VFM

Ok, here's the post I'm sure most have you been waiting for...and yes, its about volleyball. Well, since that's the reason why I'm here, I guess I should fill all of you in about my team, VFM. We have 11 players on our team, 7 Americans and 4 Swiss. We have 2 coaches, Florian and Vladimir. Florian coaches for the Swiss national team and we like to call him Flo, Flojo, or Flo-Rida, not necessarily to his face unless he's in a good mood haha. Vladimir Popov is our assistant coach and stat keeper from Serbia, what a name haha. We like to call him Vladi. Anyway, volleyball has been going ok, we usually practice twice everyday, or lift and have practice. But, on the bright side, we have every Monday off! We will usually have 1 or 2 matches every weekend. Before league play started, we spent 3 days in Valenciennes, France. We played in a tournament hosted by a team from Hainut, France, which is close to Belgium. It was our first real test as a team and we did alright. We got 4th place out of 8 teams. Since then, we have played 3 LNA matches. Our first home match was against Volero Zurich, the best team in Switzerland. We knew they would be good, and we lost the match in 3 games. Our next match we played against a team from Schaffhausen, which is in the northeastern part of Switzerland. They are another good team, and we also lost in 3 games. Now the good news! We won our next match against Sm'Aesch Pfeffingen. They are actually a pretty good team as well, but we beat them in 4 games. They won the first game, and we were losing the 2nd game 15-20 and came back to win, which turned the whole match around. It was a close and exciting match. So, our current record is 1-2 and we play against Geneva this weekend. That's all for now, here are some pics!

Team picture, gotta love the color combo haha

and another

A picture from the tournament in France

The program from our 1st home match, with a little bit about me on the cover

Here are some pics from our match against Sm'Aesch Pfeffingen

Celebrating after one of the many long rallies

Celebrating the match winning block

The score of the 4th game was 25-23, good win :)

Funny Pic

I told you we live in the roof! I'm peaking my head out my bedroom window to take a picture of the sunset. Gotta love it :)

Cinque Terre

Much to our surprise, we were given 2 days off in a row in mid September. Without hesitation, we decided to head down to the northern coast of Italy. Cinque Terre was a place that I had really wanted to visit last year, but never had the opportunity, especially before the weather got too cold. For those of you that have never heard of Cinque Terre, it is an absolutely incredible place to visit. Cinque Terre is an area of coastline made up of 5 small towns built into the cliffs that overlook the Mediterranean Sea. Each town is pretty small and made up of many crowded and brightly colored buildings. To get from one town to the other, you can take the train, bus, or hike. Being the athletes that we are, we opted for the 5 mile hike. The hike took us all day long, that included stops to browse around each of the charming little towns. We started south in Riomaggiore and hiked north to Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and finished in Monterosso. The hike from the Riomaggiore to Manarola was only about 20 minutes. Of course we were telling ourselves "Wow, that was a piece of cake," haha...Little did we know what Cinque Terre had in store for us.

Riomaggiore

Once we got to the 2nd town, Manarola, we decided to sit outside for a drink at a little cafe. After relaxing for a bit, we went down to the water where locals were sunbathing on the rocks. Once we were finished looking around, we headed for the hiking trail. As the trail was wrapping around the cliff, we got such a great view of Manarola, probably one of the best places on the whole hike to take a photo.

The group with Manarola in the background

Perfect view of Manarola

The next town we would hike to was Corniglia. It took us probably about 1 hour and 10 minutes or so. This hike was quite a bit more rigorous than the first. Corniglia was one of the only towns that was perched up high on the cliff side. It had great views, but we weren't actually able to go down to the water until about 15 minutes into the hike to the next town. While we were in Corniglia, we found a neat little wine shop. We all took a nice break and shared some bottles of local wine from Cinque Terre. The owner, Mario, absolutely loved us haha.

The group at Mario's wine shop

After enjoying some wine, we were ready to take on the next hike to the 4th town, Vernazza. If I'm remembering correctly, I think this was the longest hike. It took us approximately 2 hours to reach Vernazza. The hiking trail from Corniglia to Vernazza had some great views of the Mediterranean cliffside. Once we could see the town from the distance, let me tell you, what a sigh of relief! Vernazza was probably the most impressive town and also had great opportunities for pictures. We stopped and had some pizza in Vernazza. It was about 3pm and there were so many people enjoying the sun on the sand and rocks. After walking around and exploring the town we began our last hike to Monterosso.

Here's a pretty view of Corniglia in the distance, taken on our hike to Vernazza

The town of Vernazza

The hike to the last town, Monterosso would take us a little less than 2 hours. Boy, were we excited when we could see the town far off in the distance! Monterosso had the best beach of all the towns, which was filled with people and umbrellas. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, and we decided to sit down and relax at an outdoor cafe overlooking the beach. When it started to get a little chilly, we went for a walk around the small beach town. Some girls sat down and enjoyed a few beers while some of us kept exploring Monterosso. We walked down to the water to take some pictures and feel the water. The Mediterranean water was sooooo warm!

