Hi everyone!
It is another sunny, crisp day in France. Everyday has been beautiful so far. The trip has been great. To most of the players everything is new (even this keyboard). It is difficult to describe the excitement they have as they experience these new cultures (Italy, France) - even western Europe is so different. Of course there's the language barrier, not to mention using everyday appliances, and also the food. A couple of the players can speak French and that was a big help last night when we played our first game against a French team in the Alps. One of our freshmen goaltenders,
Nicole Playter, is fluent and invited the team to pray with us at center ice after the game and then she prayed in French. It was a nice moment. After the game, we had some time to hang out with their team. Once again, language was a challenge for us, but our Canadian players did a great job of facilitating the hand gesturing. In addition to Nikki,
Allison Papko and
Miriam Paas have training in French as well.
The rink we played on was great because it was Olympic size ice. My guess is that we left our legs somewhere over Greenland - at about 37,000 feet to be exact. It has been good to see the players come together as a group without the normal cultural boundaries that provide a measure of security. They have been challenged to think for themselves a little more.
To the hockey fans in the crowd our team had a slow start in our first game. We were down 4-1 but battled back to win 5-4.
Sandra Felten,
Misty Pirus,
Alexandra Dereschuk,
Kassy Sullivan, and
Jenna Bullock scored. Playter and
Nicole Jones split duty in the net for the us and
Beth Spurrier was traded to the opposition for a player to be named later in an eleventh hour trade right before the game - it was a great experience!
Okay, that is about it. We are loading the bus to travel to Switzerland. Have a great day! Thanks for your continued support of these awesome young women.
P.S. Our tour guide, Jackie, told me, "these young women are so intelligent and well mannered." Jackie is an energetic grandmother and has done many tours and knows when she has a good group. I am proud of the players as they are being awesome ambassadors.
ok, this took me a long ti,e to type as the keyboard is not the same and the spell check is in French so teh entire screen is nearly all red; oh wait, that happens to me in English too:
Later,
Coach Burggraf
