long weekend as we had 3 games however I only had to play in two of the games. The third game on the Sunday was an Austrian Cup game which I couldn’t play in because I am not Austrian. It was awesome for me because I was able to drive across the border to Mittenwald, Germany to see the Chyzowski family. Although it was only a quick visit for breakfast and some playing with the children, it was great to see familiar faces and I couldn’t wait for my next visit! The craziest part of the trip there was my first time driving up hills that are going straight up into the Alps. Let’s just say that I stalled on the first hill and had a mild heart attack before I put it into first, dropped the emergency break and gunned it up the hill! It was quite the experience to say the least.

All in all November was a busy month where we won a few games, I finally settled into a routine and the next big thing I had to work on was getting my fitness pass!