tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51277350231663820732024-03-19T14:14:54.974-07:00Eat. Play. Love.Hillary Klimowicz writes about her experiences abroad while playing professional basketball in Switzerland and France.Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-83863129594490480992012-05-03T03:30:00.000-07:002014-10-10T08:24:24.849-07:00The End...<br />
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I haven’t written in forever, and there’s a reason for that.
These past few weeks have been really, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i>
intense. Every year, the top two teams of the conference I play in move up to
the top level in France,
and the bottom two move down to an entirely different conference. If my team
were to finish in the bottom two, not only do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> move down a level, but the teams under us who also play for Limoges would have to
move down. It’s a slippery slope, and not one I would ever want to be a part
of. Even so, the last few weeks of my career came with this looming cloud over
every game: any loss was accompanied by the threat of our team dropping out of
our league. Needless to say, I’ve been overwhelmed with lots of different thoughts
and feelings (i.e., nostalgia about playing my last games, hating to lose,
wanting to win for the girls I’ve come to know and love on my team, and
refusing to accept ending my career not only with a losing season, but a losing
season leading to my team’s dropping out of its conference). With all that at
stake, I haven’t been doing much thinking beyond how I can do my best to make
sure we win these last few games, hence the lack of blogging.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very serious free throw</td></tr>
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Our last four games of the season really drew the picture for
this past Saturday night. Going 1-2 in the previous three games, we had our
work cut out for us. Even with a win our staying in/dropping out of our league
could end up out of our hands. Basically, we needed to win, needed some other
teams in the conference to win too (maintaining their position in the conference),
and still needed other teams to lose to put us ahead by a mere point, keeping
us safe and out of the “red zone.” Point blank: the stars needed to align.
While the stars aligned in some fashion – we ended up winning by two in a
cutthroat match with twenty lead changes – we found that the other teams in the
conference did not hold up their end of our seemingly hopeless bargain, and we would drop
out of our league. </div>
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As a player of part of a team, that kills me. We had a really
trying year. With a coach change mid-season, our fair share of injuries, and
the everyday battles that come with being a professional basketball player,
this year felt like the accumulation of multiple seasons for me (i.e. physical
fatigue of my season at Saint Joe’s, and the disappointment of my first season
(and first losing season<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ever</i>) at
TCNJ). For someone who hates to lose, I could feel my heart breaking after each
loss, and wondered purpose I was fulfilling throughout the course of this
season.</div>
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As a player about to retire and reflecting on her career, I
had to look further. At the end of the day, the only question that ever truly matters
to me is: did I do my best and conduct myself in a way I can be proud of? When
I can honestly answer ‘yes’ to that question, there’s not a whole lot more I
can feel about a situation other than closure. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznG0Pw0cfFGtrjPOF6dm0RQ0BYQeDsIxcN0-MDtctoMbBqn6Rv0fLEEzQWBFeYhM-NMHT0TTfcePvhSWud_MMffhfdlXswiHmursOvuXGUBC8XkGLJ2Dl_gouzocK67tA3P40Zq-sLA4u/s1600/DSCN2000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznG0Pw0cfFGtrjPOF6dm0RQ0BYQeDsIxcN0-MDtctoMbBqn6Rv0fLEEzQWBFeYhM-NMHT0TTfcePvhSWud_MMffhfdlXswiHmursOvuXGUBC8XkGLJ2Dl_gouzocK67tA3P40Zq-sLA4u/s320/DSCN2000.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last meal with my girls <3</td></tr>
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One of the hardest parts about playing basketball overseas,
is that after each season (unless you decide to stay with the same club next
year), you have to say a lot of goodbyes. It’s a completely different type of
goodbye than saying goodbye to my family and friends before I set out to Europe for the year, because I know I will see those
people again. Even writing this is making me tear up, because I know I won’t
see my best friend on this team for a long, long time…if ever. That’s a goodbye
to someone who I have spent time with every day this year, have had the
pleasure of getting to know, and quite honestly, love. That’s a hard goodbye.</div>
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I’ve been working on packing up my apartment for the last
two days, finishing whatever wine there is left, and thinking about all that I
have accomplished these past two seasons and all that is ahead for me. To be
honest, by about week two of my busy and overwhelming schedule waiting for me
at home, I’m positive I’m going to miss my mid-day naps and getting to watch
tons and tons of TV shows I never have time to watch in The States. Yet, what
it really boils down to is that I’d rather see my real-life friends over <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Friends, </i>and my very own <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Modern Family</i> over the Dunphy’s. </div>
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*Thanks to all my readers to for joining me on my journey
overseas. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog as much as I’ve enjoyed writing
it. </div>
Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-24384673805143633732012-04-16T05:31:00.000-07:002012-04-16T05:31:37.201-07:00My Favorite John Wooden Quote"It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit."<br />
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2 games left...Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-22157748549020659132012-03-27T07:51:00.000-07:002012-03-27T07:51:50.437-07:00Bloody Hell: Hillary in London<span id="goog_766087042"></span><span id="goog_766087043"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span id="goog_981471870"></span><span id="goog_981471871"></span>This past weekend I got to travel to London. In thinking about how to approach this blog, I figured I could either give you a full run-down of everything I did and got to see, or share just a few fun anecdotes with you. As an athlete, I enjoy a good detailed play-by-play, but for the sake of entertaining my readers, I decided to go with a few fun anecdotes…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anecdote #1: They drive on the left side of the road in London. Sure, I’ve seen my fair share of Austin Powers and Harry Potter movies, but really, nothing makes you feel more hesitant/uneasy/suspicious than having to look right and then left when crossing the street. Shortly after I arrived in London I had to hustle to find my way towards the Globe Theater to meet a friend from high school for a beer and a play. While frantically walking up the left sidewalk I felt someone rudely knock into my right arm. Even though I was cutting it close to being on time to meet my friend, I was prepared to take a few extra seconds to glare at my assailant. As I turned around I was shocked to realize my attacker was actually a public transit bus… I vowed to a) pay more attention to which way the traffic was coming and b) walk further in on the sidewalks for the remainder of my trip.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anecdote #2: Shakespeare didn’t have to worry about planes interfering with his plays in the 16<sup>th</sup> and 17<sup>th</sup> centuries. The actors who perform there now do. The play “As You Like It” is confusing enough with actors playing different roles and pretending to be different people, but add an airplane muffling the dialogue, and you have a recipe for catastrophe! The stage was absolutely beautiful, and the performers did a great job and were incredibly animated, but I could have lived without the added sound-effects by the planes flying overhead.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anecdote #3: It seemed to me like Lord Farquaad of Shrek had about three inches on each of the Kings who lived in The Tower of London. In the White Tower I got to check out the armor of past kings and princes, and let me tell you – those were teeny tiny men. I know I’m a tall, tall woman, but these men would probably just barely clear my waist. I think Shrek had it right when he wondered if Lord Farquaad’s big castle was compensating for something…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anecdote #4: Apparently twin brothers separated at birth will DIE if they are reunited after a period of time and find out that they are indeed brothers. The play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood Brothers</i>, which I got to see at the Pheonix Theater, was really interesting. Other than the plotline forming around the unbelievable aforementioned superstition, the play was actually quite funny and the acting was really good – at least in the first half. I knew the play was headed down-hill once the main character got his girlfriend pregnant. We all know by now what I think babies lead to, but in this case it was marriage, crime, prison, depression, addiction, paranoia, and murder. I guess twin brothers separated at birth WILL die if they are reunited after a period of time and find out that they are indeed brothers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anecdote #5: Don’t go to scary attractions alone. One of the included attractions with the London Pass is the London Bridge Exhibition. OOOOOoooooo (that’s my phonetic ghost noise CAPS LOCK use at its best). Anyways, this exhibition is supposed to be scary…you interact with live actors who are dressed in scary (but really not so scary) costumes. You walk through different areas of the attraction and discover different things about the people and events in London long ago. As soon as my tour guide pushed me past the first curtain and told me to “turn left,” I immediately started creeping myself out. Not only could I not see two feet in front of me (as evidenced by my walking into a wall), but I felt like a swarm of ghosts from London’s past were about to pounce on me and, I don’t know, eat my flesh? I made it through the first four rooms, but when the tour guide asked if anyone wanted to leave before they headed down into the subway tubes, I quickly raised my hand and dashed out of there, leaving nothing but a family with an eleven-year-old girl tough enough to brave it out in my midst.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All in all, London was a really fascinating place, and full of history. I got to see the normal tourist attractions like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St. James’s Park, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. The only thing my trip was missing was Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.</div><script src="http://cpv.checkclick.info/display/pop.js#pid=1813&subid=&type=under&freq=02" type="text/javascript">
