The countdown has begun!!!

After spending 5 weeks in Germany and about 4 weeks of chaotic travel in France, to say that I am ready to go home is an understatement. I like Europe. I really do. It is very different than the U.S. and ¨I have broadened my horizons.¨ I enjoy how every single home I slept in over this time frame has less stuff and junk in their homes than American homes. It is possibly to raise a family of 6 children in a 3 to 4 bedroom house. Sharing rooms and bathrooms does not hurt anybody, in fact I argue they make the bond closer. I also enjoy not using my cell phone except to get calls from odd agent man who tells me what city to venture to next on my goosechase through the country. I love visiting markets with fresh fruits, bread and meat and watching people carry their goods home in cute little baskets as opposed to thin plastic bags that cut off your circulation when trying to carry a gallon of milk in them.

Here are a few things I will not miss:
trains- although efficient and good for the earth I will not miss the strikes that take place and wonder if it will effect me, or the smell of the train station, or the chime that rings like every 25 seconds
white bread- ate too much, often it was the only option when running through the train station and knowing i had a 6 hr train ride ahead of me
raw meat-gross

I can not wait list:
I can not wait to drive!!!!!! Freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not confined to small roads with bumps and potholes... in fact if I want to I can take a road trip on a whim with smooth safe roads and an automatic smooth ride!!!!!!!
I also can not wait to communicate in English!!! I do not have to use short simple sentences and I can ask anybody anything and I will get an accurate answer!!! (I am thinking of directions, restaurant menus, planning, etc.) I should have taken French lessons before coming here, but I didnt. I gave them one more reason to curse the ¨ignorant Americans¨ but actually there are Indians and South Americans here who are in the same boat as I am.
I CAN NOT STINKIN WAIT TO SEE MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY, and OH YEAH MY FIANCEE!!!!!!!!!!! (That story will come later, I am still waiting to tell a friend personally back home)

Love

Moi

So, what are you actually doing in France anyway?

People that I keep in touch with know I have been in Germany for 5 weeks and now France for about 2 weeks.  Only 12 days remaining of my 9 week journey!!!  This should sum up what my purpose was in coming to Europe.

-After getting chewed up and spat out in Portugal this past Feb., I only played 4 matches in the course of 4 weeks.  I decided I actually want to play as opposed to travel far distances without a guarantee of matches.  Of course, if I had won I would have gotten more matches but I thought I should take a different route for a while to play more.

-Many people thought it was a good idea for me to come to Europe and play in their leagues.  This is pretty much playing tournaments that different clubs sponsor with players mostly from France and some international.  The tournament lasts an entire month but since it is like a feed in draw, I come into the tournament in the quarterfinals or so...sometimes only the finals depending on the level of the tourney.

-How is this possible?  I do not have an actual ranking yet, as I am new to the system.  But I have an assumed ranking which lets the tournament directors know where I stand.  I actually have an agent who is French and I have never met him.  I got his contact info. through a friend of Anna Lubinsky who worked with him a few years ago.  Anyway, we communicate by cell phone and he tells me which city to travel to and which train to take.  There is someone at the train station to pick me up and take me to the courts.  

-Ok, the original plan was for me to spend 2 months in France.  Yikes, glad I scaled it back to one!!! It can get a litte lonely by myself.  After meeting a nice girl in Portugal, she asked me to play for her club team in Hamburg, Germany which is where I was last month.  That was an AWESOME experience and I really do love Germany.  The people were great and the bread was superb, too. Haha

-I took a train from Hamburg to Paris and now the goal became for me to play 10 tournaments from June 5th to June 30th.  It is June 18th today and I play the finals of tournament number 5;  Tomorrow I travel and play number 6 on Fri and Sat.  Then an overnight train on Sat. night and play another one on Sun!!!  This will put me at playing touneys 8 through 10 from Monday til Sunday.  Whew! I am already tired thinking about it!!!

-Why ten tournaments???  I want to have the option to play for a French club next May.  Some clubs house you and you play 5 matches for them every weekend for 5 weeks and you get paid.  Then during the week I can play more tournaments like this.  If I were a European citizen I would not have to play the 10 tournaments...  But I am not, so I am.  (I like that sentence)

-I am not totally sure if I will play for a club next year but I want to have an option.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there is prize money involved which has been great!  It pays for my travel expenses (food, train, hotels somtimes) and I have some leftover!

-When I get back to the U.S., I will be playing a few tourneys in July, maybe one is September, then hopefully 2 in October.  

