The Roller Coaster That Is My Season

Oh the roller coaster that is my season. 2 weeks ago, we lost to a team that had no business beating us and I played like poo. Following the loss our team decided enough was enough and we put together a great week of practices and we won the next week. Who knew? Good week of practice with good attendence= win the following game…I played my best game all season in that win, but pulled a muscle in my leg. I must have adjusted the way I was walking to compensate for the pain in my leg and as a result I hurt my back...Luckily or unluckily, I’m a veteran when it comes to back injuries and I had packed my back brace from college. I saw the physio/trainer during the week he said it was nothing major or structural. As for practice that week, I think we may have been smelling our own fumes from the win because it was mediocre at best. During the weekend we traveled to Manchester to play Megan’s team and lost- by 20. I believe we had 28 turnovers for the game which is basically disrespectful to the game itself. I didn’t score a lot but I thought I played well, but when you lose by 20 it all feels the same in the end. We have 2 games left until the playoffs begin. Its crazy because despite the losses, I really feel like we have a good team and could beat anyone in the league on any given day.



In non basketball news not too much new has been going on. I stayed up in Manchester for the weekend with Megan. Her dad was also visiting and a friend of ours named Ed who flew in from Barcelona. We drove to a place called Harrogate and had traditional afternoon tea at a place called ‘Betty’s’. I had no idea as to what to expect, but I did know that afternoon tea is actually a typical mealtime like lunch or breakfast. Most English people have afternoon tea with biscuits or whatever their choosing, but I learned only the rich posh Brits or the tourists have tea like we were about to experience. We got there around 3 or so and definitely had to wait at least 30 minutes to be seated, but it was well worth it At our ‘afternoon tea’ we had finger sandwiches (smoked salmon and egg mayonaise (egg salad)), sultana scones with butter and preserves, biscuits (small pastry/cookie like things) and tea with of course milk and sugar. The food was served on a nice multi-level tray and the the tea in a nice mini teapot. The tea was brewed in loose tea leaves that were still in the pot so we had to use this nice mini-strainer that rested nicely on our cups. I of course was the first person to pour my tea and didn’t realize that I needed to filter out the leaves so I had some nice floaties in my cup, but that’s alright. We took pictures despite the smirks from the servers behind the lens. Normally I try to avoid be labeled the tourist, but this was one of those times I didn’t really care.



Honestly not too much else has been going on with me. I’ve been trying to get all my paperwork in for my summer camp job that starts in mid-June. Also, I have been putting together a coaches’ notebook for camp making sure I have a reference for all drills, techniques, and specific points of emphasis that I want to make sure I cover.



I’ve been very aware of my spending habits lately because I am trying to save money for a mini Euro-trip that I am planning on taking right after the end of the season with Megan. Consequently, my days have been fairly low key with a lot of reading and researching for the trip. During our trip we will visit Prague Czech Republic, Berlin Germany, Copenhagen Denmark, and Stockholm Sweden. From there we will fly to Barcelona Spain where I fully intend on being a tan freeloader while staying with a friend who lives there for about 10 days!! If anyone reading this has any suggestions on what to see or where to go in any of these places I would love to hear about them!!



My flat mates and I had dinner together the other night and I got out the carton of milk to pour myself a glass. After taking my first sip, I looked up at both Luci and Patricia with their jaws on the floor. They were shocked that I was having milk with dinner and they couldn’t get over it. Apparently, this is really American. Paty even went as far as to compare it to pouring wine in your cereal in the morning- that’s how strange it was to them. It was such unexpected culture difference Because of daily things like this that happen to me- whether they are things I say or things I do- I decided to make a list of English language words that are have different meanings in America and Britain.



Cotton buds= Q-tips

Biscuits= cookies

Sweets=candy

Have a go= give it a try

Physio= trainer

Varnish= nail polish

Purse= female wallet

Wallet=male wallet

Handbag=purse

Salad= lettuce on your sandwich

Bum Bag=Fanny Pack

Fanny Pack= Never say this!! See below

Fanny=nickname for women’s private area

Courgette= zucchini

Aubergine= eggplant

Rucksack=backpack

Bibs= jerseys we use at practice to distinguish teams

Nappies-=diapers

Dummies= pacifiers (for a baby)

Skip= dumptster

Petrol=gas for your car

Taking the Mickey= making fun

Taking the piss= making fun

Lorries=semi-trucks

Kit= uniform

Oh the Funk...

