We run for the hill of it

School has officially started and that means cross country practice. I went to a practice on the first monday I was here. I ran 2 miles and I COULD NOT breathe. I should probably mention that coming from Denmark means living in a place where 70 degrees is hot and humidity isn't a thing. Anyway,  Coach Gardner made me manager of the XC female runners. That basically means that I can show up to the practices and run with the team, but at meets, the whole world doesn't have to look at me being out of shape and breathing harder than everyone else.


   On Friday, the whole team met up at Tribble Mill Park to mark the trail for a 5K being held by my school that same Saturday - yesterday. We walked the route together while chatting about everything and nothing at the same time. It was all fun and games until we all realized the sky had gone from being slightly overcast to pitch-black. And that's when it started drizzling. Everyone started slowly jogging, knowing that Georgia rain gets heavy from time to time. And in the blink of an eye, heavy it got. I have never seen clouds approach me as quickly as this one did.

   We all got soaked and rushed into the few cars parked in the Park's parking lot. I started off being in Maddy(team captain)'s mum's car, while desperately trying to reach Anne, who was my ride home. But, of course I had no signal. After waiting for a good 45 minutes, I finally see her while Buick pull into the parking lot to get a very wet and cold me home.

   Then saturday came. I had to get up at 6 am to be at the venue at 7. I wasn't running, and as this particular race wasn't official, the team didn't need me. So I had the pleasure of handing out water to the runners, when they'd reached the finish line. Cold experience - the water bottles were all stored in containers full of ice, and I had to dig them out of those.

   The race went very well, and when it came to go home, several team members gave hugs and said goodbye. I'm still in awe of how that team - a team that, from the outside looks like a family. They greeted me with open arms from day one. They really are one big family, but that doesn't mean it can't be extended. I'm smiling when thinking of these past days because of you guys. Thank you.

Maddy and coach Gardner

Coach, Lyss and Wes

It rained. A lot. 

We run for the hill of it

Skolen er officielt startet, og det betyder at træning med løbeholdet også er. Jeg tog til sommertræning den første mandag jeg var her. Jeg løb omkring 3 km og kunne ikke få vejret igen. Skal nok lige nævne, at der i Georgia er en del varmere(i går var der tæt på 40 grader) og luftfugtigheden er meget høj. Men altså, coach Gardner gav mig titlen som "manager" for de kvindelige løbere. Det betyder, at jeg har ret til at træne med holdet, men når vi skal til stævner, skal hele verden ikke udsættes for synes af mig, der er ude af form og ligner noget der er løgn. 

   I fredags skulle hele løbeholdet mødes ved Tribble Mill Park for at markere en 5km lang rute, da vi i går havde et løb. Vi gik bare ruten rundt, mens vi snakkede om alting og ingenting. Alt var godt indtil vi opdagede, at himlen pludselig var gået fra at være en smule overskyet til at være kulsort. Derefter begyndte det at dryppe. Alle begyndte at jogge langsomt, velvidende at regnen i Georgia nogle gange bliver voldsom. Og et splitsekund senere blev regnen lige præcis det. Jeg har aldrig nogensinde oplevet skyer, der rullede så hurtigt ind over mig. 

   Vi blev alle drivvåde, og skyndte os ind i de få biler, der var parkeret i parkens parkeringsplads. Jeg startede med at sidde i Maddys(holdkaptajn) mors bil, mens jeg prøvede at få fat på Anne. Men selvfølgelig havde jeg ikke noget signal lige der. Efter ca. 45 minutters ventetid så jeg endelig hendes hvide Buick køre ind på parkeringspladsen, for at få en meget våd og meget kold mig hjem. 

   Og så blev det lørdag. Jeg skulle op klokken 6 for at være ved parken klokken 7. Jeg skulle ikke løbe, og eftersom det her løb ikke var officielt, havde holdet ikke rigtig brug for mig. Så jeg havde fornøjelsen af at dele vandflasker ud til løberne, efter de havde krydset målstregen. Kold oplevelse - vandflaskerne blev opbevaret i beholdere fyldt med is, og jeg skulle så sørge for at grave dem ud derfra. 

   Løbet forløb gnidningsfrit og lige inden jeg tog hjem, ville flere holdkammerater lige give en farvelkrammer og sige ordentligt farvel. Jeg har så meget respekt for det hold - et hold, der fra ydersiden virker som en stor familie. De modtog mig med åbne arme fra dag et. De er virkelig en stor familie, men det betyder ikke at den ikke kan udvides. Jeg smiler stadig. Tak! 

