Sorry for the extended break, but I'm sure you can understand the circumstances...
So, as of today, my exams are halfway over. I'm trying to look at it from the glass half full perspective, er, I guess it would be half empty in this sense? Because I'm trying... Never mind. The point is, I've finished three and have three to go.
It's a three week exam period, with exams randomly falling anytime last week, this week and next week. So some people had all 6 the first week, and are already bored of summer, and most people have finished at some point this week. I of course, finish on the last possible day. To make things worse, the weather has been amazing these past few days, especially today- perfect for summer- less so for being cooped up in the library.
As I write this, sitting in my dorm room, I'm looking outside at the slow moving, small, puffy white clouds, in the pale blues skies. I've thrown open both of my windows, something I don't do often, in hopes of catching the elusive cool breeze. I'm literally wiping sweat off my brow, weather.com says it is 72 degrees. Today is easily the warmest it's been in six months! I can see lots of people soaking up the rare sun on the lawn, and in the distance I hear the bouncing of a football. Exactly one week from now, I'll be done with my exams finally, and able to join in the summer activities. I can't wait.
As for the exams, like I said, I've had three so far. My first one, a week ago, was Geography. I was relatively worried for that one. It was likely to be my hardest exam, and also the class in which I need to do well on the exam most. Not a good combination, obviously. But it went fine, I think. I was surprised at how formal the setting was, it felt much more like the SAT or an AP test than a normal college final. The exams are very strict, very formal, and have lots of rules. We can't even put our real names on the exam papers we hand in, for example. We must instead write some secret code number. The format for most of my exams is such: 2 hours, around 10 questions, you must choose two of them to write essays on. These two essays end up being worth well over half of the grade for the entire year long courses. Kind of crazy, but kind of fun.
Earlier this week I had my US History (1946-present) exam, and I was pleased with how that went. This morning I had my Theology (Study of World Religions) exam. I was feeling pretty good about it last week, but started panicking earlier this week, when I realized I was potentially (perhaps 'likely' is a better term) quite under prepared. Normally that wouldn't be panic-inducing for me, but this exam happens to be worth 100% of my grade... Yes, that's not a typo- one hundred percent of my grade. For the year long course. No, I swear that's not a typo! You could quite literally do nothing the entire year, show up and pass the one exam, and pass the class! (Not that that's what I did or anything...) Likewise, you could work hard all year, have a bad day for one exam, and fail the entire year. Seems a bit ridiculous, but that's just me. Anyway, I think it went okay. When you're actually sat in the exam room, in the middle of the test, you're not exactly thinking "Oh no, this is worth 100% of my grade! I'm going to fail! Aghhh!", you're just focused on answering the questions and doing your best.
Enough about exams for now, I'm feeling burnt out just talking about them. I'll let you know how next week goes though.
One of the thing that's been keeping me sane through these past few weeks has been the Lakers. Obviously, those of you who know me well know that the Lakers are passion, or perhaps an 'obession' for me. Easily one of the hardest things about the time difference out here, has been how it has affected my ability to watch games. While I've only been able to see 4 or 5 of the playoff games live this year, I'm sure I've been following the Lakers much closer than half the celebrity 'fans' who sit courtside. A few times during the playoffs, the Lakers have played in the early afternoon California time, meaning the games tip off around 8:00pm for me- perfect. However, most of the games are literally in the middle of the night, tipping off between 2:00am and sometimes as late as 3:30am. I've stayed up for a few of the late ones, and obviously watched all the early ones. When I watch a game live, I use my slingbox- which is a device that allows me to stream the feed from a TV in our house in Pasadena to my computer. The quality isn't amazing, but it's reliable and pretty cool.
More often than not though, I don't get the chance to watch the games live. I just can't be staying up till 5:00am 3 or 4 times a week, especially during exams. I found a really great website that shows HD highlights of every single Laker game however, and does not reveal the score until the end. I've been using it all season. My days (on the morning after games) begin with me opening up the website and watching the 5 minute highlights from last night, first thing in the morning. In close games, it's really exciting, and I feel like I'm watching the actual game. After this I normally spend about 30 minutes (less after losses obviously) watching more highlights, reading columns and articles about the game, pouring over the box scores and reading sportswriter analysis.