It’s been a while since I have last written…partly because we did not have a game last weekend and partly because not too much has been going on. Let’s see, what has happened…Staying true to my Lenten commitment to abstain from alcholol, I have had many opportunites to drive my friends home lately which is always an adventure. Driving on the other side of the road, and the car, and shifting gears with your left hand is intense. British people tend to be a lot more free with honking their horn. In fact, basically everyone outside of the US seems to use their horn for different purposes. For example, the US honk is an exagerated slam on the horn, "BBBBEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP!!!" usually translated into, "Sh**!! What the F***!! IDIOT!!" and I tend to take it quite personally, always scanning the scene to make sure it was not directed at me. However, the international honk can sometimes mean the same as the American, but more often is "beep", "Hey mate, just making sure you see me- Cheers!!" I think the horn usage is due to the fact that there is so much city driving. Its not like you can just hop on I-5 and put your car in cruise control until you get there. Driving here is intense, with massive roundabouts and the smallest lanes you have ever seen. Surpsisingly, I enjoy it quite a bit...

Valentines Day was quite uneventful, although I did go out to dinner with the girls and fell down the stairs at the restaurant- which is always fun.

Since moving in to our new place, we have learned that somewhere within the general smelling vicinity there is a sewage treatment plant, and every now and again is just plain FUNKY!! In 'smellilar' news (hehe), the people who live below us consistently cook raunchy Chinese food and the smell lingers in the hall for days. I don't want to know what the inside of their flat smells like considering the smell in the hallway makes my eyes water. I mean, it’s a dead sprint for me to get up the stairs, fight through the ‘funk’, open our door and get to what I like to call, the “safe zone”!! Luckily unlike heat, ‘funk’ does not rise.

This week, my teammate gave me a couple of guest passes to her gym. She told me it was nice, but a gym is a gym so I didn’t think too much of it- until I got there. This place was crazy!! To access any of the equipment you have to insert a card/key into the machine. In this card is a record of all your previous workouts, how much weight you lifted, or how far you ran, how many calories you burned off, etc. You can program your workouts into it as well so you know what exercises to do. It even charts your cardio workouts in comparison to the Tour De France if you ride the bike (i.e. which stage of the tour you would be at considering how far you’ve biked since you’ve joined the gym) or the New York Marathon if you use the treadmill (i.e. which borough matches the distance you have run). I felt like my parents or grandparents astounded by the latest technology, with the words, "Back in my day..." about to jump off the tip of my tongue. There was also a gorgeous pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna….all that good stuff. This place was incredibly impressive- even a bit glamorous which got me thinking. Are workouts glamorous? I know I don’t feel glamorous when I work out considering I sweat as much as the Shaq in the fourth quarter. Having access to all of the latest technology and gym equipment is fantastic and why not take advantage of it if you can, but I think I’ve seen the ‘Rocky’ movies a few too many times. There is something about getting through a workout despite the circumstance; it’s that extra fight in you that makes you want something that much more because it’s difficult. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m out chasing chickens like good ol’ Rock, but I’m just saying that I have much respect for those people who have the fight in them to disregard the conditions and get the job done even when it’s not easy.

