I'm Still Here!

Just a quick update- I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. The weeks have been flying by lately. I've been pretty busy with school work: reading, studying and writing essays.

I've also been very busy with football matches. After not playing any games since November, we've played four matches in the last 13 days. We drew our first match of term 2-2, in a match which I started and played all 90 minutes. Unfortunately I picked up a hamstring injury late in the match and was sidelined for a while. We won our next match 3-0, (our first win of the season) but I only played 10 minutes at the end- trying to work my way back from injury. Our last two matches have been nothing short of disastrous. On Wednesday we lost 6-0 to a very good team, and yesterday (Saturday) we lost 4-0. Even more disappointingly, I only played a handful of minutes in the two matches- partly because I'm still struggling a bit with the hamstring, but mostly because I've been out of the captain's plans. I'll keep you updated with our progress.

The weather has been great lately, such a contrast from my last post. It hasn't snowed in about two weeks, and has only rained lightly once or twice. The afternoon high is normally in the mid to high 40's, and occasionally gets just over 50 degrees. It's been amazing. I don't know if this is going to last, but I'm enjoying it while it does. I am able to walk to class in just jeans and a light sweatshirt now. It's great to leave the long underwear, gloves, hats and jackets behind.

I only have 4 more weeks of lectures left until Spring Break now, the term has gone by very fast. This also means I only have 4 more weeks of lecture left for the year. After our 5 (yes, FIVE) week spring break, we no longer have lectures. We have a study/review period for a few weeks, and then a few weeks of exams. It's definitely different than University of California.

I don't have too many concrete plans for Spring Break yet, except I'm spending the first week in London. My Dad is flying out from Pasadena for a mini vacation, and a visit with me. I am looking forward to it quite a bit. I have bought tickets to see England play a friendly soccer match in their 92,000 seat Wembley Stadium. That may well be the highlight of Spring Break. I plan on going to see many more football games around England over spring break, and in the next term. I should have more free time with our football and basketball matches finished.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from an amazing sunset yesterday evening. I saw it over the lake from my window at around 5:45pm (the sun is setting much later these days) and brought my camera on the way to dinner.






(Note: these pictures are all completely natural, and have not been edited or altered at all- as unbelievable as that seems)

I'll be back with more updates soon. If there's anything particular you want me to post about, just email me or leave a comment.

-Gabe

Soccer and Snow Day II

Wednesday was a good soccer day for me. We finally got to play a match- the first one I've played in since November! It was freezing cold, and very muddy, but the match was not canceled. I normally start the games, but get subbed out towards the end- which I never complain about- 90 minutes is a long time. We had a limited team for the Wednesday match and could only make one substitute. It wasn't me. I couldn't believe how long 90 minutes is- I could barely walk back to college after the match.

(proof of muddiness)

Later that evening I watched the Spain vs. England international soccer friendly in the college bar. And when that ended I watched the USA vs. Mexico game, which didn't end until around 2:00AM.

I was woken up early the next morning by a text from a friend. It said "you won't believe how much it's snowing!". I got up and looked out the window. Sure enough, it looked like a blizzard. Snow was absolutely pouring down. And not little flakes, but huge thick chunks. The ground was already completely covered.

I went back to sleep for another hour or two, fully expecting it to have melted away or be raining when I next woke up. Normally it only really snows early, and turns into a wintry mix later. Not yesterday. When I finally got up, it was still snowing just as strong. The ground must have been covered in 3 or 4 inches. I had to run some errands before lecture anyways, so I went out for a walk. Here's what it looked like:

(You can barely see the cathedral in the middle)

(Joggers! I couldn't believe it)

I think it might have been the last major snow of the year, so I had to go out and take lots of pictures. Interestingly it's a really nice day here today- sunny and relatively warm. I was able to wear a sweatshirt and jeans with no hat or gloves. You can't really predict the weather here.

Another Hike

In what is now becoming a disappointing trend, both my scheduled football matches this weekend were canceled due to weather. However, in reality, the weather was not too bad, so my friend Chris and I decided to go on a hike. A different and more ambitious one this time.

We left Durham and began hiking south, on a sidewalk next to a country road/highway. It always amazes me how little you have to walk before you leave the city behind and are in the middle of the countryside.


After walking about three miles, we reached a river that had 3 bridges spanning it. One was a modern highway bridge, one was an incredibly old footbridge, and one was a giant railroad bridge.








After wandering around and over the three bridges, we decided we'd gone far enough and started back into Durham.



We quickly grew tired of walking along the road however, mostly because it was the exact way we'd come. We left the road on to one of the area's many public footpaths. It seemed as if it was heading in the general direction of Durham.

The path was nice and very scenic, but after around a mile it abruptly ended, leaving us in the middle of nowhere. We were not about to backtrack, so we decided to go up to the top of a hill- we were sure the road was on the other side and we'd just follow that back. When we finally got above the ridge, we were greeted not by the highway, but by rolling empty space.

(You can see Chris in the distance if you look closely)

We decided to just try and make it back through the back country. We refused to turn around. We navigated by using our general sense of direction, nothing more. Perhaps not the best idea. For the next couple miles, we trudged through deep mud, climbed under barbed wire fences, jumped over small creeks and pushed on through thick forests.

The above picture sums up the walk back- snow and ice, mud, creeks and streams, barbed wire and forest. At one point, we were literally fighting through 4 or 5 inch deep mud. Luckily both of us were wearing good hiking boots. Somewhat inexplicably, and before we were thought possible, we ended up back on a trail. After walking a few hundred yards we realized it was the same trail we'd done a few weeks ago. We were just around the corner from college. I couldn't believe it. Somehow we'd done it. It was a really fun hike- the adventure made it even more exciting. I'm looking forward to exploring the area even more when the weather improves.