Around last weekend (Saturday through Tuesday) the internet was out in my entire dorm building. I missed two games that I was planning on watching, and worse, couldn't even watch the highlights the next morning. Instead I had to bring my laptop down the library, and watch the highlights there. Now you have to understand, during finals month, the library is unbelievably packed, and basically a horrible place to be. I can't study in there; there's something extremely stressful and unnerving about seeing hundreds of students studying silently and furiously for exams. It was pretty surreal to be watching the highlights in that setting. Obviously I was wearing headphones, and I tried to hide my computer screen, but it was all I could do not to jump up and down, swear or cheer during the tense Game 3.
Anyway, hope everyone is doing well wherever you are, and hopefully you have your own great weather. I'll probably post again next weekend, to write about the end of exams, and my plans for summer. Wish me luck, I might need it! And I'll be staying up for Game 6 tonight (2:00am-5:00am), even though I didn't get very much sleep last night before my big theology exam. I'll be really tired, but if the Lakers win and advance to the NBA Finals it will all have been worth it. If they lose... Well... If you're watching, and the Lakers lose, spare a thought for me- sitting in my dark room, watching on a tiny and choppy screen, struggling to stay awake at 5:00am.
Until next time.
Gabe
Also here's a bonus video for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge8EqcwG3TM
Good thing I wasn't watching that in the library, or I would have surely been kicked out with that noise that would ensue.
And finally, if you're interested in reading more of my thoughts about the Lakers, check out my blog from last year- HERE (I won't... I'm too scared to read my predictions and see what my writing was like last year, but you're more than welcome too). I started it in October, and it featured about 40 posts up to the middle of playoffs in May, when I got too busy to continue. It is in reverse order, showing the most recent post first. You can click on the dates in the top right, to go back in time and see the older posts.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Newcastle United
This last Saturday afternoon I enjoyed the perfect break from studying- a professional football match. This time last year, when I was thinking about what I was going to be doing while studying abroad, I imagined I'd be going to tons of football (soccer) games. I literally had a plan of at least 10 different teams I wanted to see. If you had told me I wouldn't have gone to my first Premiership (the top division) game until May, I would have never believed you.
But, that's how it turned out. Over Spring Break I went to the England Match (International), and the Cardiff City Match (2nd Division), and I took the one stadium tour, but that's all. I had never even made it up to see Newcastle United- the local Premiership team. There have been several reasons for this. For one, the tickets were much more expensive than I imagined. Football has traditionally been a working class game in Britain, so I was very surprised to find that the average fans are priced out of the top games. It's very hard to find tickets below £25 for Premiership games, and that's nearly $40. Not exactly part of a student budget- and that doesn't include train tickets to the games either. It's also very hard to get tickets in general for the top games. With each team only playing 15-20 home games a year, the tickets for top teams are pretty exclusive. Finally, I have been much more busy than I imagined. My football team had matches almost every Saturday (the day of most Premiership matches), and when we didn't, it seemed like I always had a basketball match or something else to do.
So I was very excited to finally make it up to for a Newcastle United home match on Saturday. It was their last home game of the season, so I barely made it! I wanted to see Newcastle United FC because they are a 'big club'. They have a long, proud history in English Football, they have an enormous and incredibly passionate fan base, and a huge and historic stadium. They are also the closest team to Durham, about 15 minutes by train.
I traveled up there by car though, with 5 of my friends from Durham. Three of them are passionate Newcastle fans, the rest of us were just going for the spectacle. The match was against Fulham FC (a middle of the table team from London) and set to kick off at 3:00pm. Newcastle have had a very tough season. They have struggled financially, and even moreso, on the pitch. They have had 5 different managers this season, indicative of their poor performance. Unlike American sports, where one bad season is simply that, one bad year, there are much more serious consequences in English Football. The bottom three teams in the league get relegated into a lower division for the following season (resulting in a loss estimated at over £50m of lost revenue), and often have a hard time making it back up. Some once glorious teams have spiraled into relegation and financial ruin, and now find themselves in the 3rd and 4th division leagues of the English Football system. Newcastle might be following them. They are in serious danger of going down this eason, and with only two games left in the season, needed a very good result on Saturday.
(Outside of the Stadium)
(Waiting in line for stairs to the upper deck)
Walking around the city to get to the Stadium, I was surprised how crowded the streets were with people, many of whom were heading to the game. You could feel the excitement and tension in the air. It was so crowded getting into the Stadium, that we barely made it in before kickoff. We emerged through the tunnel from the concourse to the seating in the upper deck moments before the match started. The rest of the stadium was already full, and the atmosphere was electric.