Which brings me to our game this weekend which I would like to avoid writing about, but am hoping that writing will bring healing….Why would I need healing? Read on…

As I mentioned earlier we did not have a game the weekend of the 16th and our coach gave us basically a week off… I used it as an opportunity to get in the gym to get some shots up and work on my game. Then we had practice on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday this week to prepare for our game. Well, we had 7 people at practice on Tuesday, 5 people on Thursday and 2 people on Friday…DOS PERSONAS!! (1 person came half way through, so 2.5 to be fair). UNBELEIVABLE!! Well, having not practiced with a full team in two weeks we headed into our games yesterday against a team that has won I think ONE game all season- and we lost…yes lost. I can honestly say that I played as bad as I think I have played since I can remember which is crazy in my mind since I felt great before the game... My shot felt really good, I had a great warm-up, felt loose and ready to go… And then the ref threw the ball up for the opening tip and the nightmare began. I really don’t know what happened with me, but I threw the ball all over the gym (turnovers for those non ballers out there) and couldn’t hit a shot if my life depended on it…I think the only thing I can think of is that I was worked up mentally about people not coming to practice that week and the lack of commitment shown by a few of my teammates. However, I really tried to bag those negative thoughts because I knew it was something I had no control over. Well, I can be pissed about that until the cows come home, but the people that missed practice outplayed me- straight up. I didn’t play in the 4th quarter, and frankly looking back I didn’t deserve it. I take full responsibility for what I did out ther and point no fingers. I believe in a few of my other blog entries I spoke about basketball being just a game and I have learned to separate basketball with the rest of my life. Well, that method of thinking has been completely thrown out the window in the last 48 hours… I've been in a FUNK- let me tell you. I’m pissed…mostly at myself for not being strong enough to pull myself out of my funk during the game, and pissed we lost to a team with who we should have wiped the floor. Oh boy...But I'm gonna bounce back, that's for sure. Can't wait til practice this week...We play next weekend and I WILL be ready.

My Rant...

This week I got a job…well a job for when I go back to the US at least. I have a friend (LOVE YOU BETH!!) who works for a summer camp in Massachusetts. For her, it’s a full time job, not just in the summers so she’s constantly planning and getting things together. Well, she told me that the camp was looking for a head basketball director and asked me if I’d be interested. I said of course and got the camp directors information. It turned out that they did recruiting for counselors in the UK and were coming to London. I met up with them and they offered me the job!! I will be heading to Massachusetts in mid June and won’t be coming home until the end of August. You know me, still trying to delay the whole adult life!!

Lent began on Wednesday and in the tradition of giving something up I decided to abstain from alcohol. Its not like I drink all that much anyways, but I decided to change it up from my normal rotation of giving up fast food, swearing, sweets, or shopping. My flat mate Lucy recently made me drive her car back from the grocery store in an audition to be her new designated driver!! You know how we have fat Tuesday in the US? It’s supposed to be about loading up on your vices before you abstain for the Lenten season. Well, in the UK, they have Pancake Day. I wasn’t really sure what was going on because the week leading up to Pancake Day, at the grocery store there were endless displays of pancake mix. Being the Colombo that I am, I figured it out so I am now sharing my learning experience with you!

This weekend I had an Oprah moment. For those of you who don’t know what an Oprah moment is, she always speaks of ‘coming full circle’ and basically having a self-epiphany. For me, my full circle moment involved me being an American. Growing up, I was as patriotic as any other kid, I mean I had American flag high top Cnverse for goodness sakes. I paid attention as best I could in history class, memorized the essential names and dates, and generally thought of my country as a great place. As I’ve gotten older though, American history has become less about the rhetoric and more about the reality. The book I am currently reading is entitled, “A Peoples History of the United States” by Howard Zinn. If you’ve never read it, trust me, it’s a MUST read. It gives insight about the people- slaves, women, the poor, etc.- and what their lives were like and will basically blow away your perception of how this country has evolved. However, even knowing some of America’s dirty laundry, I think there is something in me, that’s in every American for that matter, that gets a little puffy chested and patriotic when the star spangled banner is played.

Living out of the country has allowed me to get an insight to what the rest of the world really thinks about us Yanks. Being the only American on my team, there is quite a bit of friendly banter that goes on about silly things such as fast food to more serious things such as American foreign policy. It’s all in good fun, but it’s obvious that the world sees us a certain way, and its not always in a positive light. If I’ve learned anything from my experience abroad, I’ve learned that I am a walking representation of my country and can either live up to or defy stereotypes that others may have of us.