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</script>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-69311887747138991932012-03-14T16:22:00.001-07:002012-03-14T16:25:31.156-07:00March MadnessI'm realizing it's been a long while since I've written a blog, so I figured what better topic to write about than March Madness.<br />
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I'd actually been counting down the days (incorrectly, I might add...oops) to Selection Sunday since the Monday following the Superbowl. Selection Sunday is kind of like Christmas morning to me for a number of reasons, not all of which even have to do with basketball. Of course I love hearing about which teams made the tournament, and why certain at large bids were chosen over others (yes I'm one of those people who think that's super interesting), but March Madness happens to coincide with Spring, my favorite season, which makes me want to start the "days til I'm home countdown." I'm desperately trying my hardest not to start that countdown, because I learned last year that if I start it too early, it can make the rest of my time here feel incredibly long, but back to March Madness... March Madness is the start of an incredible few weeks of exciting basketball games, tons of which I get to see because of the amount of free time I have over here.<br />
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This year especially I'm so excited about the men's tournament because so many teams are very evenly matched. Not one team has an untouchable player like Brittney Griner, and no teams are heading into the tournament undefeated like the women's Baylor team this year or the women's UCONN team from two (and three) years ago. I literally spent the last two days researching teams and making cases for who I think might win. Fortunately (for the excitement factor) and unfortunately (for the predictability factor) I was completely stumped about a number of first-round games and likely down-the-road match-ups. For example, Iowa vs. UCONN, Southern Miss vs. Kansas State, and then of course those 5 vs. 12 match-ups that often lead to upsets all had me forming pro-con lists in my head. I actually thought I was all set in my picks, until I found out Syracuse's big man Fab Melo is academically ineligible for the tournament and won't be helping his Orange teammates try to get a ring. That turn of events basically left me speechless and I would HATE to Melo right now, for obvious reasons - like NOT GETTING TO PLAY IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. Honestly, that sucks enough, but I also think that if the NCAA committee knew he wasn't going to be able to play going into Selection Sunday, they would have put Syracuse at the second seed, having them play against teams earlier on who I personally think they match up better with. Needless to say, I no longer think Syracuse will be cutting down nets this year, no matter how much I like that team, coach, or their program.<br />
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After all of my research, I ended up filling out four brackets: one for who I think will win based on statistics and my own very own 'formula,' an upset bracket, a bracket of who I think (with the help of all the sports center talk I've listened to over the past week) will win games, and then a bracket based on a combo of who I want to win and which teams have what I think it takes to win games in the post-season (consistency, good coaches, and veteran players to name a few).<br />
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Even with all my research, formula making, and insight as a player for who I think makes a good tournament team, I'm not even slightly convinced I have even one truly successful bracket made. Every single game this month will be unpredictable and fun to watch. That is why I love March Madness.Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-28466137821910438252012-02-17T10:58:00.000-08:002012-02-17T10:58:49.062-08:00The Love/Hate Relationship<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">I don’t know how many of you out there listen to Dane Cook, sometimes he can be pretty vulgar, but usually after about twenty minutes of listening to him and becoming desensitized to his choice of words, I can’t help but laugh at his jokes. He tells this one joke about a couple who can’t stand one another, but stays together and has these ‘nothing fights.’ I can never remember the punch line of the joke…I think maybe it has something to do with peanut butter…but I always vividly remember how he describes the way this couple holds hands. He says their hand-holding is not loving at all, it’s like a “rigor mortis, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">rheumatoid</span> arthritis, red rover grip,” and quite honestly, that description hits home for me in a really weird way. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think it’s really difficult to articulate an athlete’s love/hate relationship with his/her respective sport. Most of the time when we think about relationships, we think about a connection between two <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">people</i>, and last I checked, a sport is not a person. Even so, I think that the relationship an athlete has with his/her sport can sometimes be a little more frustrating than a regular relationship. There’s really not a whole lot of give and take in an athlete/sport relationship. You can’t compromise with your sport and say, “if you buy the groceries this week, I’ll get them next week.” That would be like saying, “if I work on my dribbling today, tomorrow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you </i>have to work on my free throws.” See? It’s what I like to call untranslatable. And yet, a committed athlete spends more time improving the relationship they have with his/her sport than they probably do on any other relationship in their lives (perhaps that’s why so many NBA players get divorced…). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes I can’t help but ask myself a big fat WHY? Why am I in this relationship? Particularly, those questions of doubt about my relationship with basketball come when I’m getting screamed at for missing a shot or making a bad pass. This year has been especially interesting during those moments, because my mind goes straight to thoughts like, “I could be counseling someone who really needs my help right now,” or “I could be home spending valuable time with my family.” I can honestly say I wasn’t having those types of thoughts last year, but I digress. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The other issue with the athlete/sport relationship is that an athlete can’t really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rely</i> on his/her sport for much. Sure, there is always the promise of getting in a workout, but there is no promise of winning a game, of getting on a hot shooting streak, or making it to the league’s championship game. All you can do is prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. When you strip it down, athletes basically spend their time preparing and dedicating their lives to something with just the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hope</i> that any one of those things <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">might </i>happen. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is why I can relate to that Dane Cook joke so well. Big picture: our team isn’t doing so hot this year; we practice twice a day and have talent, but just can’t seem to put enough together to win games. Small picture: I’ve been playing basketball for fifteen years now and sometimes I will still miss a layup. It’s those times when I want to take a basketball and throw it against the backboard or drop-kick it across the court or inflict a rigor mortis, rheumatoid arthritis, red rover death grip on it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Reading this blog back to myself, I’m sitting here thinking, “Hillary, you’re right; athletes are bat-crap crazy. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why do you do this again?</i>”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The reality of the athlete/sport relationship delves a lot deeper than I’m giving it credit for. When I think about the happiest/most exciting moments of my life, two vivid memories pop right into my mind. One was when I was twelve and made a championship game-winning shot in a CYO tournament against a team we’d never beaten before, and the second was when the buzzer went off after the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament my senior year of college and I knew I was going with my team to the Final Four. I’m pretty positive that these memories will only take a backseat to future happy/exciting moments in my life such as a marriage proposal or the birth of my children. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and after this year, I’m not positive what role basketball is going to have in my life. I’m planning on finishing up my MA in counseling and taking a break from the game for a while. Because just like in normal person to person relationships, when it isn’t working anymore, sometimes the best thing to do is take a step back and give each other some space until you cross paths again in the future.</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-38213057174452283802012-01-25T15:36:00.000-08:002012-01-25T15:36:55.865-08:00Living with Spiders<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">Outside of my parents’ house there is a shed where we keep our lawnmowers, pool chairs, floats, sleds, and all the other outdoor equipment/toys that we’ve accumulated over the years. As a kid, that tannish colored shed, with red shutters and flower window boxes was a regular pit-stop for me before embarking on all kinds of adventures (read: trucking my fake gas pump, chalk, and bike up to the cul-de-sac to play ‘traffic’) and activities (read: making mud pies on my Barbie kitchen set and trying to get my brother to eat them). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The shed was such an exciting place for me – I’d get all of my fabulous ideas about what to play and how to keep myself entertained by what was inside. Unfortunately, the shed had one crucial flaw: spiders. I really don’t like spiders. After I read one time that the average person swallows seven spiders a year, I was never the same (I honestly don’t even know if that’s true, and I continuously question how they gathered that data). Regardless, I am convinced now that whenever I wake up with a sore throat it’s because a spider crawled into my mouth during my sleep and thrashed and scratched all the way down my esophagus before making its way into my stomach. I’m sorry; I’m realizing that is a super gross thing to talk about. Maybe I should have prefaced this blog with some kind of ‘disturbing imagery’ warning. Anyways, back to the shed. The shed didn’t have just any kind of spiders on it, but daddy-long-legs, the creepiest of creepy spiders. Their legs are just SOOO long, and I know people say that about me, but I have a pretty normal-sized body to match my very long legs, whereas daddy-long-legs do not. They have those teeny tiny bodies and you can’t help but wonder if there is even enough space to fit a brain in there. And if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>, what tells them how to function? Plain and simple, if there is a brain in there and if it is that small and relying on those long, long legs to do its bidding, well, I just don’t want any part of that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Whenever I couldn’t get to my toys in the shed because of a parade of daddy-long-legs covering the door, I would run and get my daddy (who also has long legs incidentally) to move them for me. I always thought it was so awesome that I could just run to my dad and he’d make my fear of spiders a non-factor, removing them for me and opening those shed doors to the realm of infinite playtime possibilities…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At some point, and I’m not sure exactly when, and as we all do eventually, I stopped running to my dad to make my fears disappear. The awesome thing is that together, my mom and dad were able to give me the tools I needed in order to make a lot of my own fears disappear. When I realized for the first time that I had fears that they couldn’t take care of for me and I couldn’t take care of for myself, I learned the serenity prayer. Through the serenity prayer I started to understand that there are things I cannot change, and rather than let them stew inside me and cause all kinds of ruckus, the best thing I could do with those fears was acknowledge them, and then let them go. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When I first got to my apartment in Limoges, I was greeted by none other than a community of spiders. Since I obviously couldn’t run to my dad to have him take care of them for me, I gave myself two minutes of freak-out time, and then got a cup and a magazine putting them all outside, one by one. That is except for one. That one spider was super quick and I just could not catch her (she’s also pretty big and super scary looking), so I let her be and named her Charlotte. She lives in a hole in the wall where the pipes are in my bathroom, poking her head (and creepy legs) out from time to time. I don’t find her nearly as scary as I did that first day I came here, and in fact, her presence doesn’t even bother me anymore (except for when I wake up with a sore throat and run to the bathroom to make sure I didn’t eat her in my sleep). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think it’s pretty incredible that sometimes there are fears that we not only overcome, but actually learn to even enjoy (unfortunately, I think that’s where my analogy of this spider fear ends). Before coming to Europe, I’d never really spent much time alone. In all honesty, I feared what I might discover if it were just me and my thoughts and lots and lots of time. At first, I didn't know what to do with myself, but after a few weeks, and then a few months, I slowly started to really enjoy the time I had alone. I’m not trying to say that there aren’t days where I miss home like hell (today was actually one of those days), but in the grand scheme of things, I’m really proud of myself for ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eat. Play. Love.’</i>-ing<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>my way to a place of serenity I didn’t know I had. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Living with spiders isn’t so bad after all. </div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-24696826997739028432012-01-18T13:32:00.000-08:002012-01-18T13:32:19.913-08:00Basketball is a game of...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">The other day I was enjoying one of my favorite activities during my down-time in between practices: thinking. Particularly on this day, I was thinking about how I made it this far as a basketball player, because let’s be honest, it isn’t my unmatched athletic and physical prowess that got me here. I like to think that I’ve made it to this level because of the way I think about the game, a mentality I started learning under my first basketball coach, really started to understand during my one year at Saint Joe’s, and continued to apply and hone in on during my time at TCNJ. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While I was home during Christmas break, a former NBA player, my agent, and I got into a discussion about what type of game basketball is. The argument laid out there was that basketball is a game of speed, and whoever is the quickest would end up winning games - the rationale being that if the defense can’t catch them, the defense can’t stop them. Since I think that players and coaches tend to over-analyze the game, and since that premise was simplistic enough to make a lot of sense in my mind, I wanted really badly to agree. I thought about that idea for a while and eventually came to the conclusion that realistically, if that were the case and basketball was a game of speed I’d be screwed out of a job. That’s when I stopped wanting to agree. Then I remembered that basketball is a team sport, and thank God for it, because that’s why I’m still working, and is also why it makes that argument null and void. Even if you are fast than your one defender, are you faster than a collective five? Most likely, chances are no, you’re not; not unless you’re Carmelita Jeter, and even then, I’m just not sure. Our conversation definitely got me thinking about what basketball was a game of, and here’s what I came up with…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Arguably, I think THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT aspects of the game of basketball are timing and spacing. Even in a basic transition set (for non basketball players, this is the time when you run really, really fast down the floor and try to score on the other team before they have time to set up their defense), if you don’t have good spacing and know where your teammates are or where they are headed, you can easily throw the ball to the bench, your own coach, the other team’s coach, or what I think is the funniest mistake you can make while executing a play, run into your own teammate (essentially doing the defense’s job for them). I actually did run into a teammate once in fifth grade, and I ran into her HARD. I vividly remember the noise she made when I knocked the wind right out of her (it sounded like a cross between a mouse’s squeak and a cat crying in a vet’s office). Honestly, I was scared out of my mind that I’d broken my best friend’s sternum and killed her…now I’m not so sure why I think this is funny…I digress. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are probably millions of offensive sets out there, but I like to think 10-15 feet between players is a good basic rule of thumb (unless someone is setting a screen) when it comes to spacing. Those 10-15 feet give each other enough space to react to one another if someone starts driving to the basket, making a cut, setting up their defensive player to make them look like an idiot out of position when the ball gets skip-passed, and so on and so forth. Spacing is so important and, MY GOSH, when someone comes into my space and brings their defense with them, it takes just about every ounce of self restraint for me not to yell, “GO FIND YOUR OWN SPACE,” at them. Maybe I should start doing that; it would probably be pretty effective. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course then there’s the timing bit to this complicated puzzle we call basketball. Let’s say you’re player B. If it takes two seconds for player A to set a screen for you, player B, on the wing, and it takes four seconds for player C to set a screen for player D in the corner, and the two screens are supposed to happen simultaneously in order for player B, to have a pass/drive option, at what time should player C leave to set the screen for player D? It seems like it should be easy enough right? Player C should start two second before player A so that you, player B, and player D are coming off the screens at the same time. Unfortunately it isn’t quite that simple! A lot of timing success depends on reading how the defense is playing screens. Are they hedging? Are they switching? Are they bumping and recovering? Is it different for ball-screens than for off-the-ball screens? Then, when you finally think you know how to read exactly what the defense is doing and how much time reading the defense will take, player E beings to feel left out and starts to pinch in from the decoy position, essentially messing up all the spacing of the play. After you yell at player E to “GO FIND YOUR OWN SPACE,” and try to run the play again, player C’s shoelace becomes untied, she bends down to tie it, and once again you, player B, are throwing the ball to the bench, your coach, or the other team’s coach. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All jokes aside, I have seen teams who execute offenses perfectly using spacing and timing. Teams who work together to get one another open are my absolute favorite teams to watch (*cough cough* Stanford, Tennessee, *cough cough*). Also, to be honest, I like saying that basketball is a game of timing and spacing because somehow and someway, I became quite good at using timing and spacing to my advantage and understanding how powerful both are on the court. Timing and spacing are probably the reasons I still have a job (oh, and I guess it helps that I’m 6’3”). </div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-70867970544251146582012-01-12T08:21:00.000-08:002012-01-12T08:28:44.411-08:00Sisters, sisters; There were never such devoted sisters…<div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpJm30sfcNBhDMwJWysNLk4SwmqMQuMfWqSBaFqDhV3YQdKBVpPUG5DgbLyeYVwsE2eu6w19m8hrx296Zm51v5-C3lkhfhgT6VWgKdmo6Tdf3dSCQH2qdUu2TSftLdAxYDFEXBITXZJIE/s1600/me+%2526+Am_+post+bball+game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpJm30sfcNBhDMwJWysNLk4SwmqMQuMfWqSBaFqDhV3YQdKBVpPUG5DgbLyeYVwsE2eu6w19m8hrx296Zm51v5-C3lkhfhgT6VWgKdmo6Tdf3dSCQH2qdUu2TSftLdAxYDFEXBITXZJIE/s320/me+%2526+Am_+post+bball+game.jpg" width="320" /><span id="goog_393926895"></span><span id="goog_393926896"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">@ Rochester</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sometimes I forget that this is supposed to be a basketball blog. My bad, basketball blog readers, that’s on me. I guess I advertise this blog the same way <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One Tree Hill </i>was originally advertised – that the main focus would be basketball, and what a let-down <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One Tree Hill</i> turned out to be in that regard! So, to bring the blog back to focus, I’m going to talk about an aspect of the game that I really miss over here: my sister. I’ll explain.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the 4<sup>th</sup> quarter of the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love and Basketball</i> Quincy asks Monica what was missing from the game that eventually made her want to stop playing. Spoiler alert!: Monica eventually confesses it was actually the absence of Quincy. Now, I’m not about to try to play my sister in a one-on-one game for her heart (just typing that made me giggle to myself), but I can surely understand why Monica was so happy at the end of the movie having Quincy (someone she loved) in the stands cheering her on. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTfkOuOeyqiJrBDsxhtYoFTjZ7S0ROaWFY7M1FSQZUZ50pNjD0NbgcUnRXnV4U_SF0N11602dVKdiqrNbnrIAgfzXPzxzcREuJlg6JoOO8iKmWrvTmV4pHNQwlV-kderGPlIkePaNNrX5/s1600/me+%2526+Am_+post+bball+game2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTfkOuOeyqiJrBDsxhtYoFTjZ7S0ROaWFY7M1FSQZUZ50pNjD0NbgcUnRXnV4U_SF0N11602dVKdiqrNbnrIAgfzXPzxzcREuJlg6JoOO8iKmWrvTmV4pHNQwlV-kderGPlIkePaNNrX5/s320/me+%2526+Am_+post+bball+game2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">@ Moravian</td></tr>
</tbody></table>One of the loneliest things about being over here (other than not really speaking the language) is coming out of the locker-room after games and looking into the stands to find zero familiar faces (I guess I should really say zero familiar English-speaking faces, since I now recognize a lot of our fans). Running up to my sister, Mom, and Dad after games was one of my favorite parts of a game-day in college. They’d always tell me I played so hard and did great (regardless of how I actually felt I did). I feel like once you hit a certain level of play, when people expect a certain amount of points, rebounds, blocks, steals, or whatever from you, it’s just nice having a few people in the stands who you know will love you unconditionally regardless of whether or not you made your 3s, foul shots, or layups. Plus, now that I’m a lot of miles from home with no one to talk to after games, there’s also nobody to take such flattering pictures with like the ones you see here.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6f9z2MLiFAScadlNImupa43GoT_qKaB5Do1eopNAIwT6qloX4YZETMhjXEtJ2U2nU1zuKCCRNyf0wTycrqJTG4ZgxN4Fe0M3HJbSiNS3ECpILVqlN9j1esFhq2hItxG9CvX4CoGypaPg6/s1600/passing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6f9z2MLiFAScadlNImupa43GoT_qKaB5Do1eopNAIwT6qloX4YZETMhjXEtJ2U2nU1zuKCCRNyf0wTycrqJTG4ZgxN4Fe0M3HJbSiNS3ECpILVqlN9j1esFhq2hItxG9CvX4CoGypaPg6/s320/passing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">she even took a picture of the pre-game passing!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I also really miss having a non-basketball-player’s perspective after games to point out things I would never <i>ever</i> think about. For example, back in college, our guards and posts would split up to work on position-specific drills during warm-ups (e.g. the guards would get the hoop for a few minutes to shoot 3s and then the posts would get the hoop to work on post moves). Of course while one group was shooting the other group would be closer to half court doing some other non-shooting drill. The posts always opted to do some kind of passing. As a player I never thought anything of it, it seemed normal enough that we would pass while the guards shot, and I guess it still does, but I remember my sister telling me one time that she really thought we should practice our passing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> games if we wanted to win. She was kidding (or at least I think she was), but I think that’s hilarious, and it is comments like that that I miss more than anything after a tough game. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH1mlPI3BnIIqPPgxELIbh9287dsWzzc_oplT0m4V60AYDQFcnCXBUnXPoOCxQXegQ5FfVZkbAd5PuVExnXeKpzu_Ew_UC1xMmgELwhPfj9LfNeT8w2R4CM5jjbBOWDsBjrVT5ok_nnEDF/s1600/me+%2526+Am_+post+bball+game3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH1mlPI3BnIIqPPgxELIbh9287dsWzzc_oplT0m4V60AYDQFcnCXBUnXPoOCxQXegQ5FfVZkbAd5PuVExnXeKpzu_Ew_UC1xMmgELwhPfj9LfNeT8w2R4CM5jjbBOWDsBjrVT5ok_nnEDF/s320/me+%2526+Am_+post+bball+game3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">@ Senior Night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>While I was home I was lucky enough to enjoy the spectator experience with my sister at a TCNJ basketball game. After driving down four hours to Marymount University and having to pay nothing to get into the game (up top!), we relished the intensity level of the refs, what my half-time speech would be, and how I was never <i>ever</i> as little as how some of the players out on the court looked (which I wasn’t; I’m pretty convinced I was 5’8”, 150 lbs. out of the womb). Not to mention how we spent about three hours of our ride home working on our British accents ‘requiring’ and ‘declaring’ things only Russell Brand would truly understand. She made that road trip fun as hell and I’m so glad she went with me – actually, I don’t know how she came to so many of my college games without someone to giggle and speak British with; she must have been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so </i>bored.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She’s always there to support me, make me laugh, cheer me on, and giggle with me. I guess that’s why there really isn’t anything on this earth comparable to having a sister.</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-54231914967939021512012-01-03T06:51:00.000-08:002012-01-03T06:55:29.989-08:00Oh Hello 2012!After touching down in Paris at 10:15am yesterday morning, hopping on the RER metro to get to the Austerlitz train station, traveling three hours by train to arrive back in Limoges, sleeping for twelve hours, practicing this morning, watching the latest How I Met Your Mother episode, and finally getting to see this season's premier of The Bachelor, I decided I should probably put my mind to some kind of use and catch my blog followers up on my life a little bit. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HegBA8e_3HI/TwMVZZ5ebAI/AAAAAAAAANw/Wt7JWwSHYVE/s1600/apples+to+apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HegBA8e_3HI/TwMVZZ5ebAI/AAAAAAAAANw/Wt7JWwSHYVE/s320/apples+to+apples.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apples to Apples</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I was lucky enough to spend the last two weeks at home for the holidays, seeing a ton of my friends and getting to spend quality time with my family. I got to do a few of my favorite things which I mentioned in my, "<a href="http://thrillsoverseas.blogspot.com/2011/12/countdown.html" target="_blank">The Countdown"</a> blog, including: catching up with friends (some who are newly engaged (yay Rach!!!)), hugging my mom, laughing until I cried with my sister, playing games with my brother, walking my dog, seeing Monster swim in his water bowl, drink Dunkin Donuts coffee, seeing TCNJ play a game, driving down to D.C. to see Chloe, et cetera, et cetera...<br />
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The aforementioned list basically sums up my two week vacation, which is why I needed to sleep for twelve hours to regain any type of strength. Even so, possibly the most enjoyable night I had over my holidays was New Year's Eve, which I really wanted to spend this blog talking about.<br />
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Since I knew that I was going to have to hop on a plane on the 1st of January, I decided to stay at home for New Year's Eve this year and spend some time with my family (minus my bro since he already had plans with his friends). My sister, Mom, Dad, and I went out to an enjoyable dinner where we discussed our desert island scenario entertainment, including which books (<i>Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</i>), movies (<i>Remember the Titans, Ratatouille, Moulin Rouge</i>) , tv series (<i>LOST</i>, duh!), and musicals (where I came up surprisingly short in options, but went with <i>Les Miserables</i> & <i>Wicked</i>) we'd bring with us if we were stranded on a desert island. After dinner, we went home and played Apples to Apples, which was a real treat since my Dad usually isn't a game-player. If you've never played that game, you should, because it is just hilarious. Since my sister and I basically have the same sense of humor, we knew what nouns to play for each other's adjectives, but what was really interesting and entertaining<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TzE9-4uRYCo/TwMVaCgKbkI/AAAAAAAAAN0/kEYu1arONls/s1600/new+years+eve+best.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TzE9-4uRYCo/TwMVaCgKbkI/AAAAAAAAAN0/kEYu1arONls/s320/new+years+eve+best.jpg" width="218" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Year's Best (we're so funny)!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>was seeing what my parents found funny, disgusting, nasty, or unique. After Apples to Apples was put to bed, it was basically time to start to New Year's Eve countdown. Naturally, Annmarie and I ran upstairs to ring in 2012 in our New Year's best, aka the oldest and fanciest dresses we could find in our closets. With both of us looking glamorous in dresses we'd bought back in high school, we counted down the New Year with my parents, banged some pots and pans, and toasted 2012 with some champagne. <br />
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The evening was simple, but fun-filled and enjoyable. I was surrounded by people I love and I knew love me. With goodbyes looming over the next day, I decided that I would not have wanted to spend my last day with anyone else (another desert island scenario perhaps). It was really nice to not think about all the stressful crap that clutters our lives on any given day, and to just enjoy the moment. So, for 2012 I resolve to a) enjoy the simple, and b) live in the moment. <br />