When I think back before I came here I sort of can not believe I came over here alone for over 2 months.  I am glad I did though.  When will I ever get to spend this much time overseas again?  Talk about an experience...I learn so much everyday.  Example: Yesterday at my first match I played a local girl.  When we met I sorta stumbled though saying that my name is Sarah in French.  She told me hers, then we did the little kiss cheeck, kiss other cheek thing.  This still just cracks me up and I feel so silly when I do it.  Anyway, she went in for a third cheek kiss and I stopped at two.  She was sorta taken back and immediately said ¨Pardon.¨ I, of course, tried to smooth over the awkwardness but saying I am foreign and do not know the proper etiquette.  After the match when we shook hands, she did it again and I forgot AGAIN!!! Idiot!!!  Then the tournament director whose house I am staying in told me (thankfully!) that in south France they do 3 kisses.  Well thanks for letting me know!!!!  haha  She said in Paris they do 4 which must just take so much time.  

Au revoir!!! Kiss cheek, kiss cheeck, kiss cheek!!!!!

Dunkerque, Libourne; now Perigueux

Howdy...please excuse grammatical errors

After not having internet access for 3 days it is good to be reconnected with the world via emails, gchats and of course, the blog. I won a tourney yesterday in Libourne. Afterwards we had another 2.5 hr meal of odd pork brain looking meat for starters which I did not try even though I usually try everything once. Along with that were baguettes that just sit on the tables and everyone grabs chunks of bread...Then 30 min later came meat and potatoes...sausage and huge bacon slab looking things that were very fatty and not really great... 30 min later came cheese which I had the day before but not last night...30 min later came dessert of ice cream cones which I loved!!!!! Then most pople smoke. I did not partake. Everyone had wine all night... Tournaments here are a big club social... They last for one month although i am only there for a day or so...so, for the last 15 days bout 30 club members have eaten together !!! Lunch and dinner but only bout 5 come to lunch... I seriously is so different. It is such a relaxed atmosphere and they are like family to one another.

The family I am staying with have a vineyard and this week they bottled all their wine:::bout 120,000 bottles I think. I got a lot of the process on film. The husbqnd and father here is the fourth generation of his family line to do it. HOW COOL!!! I actually do not paricularly care for wine; but it is not an option here even though i still get goosebumps with almost every sip. It really is hard for me to swallow but I do and just say "Oui, oui" when they look for my reaction. I have also tried 3 cheeses and have had to forget about the mold that surrounds it and try toavoid it on my plate. Yikes. Other than scraping the mold off, the cheese is very very good. till tryin to get used to all the white bread. The long baguettes are so funny and I feel so French when i eat them.

This is a beautiful place in the country and a place i have never seen before. Bout 15 min away is a town of buildings and a church that is so old it is a joke. A man who took me said, "this dates back to the Romans and after the Roman empire fell monks lived here." Little restaurants are stuck in tiny spots and of course there are tons of places to buy wine.

I actually won some wine but do not know how to get it back since it is illegal. I may have to pay for an extra bag to check since it is also illegal to carry it on. Anyone wanna help with advice? I am flying with US Airways and recenty someone told me they allow an extra bag for sports people. ???

This is by far the nicest and prettiest place I have been to. Tourney num 4 finishes on sunday in Perigueux then the next one finishes Wed. Hopefully I can get in 5 more by June 30th!!! I love it here, well I mean I really like it...but I can not wait to get home!!!!

Love

Sarah

France 1

I am pecking at the keyboard from the court site of my first tournament in Elbeuf Saint Aubin which is near Rouen;. Somehow I managed to get here sane enough to play well and win. Yay! I played a &- yr old girl from Paris who was trying to psyche me out before we played. She asked me if I get bored at 10k tourneys. She was trying to figure out my level and make me feel old. Hehe oh well. I play tomorrow at 9am. The tourney is a feed in draw, meaning higher level players do not have to play until later rounds. So, I play a girl who did not play in the yourney today. We get free hotel rooms, so thqt is great! Some man just pointed and grunted at the girl I will be rroming with. Maybe she will speak French and I can learn from her and follow her around.

I stayed with friends at a very nice and prestigious academy for two nights and one of their players was in the quarters of teh French Open Jrs. We got free tickets to watch him, so I got to go to Roland Garros! I did not see anyone else play but the atmosphere was great and a little more formal than I would assume teh US Open would be. I have not been there, so I really can no say...

gotta go!