Ups and Downs

The last 14 days have been a whirlwind. So many problems that faced us before have finally been resolved but in their place more and perhaps bigger problems have surfaced. Chasing this Olympic dream has led Jen and I on so many adventures and has put us in contact with so many great people that I am sure we will look back with fondness on it all when it is over, perhaps even laugh at some of the situations we were in; however, currently dealing with everything tests Jen and I to the limit. I am so grateful to have her by my side through all this and to have such great support from both our families and friends. So, to chronicle our continuing highs and low’s, I write on.

First off, Jen and I would like to express our upmost thanks and gratitude to the Self’s. Without them, Germany 2.0 would NOT have been possible. They gave us a home for over three months, they fed us, they invited us into their lives and got way more than they bargained for. They spent so much money and time on two young kids who they barely knew. Food, water, beer, their vastly increased water, gas, and electric bills, they covered everything. Ken was there when Jen ran out of gas on a two-lane road in the middle of a traffic jam. Ken and Hans drove Jen and I to every practice and game for two months before Jen got her car. Bettina cooked amazingly tasty feasts almost every night and allowed us to use her kitchen like it was our own. We invaded their home, their lives, their cars and they never made us feel unwelcome or like the intruders we were. Jen and I will forever be indebted to the Self’s and can never thank them enough for what they did for us.

With that said, we have been looking for a place of our own; a home that would be our own and would allow the Self’s to again retain their own home and privacy. So, last Tuesday, when Jen came home from practice and told me her coach had another place for us to stay, we immediately packed our bags and while Jen was at work on Wednesday I packed all of our belongings into the Punto (yes, everything we have fits in a two-door hatchback), and started driving to our new place. Unfortunately, with the added weight, the Punto’s brakes finally gave out and the car became near undrivable. I ended up picking up Jen from work at noon and we started driving towards Giessen in a broke down car towards what we thought was a place of own. In a continuing theme of us getting pooped on by Jen’s team, Jen’s coach never called and we were left stranded in a rest area on the A5 in the middle of Germany with nowhere to go. Not a good feeling. So, we begged Jen’s teammate for help with the car (we didn’t know where to take it or who would pay for it) and a place to stay. To make a long story not as long, we have been staying at Jen’s teammates house for the last two weeks and will probably be here until the end of the month. The car was also fixed, however we took a thrashing from the auto mechanic in German for not bringing it in sooner and Jen had to borrow a teammates car to get to work and meetings the next two days.

In related apartment news, we have found a place to live, an apartment in Friedberg, which is located in the middle of Jen’s work (20 minutes South), her team (20 minutes North) and my team (20 minutes East). However, the owner of the apartment decided to do some renovating before Jen’s team forked over the money for the deposit, so we have to wait until December 1st to move in. We hope Jen’s team will be forthcoming with the money and very soon and than, finally, we will have a place we can make a home and a place that will cut Jen’s daily driving in half. I must say though, that our new temporary digs with Jen’s teammate are pretty sweet. We have our own bed, a flat screen with many channels and the best part of all, the bathroom has a urinal!! It’s the small things in life, my friends.

In good news, Jen officially received word yesterday that she is in the system and that her player pass is finished. She is cleared to play and should make her first appearance in over two months for TV Mainzlar Saturday night. Jen has received all of her work papers and permits as well, which means she is legal to stay in Germany. Hooray! And with her now being legal and making so much money, I was able to go to the foreigner place today and I was able to prove that through Jen I have the means to support myself without help from the German Government and that I have insurance through Jen as well and therefore was able to take into my possession a residence permit allowing me to stay in the country as well. My time in Germany was becoming very short and with this permit, Jen and I are now legal and welcome in Germany for the next year. Big breath of fresh air and a lot of stress gone now that that mess is taken care of.

Our new hosts are very kind and nice people as well. Svenja is Jen’s teammate and her boyfriend Uhli is a physiotherapist. Svenja is a masterful cook like Bettina and Uhli enjoys beer and soccer, so we naturally get along. They have welcomed us with open arms and an open fridge. Even though they thought we were only going to be staying for a short time (2-3 days) and not till the end of the month, they have continued to be friendly and compensating. I can only hope we are all still getting along by the end of the month; I know Jen and I, especially me, wear on people and I pray their patience is ever-lasting. We have been switching off cooking meals and I do my best housewife routine helping with cleaning and such while Jen is at work.