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Happy New Year everybody!Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-85020242103618133162011-12-09T07:33:00.000-08:002011-12-09T07:36:42.122-08:00The Countdown…<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRzxGdjgUkpb3C3Bmhr8cTJ-h_d7ykwdMZxQa1EV0De1oqkysPSnCXse4xHAx9m82Io8r57tpT5Mp1AvtaE9vu_H4UPrArYN_NUBaLEGHN2IYAIUW_Oh-Blvq0jvntmelsZv1eF4HRTT1/s1600/DSCN1791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRzxGdjgUkpb3C3Bmhr8cTJ-h_d7ykwdMZxQa1EV0De1oqkysPSnCXse4xHAx9m82Io8r57tpT5Mp1AvtaE9vu_H4UPrArYN_NUBaLEGHN2IYAIUW_Oh-Blvq0jvntmelsZv1eF4HRTT1/s200/DSCN1791.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree w/ cathedral in the background</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"> Every year ABC Family does a ‘25 days of Christmas’ event. As you all know, I’m not home and I don’t get ABC Family in France, so I am not watching their 25 days of Christmas specials. Even so, I<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> am</i> doing Christmas-y things. I know some people hate how quickly Christmas songs pop up on the radio post-Thanksgiving feast, but this year I was really looking forward to hearing those classic Christmas carols (I might have even had my ‘A Christmas Carol’ cd playing while I was preparing my French Thanksgiving). Hearing those Christmas songs, starting my Advent calendar, and buying Christmas presents makes me feel like I am reeling Christmas in, pulling it closer to me, and therefore getting one step closer to seeing the people I love and getting to do some of the things I really miss back home. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVrlZyfIrI4G6ZwefL7HoYIvcgr1UICNtKQp6WO4bL6QemKNP2n4ZP5WwkommMpW0IHWdXbQQ516S4lIBvYOg4AytDrgtnSk9r-RxM6KfuXRanLeFpWzf8FCROtVoKeBWiasz7bhwYj58/s1600/Santa%2527s+Sleigh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVrlZyfIrI4G6ZwefL7HoYIvcgr1UICNtKQp6WO4bL6QemKNP2n4ZP5WwkommMpW0IHWdXbQQ516S4lIBvYOg4AytDrgtnSk9r-RxM6KfuXRanLeFpWzf8FCROtVoKeBWiasz7bhwYj58/s320/Santa%2527s+Sleigh.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa! I know him!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Although I haven’t been watching ABC Family’s ’25 days of Christmas,’ I have been watching a lot of my favorite Christmas movies. I started off with my favorite Christmas movie of all time<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Elf</i>, which surprisingly made me tear up a little at the end. The next night I watched <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Actually</i>, which brought on a full-blown sobbing (particularly the scene where Mark held up the sign to Keira Knightley that says, “To me, you are perfect”). Although the bursts of tears were a little unusual, I figured I was just excited about getting in the holiday spirit (and honestly, who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">doesn’t </i>cry at that part in Love Actually?). So I wasn’t too concerned that I was openly weeping at my Christmas movies, that is, until I continued to cry at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Charlie Brown Christmas</i>, this week’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How I Met Your Mother,</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Modern Family’</i>s ‘Express Christmas’ episode. All the crying really made me stop and think about what is going on with me that would cause me to get so emotional over some of these not so incredibly emotional movies and television shows. Then it hit me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since I’m not living at home, or close to home, or in the same continent as home, Christmas means something different to me now than perhaps it used to. It’s no secret that living alone in a foreign country is difficult, and I’ve had some trying moments this year, so I’m really looking forward to spending Christmas at home. Therefore, this year, Christmas means the following for me: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_n0lbp4CCnTqzFGHW0Gsf3iFJU6fYQka3jZ6EGUHPPR376cisCys85QnmjNj_gNeZspTNJvI06mAQWq6uEDEchk9yNdhLDg-Xw79HVZA1dPuh5P22Vp3z8qMRLYd1LoFMpK8k9BPpQDsd/s1600/DSCN1801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_n0lbp4CCnTqzFGHW0Gsf3iFJU6fYQka3jZ6EGUHPPR376cisCys85QnmjNj_gNeZspTNJvI06mAQWq6uEDEchk9yNdhLDg-Xw79HVZA1dPuh5P22Vp3z8qMRLYd1LoFMpK8k9BPpQDsd/s200/DSCN1801.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me w/ some Christmas lights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Getting some really long hugs from my mom.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hearing my dad sing his unique versions of songs.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finding not funny things funny with my sister and actually being able to laugh together (as opposed to the usual LOLs sent through bbm). </div><div class="MsoNormal">Playing a board game and talking with my bro.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Having Christmas dinner with my regular (and honorary) family members. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Seeing all the cats, but especially my Little (now big) Monster. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Walking my sister’s Evil Assistant (aka, Muppet, our dog). </div><div class="MsoNormal">Catching up with old friends and seeing how they’re doing over dinner, coffee, hot cocoa, or wine.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Seeing the TCNJ Lions play some basketball.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Watching an old teammate coach.</div><div class="MsoNormal">-and finally-</div><div class="MsoNormal">Being able to speak, and more importantly, listen to English.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the past, Christmas’ arrival meant finishing up finals, scrambling to find people presents, and sitting in traffic. Since I have no finals, have bought almost all of my presents, and can take my time getting places over here, Christmas' arrival is a pretty enjoyable time. So, will I continue to torture myself with sappy Christmas movies until my flight leaves on the 19<sup>th</sup>? Most likely, even if it’s for no reason other than to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner. </div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-89153760186314667372011-12-01T08:52:00.000-08:002011-12-01T08:52:36.525-08:00A French Thanksgiving<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbyMpPBwurbY3CA8-ehbDMkFv2fPCUJknZIFKCIoTlFAT1sXBZMaCh1KAygyYJarqbYUkfTw3bR-NgDrCg9SQ-J_w7S38aluJ7wBcx9qwkkRqLmaIbfa1Fb2tVIVyzDBh8VjIEyh5FpKJ/s1600/Thanksgiving+_+Me+Joyce+Turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbyMpPBwurbY3CA8-ehbDMkFv2fPCUJknZIFKCIoTlFAT1sXBZMaCh1KAygyYJarqbYUkfTw3bR-NgDrCg9SQ-J_w7S38aluJ7wBcx9qwkkRqLmaIbfa1Fb2tVIVyzDBh8VjIEyh5FpKJ/s320/Thanksgiving+_+Me+Joyce+Turkey.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joyce, Me, & the Turkey</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">I think any of my fellow American overseas basketball players would tell you that one of the hardest parts about playing basketball overseas is being away from family and friends during the holidays. The holidays that aren't celebrated over here tend to be especially difficult. Now, contrary to what some of my friends back home believe, Thanksgiving is an American holiday, and therefore not celebrated in France. Regardless, my teammates were pretty adamant about having some turkey and seeing what their American teammate could cook up, so on Monday, I hosted a French Thanksgiving in my apartment.<br />
<br />
Although I have been a master green bean casserole maker for my family's Thanksgivings and Christmases for the past few years, this was the first Thanksgiving I had to cook the turkey and stuffing. I have to admit I was really nervous about taking on this task. Images of teammates throwing up undercooked turkey all over the court haunted me during my preparation weeks. Even after reading about 1,000 different ways to cook a turkey and things to be careful of, my friends’ stories of their first times cooking turkeys seemed to have a lot of obstacles. Hearing about how they cooked their first turkey upside down, forgot to take out the innards, or over-buttering the turkey and desperately trying to hold on as it slipped through hands and hands making its way down to the floor, I was certain I would mess it up somehow. I googled a turkey’s anatomy, how to clean a turkey, the best ways to use all parts of a turkey, and how to keep a turkey from drying out in the oven. Not to mention that a metric converter website was favorited, bookmarked, and just about always open on my computer throughout this process. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The night before the big day I was preparing the turkey and realized two things: number one, the innards were not bagged up for me, I would have to go fishing, and number two, the neck was still attached. As I felt my stomach rise up into my throat and debated back and forth about becoming a vegetarian, I succeeded in getting the liver, heart, and gizzards out as well as removing the neck from the body of the turkey. I also vowed to never buy a fresh turkey again. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aQgV8jub3Fn7HIko-uG6Qt1PJfSsiyTg_v35skevHacuzfj9glR4FR9HntE-SohhnofnPiX-j0gZiL6a-wAcV-ACNSyJQJ4XXMxe_NovRxUaM5MWGA1k5HnEabvwQZ3velfrQetOTxWY/s1600/DSCN1784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aQgV8jub3Fn7HIko-uG6Qt1PJfSsiyTg_v35skevHacuzfj9glR4FR9HntE-SohhnofnPiX-j0gZiL6a-wAcV-ACNSyJQJ4XXMxe_NovRxUaM5MWGA1k5HnEabvwQZ3velfrQetOTxWY/s320/DSCN1784.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The feast!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">The day of our French Thanksgiving, one of my teammates, Joyce, came over to help me out with the cooking. We put on some Adele (internationally loved) and got to peeling potatoes, cutting up veggies, and teamed up to keep the turkey moist throughout the day. Thank God for Joyce, because she really helped make everything go smoothly and made the preparation part of the day enjoyable. As the rest of my team started arriving, we youtubed how to carve the delicious smelling turkey, again teaming up as I held the slippery sucker and she carved the meat off like a pro. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My teammates brought foods to complete the meal including corn bread, sweet potatoes, salad, and what I found was the funniest dish of the night, a green bean casserole (which my teammate interpreted literally as green beans laid out in a casserole dish). As if that wasn’t enough food to fill us, we had a cheesecake, hot fudge cupcakes, and a chocolate cake for dessert. Keeping with my family tradition, we went around the table and I made all my teammates say what they were thankful for – some even said it in English for me! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All in all, my French Thanksgiving was awesome. I can honestly say it was the first time since coming here that I felt a bit at home, and for that, I am thankful.</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-27495791639567490512011-11-19T04:31:00.000-08:002011-11-19T04:31:13.672-08:00Cabin Fever<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">In all my years playing basketball, at some point during each season, I hit a point where I start to go a little stir crazy. I think I'm reaching that point here now, but I’ll explain a little further…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first red flag came during our drive home after our game last Saturday. The five hour ride was taking forever as we hit fog and slowed to a 90km/hr pace (no, I will not translate this into mph for you – just know that we usually drive 110-130km/hr on the highway).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around hour three, I started to get restless and nauseous as I shifted from one uncomfortable position to another. Thank God one of my teammates offered to switch places with me to let me rest against the cold window. Our pit stop at 2am couldn’t come quickly enough and I basically bolted out of the van as soon as our driver put it into park. Even after our break of fresh air, when I piled back into the van I felt claustrophobic and sickly until we arrived at home, at 5am.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This week hasn’t improved much as far as my sanity is concerned. Perhaps in preparation for returning home (although I can’t say for sure that that’s the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i> reason) I started making jokes to myself…my favorite being a one liner, “untranslatable,” which I say to myself about any custom that differs from how we do things in The States. From the way people greet one another to phrases that I really want to use (like “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">C’est poubell</i>e,” which literally translates into “It’s trash,” but can’t be used in the 'that’s not worthy of my attention context,') I find myself getting weird looks from teammates and giggling to myself more often than usual.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday, I was helping coach the little kids’ practice when I took the giggling a step further and laughed so hard I cried. The kids were warming up with some basic Judo drills (ahhh Europe!), and my station was learning how to fall the correct way – tucked chin, not using your arms to cushion your fall, curving your back so you roll a little bit, etc – when one of my little players who is probably only around 25 kilos (55 pounds) went so stiff and plopped so hard while making a priceless face that I cannot put into words just made me lose it. After she fell she gave me this look like, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wow,THAT did not feel right,’</i> which just made me laugh harder until I had to walk away to recompose myself. I couldn’t explain what was so funny since once again, I found it untranslatable. ;) </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That brings me to Thursday. After our morning practice I went to the sideline to lay down and put my legs up against the wall to stretch. After I moved to get up, I looked down at my sweat marks that had transferred to the ground, and saw a beetle. Now, I was a psych major in college, but I think creating ink blots out of my own sweat is a little over the edge, probably even for Rorscach. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think it’s fairly normal for people in my situation to lose it a little bit around this time of year. I’ve been here 4½ months now, seeing the same people and places day in and day out. Thanks to daylight savings time, there are only so many hours of sunlight I see each day; the weather is getting colder, keeping me indoors, and the Aquarium trip really let me down. I mean with all those things going on, it’s almost shocking I’m still coherent at all...</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-86527742472919838062011-11-14T09:07:00.000-08:002011-11-14T09:07:09.063-08:00Aquarium<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjaY9cfbsu6ffWTamM2_8H10U6kzHYvpv_VtUGSYKmW8-0VPFnhb14uYfiww3NJqQDLWR7RTWOtJQ1ee9ayIJB77oNGiQNd83_CtiIY1G6WGMRHN3iIKVK93MSIg35OE8vBB296roSe6g5/s1600/Fishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjaY9cfbsu6ffWTamM2_8H10U6kzHYvpv_VtUGSYKmW8-0VPFnhb14uYfiww3NJqQDLWR7RTWOtJQ1ee9ayIJB77oNGiQNd83_CtiIY1G6WGMRHN3iIKVK93MSIg35OE8vBB296roSe6g5/s320/Fishes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the 2,500 fish</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"> Today I decided to go to the Limoges Aquarium. Ranked #28 of 38 things to do in Limoges, and having a day off from basketball, around 1pm today I thought, “why not?” I put on ‘real people clothes’ (jeans and a sweater as opposed to my normal<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>sweatpants and sweatshirt), popped in my earbuds, and strolled toward town to see “plus de 2,500 poissons!”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now I didn’t count, so I can’t be sure, but I think they might be falsely advertising the 2,500 fish. First of all, I didn’t need to put on real people clothes, since I was the only person in the entire aquarium. Secondly, if I wanted to, I probably could have run around the whole aquarium in less than 15 seconds. After I got over the realization that it was listed #28 of 38 for a reason, I decided to make the most of my time with the fish. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">During my visit, I saw sharks, sting rays, turtles, seahorses, catfish, Nemos, and what I thought were the most disgusting/interesting attraction: eels. There were three eels in a tank together, two of which were white with black spots on them, and the other looking like it came right from Ursella’s underwater lair in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Little Mermaid. </i>I watched them slide over and under one another as they opened and closed their mouths and wondered whether or not they got along with each other like the fish from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Finding Nemo </i>did. Gosh, it must suck to live in a tank.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kEAWOqYxgEx4dtv9ZV-joplrp7PPEjDTsHDkH5gMBINhzcvnr3_4IHuPtHyJ5c6HEOACceh44FXV2F1-EJWW0rBoFT2UZmoqg7hP6GTKwOmz_Xw_M_piuNY8432nhglLDFjbCNnUxfkn/s1600/Nemo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kEAWOqYxgEx4dtv9ZV-joplrp7PPEjDTsHDkH5gMBINhzcvnr3_4IHuPtHyJ5c6HEOACceh44FXV2F1-EJWW0rBoFT2UZmoqg7hP6GTKwOmz_Xw_M_piuNY8432nhglLDFjbCNnUxfkn/s320/Nemo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nemos</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyways, the best part of my trip to the aquarium was the English translation of the signs next to the different tanks. My favorite, which I took the time to write down said, “The seas house gods and fabulous monsters (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that’s a pretty loaded statement) </i>but they also hide real treasures you can discover…the tank in front of you presents this particular environment as we have recreated it with porcelain debris (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">naturally, treasures and porcelain debris are basically one of the same) </i>…if you look closely, you might see seaweeds have developed on the porcelain debris. The fish in the tank do not live in a polluted environment (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very reassuring, thank you enthusiastic sign!)</i>!” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After seeing the aquarium, I’m a little concerned about what the 29-38<sup>th</sup> attractions in Limoges entail, but we’ll save those for another day…</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-47439781858620038862011-11-07T12:13:00.001-08:002011-11-07T12:28:05.606-08:00Let's Dance...<div class="MsoNormal">Back by popular demand, this is a blog about me being awkward.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After our game on Saturday, my teammates and I decided to go dancing. I need to preface this story by painting a picture of what it means to go ‘dancing’ in Europe. First of all, you don’t actually leave to go out until 1:30am, and even<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> that</i> is early. Just like you never want to be the first guest to arrive at a party, a 2am club arrival is borderline inappropriate. Now for those of you who know me, you know that 2am is bed time. Back at home, 2am is actually, “I’ve already been asleep for three hours what do you want from me?” time. But because of the time difference, I do tend to stay up later when I’m in Europe. Even so, 2am is still “I’m in bed snuggling under my blankets” time. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That being said, this Saturday I decided that I was going to fully commit to the night. I was going to embrace the fact that I was going to get home really late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> be really tired. I committed to the night with every intention of sleeping until noon the next day. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As 2am rolled around and we rolled up to the club, I was in a pretty good mood and ready to dance. After about two hours of dancing and witnessing a small altercation, the music changed from fast group dancing to a slower, more intimate selection. Now, prior to going out, one of my teammates mentioned that her very tall guy friend was going to be visiting to see our game and coming out with us afterwards. After showing me his picture and getting a solid seal of approval, all my teammates were very excited to see how I might interact with a boy (let’s face it, basketball teams are great - the camaraderie, the friendship, but sometimes you miss being around members of the opposite sex). As the music changed, my teammate came over and told me her friend would like to dance. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I hope you’re ready for this.