It may be a liiitttle different, considering here we still have snow that would make any mountain shredder jealous. Yet, the sun has been shining and the locals are ecstatic about the positive degree temperatures(in Celsius of course).
The last couple days have been extremely busy, and filled with lots of exciting(and not so exciting) information, but each day brings me closer and closer to being fully acquainted with this great city. Since my last post, I have had a very busy Thursday/Friday/Saturday...
On Thursday, I woke up to one of my WRs heading to my house for a day of "hanging out". Well, in Sweden, "hanging out" means enjoying the 35 degree fahrenheit sun and walking through every nook and cranny of the city. The WHOLE city. We had a blast and saw every section of the city - very similar to Burroughs in New York - but the highlight of the tour was Djugarden (pronounced You-gordon). It is an animal preserve on a large island in the city that used to serve as the Swedish Monarch's personal hunting ground. Think of it as a luxury if you like, but even I could shoot an enormous black bear if you gave me a gun and put the bear in a room with nowhere to go. But, after saying that, I really hope I am not in that situation. After all, at Grandma Hokanson's house, that is a more likely possibility than any of us would like to admit. (Isn't that right Ashley and Brittany?) Anyways, the preserve was amazing, holding many types of birds and mammals, and they even had giant terrarium that was heated and housed snakes, iguanas, and various types of primates. I got the chance to check out some of the European Bison - and they definitely hang out in the weight room more than the Colorado Brethren, Ralphie. I am sure Ralphie would get them in the 100m dash though :).
After walking throughout the whole town - my LT Jesper picked up Tom and I and we headed to my second practice as a mean machine. We worked on route concepts and conversions most of the practice, but we got in some typical WR/QB drills as well. In March we will be doing mostly installation and drills, getting into 7on7 and Team in April. At the conclusion of practice, we had an Offense vs Defense competition with sprints on the line. Coach Johansson had each side choose 5 people to stand out in the middle of the field, without giving us any warning he shouted the directions and we were off. 2 of the players from each side had to carry the other 3 down around the cones 30 yards away and head back. I immediately grabbed Joakim (one of our slot receivers) and took off, I thought I was doing great, but we had left Magnus (a TE) back to deal with 2 of our other teammates. I dropped of Joa and headed back to help, and we won! However, coach said we had cheated...which I took as a compliment to our brilliance(one of our teammates had touched the ground with his foot in all the commotion). We all had to jog around the field a couple of times for condition, but your lungs hurt more from laughing during the competition than the running...It was a great practice. That night, I slept like a baby.
The highlight of Friday was heading out to Coach's house for a day of Food, Football, and Fun.
His fiancee Minette picked me up from a Subway stop north of the city by the Hospital that she works at, and took me to their beautiful home in the suburbs. When people say "Behind every great coach is an even better wife", it is true (but my mom is the best!). From what I experienced Friday, Coach will be very successful not just because of his passion and knowledge of the game, but because of the family he has behind him. Coach and his fiancee have an adorable little girl named Katie. She was only two months younger than my nephew Jaxson(who will be two in may), so it was great to play with her! Sure made me miss my little niece Amari and her big brother Jax though...
We got a wonderful meal of plank steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus wrapped in bacon, and baked tomatoes...which sets the bar high for any other meal I will have during my stay! After the meal, we got to play Xbox Kinect, which is pretty amazing. It puts wii sports in its place, although I blamed my lack of skills on the poor technology...Robert and Minette bashed me in every competition, except for the boxing! Which I am sure looked like quite a show from outside of the window...
Saturday Morning - Magnus, Tom and I met for some lunch downtown (Yea, I got the meatballs...they're too good to pass up). We bounced in and out of some shops, looking for a present for Magnus' friend Alexis, who is from the New York. He settled on a camera - which turned out to be an excellent gift! We hung around in Sodermalm for a little bit, and then we both got cleaned up for a night on the town and Alexis' birthday party. When we arrived, I was greeted by a few Swedes, but it seemed like everyone else who came in after Magnus and I was an American (Tom went back home up north, to get ready to move all of his things to Stockholm). Apparently the birthday bash had turned into an Au Pair/ Student Convention. Eric was from New York, and I actually ran into a girl named Brady - an Au Pair in Stockholm who is great friends with my friend Anna Nelson from the states! Small world...
After the presents were opened, we had a bunch of snacks and hopped on the Subway to come downtown. We were able to get into a really fancy nightclub because of Alexis' friendship with the Bouncer, and when I got inside, every stereotype of every European club you have ever heard came true. There were strobe lights everywhere, men and women everywhere looked like they had just walked out of a fashion magazine, and you couldn't hear yourself think. I felt like I was Dane Cook in his club skit, "I was INSIDE the SUBWOOFER". Well, it felt like it anyways...
After about two hours of fistpumping, the robot, and other dance moves that I cannot pull off, I hopped on the subway to come home! While my jetlag is gone, it is still nice to stay up late and skype with friends and family :) My mom actually just bought the new iphone, so i will be able to video call her wherever she is at! It is a great feature that many families are now taking advantage of, but my brother swears my mom is the first person in the world to be "scared" of the iPhone. It is a lot of technology for my beloved mother, but it will definitely come in handy!!
Today is the first Sunday of my time in Stockholm, so I am going to head to Saint Eric's Cathedral in Sodermalm to catch my first Mass in Sweden....should be fun! Other than that just a lot of cleaning and relaxing! Hope all is well, and I will keep you updated soon! Take care...
Phrase of the day - Hur ar Leget? (pronounced hoor air legget?) - it is a relaxed way of saying "how's it going" with out saying the customary "hur mar du" that Rosetta stone loves :)
Fanga Dagen!!
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