(First view of the pitch)
(The Main stand)
It was like walking through a wall of noise. Every one of the 53,000 seats seemed to be full. Half the stadium was waving flags with the black and white stripes of the team. Literally about 90% of the crowd was wearing the team's iconic home jersey. The chanting, singing and yelling was at a fever pitch. My friends hurried towards our seats, but I stood, unmoving, with my mouth hanging open, taking in the scene. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.
(Walking to our seats)
The stadium itself, St. James' Park, has been described as a cathedral of football stadiums, and I can't think of a more apt term. Opened in 1892 (that's not a typo), the unique stadium has undergone many expansions over the year. It is now a hodgepodge of styles, and completely asymmetrical- with some stands much larger than others. It is at once modern, and at the same time extremely old. Holding just under 53,000, it is also the third largest stadium Premiership stadium in England.
It was almost hard to focus on the match at first, because I was so busy looking around at the stadium, the standing, screaming hordes of supporters and the panoramic views of the city available from the upper deck.
(Cool Shadows)
I enjoyed the match immensely, even though Newcastle ended up falling in defeat, 1-0. It was fascinating to see how passionate the fans were. It was obvious they were in the tail end of a disappointing season- their frusturation was palpable. It was extremely tense- every slight mistake or pass-back from a Newcastle player was greeted with vocal exasperation from the stands. Though the fans were impatient and didn't tolerate mistakes, they were clearly incredibly supportive of their players. It's hard to be both at the same time, but the Toon Army (as they're known) managed it somehow. Sitting next to me was a well dressed and respectable looking gentleman, probably in his 70s. It was strangely satisfying, and disconcerting at the same time, to hear him yelling and crudely swearing throughout the match.
Towards the end of the match, as the home side pushed for an equalizer, the skies darkened tremendously. During the final few minutes rain absolutely hammered down on the pitch. It was one of the heaviest downpours I've seen this whole year. The stands are all covered by picturesque roofs, but the dark storm clouds and downpour seemed to be terribly symbolic of the clubs's season. As the seconds ticked away, it became desperately clear to the home fans, only a miracle could save them from their first relegation in a generation. With this loss, they only had one more match to try and escape from relegation. Not only will Newcastle have to win this weekend, they also need other results to go their way as well. The thousands of devasted fans, trudging through the wet and dark streets made for a sorry scene.
(Storm Clouds)
(A disallowed goal- the fans go crazy, then realize the ref has disallowed it for a foul)
But, that's how it turned out. Over Spring Break I went to the England Match (International), and the Cardiff City Match (2nd Division), and I took the one stadium tour, but that's all. I had never even made it up to see Newcastle United- the local Premiership team. There have been several reasons for this. For one, the tickets were much more expensive than I imagined. Football has traditionally been a working class game in Britain, so I was very surprised to find that the average fans are priced out of the top games. It's very hard to find tickets below £25 for Premiership games, and that's nearly $40. Not exactly part of a student budget- and that doesn't include train tickets to the games either. It's also very hard to get tickets in general for the top games. With each team only playing 15-20 home games a year, the tickets for top teams are pretty exclusive. Finally, I have been much more busy than I imagined. My football team had matches almost every Saturday (the day of most Premiership matches), and when we didn't, it seemed like I always had a basketball match or something else to do.
So I was very excited to finally make it up to for a Newcastle United home match on Saturday. It was their last home game of the season, so I barely made it! I wanted to see Newcastle United FC because they are a 'big club'. They have a long, proud history in English Football, they have an enormous and incredibly passionate fan base, and a huge and historic stadium. They are also the closest team to Durham, about 15 minutes by train.
I traveled up there by car though, with 5 of my friends from Durham. Three of them are passionate Newcastle fans, the rest of us were just going for the spectacle. The match was against Fulham FC (a middle of the table team from London) and set to kick off at 3:00pm. Newcastle have had a very tough season. They have struggled financially, and even moreso, on the pitch. They have had 5 different managers this season, indicative of their poor performance. Unlike American sports, where one bad season is simply that, one bad year, there are much more serious consequences in English Football. The bottom three teams in the league get relegated into a lower division for the following season (resulting in a loss estimated at over £50m of lost revenue), and often have a hard time making it back up. Some once glorious teams have spiraled into relegation and financial ruin, and now find themselves in the 3rd and 4th division leagues of the English Football system. Newcastle might be following them. They are in serious danger of going down this eason, and with only two games left in the season, needed a very good result on Saturday.