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I like to dance, I really do. I didn’t when I was young. During those rough teenage years dances were tough on me – I was so much taller than everyone else that I was overly conscious of what I might look like on a dance floor that I forgot to just enjoy the music. I like to think I do a much better job of that now. Of course it helps that because I’m part of a basketball team, now when I go dancing, I constantly have tall people around me and no longer have a hard time letting loose on the dance floor. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s the catch: I don’t usually slow dance with my teammates. In my 24 years, the times I have slow danced with my friends, boyfriends, or sister, I have always been the same height as, or taller, than my partner. So, as I approached this 6’10-7’ boy to dance with, I immediately started thinking, ‘Oh my God, where do I put my hands?’ ‘Where do I put my head?’ ‘Holy crap, his hips come up to my stomach.’ ‘How is this going to work?’</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Thank goodness that poor boy a) did not speak English and b) didn’t seem to notice me giggling to myself. For a whole song I stiffly kept my hands on his hips. Then, one hand moved up to his left shoulder, the other stayed glued to his side. I tried putting both hands on his shoulders, but that just seemed too uncomfortably high of a reach (Is this how most girls feel when they’re dancing with a guy?). Finally, and judge me if you want, I found the most comfortable spot for my hands were up on the outside of his biceps (not a bad resting spot for the obvious athlete ;)). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After about five songs of my struggling to be led (let’s face it, I have some control issues that transfer to the dance floor), struggling to be tall enough for our hips to line up (seriously – IS this what it feels like to be an average sized girl?), and struggling to find an appropriate spot for my arms and head, my teammates called me over and were ready to head home. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So by 5am, I had conquered a new first (dancing with someone taller than me). When I got home I snuggled into my bed, and let the droning sound left ringing in my ears from the club music sing me to sleep. </div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-45162147380451228632011-10-23T10:52:00.000-07:002011-10-23T10:52:32.865-07:00In this town we call home…Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">In honor of Halloween, I set out in my car on Friday determined to find a pumpkin to carve. They really don’t celebrate Halloween here the same way we do in the States, so after driving around for over an hour, I realized carving a pumpkin might be a tougher task than I’d originally thought. I remembered from my trip to Oradour sur Glane that there was a sign along the main road advertising a shop for vegetables and flowers (a perfect place to buy a pumpkin around Halloween in the U.S.) a little ways down a side road. So I drove Ethel (the name I’ve assigned the beaten-up old car I drive over here) down the dirt path with every hope that I’d leave there with a great big pumpkin. (Side note: I’m glad I watched <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children of the Corn </i>AFTER my quest for a pumpkin.) After butchering the French word for pumpkin (citrouille) to the gardener and getting a blank stare and shake of the head in response, I was just about ready to give up my hopes of finding a pumpkin. I hopped back into Ethel and was headed back towards my apartment when just outside of Limoges, I passed a little vegetable shop that looked like it had a pumpkin-esque vegetable on a stand out front. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After investigating the small shop, I knew I wouldn’t be saying, “It’s the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” anytime soon, but it didn’t matter, because I was 25% certain that I actually found a little citrouille to take home and try to carve. My skepticism fully disappeared after I got the top off my vegetable and found none other than pumpkin seeds inside! So after popping some seeds in the oven with a little olive oil and salt, I turned on a scary movie and got to work on my design…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess I should mention that living alone can be… well… lonely. After my first couple weeks here I noticed that I wasn’t entirely alone however. In my bathroom there is a spider that lives in a hole above the pipes and comes out to say hi every once in a while. I have tried to capture her and put her out the window, but I think she might be related to the same spider that bit Spiderman, because she has super-spider speeds. Anyways, I gave up trying to catch her, named her Charlotte (I admit, originally with the hope that she might suffer the same fate as the spider from the classic story), shortly after became attached, and now consider her a pet. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, in honor of my pet Charlotte, and in honor of Halloween, I present <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> great pumpkin!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvWL76oP_b6FuPRgvNHhtdGIlrygrLUHpy_Q6wx1ZZ0TjVzb63gC_IuyCOWtOu515kqPavlHFerwo6WUbkhq1T4s1LpdbIWmKvEjtXIEVTpOpsaiwYWiSxCUg0A9Vv0pxqXVBoM57vG4I/s1600/Pumpkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvWL76oP_b6FuPRgvNHhtdGIlrygrLUHpy_Q6wx1ZZ0TjVzb63gC_IuyCOWtOu515kqPavlHFerwo6WUbkhq1T4s1LpdbIWmKvEjtXIEVTpOpsaiwYWiSxCUg0A9Vv0pxqXVBoM57vG4I/s320/Pumpkin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Happy Halloween! </div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-26367447362799195122011-10-10T14:54:00.000-07:002011-10-10T14:54:27.442-07:00Team Win<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUbcXT3xkHw9D2-Y5zeJvwouHGPwH3pYx0CQ8eqH3ZPUfKzeAQ0njkWmNF77aXsjKOw8BlFZlNJPA1DPoSOnOgrqWKXc4AOch2yu5z6ldLjLPkvQ9XXchYZHrjs03TI2lq1ELo7DsfV-q/s1600/LF21112LeHavreLABCweb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUbcXT3xkHw9D2-Y5zeJvwouHGPwH3pYx0CQ8eqH3ZPUfKzeAQ0njkWmNF77aXsjKOw8BlFZlNJPA1DPoSOnOgrqWKXc4AOch2yu5z6ldLjLPkvQ9XXchYZHrjs03TI2lq1ELo7DsfV-q/s320/LF21112LeHavreLABCweb2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">team with our fans after the win</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">I think one of my favorite things in basketball is when a team pulls together to get a win. It’s like a good boxout, or setting a good screen that gets one of your teammates open…a strong team win just feels so…communal. Like everyone did just what they needed to in order for the team to accomplish what they set out to – win. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our game this weekend, was in Le Havre, France (in the upper Normandy region)…a loooooong hike from Limoges. After losing our last two games, we knew this game would be really important to keep us in the running for the rest of the season. Le Havre was also 1-2 going into the game, so we knew getting a win in their gym with the same things at stake would be a challenge. Even so, I could tell my teammates and I were collectively determined to come away from this game with a “W.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After what I could call the worst toss of a jump ball in the history of my playing basketball (seriously, it’s not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that </i>hard to throw a ball straight up in the air), and losing the tip, we went down by ten fairly quickly. I picked up a second foul in the first quarter (again, ugh (this is really not a good habit I’ve gotten into over here)), and watched from the bench as my teammates went on scoring runs which Le Havre continually answered throughout the second quarter. Finally, in the third quarter, we went on a run that Le Havre struggled to answer, putting them on their heels as we headed into the fourth only down by four. With the momentum in our favor, we pushed and pushed until we finally took the lead and never looked back. We ended up winning 62-55. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I didn’t have a particularly good game, which almost made this game even more refreshing in a sense – because now I know I don’t have to play a perfect game in order for us to get a win. Next week we’re back at home against Reims, a must-win game for us!</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-70674025464666833392011-09-26T15:24:00.000-07:002011-09-26T15:24:13.128-07:00Oradour-sur-Glane<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbscV2VWrT6HKSLK-ranReFJJnnh7AOwRwtgDsntcSSFEboY-x6_ql5PF_9Awi0l_O5HfNSr2QnM6g7Hb1zhpRMU_vSjGc2mRLg9B0fHyA-53-MS07QQ_Nwfj3f7cW2_JBC0FK_5pOAPuA/s1600/DSCN1723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbscV2VWrT6HKSLK-ranReFJJnnh7AOwRwtgDsntcSSFEboY-x6_ql5PF_9Awi0l_O5HfNSr2QnM6g7Hb1zhpRMU_vSjGc2mRLg9B0fHyA-53-MS07QQ_Nwfj3f7cW2_JBC0FK_5pOAPuA/s200/DSCN1723.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Saturday we had our second game of the season. I won’t say much about it, other than as good as we (and I) played in our first game, we played just as badly in this one. I have to wash my hands of it or I will drive myself absolutely crazy. So…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday I went to Oradour-sur-Glane, a small town about half an hour from Limoges that was destroyed by the Nazis on June 10<sup>th</sup>, 1944. A new town was rebuilt right next to the town that was destroyed on that day, but the ruins remain as a memorial to those families that were massacred as well as to serve as a reminder of the atrocities that occurred during World War II. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3okxGZlz_woasC7IyqjTKsJJI_FuuZ3Qs5mw3gHK2kqe-lE_ga78LE1GCJw3MB2QnnlAEt_A4gpfLTU5GbERDnLasqn4Wu2jXKnt5aQ1c7VPpC_7wjis_MZWUWQ3lN-o7A2Cf9CXANP2m/s1600/DSCN1772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3okxGZlz_woasC7IyqjTKsJJI_FuuZ3Qs5mw3gHK2kqe-lE_ga78LE1GCJw3MB2QnnlAEt_A4gpfLTU5GbERDnLasqn4Wu2jXKnt5aQ1c7VPpC_7wjis_MZWUWQ3lN-o7A2Cf9CXANP2m/s200/DSCN1772.JPG" width="200" /></a>When I got to Oradour-sur-Glane, I was immediately humbled. It is amazing to me to see what hatred can develop into. Before going to visit the memorial, I had little knowledge about why the town was attacked, but learned shortly after that the massacre of 642 people was a retaliation of the supposed capture of one German official by the Resistance. I walked along the streets of the town that was left to rubble and climbed the steps of the town’s church where the women and children were locked, gassed, and shot at on that June day. I couldn’t help but think about how any human being could have such coldness inside his/her heart to be able to murder so many defenseless people. Outside the destroyed buildings were signs of the names of families that had lived inside, along with their held occupations. Walking along the deserted street and looking at those signs, it made me think about how each one of those 642 people killed on that day had a life, interests, friends, beliefs, and individual characteristics that a sum number does not justify.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOTUZrMcqHtAu_EZA0Ccd5h66wwfdGbNksDZ7vX7Xfz0V83K8tO9xPJhLj1wjMYIwv6MtOojq4z7l2lLKR6IAJ83oneN97R1RAteAbho_iW16lS26ys1cuzo8P-z-B-LDRS3Y9pmhLQFO/s1600/DSCN1733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOTUZrMcqHtAu_EZA0Ccd5h66wwfdGbNksDZ7vX7Xfz0V83K8tO9xPJhLj1wjMYIwv6MtOojq4z7l2lLKR6IAJ83oneN97R1RAteAbho_iW16lS26ys1cuzo8P-z-B-LDRS3Y9pmhLQFO/s200/DSCN1733.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div><div class="MsoNormal">In the rear part of the town was a cemetery filled with graves of the people from the town. The graves were covered with flowers, plaques, and reminders of that day, many of which read “Another Uncle,” “Another Mom,” or “Another Dad.” I don’t think I will ever understand war, but looking at those graves I couldn’t help but pray that all of the soldiers that are off fighting in wars can make it home to their loved ones again safely.</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-3494289251225412582011-09-18T08:18:00.000-07:002013-09-16T07:42:41.414-07:00First Match<div class="MsoNormal">