…Why the rant about America? This weekend we played the top team in the league. They are a solid team, with a big budget, that play in the FIBA cup (this means that besides our league play, they are simultaneously playing in a tournament with top teams throughout the rest of Europe). Well, we got KILLED…by 45…points…No, that is not a typo. So we are down 40 in the 4th quarter and the 2 American girls on their team (of course) were talking trash and acting like they wanted to fight someone. THEY WERE UP 40!! What’s the point? I think they even had 2 flagrant fouls called on them. Maybe as I’ve grown up I’ve lost my “going into battle” mentality when walking on the basketball court, but I do not apologize for that. Basketball is a game. A game, that’s it. Of course I want to win every time I step on the court, but I will win with class and lose with class. These girls just have no idea that with that game, they are fed into every stereotype that the rest of the world has of arrogant, ignorant, disrespectful Americans.

Moving...Check!!

I finally moved into my new place!! I am living with two of my teammates, Lucy and Patricia in a nice flat in a lovely little area called Isleworth. Obviously, it’s pretty easy for me to move considering I only have what was allowed of me on the plane which is roughly equal to the weight of one of the Olson twins. My flatmates, however, had a more in depth move.

Both Lucy and Paty have full time jobs so the only option was to move in the evening. Terry, our coach, volunteered one of his friends, Jack, who has a large van to help with the big ticket items, beds, tv’s, all that good stuff. Honestly, by the look on Jack’s face I don’t think he realized exactly what he signed up for, but he was a trooper considering we really didn’t know him. We packed the first load into the van, drove across the city and arrived at our new place around 10pm. We tried to be quiet and not be the rude new neighbors in our building (where there are about 6 other tenants), but trying to be quiet while moving a bigscreen TV up 2 flights of stairs is almost impossible. I kind of felt like a robber in reverse. Instead of taking stuff from somebody’s place in the middle of the night, we were moving stuff in and trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake up the neighbors. Luckily, we weren’t the rude new tenants because no one woke up to tell us we were too loud. At least now I know if this whole basketball thing doesn’t work out, I can always find work as a bandit.

All that moving reminded me of my sophomore year in college. Now, if you are interested in unique methods for cruel and unusual punishment go ahead and write this down. Make someone lift as much as they can, as many times as they can (max out) with both their arms and legs. Then, immediately force them to move all their crap out of a dorm room without an elevator. This is what my basketball coach decided to do that on the last day of school. She wanted to see how much we could lift in the weight room so she could tell how much we improved over the summer. Fair enough, but Megan and I still had to move ALL of our stuff into a storage unit. Of course we did our duty in the weight room and walked back to our unpacked dorm room with jelly legs and arms. Have your legs ever been so dead that when you walk down stairs you have to literally have no control over the depth that they bend so you end up flailing your body as fast as you can down the stairs just hoping that your feet will at least stay under you when you get to the bottom? Yeah…me too…well, imagine you’re holding a 36” TV as well…


I had my first day coaching at a primary school on Tuesday. When I spoke with the woman who was in charge of assigning coaches she told me that I would probably get about 20 kids or so. That’s a good number for a group, but she then casually threw in another important bit of information, that I would only have 1 BASKET!! 1 BASKET?? Are you kidding? 1 basket+ 20 kids= too many kids standing around!! Luckily, I had a chance to collect some ideas from a couple people as well as tap into my right brain to get creative. I felt like the basketball MacGuver or something…and had to make a bomb out of a toothpick and a bobby pin. Thankfully, things went just fine.

We had a game this weekend against the London Towers, our cross city rivals!! Not really, but it sounds like it would be a rivalry considering we are the only 2 London teams. We started off really strong in the first quarter and jumped on them 17-2 in the opening minutes. But then we had a few fouls called and the next thing we knew they were on the free throw line and we were only up by 7 going into the 2nd quarter. We played well in the 2nd and were up by about 18 at halftime. Well, our usual 4th quarter woes came a bit early this game. In the 3rd, we couldn’t score and they rallied to within about 6 points I think at one time. It was not pretty and I think we only scored 8 points total that quarter. In the 4th we picked it up slightly and ended up with a W, winning by 12 or so. Thank the Lord because we need a win to break our 4 game losing streak.