Sports Update

With the historically bad weather, we have had even more football matches canceled. We were supposed to have a mid week cup match yesterday, but of course it was canceled. It actually hasn't snowed in a few days, but its still very cold and everything is frozen. However, there is one sport we can play no matter the weather, and that's basketball.

This last Saturday we had our third basketball match of the term. We were playing against St. Aidans college. After losing our first two matches pretty heavily, we needed a better performance this game to improve our position in the standings. Luckily we had help. One of my good friends, a second year student and Durham University basketball player was able to play for us. Joe plays for the Durham University basketball team, meaning he travels around England playing against other Universities. While he practices and trains with us, he is more like a coach than a player because he is ineligible for the college matches. Because of some technicality (he was slightly injured and was left of the team for the most recent university match or something) he was able to play for us this week.

This was going to make a big difference. He is a better player than I am, and I always wanted another really good player to play with. It makes a big difference. It means I can play a more supporting role, where I'm more comfortable, instead of having to be the focal point of the offense and looking to score 20 points. Plus it's nice to play with someone who can make good passes and cuts.

With Joe and I both playing well, we got out to a small lead after the first quarter- breaking our tradition of being down 10+ points after the first. Joe did most of the scoring, and I did most of the defense. The other team also had a University player, a small quick point guard- and it was my job to chase him all around the court. I got so tired on defense that I hardly even wanted the ball on offense.

After a close game through most of the first three periods we built a 6 point lead midway through the 4th. We looked on our way to our first victory of the season.

And then we fell apart. Sloppy defense and turnovers shrunk our lead to 1, with a minute to play. We gave up another soft basket and found ourselves down one point with about 45 tics left. I inbounded the ball to Joe and looked to run up court- but he passed it back, gave me a look of confidence and told me to take it up.

It was a strange feeling, everything seemed to be in slow motion. I expected to be nervous, but I wasn't. I forgot about the score, the clock, the 50 or so people watching. I just knew we had to score. The only thought that occurred to me was that I had a chance to win the game, not that I also had a chance to blow it. It was exciting.

I slowly dribbled the ball past the halfway line, before changing pace and blowing past my defender. In the middle of the key I jumped up for a running shot, but three defenders converged on me in midair. Out of the corner of my eye I say Joe streaking towards the basket, and was able to throw him an alley-oop pass. He finished it for an easy layup, and we were up one.

Our pressure defense led to to the other team losing the ball out of bounds. We had possession with about 15 seconds left. All we had to do was hold the ball and we'd win. We passed it around to use clock, before the ball ended up in the hands of Kento- a Japanese international student. Kento is a very good player, a nice guy and a great shooter- but is still learning English. As our entire bench screamed at him to hold the ball, he attempted a 3 pointer.

We watched in shock and horror as the ball clanged off the rim, and right to the other teams center. He threw an outlet pass to their best player, who had only one man stopping him from the basket. As the ref yelled out THREE...TWO...ONE, their star went up for the layup. He was knocked to the floor by our defender as he laid it in. He somehow got the shot off, and the ball was bouncing on the rim as the buzzer sounded. Inexplicably the shot rimmed out. He'd missed it. I watched this whole scene from midcourt, rooted to the spot. We all turned to the referee. He did not call a foul. The game was over, we'd won.

It was definitely the most exciting game I've been a part of. It was also my first win in anything this year- either basketball or football. So my feelings after the game were more of relief than joy.

We are supposed to have two football matches this weekend, but of course by the time I've finished this very long post, it has started snowing heavily outside. So I'll keep you updated.

Snow and Superbowl

Last night was Superbowl Sunday, which somewhat surprisingly is celebrated here in England as well. The college bar stayed upon till the early hours of the morning to show the game. Kickoff was around 11:30pm GMT. I was shocked how crowded it was too. There were even more people in there watching the game than there usually are for big soccer matches. I shared some potato chips and pizza with friends while watching the match, which was a somewhat weak answer to American Superbowl parties, but not too bad either.



While most people didn't really seem to completely comprehend the game, many had a decent idea of what was going on. All of my friends and even acquaintances made a point to come talk to me at least once during the game, asking who I was rooting for, who I thought was going to win, if I had any betting tips, and just to see how I was enjoying it. I guess they wanted American insight. A few people I talked to said they were enjoying the match as a "cultural experience"- something I'd never really considered before.




I stayed in the bar until just after 2:00AM watching the game, before retiring to my room to watch the fourth quarter online. And what an exciting finish it was. Even though I didn't go to sleep until nearly 3:45AM, I'm glad I stayed up to watch the end, it was definitely worth it.



During the game I started to notice quite heavy snowfall outside, and it only intensified over the night. When I woke up this morning everything was blanketed in what seemed like feet of snow, and it was still pouring down. It was basically a blizzard. It was the first significant snowfall we've had since Christmas break, so it was very exciting.

As I'm sitting in the library right now I can see snow absolutely pouring outside through a large window. Apparently it's not just here in Durham, but the entire nation being effected. Check out this article from BBC.com about the storm:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7864395.stm

And it's supposed to continue throughout the week. I'll try to take pictures and post them soon, but for now just imagine these scenes:

http://gabedahl.blogspot.com/2008/12/snow-and-ice-its-really-nice.html

Except even worse.