Dons Viking Voyage: Day 3

Day Three Photo Gallery

As part of the coverage of the USF Women's Basketball "Viking Voyage" to Scandinavia, sophomore Jakkie Boka-Timmerberg provides www.USFDons.com with a blog entry from the third day of the 11-day trip.For more indepth coverage, including addtional blogs,please visit the Dons Viking Voyage Tour Central.

May 26, 2009

Today was our second day in Stockholm, Sweden and was a bit more basketball-oriented than the first. We woke up around 10 to have breakfast in the hotel, which was much different than typical eggs and bacon. There was an assortment of breads and grains, crepe like pancakes, hardboiled eggs (that were unhard inside) and an array of various colored juices, compliments on the juice man. Overall, everything was dry and hard. It's definitely something to get used to!

After breakfast, we went to Solna gymnasium to shoot around and get used to the floor before our 6pm game. Everyone is still adjusting to the time change and most of us went straight to bed when we returned to the hotel. We met up in the early afternoon for a pre-game meal at Subway (we had to play it safe and make sure we were well fed). As previously mentioned, we returned to the gym for our 6pm game. We definitely have a lot to adjust to in terms of the time change and European style of play and didn't perform at our best, but we're optimistic because we play the same team again tomorrow night and expect a more successful outcome.

After returning from the gym and showering, the whole team (with the exception of the ever-exhausted Shafón Monye Rollins) went to a Swedish restaurant and pub called Pickholtz in the downtown area near our hotel. The food was probably the best we have tasted so far. We got a taste of English culture, too, when a man named Andy sat down at our table and hung out with us for a good hour, as we walked around and explored the streets of Stockholm.

We were unable to squeeze in a visit to Skansen today, Sweden's famous open air museum (similar to the United States' version of a zoo). We do, however, plan to visit Skansen tomorrow, providing that it does not rain in the early afternoon. Skansen houses a multitude of animals, including over one hundred species of animals that are variations of the ones we are familiar with in the states.

We are all feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to be offered this amazing opportunity and we can't wait to see what is in store for the days ahead. Shoutout to Mom, Dad and Little Mak. I love you all!!

-Jakkie Boka-Timmerberg, #5

Mid-morning, we headed to practice in Solna, just north of Stockholm. We played in a smaller gym that was located near a high school and home of Solna's professional team, The Vikings.

Following a quick take-out pregame meal in a local park, it was back to the hotel to get ready for our game against the Swedish U20 team. Our game didn't have a favorable outcome (you can read the release here), but it was interesting to watch our team adapt to international rules. International rules have some big differences than the baseball USF is used to, including four 10-minute periods, a trapezoid shaped lane, a longer 3-point difference, and a 24 second shot clock.

After the game, we were on our own for dinner and the rest of the evening.

All in all, a long, hectic, but some-what low key day. Tomorrow, we are off to see the Vasa ship, a museum or two and then our second game against the Swedish U20 team. Wednesday will also mark our final day in Sweden, as Thursday morning we leave on an eight hour bus trip to Norway. I have been told the scenery will be amazing along the way.

Before I go, fun Swedish facts of the day - Sweden has not participated in a war in almost two hundred years. Sweden has the world's most generous social welfare system with virtually free schooling, child care, and health care. In addition, when a child is born, the father is REQUIRED to take 2 months off work to tend to the baby. The parents also receive 18 joint months of "baby leave" and during the 18 months, one parent can receive up to 85 percent of the salary, paid by the government, to stay home with the child.

Well, that's it. I am working on a photo gallery, hang tight.

-Rachel