Almost to then end of the hiking trail leading to the last town, Monterosso

People enjoying the beach in Monterosso

Emily, Brianna, and I on the beach in Monterosso

As it got dark in Cinque Terre, we were sad that our fun trip was coming to an end. We had to hop on a short train back to Riomaggiore, we weren't about to turn around and do the hike again, haha. From Riomaggiore, we would then get on a bus back to our hostel, which was not too far away in La Spezia. All in all, I absolutely loved our trip to Cinque Terre. I would definitely recommend it to everyone who has the chance to visit Italy. No words can describe it's beauty and charm. Although the hike might not be for everyone, there are other alternatives to exploring the 5 towns. Some parts of the hike were quite challenging, but totally worth it for all the amazing views. In fact, on most of the hikes, we got split into 2 groups. Let's just say that one group wanted to get through the hike as quickly as possible, while the other group stopped to enjoy the beautiful scenery. And yes, I was in the 2nd group which stopped quite frequently to take pictures. Also, these hiking trails consisted of all sorts of terrain. Some were paved, others had stone steps, some were really narrow or steep, while most were trails made up of just dirt and big rocks that required paying close attention to your footing. Even though we did stop quite often to take pictures, we still managed to keep a quick pace when it came to hiking our way around Cinque Terre. Did I mention that the weather was perfect?! It was around 70 degrees outside, so you could imagine that we got quite the workout. So much for that day off haha. The next day we would have to be back in the gym ready for some volley. What a life!

It Feels Like I Never Left

Some pics of my town, Saignelegier

It was a strange feeling when I landed in Zurich and began the familiar 2 and 1/2 hour drive back to the Jura region with my new teammates. It felt as if I had never left this beautiful country...of course it was a nice change to see sunny skies and bright green landscape, although it would soon disappear sometime between October and November. Last season, in our region of Switzerland, we had snow from mid December until I left in late March to return to California. Needless to say, I have learned to really embrace the sunny, blue skies when they decide to come around. My roommates and I have made sure to spend some time outside whether its walking on paths in the fields/hills, sipping a cafe au lait outside at a bakery, or even walking to practice. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble. One huge difference from last year is where I live. Last year I lived in Le Noirmont, which sported a population just over 1,600. Now, I live in the capital of the Franches Montagnes, Saignelegier, with a whopping population of 2,500 people. Exciting! The building our house is in is very nice, except for the amount of stairs we have to hike up to get to the top floor. And when I say top floor, I really mean it. We actually live in the roof haha. But, our house is nice and big. I live with Kristin, Emily, and Tara, and we each have our own room. Kristin and Em played with me last year on VFM and Tara is new to the team. The other 3 Americans, Jill, Taylor, and Brianna, are new to the team also. So, we've all spent the last month or so getting to know one another. We certainly spend enough time in the gym together haha. Another difference from last season is that we are all enrolled in French lessons with a real teacher! Our teacher is awesome, I really enjoy learning the language. On the first day of class, another woman introduced our teacher to us and made a big deal that our French teacher didn't speak any English. We spent the whole first class freaking out about how we were supposed to learn from someone that couldn't even understand us. Our teacher did a great job making us look like fools when she began speaking perfect English at the end of our first lesson haha. Now that we know she can speak English, she still only speaks French to us, which is good and makes us put in more effort to learn the language. We will have French lessons 3x per week for 6 weeks and see how we progress. Anyway, when we've had the day off, we have traveled locally around Switzerland. We have spent one day exploring the Callier chocolate factory and its surrounding areas and spent another day walking around Switzerland's capital, Bern. One weekend, we were lucky enough to have 2 days off in a row (which we thought would never happen, and probably never will again until the holidays) so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Cinque Terre, Italy. But, I will save this special trip for another post. In the mean time, enjoy these pics!

Here is my room, a little small but perfect for me

A pretty sunset from my bedroom window

My roommates: Emily, Kristin, and Tara

At the Callier chocolate factory, excited for endless free samples

The 7 Americans at Chateau Gruyere (a neat little village with a castle)

Chateau Gruyere

The village outside of the castle

Summer Recap

I know I'm a bit behind on the recent happenings here in Switzerland, but I've decided to share a few details about my eventful Summer with all of you. I had a such a fun first season while playing in Switzerland but I was happy to get back home and enjoy California with family and friends. While in Switzerland, one of my VFM teammates, Jess, got engaged and her wedding was this past July in Idaho. Some of my VFM teammates had never been to California/the west coast, (Steph is from Kentucky and Sandra is from Switzerland) so we decided to take a road trip up the California coast and up through Oregon and Washington all the way to Coeur D'Alane, Idaho. It was a beautiful drive. Along the way, we stopped at Hearst Castle, Carmel, Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz, San Fran, and a few other places. We stayed at a friend's lake house in Coeur D'Alane, Idaho, for a few days where it was absolutely gorgeous. At the wedding, we met up with our other teammates, Emily (who was in the wedding), Kari (from Vegas), and of course the bride. The wedding was so much fun for all of us teammates to be reunited again for this special occasion. On the way back home from Idaho, we drove down through Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. We made a 2 night stop in Vegas where we stayed at Kari's house.

