Hello Friends and Fam!
I have been a bad blogger, which means I'm looking back at almost 2 full months of life that has passed by without being recorded. Moments like this always leave me wondering how 2 months have flown by so quickly! Now I'm looking at the last 2 days of April on my calendar, thinking about the upcoming playoffs for the team, and planning out my personal Summerfest 2011!
One exciting piece of news: I recently signed a contract to come back to Dresden for the 2011-2012 season! As one of the most indecisive people in the history of the world, I despise having to make big decisions, and find myself questioning my decision-making skills at every turn. But in the end I decided that my situation in Dresden is too good to throw out the window in search for something better, and I'm excited about the future.
One of the best things about coming back for a second year? I feel justified making those purchases that nomads tend to avoid! 1st came a vacuum cleaner.. that was a HUGE step. But now? The options are endless! A bike to get around during nice weather? I'm currently scouring the Dresden version of Craigslist! Clothes that won't make the trip back to the states due to luggage weight restrictions? No prob! I can just leave them here over the summer! Curtains to replace the sheets that I have hanging over the windows right now? I'm not going to get too carried away, but the possibility is there! I think I hear IKEA calling my name :)
Other than the re-signing process madness, March and April had some other exciting moments:
1) Klagenfurt-related excitement: The first weekend of March I was able to spend a weekend in Klags, spending some good time with Marco and Sophie and getting to see some other awesome friends. I watched as Marco successfully de-boned my whole fish dinner at Firenze, and as Floki successfully downed 2 (two!) tiramisu desserts at DaPietro even after appetizers and main course! That was a great start to the spring-ish season.
2) Hockey-related excitement: As I may or may not have mentioned, Dani and Tesha and I were lucky enough to get to know some of the guys from our local hockey team this year, and we got to watch their playoff run in March til mid-April. Fortunately for all of us, the DSC--Eis-Loewen (Ice Lions) friendship extends into the team administrations, so we were able to get VIP tickets to almost every home game that we were able to attend, and that was where we spent many Friday evenings!
When their season ended with a loss in the 2nd round, we got to celebrate with a big group of them before they took off for their respective homes. This meant several crazy nights (Pier 15, Shamrocks) and a couple awesome days (Schillergarten beer gardens, and Markus receiving bets to swim across the Elbe!)
A couple of them have already re-signed to come back next year, which is great news for me because it means I'll have some friendly faces to see when I come back after summer. (What a novel idea, not having to start my social network from scratch for once??) But several are already looking towards options outside of Dresden, whether hockey-related or not, so I was bummed to say goodbye!
3) Berlin-related excitement: You might think that I would get tired of being a tourist in Berlin, but apparently that's not possible for me. In mid-March we took a girls-trip to Berlin, and it was a BLAST. Tesha lived in Berlin for a year, so she was no newbie, and Sandra is from Dresden so she has obviously done some traveling there in the past. But Dani had never been, so we made sure to see as many tourist attractions as possible! We had lunch at the Hard Rock for some American nostalgia (although the waiter's bathroom jokes make Tesha nauseous and unable to eat her Bacon Cheeseburger) and stopped at Dunkin Donuts (only in Berlin!) before heading home that evening. But my FAVORITE part of the day was a trip from Brandenburger Tor to Alexanderplatz on an 8-seater bicycle, lead by an awesome head-peddler/tour-guide!
After the hockey season ended, our friend Markus headed back to his home in Berlin for the summer, which gave us another excuse to visit last Friday, while Marco was here visiting! Once again, we had a first-timer on board, and I was excited to get a chance to show Marco some of the awesome capital city. Thankfully this time Markus was our expedition leader (which meant absolutely no organizational stress for Anna/Sandra/Dani/Marco!), and we rented bikes (single seaters) and spent the day riding through the city. We also managed to squeeze in a boat tour, which was beautiful!
4) Talia-related excitement: On April 19th, Talia turned 26!
5) Marco-related excitement: After Marco's season ended the last weekend of March, he found himself with a little more free-time on the weekends, as well as a week of basketball-free Easter break. He chose to use some of this time to come visit me in Dresden, and I couldn't be more thankful. It was great to have him here for a weekend at the beginning of April, and during his Easter break week he got a chance to spend some time with the people that I spend so much of my time here with!
6) Volleyball-related excitement: Despite the amazingly crazy luck we've had this year with regards to injuries and illnesses, our team has held on to the #1 ranking in our league, and with the points we've accumulated, we're actually now locked in to the #1 seed going into playoffs. It's easy to say that now quite matter-of-factly, but this is the result of many months of hard work and several important unexpected wins along the way! When our 1st setter was out with mono, our younger setter Linda stepped up to the plate and did great. Since one of our starting outside hitters went down with an ACL tear, we've had several girls come through with game-changing performances that kept us on top. Dani, who has been struggling through shoulder rehab, has come in with clutch plays in tough situations, all while battling pain!
Volleyball is definitely a team-sport, but when everyone is healthy and fit, sometimes it can come down to the same 7-8 people making all the points on the court. But this year, everyone has been called upon to play a big role at some point or another, and we're all hoping that we can keep the ball rolling through the playoffs and end up on top!
OK, I think that's all the excitement that I can think of at the moment. Our weather has been up and down, but I think we're in a slow warming trend, to where I feel comfortable wearing a t-shirt on most days! I'm very aware that our season is coming to a close, and I'm trying to enjoy my last few weeks with Dani and Tesha around, since I don't know who is going to be sticking around with me here next season. Other than that, I'm looking forward to making a great run in the championship, and then to the adventures that await me this summer. Should be a blast!
Hope all is well wherever this post finds you!
XOXOX
Anna
