life with the cows

I always wonder what I am going to title these posts and then I just sit here and let something come to me. The reason I named this one "life with the cows" is because there is a fence around the astro (which is what they call the turf field) and then maybe 20 feet away is a fence and a ton of cows were there today against the fence eating I guess? They are usually farther away because I hadn't seen them when I have been on the field and the girls acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary...just cows. Wonder what was for dinner...haha just kidding. So today I taught them some Denver drills. I always jump in and play with them and actually got sad today realizing I wouldn't be playing lax with my Denver girls anymore:-( Also, I realized that I talk in the present tense saying things like "well at Denver we do this...my coach always tells us..." One example today was during a lacrosse lesson during the day, there were about 10 seniors and they were just very blah and not wanting to be there (granted it was raining off and on go figure) and so I told them to fake it. Just act happy like you are having the time of your life and would not want to be anywhere else. Liza used to tell us this all the time and it actually works because you start to exaggerate the excitement and then it just becomes funny and somewhat obnoxious, nonetheless lightening the mood. I also had them do dirty band aid which is a 3v2 in front of the goal but we couldn't name it that because they call band aids plasters (plastas) so that made me sad because I had been calling it that for 4 years. I had them all line up on the endline and go one by one off the line yelling and running and as soon as they had to take a breath, they had to stop running and they loved it. One girl literally got 5 feet because she started laughing (I thought of Sarajane:-)) and then a couple others stopped because they were laughing too. Overall, they are all a great group of girls who love learning and are good at lax. Ceri says I have to teach more because they are so intrigued with everything I say that they pay such close attention whenever I talk. Sometimes they don't know what I'm saying and it makes me laugh because I forget I have an accent to them. During a drill I said "talk it up" and they looked at me like I had 5 heads. I was like ohhh I mean keep talking..communicating..haha. Today at lunch I learned that Ceri is picking up on my American language saying defense with a long "e" in the "de" and pants instead of trousers and she said her parents asked her a question and she said "uh huh" and then was shocked because she didn't know where it came from haha They also say things like car park instead of parking lot, boot of the car instead of trunk, and things I hear everyday where it makes me go "hmm". I realized that when they say tshirts, they mean polo shirts. The girls practice in kilts and polos-that is their gym "kit". When they play sports, everything they need for that sport is called their "kit". I will think of some others and let you know because it is very cool to hear how different it is. They call z's zeds and h's are hache with a long "a". I started adding milk to my tea a couple days ago-not sure why..just seemed like the right thing to do. I asked them why they are so against "zeds" and they just laughed and also why everything with an "or" also needs a "u" to be "our" like colour, favourite, etc. I have been working with a couple goalies teaching them what I know which is more than you would think and just printed some stuff online to read about it and have been working on attack and draws and other things too. It's fun helping with every part of the game and teaching them what I know. I went into Bristol with Ceri last night to get my sim card for a phone and the whole way back I told her about sports in America and college sports, particularly lacrosse and she said she could listen to me talk about it all day because it was so cool and she wishes she experienced it. Made me feel bittersweet about it-happy I experienced it and have all the memories sports related and nonsports related but also sad that it's over..oh and also today she told me that when I got out of the car last night I was like "cya, it's been real!" and she goes I sat there and thought "real? well yeah it was real.. what did she just say?" haha it made me laugh really hard and then they asked what I meant by that. I was like I don't know..real..like fun..good times. ok well like all my other ones this is extremely long. Sorry!! I will write again soon. Glad I am not writing in my journal though because my hand would probably fall off so thank the Lord for blogs huh?:-) Still working on getting wireless in my flat, I told the tech guys I would meet them here in the morning after my lessons and that I'd be waiting-I am sure they hate me haha but I miss my fellow Americans and need to skype and see everyone!! k talk soon!

xoxo,
dp