(Outside of the Stadium)
(Waiting in line for stairs to the upper deck)Walking around the city to get to the Stadium, I was surprised how crowded the streets were with people, many of whom were heading to the game. You could feel the excitement and tension in the air. It was so crowded getting into the Stadium, that we barely made it in before kickoff. We emerged through the tunnel from the concourse to the seating in the upper deck moments before the match started. The rest of the stadium was already full, and the atmosphere was electric.
(First view of the pitch)
(The Main stand)It was like walking through a wall of noise. Every one of the 53,000 seats seemed to be full. Half the stadium was waving flags with the black and white stripes of the team. Literally about 90% of the crowd was wearing the team's iconic home jersey. The chanting, singing and yelling was at a fever pitch. My friends hurried towards our seats, but I stood, unmoving, with my mouth hanging open, taking in the scene. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.
(Walking to our seats)
The stadium itself, St. James' Park, has been described as a cathedral of football stadiums, and I can't think of a more apt term. Opened in 1892 (that's not a typo), the unique stadium has undergone many expansions over the year. It is now a hodgepodge of styles, and completely asymmetrical- with some stands much larger than others. It is at once modern, and at the same time extremely old. Holding just under 53,000, it is also the third largest stadium Premiership stadium in England.
It was almost hard to focus on the match at first, because I was so busy looking around at the stadium, the standing, screaming hordes of supporters and the panoramic views of the city available from the upper deck.
(Cool Shadows)
I enjoyed the match immensely, even though Newcastle ended up falling in defeat, 1-0. It was fascinating to see how passionate the fans were. It was obvious they were in the tail end of a disappointing season- their frusturation was palpable. It was extremely tense- every slight mistake or pass-back from a Newcastle player was greeted with vocal exasperation from the stands. Though the fans were impatient and didn't tolerate mistakes, they were clearly incredibly supportive of their players. It's hard to be both at the same time, but the Toon Army (as they're known) managed it somehow. Sitting next to me was a well dressed and respectable looking gentleman, probably in his 70s. It was strangely satisfying, and disconcerting at the same time, to hear him yelling and crudely swearing throughout the match.
Towards the end of the match, as the home side pushed for an equalizer, the skies darkened tremendously. During the final few minutes rain absolutely hammered down on the pitch. It was one of the heaviest downpours I've seen this whole year. The stands are all covered by picturesque roofs, but the dark storm clouds and downpour seemed to be terribly symbolic of the clubs's season. As the seconds ticked away, it became desperately clear to the home fans, only a miracle could save them from their first relegation in a generation. With this loss, they only had one more match to try and escape from relegation. Not only will Newcastle have to win this weekend, they also need other results to go their way as well. The thousands of devasted fans, trudging through the wet and dark streets made for a sorry scene.
(Storm Clouds)I hope Newcastle find someway to stay in the Premier League next season. Their stadium does not belong in the second division, and neither do their fans. The North East of England has arguably the most passionate football fans in the country. Surveys have shown the Newcastle fans give up the greatest percentage of their income to attend the matches. The region has been hit hard by the recession, but that doesn't stop the fans from spending nearly all of their income on season tickets, even if it means forgoing nearly all of the other niceties of life. Some may call it crazy, some may call it admirable. I'm not sure which is more apt, and I'm not sure I care. Regardless, it made for an amazing atmosphere, and some memories I won't soon forget.
As an extra bonus, here are some low quality videos from my digital camera:
As an extra bonus, here are some low quality videos from my digital camera:
(A disallowed goal- the fans go crazy, then realize the ref has disallowed it for a foul)
(The fans get frustrated during the dying moments of the match)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Why Couldn't They Have Put Exams in Winter?
Wouldn't it have been easier to study back in January, when it was snowing and horrible outside, rather than now when it's glorious and summer like? Short answer: Yes.
I had my last official lecture earlier this week, and am now in the middle of a 'dead week' of sorts, before exams officially start. The exam period technically begins on Monday, but my first one is not until next Friday. So I have about a week and a half left. In the two weeks following that first exam, I'll have five more, so six total exams over 2 weeks. On June 5th, I'll finish my last exam and finally be done.
I have one exam for each of my 6 year long courses. The exams cover material from the entire academic year and are worth between 60% and 100% of my total year grade, depending on the course. So they're kind of important. They are a huge deal here, and it's reflecting in the atmosphere around college. It's gotten very quiet, especially at nights, as everyone studies frantically. Suffice to say, it's not the most fun time of year.
