First day of training, and I’m dog tired. Exhausted. Sore. Exhilarated.

For the first real time playing together, I am astounded by how well we gelled. People were picking, moving off ball, and hitting feeders like we have been playing for months together. Stick slaps and “good” games were heard all over the field. Guess all those mass emails paid off in the chemistry department.

I’m still adjusting to the accents and word differences. I’ve gotten used to calling the “field” a “pitch” and a “uniform” a “kit”, but there are many other phrases that are lost on me. Luckily, “ball” and “help” are the same.

I love everyone on the team, and I am getting really excited for playing together. Tomorrow night is the opening ceremony for the European Championships. We just got heaps of great gear tonight, so hopefully we will look “smart” tomorrow. Another English/Irish word that is thrown around quite a bit.

I had two “you know you’re in Europe when…” moments today. First, our rooms. We have a double room. In the states, a double room implies two double beds. Not here. We are in a glorified shoe box with two twin beds pushed together. Talk about getting cozy with your roommate. We each get our own set of sheets, but we could cuddle with ease if we chose to. Thankfully, we won’t.

Second moment was my encounter with the vending machines. I went to grab water and passed a vending machine solely for beer. Imagining a beer vending machine in the states is pretty wild. More telling that I was in Europe was that the water cost the same as beer. If the games weren’t right around the corner, what would be my incentive to drink overpriced water when this machine was right next to it?

Well, I’m off. We have early breakfast and a timed mile in the morning, followed by practices. I’m still not sure what time it is, but I know that I need to sleep now or I won’t get to.

Have a great day!