Austrian Update

Today we actually had a friendly match against a team from France! Unfortunately it wasn’t my bestie Kindra Carlson’s team, and I actually forget the team’s name, but they also play in the CEV Cup which means they are one of the better teams. We won in 4 sets! I came in as a double sub in the first game, then took over about halfway through the second set. It was fun to get back into a match-like atmosphere and it was great to keep building a vibe with my teammates.

Also, our main gym facility is SICK! Sick as in awesome for you older folk 😉 The event facility was built just last year and it is very nice. I’ll snap a few pics next time. The only downside is we don’t get to practice there often because 1) it’s expensive and 2) it is an in demand venue. But we’re definitely lucky that we have it!

 

Some random thoughts-

• The Fanta Orange soda here is absolutely delicious. It tastes like actual orange juice soda than the stuff at home that just tastes very sweet.
• You can pretty much cross the street wherever you want here, but be careful for the train cars that zip through in between! I’ve almost been nipped a couple times now.
• EVERYTHING is shut down on Sunday. I was disappointed when I walked to the convenience store at the corner and yet the automatic doors would not let me through.
• Also in regards to stores- it can cause some serious anxiety! I have to work up a little courage knowing that if I can’t find something or someone asks me a question, I won’t be able to respond.
• Another point about stores/shopping- I’ve never had to look at the pictures on labels so much! It takes me a while to figure out what I want and which item actually IS what I want! I successfully identified sliced ham. I have some type of wheat-ish bread (yet to be eaten/determined). And while looking for sliced cheese, I could only understand what one of them said, so I got it: Gouda! haha.
• Being able to watch a soccer (football here) match from my window is pretty awesome! Especially since it’s cold out. The Simmeringer Sports Club is located under our building and its soccer field is right outside of my window. They played a friendly match against Rapid Vienna. It was also super neat to see a full rainbow (in the sky, not on the field) for over half of the game!
• The only thing I’m actually disappointed with is my lack of OVEN (and microwave for convenience’s sake). If you didn’t know, I love to cook but especially to BAKE. I will have to look into alternative cooking methods and recipes, as well as consider purchasing a toaster oven.