Softball Time

I had my first game a couple days ago with the team below us in order to get some practice. The game went pretty smoothly and we won in 5 innings, but I did have to get used to the fact that we throw off of a rubber mat instead of dirt! Pretty strange but luckily it didn't effect me much. The girls on the team were pretty fun to play with. To spice up the game they would choose a letter or category for the inning, then when we were on the field they could only cheer for me with words that started with that letter or were in the category.  I had to focus extra hard to block out my aussie 3rd baseman yelling "strike 'em out asparagas". 

Then last night I had my first practice with the West Australia national team. The practice brought me back to the college days minus coach Y and 15 x 80's, thankfully! The head coach was the assistant coach for the Australia olympic team and I really like him! I met with the coach before practice to get on the same page and he was so knowledgable about the game. He was really interested to hear what my softball goals were and I think I thoroughly dissapointed him when I explained that college was my pinnacle and now I'm just wrapping up and having fun. After giving me a long shpeel about how you peak until late 20's and there are still opportunities, we decided to agree to disagree for now on the topic. Little does he know that I was putting it lightly when I said I'm planning on leaving my cleats in Australia.

With a new team again came another list of names and faces that are already slipping my mind. It was pretty cool that two of the girls on the team played for Coastal Carolina and Louisville, so I have faced them during college. During practice I went off with the other two pitchers for the first half then threw a little BP while the players worked on their short game.  It was so nice to be back in my comfort zone where I just deal with pitching and hanging out in the bull pen.

The Weakest Link

After totaling over 24 hours of being in the air... Ali I'm sure you're having a heart attack right now just reading this... I finally landed in Perth, Australia.  The president of the softball club and his daughter/my teammate were there to greet me with a hot chocolate.  I immediately could tell this was going to be a good trip :)

We hauled my huge suitcases back to their house where I spent the rest of the day struggling to stay awake.  After what seemed like a never ending day of meeting teammates, coaches, and taking in the sights I finally layed my head on my pillow and didn't move until 13 hours later.  I'm really lucky that their house is so nice and they have the perfect set up for me.  I get my own room, bathroom, and cell phone. Plus they are awesome cooks and have two extra cars that I can use. However, one is a stick shift and seeing as how poorly my lessons went in Holland I'm just going to stick to the automatic.  Not to mention that I still have to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road, yikes!

While everything is great, my favorite part of the house is the button right next to my bed that brings down these heavy duty blinds that block out all light from my window... it reminds me of Cameron Diaz's LA house in The Holiday! I'll definitely be needing one of these back home :)

Yesterday was another full day of meeting people and touring around Perth. We spent a good chunk of the day hanging out at the beach before we made our way back home for my welcome party grill-out. At the party I got a lil preview of the Aussie tolerance.  These people sure know how to put them back with no problem... I will be the weakest link on our team!

Mullet + Outfit = The Mullout

When I landed in LAX I booked my way across the airport to the far corner where the V Australia ticket counter was located.  However, I'd say V Australia was more of a dance club then ticket counter! The area was dim with florescent blue wall lights, had Lil Wayne blaring over the sound system, and was operated by employees who didn't look a day older than 26.  This gave me a good idea of what to expect in Australia, that was until I noticed the man checking-in at the counter next to me. From the top he looked like a typical middle-aged business man; cleanly cut gray hair, white collared shirt, and a sharp suit coat.  But then I looked down and was thrown by his zubas, sandals with socks, and surf board laying at his feet. Lets hope he was an Aussie because if so, people watching down under is going to be epic!