Unfortunately, it is the best time of the year in terms of weather. It still rains occasionally, but is often usually sunny, and pretty warm too. I'm sure as soon as exams are over people will hardly spend any time inside at all.
I'm pretty relaxed at the moment, just focused, and doing as much studying as I can. I am certainly not 'freaking out' or having full out panic attacks, like I've seen befall some people. But maybe as exams get closer, I'll become more worried. I'll post again soon, perhaps next week, and we'll see if I'm in panic mode by then.
Hope everyone is well, I'll be back with more soon.
Gabe
PS- Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, I know that's one of the best parts of this blog. It's only, pictures of myself studying might be kind of boring, and I also doubt the librarians would be thrilled to see me wandering around the library taking pictures of random people studying. I am going to another big football match this weekend however, so you'll definitely see some pictures from that.
I had my last official lecture earlier this week, and am now in the middle of a 'dead week' of sorts, before exams officially start. The exam period technically begins on Monday, but my first one is not until next Friday. So I have about a week and a half left. In the two weeks following that first exam, I'll have five more, so six total exams over 2 weeks. On June 5th, I'll finish my last exam and finally be done.
I have one exam for each of my 6 year long courses. The exams cover material from the entire academic year and are worth between 60% and 100% of my total year grade, depending on the course. So they're kind of important. They are a huge deal here, and it's reflecting in the atmosphere around college. It's gotten very quiet, especially at nights, as everyone studies frantically. Suffice to say, it's not the most fun time of year.
Unfortunately, it is the best time of the year in terms of weather. It still rains occasionally, but is often usually sunny, and pretty warm too. I'm sure as soon as exams are over people will hardly spend any time inside at all.
I'm pretty relaxed at the moment, just focused, and doing as much studying as I can. I am certainly not 'freaking out' or having full out panic attacks, like I've seen befall some people. But maybe as exams get closer, I'll become more worried. I'll post again soon, perhaps next week, and we'll see if I'm in panic mode by then.
Hope everyone is well, I'll be back with more soon.
Gabe
PS- Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, I know that's one of the best parts of this blog. It's only, pictures of myself studying might be kind of boring, and I also doubt the librarians would be thrilled to see me wandering around the library taking pictures of random people studying. I am going to another big football match this weekend however, so you'll definitely see some pictures from that.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Last Football Match
Well, our football season ended on Saturday afternoon. We finished our league games last term, in April, but we were still in the knockout cup. The cup is sort of like the March Madness of Durham soccer. 64 teams enter, with 5 or 6 from each college. It's a 'one and done' tournament, meaning if you lose, you're out.
Unlike March Madness however, the pairings are random, not by seed. In the first round (last term) we drew a pretty bad team, and were able to beat them 3-0, our first win of the season at the time. It was a good game for us, because it was able to give us some momentum going into the rest of our league games, and we were able to finish our season in the third division strongly.
In the second round of the cup, we drew one of the best teams in the University. 'Stephenson College A'. They were actually the defending champions, having won the cup last year. They were near the top of The Premiership (the first division) whereas, we, as I've said were in the lower regions of the third division. Because the Durham University soccer season was over, some of the University players (the best 18 players in the entire university) who were part of Stephenson College also played for them. I think it's fair to say we were a bit overmatched!
Most of our team went into the match not really hoping to win, but hoping to avoid an embarrassing scoreline, like 8-0 or something. And I'm happy to say we did that.
We actually managed to lead the match at halftime 1-0, in an incredibly unrepresentative score. They had dominated the game, had a ton of shots and controlled possession. We had the ball twice in their half, and somehow managed to score with one of them. It was crazy. If you had told me before the match we'd be winning at halftime, I would have never believed it.
It was clear it was only a matter of time though, until they started to score some of their chances. And in the second half, they finally did, making it 1-1. I was subbed in soon after this, with the instructions to run as hard as I could. Most of our team was already very tired, so I had to tons of running to try to help. We kept working hard as a team, and unbelievably prevented them from scoring again. Our goalie had a world class performance, with over 10 amazing saves.
By the end of regulation, everyone on our team was dying. Partly because we were out of shape from Easter Vacation, and partly because we had to work extra hard to stay with this superior team. Because it was a cup match, the match could not simply end in a one-one draw, which would have been a fabulous result for us. Instead we had to go to 30 mins of extra time before penalty kicks if necessary.