Coach, Lyss og Wes

Maddy og Coach Gardner 

  

Jeg blev lidt våd... bare lidt 

We're soaring, flying...

Travel buddies! around 5.30am in Copenhagen airport.

Let me just start off by saying that even when knowing this year is in the other end of a 20-hour trip, getting up at around 4 am isn't easy. At all. But it went well.

   We were 3 Danish girls, a Latvian boy and a Norwegian boy who all travelled together to Chicago. When we got to Chicago, we had to separate and we spread out all over the airport. I was the one with the shortest layover, so I had a YFU travel staff lady waiting for me at my gate. We had more or less an hour of waiting at the gate, so we had a nice chat. What a lovely lady! 

   Arriving in Atlanta was a rather hectic experience. The plane was so small, so it didn't fit all of our cabin baggage, so we had it stored somewhere else on the plane. That meant waiting time after I landed, just to get my cabin baggage! luckily my bag was one of the first ones to come, because I REALLY had to use the restroom. And then I went through this overly packed metro-situation to get to the domestic baggage claim, where Bob and Anne were waiting for me with signs Sam, Charlie and Lizzy made for me. SO nice of them! And they bought me food immediately as well - my kind of people. Food's never tasted that good. 

   It's a 45-minute drive home from the airport, and during that drive we probably got 10 phone calls from the kids asking when we'd be there. They were all really tired and really eager for me to get here, and almost falling asleep when we got to the house. They did spend the last energy preserved in them to run around screaming for a few seconds when the car pulled into the driveway, though. The rest of the night was spent in the living room, giving lots of hugs and me giving the family the gifts I brought for them.

   All in all a very pleasant trip with lots and lots of coffee, way too little sleep and a very jet-laggeed me arriving in Atlanta. :)

(also, please tell me you realize the title is a reference to a High School Musical song) 

We're soaring, flying... 

Rejsekammerater! Ca. klokken 5.30 i CPH lufthavn. 

Lad mig bare starte med at sige, at selvom jeg vidste det bedste år i mit liv ventede for enden af en 20-timers lang rejse, er det ikke nemt at komme op klokken 4 om morgen. Slet ikke. Men det gik da.

   Vi var 3 danske piger, en norsk dreng og en lettisk dreng, der alle rejste sammen til Chicago. I Chicago lufthavn måtte vi dog skilles og finde vores seperate gates. Jeg havde heldigvis kun et par timers ventetid i lufthavnen, og selvom Chicago lufthavn er KÆMPE, så fik jeg alligevel en god snak med en rar dame fra YFUs Travel Staff. 

   Da jeg så landede i Atlanta var der en masse ventetid. Flyet var så lille, at al vores håndbagage ikke kunne være i flyet, så de måtte opbevare taskerne et andet sted. Det betød ventetid bare for at få min taske! Ikke at det var galt eller noget, men hold nu op jeg skulle på toilettet på det tidspunkt! For at komme til de indenrigs bagagebånd skal man igennem en overfyldt metro-situation, som ikke rigtig spillede så godt med mit jeg-har-været-vågen-i-godt-20-timer jeg. Det glemte jeg dog hurtigt, da Bob og Anne ventede ved bagagebåndene med skilte som Sam, Charlie og Lizzy havde lavet til mig. De købte mad til mig inden min taske var kommet - jeg kan lide de her mennesker! Mad har nok aldrig smagt så godt. 

   Der er 45 minutter i bil fra lufthavnen. I løbet af den køretur modtog vi nok 10 opkald fra børnene, der ville vide hvor langt vi var. De var alle tre super trætte, utrolig utålmodige og næsten sovende, da vi endelig kom til huset. De brugte det sidste energi gemt i dem til at løbe skrigende rundt i et par sekunder,  idet vi kørte ind ad indkørslen. Resten af aftenen sad vi alle i stuen og gav hinanden en hel masse kram. Jeg fik desuden givet alle de gaver jeg havde bragt med hjemmefra.

   Alt i alt en god tur med masser af kaffe, alt for lidt søvn og en meget jetlagged mig, der ankom i Atlanta. :)


(også, jeg håber virkelig du ved titlen er en reference til en High School Musical sang)