"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the road less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost

One practice, one game and five days left in Finland.. I am so excited to see my family again; I can not believe it is so soon.  Time goes by so fast.  I feel like it was just yesterday I was saying goodbye to my family at the Orlando Airport. The whole experience over here has been great.  I have enjoyed every second and really learned a lot both on and off the field. While I have been in Finland off the field I have seen reindeer, moose, gypsies, learned how to speak a lot of swedish, become a coffee drinker, ate salmiakki, become an expert bike rider, juggled in the marketplace, went to swedish school, meet so many great people and so much more.

 On the field I noticed that many players are very technical.  One thing that I think is wild is playing with players that can not speak a word of english.  I was thinking about one of the goals this girl Jenna scored two games ago and I remembered I had slid to get the ball on goal; the ball went off the post and Jenna finished it off.  After the goal she tackled me.  Jenna can not speak any English and we have not had one conversation but when we celebrated the goal we shared so much passion for the game. That passion was better than any conversation we could have had. We have not spoken a word to each other but are in love with the same game. It is bizarre but soccer really is a universal language; it is so much more than a game.

 

I'm looking forward to our last game this Saturday.  We are playing ONS; they are a really good side and if we win we have a chance of finishing second in the league.  There "is no tomorrow" after this game; literally. We have nothing to lose and are fit for the last fight together as a team. After the game on saturday we are having a sauna party with the team.  On Sunday we are having a team farewell dinner.  I am going to miss the girls.  Goodbyes are never fun but I know it will be a great weekend.