Teamates and Friends

Just over 8 months ago Sara arrived in the Netherlands to take up a contract to play field hockey with a team in Amsterdam. She's had a few little challenges in that time - travelling overseas on her own for the first time, coping with homesickness, adjusting to a foreign language (though fortunately most people over there also speak English), learning a different style of play, coaching a number of teams, learning to balance her money and how to live in a new country, living through winter whilst knowing that it was warm and sunny at home, and finding her way around a strange city on her bicycle have been a few things for her to deal with, as well as being on the other side of the world from her family, friends and boyfriend.

However, all in all she has enjoyed her time over there, not least for the fact that many of her teamates have become good friends and the team had a very successful season. They finished as runners-up in Second Division which qualified them to play 6 additional games in the past two weeks in an attempt to gain promotion into First Division. If they had lost the first two matches, it would have been all over then. However, it wasn't until the sixth match, which they sadly lost 1-0, that their season ended.

Sara is now very excited about spending a few weeks travelling Europe with her boyfriend, who is really looking forward to his first visit to the Continent, and no doubt, seeing Sara again!

Below is Sara's hockey team. She is 4th from the left, front row, orange stick (next to the girl with the blue leg.) (Click on photo for larger view.)