To make a long story short, penalty kicks were far from necessary. After a heroic performance and giving it all we could for over 90 minutes, our team finally reached our breaking point. Players were dropping like flies on the pitch and having to limp off to rest, or have someone help stretch their cramping muscles. Nobody could really run anymore. Even I was unbelievably tired, and I only played for the end of the second half and 30 minutes of extra time. We gave up 4 goals in extra time, and were knocked out of the cup, thus ending our season.
Funnily enough, it was easily our best game of the season. Sure we'd lost 5-1, but we were more proud as a team than we had been after any other game, even 3-0 wins and 5-0 wins that we'd had. When our A team had played Stephenson A earlier in the year (they're in the same league), they had lost 1-0. Well, in 90 minutes, we'd drawn 1-1. It's always tough to end the season on a loss, but this was the best we could have hoped for. Nobody was disappointed.
I still have one more game left for the basketball team, so I'm now looking forward to that. In the meantime, lectures have pretty much ended for the year, and all that's left now is a few dead weeks of studying, and then exams. Most people are really stressed for exams, and it's not uncommon for people to spend entire days in the library studying. I'm obviously not used to this intensive method of studying. In American Universities it seems like people study a bit all through the year, there are essays and midterms and other checkpoints. Here the final exams are basically it. I'm doing my best to prepare. I'll keep you updated.
Unlike March Madness however, the pairings are random, not by seed. In the first round (last term) we drew a pretty bad team, and were able to beat them 3-0, our first win of the season at the time. It was a good game for us, because it was able to give us some momentum going into the rest of our league games, and we were able to finish our season in the third division strongly.
In the second round of the cup, we drew one of the best teams in the University. 'Stephenson College A'. They were actually the defending champions, having won the cup last year. They were near the top of The Premiership (the first division) whereas, we, as I've said were in the lower regions of the third division. Because the Durham University soccer season was over, some of the University players (the best 18 players in the entire university) who were part of Stephenson College also played for them. I think it's fair to say we were a bit overmatched!
Most of our team went into the match not really hoping to win, but hoping to avoid an embarrassing scoreline, like 8-0 or something. And I'm happy to say we did that.
We actually managed to lead the match at halftime 1-0, in an incredibly unrepresentative score. They had dominated the game, had a ton of shots and controlled possession. We had the ball twice in their half, and somehow managed to score with one of them. It was crazy. If you had told me before the match we'd be winning at halftime, I would have never believed it.
It was clear it was only a matter of time though, until they started to score some of their chances. And in the second half, they finally did, making it 1-1. I was subbed in soon after this, with the instructions to run as hard as I could. Most of our team was already very tired, so I had to tons of running to try to help. We kept working hard as a team, and unbelievably prevented them from scoring again. Our goalie had a world class performance, with over 10 amazing saves.
By the end of regulation, everyone on our team was dying. Partly because we were out of shape from Easter Vacation, and partly because we had to work extra hard to stay with this superior team. Because it was a cup match, the match could not simply end in a one-one draw, which would have been a fabulous result for us. Instead we had to go to 30 mins of extra time before penalty kicks if necessary.
To make a long story short, penalty kicks were far from necessary. After a heroic performance and giving it all we could for over 90 minutes, our team finally reached our breaking point. Players were dropping like flies on the pitch and having to limp off to rest, or have someone help stretch their cramping muscles. Nobody could really run anymore. Even I was unbelievably tired, and I only played for the end of the second half and 30 minutes of extra time. We gave up 4 goals in extra time, and were knocked out of the cup, thus ending our season.
Funnily enough, it was easily our best game of the season. Sure we'd lost 5-1, but we were more proud as a team than we had been after any other game, even 3-0 wins and 5-0 wins that we'd had. When our A team had played Stephenson A earlier in the year (they're in the same league), they had lost 1-0. Well, in 90 minutes, we'd drawn 1-1. It's always tough to end the season on a loss, but this was the best we could have hoped for. Nobody was disappointed.
I still have one more game left for the basketball team, so I'm now looking forward to that. In the meantime, lectures have pretty much ended for the year, and all that's left now is a few dead weeks of studying, and then exams. Most people are really stressed for exams, and it's not uncommon for people to spend entire days in the library studying. I'm obviously not used to this intensive method of studying. In American Universities it seems like people study a bit all through the year, there are essays and midterms and other checkpoints. Here the final exams are basically it. I'm doing my best to prepare. I'll keep you updated.
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