Julia Haupricht's Entry

Well today was alot of fun. Amsterdam is by far my favorite city we have visited this week. First we started off at the Anne Frank house, the line was kind of long to go in, but we decided to wait. I must say it was worth the wait, but the house they were in hinding in was much bigger than I had expected. The house gave me the chills, because all I could think of is what they went through and how terrible it was. I never thought I would have the chance to be standing in Anne Franks room. Next we ventured to the Heineken Brewery. It was neat to see how the Beer was made, and we got to try the hops and barely before it went into the beer. We also got bottles with our names on them, which I thought was pretty neat. After that Brooke, Kate, Marissa, Becca, Kelsey, Danny (a.k.a Brookes dad) and I all wandered into the red light district. It wasn't as bad as people make it out to be honestly, the women were fully clothed. It wasn't just women in windows, there were places to eat, and all types of people walking down the street, as if it was nothing. But I have to say the women where not very attractive. After all that excitment it was time to eat, so we hit up a Subway, because we are all missing American food. Well we finished up eating, and just wondered around and shopped until the bus came back to get us. We came back to the hotel quick, and got ready to go bowling. It was only 18-A & Coach Josh that went bowling. We had alot of fun, because it was glow bowling & they played really good music. Most of the team was more concerned with dancing than bowling. The DJ kept saying things over the mic, but it wasn't in English so we didnt really pay him much attention.

Thursday by Katie Bartlett

Today we woke up and had breakfast in the hotel. It was a little different than what I'm used to back home, but it was nice to try something new. It consisted of some deli meats, smoked salmon, cereal, eggs and a variety of breads. After that, we walked to the center of Aachen, Germany where we then split up into smaller groups and were able to do what we wanted. There were a ton of shopping stores! Although it was rainy for most of the day, all of us were equipped with umbrellas. After strolling about the town, we walked a short distance to the playing site around 8pm. We played a German team from the town. They were actually pretty decent and were good at speaking English. It was really fun to play a competetive team! When both of our teams were finished we headed to this little German restaurant situated right in the middle of the city. The food was definitely German. There was roast beef, sausage, mashed potatoes and this dish called pork knuckle! I didn't get an opportunity to try it, however one of my teammates said it was delicious!

Sydney Lenhart's post

Today was our last day in Paris. We woke up early and went to this giant church on a hill with a crazy name. It is a really well-known place in Paris and absolutely beautiful inside and out. Some of us went up to the top to see the awesome views of Paris... but it was 350 steps up and 350 steps down! The views were amazing and we could see the whole city. Then we packed up and headed for Germany. We drove 2.5 hours and reached a sports complex where we played a French team and ate with them after. After that we got back in the bus and headed for Aachen, Germany. On the ride there we played a lip syncing game and had a great time! I was also lucky enough to have to do my laundry when we settled in :(.

April 6 by Kelsey Fitzpatrick

We went to the church at the top of the hill near our hotel (Montmartre). Most beautiful place I've ever seen! Brooke, Anna and I along with Coach Josh, Coach Bill, and Mr. Zywick went shopping. We rode on the bus for 2 and a half hours to play in Northern France. We played a team from Belgium and 18 O's played a french team. Both teams were able to win all of the games. We all ate together and then it was back on the bus to Aachen, Germany.

April 6, 2010 by Nya Greenstone

We all woke up and seemingly arrived at the breakfast lounge around the same time so it was a little crowded. The food was diffferent but nice I'm sure everyone found something they liked. Some of the girls decided to go up to change into 'Paris Attire' and we all split up. I went with Jade Cunningham and her family to go shopping around the Arc de Tripmphe and found that most people from the area were either rude or liked you. Some of the other girls went to the Louvre and Notre Dame. However, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and they were upset because the walk is quite long. After a long eventful day in Paris everyone met in the hotel lobby at 6:15 and 18-O was ready to go play the French club team. After an hour bus ride through Paris' busy streets we arrive at a large facility with not only a gym but an entire futbol (soccer) stadium. We found the gym and some of the French girls were already in there warming up. We got changed and were ready to play. The French team was good but they had only one great hitter. She got us a few times with roll shots down the line and they burned us on a few serves. We adjusted well and were able to pick up a win the first game. They took the second while our Jordan Kielty injured her knee :(. We then won the thrid game which was intense because at a certain time while their setter was in the front row so was Syd. French girl tries to dump and Jordan Dunn picks it up with an amazing dig to the net and Sydney Lenthart puts it down with no return. Even the French were clapping at this point. It was fun but we had to stop before we could get to fifth game because they had school. We then went to a nice Pizzaira and ate ate ate.

April 5, 2010, by Jade Cunningham

We arrived in Paris at about noon. Our hotel is not exactly what we are use to back in America. The rooms are very small with two twin beds pushed together. Our bathroom is an okay size, but the shower is ridiculously small. Once we were all moved into our rooms we had the rest of the day to enjoy as we wished. First we took the Metro to the Arc De Triomphe which was beautiful. Our next stop, which was a quite the hike, was the Eifel Tower. It was incredible. It is so wierd to see these things in person because we usually only get the chance to view them from our television screens at home. After we were finished at the Eifel Tower we had dinner at this tiny pizzeria by our hotel. The pizza was amazing and finished out a very eventful day. Since the time difference here is so different than at home (6 hours ahead) my sleeping was all messed. Besides that my first day here was exactly what I pictured it to be.

Day One, April 5, 2010 by Brooke Zywick, 18 Antare

Today, was the first day of our long awaited trip. The flight was the longest thing I have ever experienced in my whole entire life, not to mention uncomfortable, so I didn't sleep. When we arrived in Paris I was still continuing to run on the sleep that I got the previous night. Once we left the airport, we headed to our hotel. We took a tour bus, and the bus took us through the the outskirts of the big city of Paris, and I can honestly say it was not what I expected it to be. It was pretty much like any other city in the United States, just all of the graffiti was in french, that was weird. And graffiti is better here, it looks cooler. When we got to our hotel, we all discovered that, it was, uhm, small. Extremely small. It took a while for all of us to get our rooms and what not. Alexis was my roommate, so I was hoping for a big room because I knew that with both of our wardrobes combined, it would be A LOT. The room that we got though, was not big, it was very, very, small and compact. But we made it work. Before we went off to play, we walked around the streets by our hotel and found a place to eat. I don't remember what the name of that place was, but it was good. I got a cheeseburger, it was nothing like the cheeseburgers at home. The waiter was really nice, and very patient, but we discovered that eating out in France is totally different than eating in the US. The french expect it to be like an event, a 3 hour event, when we only had about an hour. Once we were done eating, we went back to the hotel and boarded some vans that were going to take us to the place that we were going to play. When we got to the gym we saw the team and they looked very informal.. they didn't really have technique. But when we played them, they ended up being really good. We went 1 and 3. It was fun, even though we didn't play very good. Then we went to go eat with the rest of the french team back at where they normally eat. We didn't eat with them, we ate at a different table. After we ate, we went back to the hotel and decided to take a small group to go see the Eiffel Tower. It took a little while to get there, and it was pretty cold outside, but once we got there it was soooo pretty!!!! I took so many pictures. But I was so tired that I didn't really want to sit and stare at it. Once we saw it, and saw the light show, we went back to our hotel, and I fell asleep right away, and it was amazing to sleep. (:

Editor's note: I am trying to post the pictures but I haven't had the best internet connection. The beginnings of them can be found at http://gallery.me.com/joshua.pickard
The girls are working on the blogs and passing around the computer when they can. It is my hope to have one from each team from each day.