Life at the new flat is good, but I’m still getting used to the transportation aka buses that I need. The 267 bus is my go-to bus. It pretty much gets me everywhere I need to go, yoga, the train station- wherever. But this thing is never on time. NEVER!! It’s not the driver or the bus’s fault, but the route it takes always has traffic. I was late meeting Helen, the woman I paint with by 1 ½ hours this week which made me feel horrible. I can’t stand being late. Ever since then (and the time I had to wait out in the cold for 40 minutes after yoga with wet hair) I have this overwhelming desire to flip the bird at the 267 whenever I see it. Obviously I’m not chasing the bus down giving it the finger, but for some reason just thinking about giving the bus the bird makes me laugh and usually shed some needed light on the situation.

Birthday Week

Since my last entry, there has been kind of a major event...my BIRTHDAY people! Yes, I'm the big 1/4...thats 1/4 of a century!! So I treated my self to a nice shopping adventure on Oxford Street in London, and then I bought some Haagen Daz and watched about 5 episodes of Sex and the City!! It was great! All formal birthday celebrations, however, were postponed until after our game on Saturday...


Which brings you to the game against the Nottingham Wildcats. We lost, AGAIN, but I must say we played better than I think we have in the last 4 games. So that's the positive, but its still a loss which, for lack of a better word, sucks!! I played alright, despite having 3 fouls in the first 5 minutes of the game!! It was one of those games that there were so many whistles from the refs, that one wondered if they got paid commission for fouls. In the end we ended up losing by 10 because we had to foul to stop the clock at the end, but the score was much closer than it looked.


In England it is customary for the home team to provide sandwiches and other food for after the game for a nice little social between both teams. To be honest, last season I thought it was a joke when the girls told me where we were going after we were finshed showering. I think its an American thing to not want anything to do with the opposing team before or after the game. Its easier to go against the enemy/opposing team when you simply hate them because they have a different color jersey than you. Again, I think this is where I have grown as a person. I've learned to take care of business on the court, but understand its okay to speak with the other team afterwards and even find out their individual stories. I'm okay, you're okay...

Last year, I was also a little thrown off by the cuisine choices for these post-game shin-digs. Typical sandwiches include tuna and sweetcorn (quite nice!!), cucumber and cheese (unusual but nice!), tomato and cheese, just plain shredded cheese, egg mayonaise (egg salad- yum), ham and cheese ( i like that one!!) tomato and something that is brown and pickled (the brown stuff throws me off), or any of the above with the additon of something called salad cream. You better believe that my team knows when its my turn to make sandwhiches there will be peanut butter and jelly (apparently, REALLY american), because every now and again I need a little piece of home!!

The postgame birthday celebrations were a lot of fun despite the loss. We had cake-with candles thank you very much!! and bubbly after the game...I think i heard the Happy Birthday song in English, French, Spanish and Portugese. We then went out for some drinks at our favorite pub in Richmond called the Orange Tree. After a few drinks, a lot of laughs, and the usual amount of picture taking, I realized I was tired, I believe to be a product of my new age and we called it a night by about 12.

Well, as many of you know one of my first real jobs at the tender age of 18 was at a paint company back in Seattle. Yes, I was an office assistant and spoke freely of epoxies, 7" rollers, and polyurethane satin finish powder coatings. Well, as Oprah would say, I have come full circle and am now a basketball player/interior painter in England!! No, here is the story, one of my teammates (Stacey) mum's has her own company and needs a hand every now and again. And since I have a flexible schedule I gladly offered my time!! I dont mind at all since we dont have training until 8pm so it gives me something to do to earn some extra pounds (plus she's a sweetheart!!).

In addition to interior design:) I have also began doing Bikram Yoga. Now, for all you athletes out there who turn your nose up at yoga and assume its for people who are not athletes, go and sit through a 90 minute Bikram Yoga class and you will be served a nice big slice of HUMBLE PIE!! Its a serious workout let me tell you. This particular kind of yoga is in 100 degree humid heat. My sister Jessica (miss you Jess!) used to attend classes religiously and got me to join her one morning. I had no idea what I was getting into, but had a much deeper respect for her as well as all of the other students in the class. Anyway, I signed up here in England for an unlimited monthly pass for a non impact workout to keep fit...