Sandra, Steph, Kristin, and I in Monterey

With Sandra in San Fran

With Kari, Steph, Sandra, and Kristin at the wedding in Idaho

Nearly 2 days after the road trip, Kristin and I would both be going on another fun adventure...a Caribbean cruise! Our group on the cruise consisted of my Mom and brother, Kristin and her mom, Teri, as well as my brother's friend, John, and his mom, Donna. We left out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and sailed to a private island in the Bahamas, St. Martin, St. Thomas, and Turks and Caicos. We all enjoyed plenty of hot weather, sunshine, and cocktails of course!

Tanner and I on the beach in St. Martin

I loved this painting on a building in St. Martin

Kristin and I snorkeling in St. Thomas

The whole gang

As if these 2 trips weren't enough, in mid August, I went on a 3rd trip to visit my boyfriend, Jeff, in Williamsport, PA. This past Summer, he played for the Williamsport Crosscutters, which is a minor league affiliate to the Philadelphia Phillies. I got to watch 3 of his games and then we were lucky enough to have time to visit New York City. We only spent 2 days and 1 night in NYC, but we saw as much as possible. It was my 1st time in NYC and I absolutely loved it. Our hotel was right in the busy Times Square. We rode the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, walked down Wall St, strolled in Central Park, visited the Empire State building, visited Ground Zero, did a little shopping, had a delicious dinner at Spark's Steakhouse, ate a hot dog from a street cart, rode the subway, and walked all over the city. Our stay in NYC flew by and before I knew it, we were back in Williamsport and I was headed back home to California. Leaving Jeff was difficult because this was the last time I would see him before I left for Switzerland in the beginning of September. I am so happy and lucky to have gotten the opportunity to visit him, we had such a fun time together.

Jeff and I before one of his games

Jeff and I at dinner in NYC

Us at the Empire State building

Jeff's favorite TV show is Seinfeld, so this restaurant was a must see haha

As my Summer began winding down, my days were spent relaxing and being a bum until I left for Switzerland. Before my Mom started the new school year, we played a lot of tennis together in the mornings, followed by chatting over some coffee. On nice days, my Mom and I enjoyed taking Lucy to the dog beach in Huntington. Lucy is a bundle of energy and absolutely loves chasing her ball into the water and digging around in the sand. She is so entertaining to watch. To keep busy, I helped my Dad coach volleyball clinics and gave private lessons to young players. I also went with my Dad to visit my grandparents who live in Arizona. I hadn't seen my Nana and Grandpa since my college graduation in June of 2009, so it was nice to spend some quality time together and celebrate my Dad's birthday.

If you don't already know, I am obsessed with Lucy!

Lucy in action

Ok, now I am all caught up and my next few entries will indeed be about my new experiences over here in Switzerland! Thanks for reading :)

I'm back in Switzerland!

If you're reading this blog, most of you should already know that last year I was given the opportunity to play professional volleyball overseas in Switzerland. I enjoyed my experience so much that I decided to return for a 2nd season. I am still playing for the same team, VFM. Our team is from a very small town in the northwest part of Switzerland. So, last year whenever we had time to travel, we made sure to get out of our tiny town and explore Europe. During last season, I traveled to Venice, Munich, Nice, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, and all over Switzerland with my teammates. I also traveled all through Italy when my Mom and boyfriend, Jeff, came to visit. We visited Rome, Pompeii, Venice, and Florence. As you can tell, last season I was very fortunate to get to travel so much. I know you're all thinking...wait, wasn't she there to play volleyball??? Yes, that's correct. In fact, my team did so well last season that we won our league and moved the team back into the top league of Switzerland. However, this season will be much different than last because we have a new coach who means business. So, this means more volleyball and less traveling, which is how it is for most Americans playing in Europe. Good thing I got so much traveling done last season ;)

So, now that I have less time to travel, I have decided to spend my spare time contributing my thoughts and experiences to this blog. I hope that I will stay on top of things and that this won't be my first and last entry haha. I'm kidding. Well, I have yet to figure out how everything works on this thing so bare with my first few entries. It will take me a few days to get up to speed with all that's happened during the first month since I've been here in this lovely country of chocolate and cheese. That's all for now :)

Here are a few pics to highlight my first season living in Switzerland

Here is my team from last season

The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy

Next to Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland

Jeff and I in front of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy

My Mom and I at the coliseum in Rome, Italy

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Amsterdam, Holland

Steph and I in Zermatt, Switzerland, with the Matterhorn in the background

The Matterhorn and all its glory!

Kristin and I at the Eifel Tower in Paris, France