So, I've always wanted to start a blog while I'm playing volleyball in Europe... So today is the first day!
Its hard to believe, but I have been in Duren for a month already! I miss home like crazy but I am definitely enjoying my time here. In the month I have been here, I have traveled to Aachen and Cologne Germany to walk around and see the cities (more pictures shown in the link below).
Photos from Aachen and Cologne...
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3774464021/a=2054888021_2054888021/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/)
Also our team has had practice matches in Antwerp and Maaseik, Belgium. The picture below shows he best volleyball promotion I have ever seen... it was in Masseik...
We are gearing up for a long bus ride (11-12 hours) tomorrow morning to Gdansk, Poland to play against some top teams from the Polish league. Evivo Duren is the most professional club I have ever been a part of and our preseason schedule is a clear indication! After this weekend, we travel straight to town near Berlin for a week to prepare for our first regular season match against SCC Berlin Recycling Volleys on Friday, September 30th. This is the first official match of the Bundesliga (German) league and because of that, it will be streamed live on the website listed below. The starts at 7 or 730pm German time which means 12:00, 12:30pm STL time. Our coaches and managers say that this match will have 5,000+ fans! If that is the case, It will be my first time seeing a crowd that size for a volleyball match so im pretty excited about it!
Match stream...
http://www.cpm24.tv/
Currently, I am enjoying the morning off from training... Ahhhh.... typically, we have a lifting or a light volleyball practice in the morning followed up by an intense volleyball practice in the evening. The level of play here is much higher than anywhere I have played before. My teammates are giants, the game is faster, and hits and serves are harder. Coach Sonke (pronounced Zoon-ka) has pointed out some elements in my game that could use some work and I have already seen some personal improvement. Coach Sonke has been involved with the Youth National team here in Germany so developing players seems to be his specialty. So far, the practices have been spoken in German so the language barrier is higher than I am used too. But the great thing about volleyball is that it carries a lot of the same ideas from team to team. I have picked up most of the "German Volleyball" language and can perform in a practice with little problems.
Duren, Germany is a small town that suffered a lot of damage in World War II. Most of the city was bombed in the mid-late 1940's and since then, the city is being rebuilt. The people here are very nice, everyone seems to know everyone. We have a fan club for our volleyball team that calls themselves "The Mosquitos" (i have yet to see them in action) that show a huge amount of support everywhere we go. Here are some pics from around the city...
Its hard to believe, but I have been in Duren for a month already! I miss home like crazy but I am definitely enjoying my time here. In the month I have been here, I have traveled to Aachen and Cologne Germany to walk around and see the cities (more pictures shown in the link below).
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3774464021/a=2054888021_2054888021/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/)
Also our team has had practice matches in Antwerp and Maaseik, Belgium. The picture below shows he best volleyball promotion I have ever seen... it was in Masseik...
We are gearing up for a long bus ride (11-12 hours) tomorrow morning to Gdansk, Poland to play against some top teams from the Polish league. Evivo Duren is the most professional club I have ever been a part of and our preseason schedule is a clear indication! After this weekend, we travel straight to town near Berlin for a week to prepare for our first regular season match against SCC Berlin Recycling Volleys on Friday, September 30th. This is the first official match of the Bundesliga (German) league and because of that, it will be streamed live on the website listed below. The starts at 7 or 730pm German time which means 12:00, 12:30pm STL time. Our coaches and managers say that this match will have 5,000+ fans! If that is the case, It will be my first time seeing a crowd that size for a volleyball match so im pretty excited about it!
Match stream...
http://www.cpm24.tv/
Currently, I am enjoying the morning off from training... Ahhhh.... typically, we have a lifting or a light volleyball practice in the morning followed up by an intense volleyball practice in the evening. The level of play here is much higher than anywhere I have played before. My teammates are giants, the game is faster, and hits and serves are harder. Coach Sonke (pronounced Zoon-ka) has pointed out some elements in my game that could use some work and I have already seen some personal improvement. Coach Sonke has been involved with the Youth National team here in Germany so developing players seems to be his specialty. So far, the practices have been spoken in German so the language barrier is higher than I am used too. But the great thing about volleyball is that it carries a lot of the same ideas from team to team. I have picked up most of the "German Volleyball" language and can perform in a practice with little problems.
Duren, Germany is a small town that suffered a lot of damage in World War II. Most of the city was bombed in the mid-late 1940's and since then, the city is being rebuilt. The people here are very nice, everyone seems to know everyone. We have a fan club for our volleyball team that calls themselves "The Mosquitos" (i have yet to see them in action) that show a huge amount of support everywhere we go. Here are some pics from around the city...
My apartment is really nice. I live with a teammate, Hauke. He is from Germany and just came up from the 2nd league in Germany. Him and I are at similar places in our vball careers so it is nice to have someone to relate to. He speaks english very well-thank the Lord- so we dont sit around and stare absent minded at eachother! Our apartment has two bedrooms, 1.5 bath, with a large kitchen and living room area, and two balconies! Here are some pictures from when I moved in
Here is the view from our back balcony...
Kitchen... with a clothes washer!
My Bedroom... Notice the Tom & Jerry wallpaper!
View of our building, We are on the 2nd floor
Just last week, our internet and tv was set up and guess who has ESPN!? It was so awesome to see the Cardinals play on Sunday night baseball and then have the Rams play on Monday Night football. Sure the Rams lost (they look decent though- just some red-zone jitters) and the Cardinals are today, 1.5 games back in the Wild Card (yahoo!) but being able to speak with family and friends and watching some STL teams on TV, I honestly feel more at home now than I have the past two seasons in Denmark!
Blog number 1, DOWN!
Looking forward to our first match! Cant wait to tell ya'll about it
Joe D
Blog number 1, DOWN!
Looking forward to our first match! Cant wait to tell ya'll about it
Joe D
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