In other news, my team is scheduled to play the University of North Carolina Tarheels on May 23rd. Yeah, um read that again... Thats not a typo. The University of North Carolina Tarheels...not Northwest Carolina Tech A&M or whatever, but the real deal TARHEELS!! I guess the current #3 team in NCAA are off on an international tour and are stopping in London and want to get a game in. Our season is actually finished in mid April, but my flight home is not until May 14th (going traveling again). Well, I believe I am going to change my flight so I can get in this GAME!!

Here we go again...

I'm back in England playing basketball for another season. That is such a simple statement but the road to making that a complete truthful sentence was quite a long and bumpy one full of u-turns and detours. Nonetheless, I'm back!!

I arrived back in London on December 31st, (New Years Eve and also my moms birthday) after a 10 hour flight. It wasnt all that bad, I just didnt sleep which is unusual because after backpacking for 7 weeks last summer in Europe I was convinced I had narcoleptic tendencies.

Well I got here and was greeted by one of my teammates Ruth and my coach Terry who immediately asked me if I had lost weight. I didnt think I had, but that question was like a late Christmas present after I felt like I had stuffed my face all holiday season!!

I took a quick power nap and after a steady flow of Red Bull was ready to bring in the New Year in Greenwich mean time!! We went into the city and ended up battling the crowds to get down to the banks of the River Thames to watch the fireworks go off above the London Eye, think glorified ferris wheel, and Parliment Building. Well it was a little too cloudy to see the actual fireworks but it was a nice setting. Okay, horray New Year!! But I was knackered (english for tired), so we embarked on the journey back home which on a normal day would have taken about 15 minutes. New Years however, was a whole new ballgame. With all the police barracades it actually ended up taking a solid 2.5 hours- no joke!! I guess the most shocking thing about that night was not the volume of people but the volume of rubbish (garbage). If you have ever been to London you might have noticed that finding a garbage can is pretty close to impossible. The ones you do find are usually clear a skeleton of a can so you can see everything that is inside. Well, I was told that this was because of the bombs planted throughtout the city by the IRA (Irish Republican Army) in the 70's 80's and 90's. As a result most garbage cans were removed which makes for a messy New Years Eve!!

Well, that week we had training where I was introduced to my teammates. The majority of them are from last year but a few are new. My team is probably the most diverse team in the entire league. We have 4 English girls, 2 Brazilian, 1 French, 1 Spanish, 1 Italian, 1 Scottish girl and me, the sole American. Communication on the court can be hard, but off the court it usually provides hours of comical entertainment with mispronunciations and word usage issues...

The first week back we played Manchester, the team my mate Megan plays for, although she didnt play because of an injury. We won- it was really close. I played pretty well for my first game back, but still got to shake the game rust...

That 2nd week I kind of went homeless and I stayed with 4 different people in the course of a week. There were some ususual circumstances, but I now have a place I can stay in (dont worry mom!) until I move into a new flat with Lucy and Patricia (Brazilians) on the 24th of January. The club has tried a variety of diffent housing ideas for me, but sometimes things don't exactly pan out for whatever reason. Bottom line, I have realized that being able to unpack is one of the most under rated things I've just taken for granted in the past.



I'm going to just fast forward to the last 3 games in which we are 0-3. Mind you we played the #3 team in the league 2x and the #2 team 1x but regardless, we still lost. This is a rough little patch for our team, but I think this is where I have evolved as a basketball player and more importantly as a person. When I was in college after we lost (which seeemed to happen a lot more than we won) I was absolutely pissed after a game for about 3 days. I always felt personally responsible and that by me denying myself fun or happiness that it somehow made the situation better. Um, not anymore. Oh I'm pissed , but after a quality shower and something to eat after the game I'm over it. Dont get me wrong, losing sucks and it still bothers me, but I think I've learned to compartmentalize that feeling and use it for basketball motivation only. After all, my life is pretty good!!