Now let’s take a trip together, imagine with me for a second, that you are near the end of a two week vacation. You are sun burnt, you have worked out properly while on vacation and your tired of sharing a hotel room with your significant others. You have been living out of your luggage for two weeks and the small amount of clean clothes you have left seem to have mingled with all the dirty clothes and you can’t decipher which is which. This is frustrating, no? Probably the worst part of the vacation is realizing the only clean shirt you have left is wrinkled and smells like your week and a half old underwear anyway. Well, if you can imagine that, than multiply it by eight and you know how we feel. The end of this month will mark the fourth month we have lived out of our luggage. We have piles of clothes on top of bags surrounded by shoes and boots and jackets. I don’t have a job, so I basically wear the same thing everyday (think college) but I can only imagine how frustrating it is for Jen to have find work clothes every day digging through five different bags. Not to mention the fact that two-thirds or more of her work clothes are not even in Germany; she is quickly running out of options and from what I am told, it is not acceptable to wear the same thing every week. I would imagine some women are freaking out just reading this and thinking about what Jen is going through. I only say this to drive home how excited we are to have our own home finally and to try and show everybody what we are going through to follow this dream of representing our country.

For those of you at home, training in the comfort of your usual surroundings, do not take for granted what those over here have and are giving up to make USA Handball a real and better operation. Gabe Goodreau is flying home next week because he couldn’t get his papers or a job. He spent four months spending his savings and sleeping on a couch to try and make it and plans on working while he is at home so he can come back after the new years and do it all over again. The sacrifice is real and we are happy to make it, because we care and we selfishly want to see our dreams fulfilled. The life of a USA Handball player. Glorious, huh?

Regardless of my rantings in the previous paragraphs, we are enjoying ourselves. We are playing at high levels the greatest sport on earth and although we have thought about changing paths, we wouldn’t give up what we are doing now for anything. Although ask Jen or I on a bad day, we may say something different. When we beat Canada in December and continue on to PanAms, we know our sacrifices will have been worth it. I can only hope others who dream of making USA Handball a force are willing to sacrifice as much as those that live overseas are.

In an update of this blog, which was started last Thursday, Jen saw no playing time on Saturday. Nobody, including her teammates knows what goes through Jen’s coaches head and nobody can figure out why he wouldn’t want his best defender on the court, especially when Mainzlar’s big problem is stopping people. Needless to say, Jen was very disappointed and I was rather upset after the game. It seems we managed to find another club struggling financially with a head coach that likes to try something new and different every week, just like Jen’s team last year. Jen is working very hard in practice and we hope she will soon be receiving the playing time she deserves.

On Sunday, SG Bruchkoebel played their best game of the year to this point. With our two best goalies sidelined due to injury (thanks Danny Kimmich), our back-ups stepped up huge in a 32-30 two-minute filled battle against the previously top team in our league. After a slow start, which saw us fall behind 9-1, we turned things around and began playing more physical on the defensive end and running and playing aggressively on the offensive end. I managed to notch two goals in the first half while playing the whole half on defense and running fast breaks. My time was severely limited in the second half due to the fact that our coach sticks with whom he trusts in close games no matter if they are tired or not. So goes it. The important thing is we earned the win and now sit in second place in our league. Hans was able to warm up but didn’t see anytime as he is still recovering from a foot injury and our coach basically refuses to play anybody who wasn’t in practice all week. However, I am thrilled to know Hans will be joining us in December in Lake Placid and in the Canada games. He definitely deserves to be there and we are excited he will be a part of the team. SGB plays another stellar opponent next Saturday in SG Wallau.

It is Monday today and that means that tonight we have a special engagement with one Greg Acone, a good family friend of ours. He is a pilot and has a layover in Frankfurt tonight so we will be meeting up with him and enjoying dinner and a night in Frankfurt. Jen and I are very excited about to see and spend time with a friend from home. We are also very excited about the Bronco’s dismantling the Chiefs and somewhat less enthused to see the Steelers lay an egg at home against in the Pats. Props go out to Ryan Newman for running to a second place finish in Phoenix yesterday. I wish I still had my Fathead of his car to hang in our new home. In bittersweet news, college basketball has started again (Hooray) but yet again we most likely won’t see a game again this year (Booo) due to time change and crappy Europe TV. Regardless, I have a list of chores to accomplish before Jen gets home from work, which means I’m out!