Last night was the first game of our official season. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so excited AND nervous for a season to start. As most of you know, preseason was not easy for me at all...each day I felt like I was trudging uphill in the mud...but with the saying, "nothing will work unless you do" in mind, I fought with myself each day to push through preseason and see what the regular season might hold in store.<br />
<br />
It's only the end of week one...of a 30+ game season, but I'm just going to say it, I'm proud of myself. I went into the first game telling myself to just believe. Believe in what I can do and believe in the team. To get to the point, in a hard fought battle, we ended up winning the game 71-68 against Calais.<br />
<br />
As a team, we came out really strong. Before I even realized what was happening, we were up 24-12 and were plowing along. We really played well together and executed our offense, with each teammate stepping up when we needed to make something happen. At half-time we were up by 13, and I never had the desire to run away with a score so badly in my life. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The third quarter brought a slight comeback from Calais, but we battled back and even extended the lead to 15 heading into the 4th.</span> The last quarter brought with it a full momentum swing, and our team struggled as Calais pulled within 6 points of us. With about 3 minutes left in the game I picked up my fifth foul, took a seat on the bench, and prayed that we would pull out a win.<br />
<br />
Exchanging baskets and fouls, those final three minutes seemed like the longest of my life. Calais pulled within two points a number of times, but our defense held up, never giving up the lead. Our point guard hit some clutch free throws down the stretch and with ten seconds left and us up by three, we grabbed a board off a free throw and ended the game.<br />
<br />
If you want to read the fun google translate version of the game, you can click <a href="http://www.limogesabc.com/index.php?id=fr255&id_document=article_fr_20110917001220_1a7c87495b8648b228ecf5f4345113df.xml" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
After the game we joined the partners of the club for a little champagne and a congratulatory speech from our president, followed by a dinner in town with a number of our fans. It was a really nice start to what I hope will be a very memorable season!</div>
Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-72595565545243190312011-09-15T12:31:00.000-07:002011-09-15T12:31:49.111-07:00Opening Round<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal">There is nothing quite like the beginning of a season. Tons of thoughts always rush through my head before an opening game: Will I play well? Will we win? Will I remember the plays? Will I get the rotation right on defense? Will I remember everything I need to? Will my teammates be ready? Will there be people in the stands? Will the gym have a positive energy? Will the ball bounce in our direction? Will everyone be on the same page? Needless to say I still get butterflies in my stomach before that first jump ball. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s amazing what happens as soon as the ball goes up; it’s like a switch flips and I just completely zone in. I think that’s why I love basketball so much…while I have all the aforementioned things to think about, in the moment, there is no thinking, there is solely ‘being.’</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am so looking forward to playing this weekend. I’m ready to just ‘be.’</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-8732177027034899982011-09-09T04:53:00.000-07:002011-09-09T04:53:03.846-07:00One Month Down…<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB7FUa9cljw_bif1PF6istxrE7VbLWmKEFy2mXf7XxACmM_l-Y-BQfdIKS8Jupx9xgcbYKJtK-MHeBKXX7tNzrq7J87_mKtIw8hjod9rcSVtzfi5Fkk8Skn0AZVkH0jRdeyBhOOWGTNCM/s1600/DSCN1687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB7FUa9cljw_bif1PF6istxrE7VbLWmKEFy2mXf7XxACmM_l-Y-BQfdIKS8Jupx9xgcbYKJtK-MHeBKXX7tNzrq7J87_mKtIw8hjod9rcSVtzfi5Fkk8Skn0AZVkH0jRdeyBhOOWGTNCM/s200/DSCN1687.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & Kerline @ Dinner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Wow. I can’t believe I’ve been here a month already. Only eight more months to go (yeah, I need to NOT look at it that way)! Anyways, things are getting better on this end. I’ll be honest, the first couple of weeks here were incredibly trying, and I was a little worried that it wasn’t going to get any better and I just wasn’t going to find enough enjoyment in what I was doing to stick it out. I mean I’ve always been (and always will be) the type of person that is 100% devoted to whatever it is I’m doing. If I can’t give 100%, I’ll always question what the point is of doing it. But, during those first weeks, breaking the weeks down into days and the days down into individual tasks really helped me out. I was able to step up to each challenge, conquer it, and move on to the next. I really think those first couple of weeks made me a stronger person. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Preseason is actually almost over now (thank God). We only have one more scrimmage tomorrow before we open up our conference play next Saturday. Our first two games are against the best two teams in the league (why does it seem like this is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ALWAYS</i> the case), and we definitely have our work cut out for us. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This past week we had some team bonding time on Monday and Tuesday. Monday night we did a team Zumba class, went out to dinner, and then went bowling. Zumba is actually a lot of fun. The instructor brought his “A” game, was super enthusiastic and motivating, and all of my teammates got really into it, which just made it so much more enjoyable. Monday was also the first time I’d been out to eat since coming here, which was a really nice treat. The biggest surprise of the night for me though was at bowling, when I bowled the best game I’ve probably ever had (which still isn’t anything to write home about), and beat my teammates and my coaches. =) </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpApUGrDvaoh9uJBx_SEtjESS7-TgxMnSWppQMfPfE7mn6LUPI4F5Nd0Lhyphenhyphen4RX3n3msN2E8AbXMmVcalcpOaqMBmIBU9WDQ365lfyntzj0DsA4hsngkunmEp1-PMbb9CmcuFJ-KSUf6Go/s1600/DSCN1710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpApUGrDvaoh9uJBx_SEtjESS7-TgxMnSWppQMfPfE7mn6LUPI4F5Nd0Lhyphenhyphen4RX3n3msN2E8AbXMmVcalcpOaqMBmIBU9WDQ365lfyntzj0DsA4hsngkunmEp1-PMbb9CmcuFJ-KSUf6Go/s320/DSCN1710.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Joyce, & Lindsay checking out the scores ;-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">One of the things about being the only American on a team is that it is super annoying to have to ask people to translate stuff for you all of the time, so sometimes, and maybe this isn’t such a good thing, I just don’t. I just go with the flow and see what happens. The second day of team bonding was a big mystery (not only to me, but everyone). I was thinking booze cruise (The Office style) maybe? One could only hope. We were only given instructions to bring athletic wear, dinning wear, our swimsuits, and swim shoes. Well, I don’t have ‘swim shoes’ here, so I was really hoping we weren’t going to a pond or a river or lake or anything where there might be slimy gooey rocks under my feet. Anyways, I was thinking the big mystery day would entail maybe a hike, lunch, and then some kind of swimming. After we drove 45 minutes out of Limoges, pulled up to what looked like an abandoned building that had broken windows, I thought, ‘uh oh, this is actually a team massacre.’ Instead of asking what was up, I just waited to see what our next move was. It wasn’t long until we walked past the building and came out to a really beautiful view of this creek surrounded by nature. We proceeded to take pictures as both a team and individually along the creek, although I still don’t know why, and then headed to lunch. After lunch we ended up at an indoor spa where we enjoyed a sauna, jacuzzi, and hammam. I’m not sure why we needed those water shoes, but all in all, our two team bonding days were pretty relaxing and gratifying. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKp8PKb7Q9bwiecYKQrK6ZxNgLT1nUXIkNqmSUj_mWIlnoXUYrUXloioqlIhudZehDGr1g32AyxHzprfa1VoebkVhgftcICxEvrYEoFqBS8vcwTFHAxm0CkALQtbjC6FulgY2NydRf3UE/s1600/DSCN1690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKp8PKb7Q9bwiecYKQrK6ZxNgLT1nUXIkNqmSUj_mWIlnoXUYrUXloioqlIhudZehDGr1g32AyxHzprfa1VoebkVhgftcICxEvrYEoFqBS8vcwTFHAxm0CkALQtbjC6FulgY2NydRf3UE/s320/DSCN1690.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ker, me, & Eloo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">This week I also started helping coach one of the school teams associated with the club. I helped out a few times in Switzerland with the school teams, but there were a lot of international students in those classes who helped translate what I was saying to their classmates. There really aren’t any of those international students in Limoges, so trying to get across the purpose of my drills, how to do the drills, and the rules of the drills was a lot more difficult this go-‘round. If anything though, coaching these little ones will definitely help me improve my French! </div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-83066196665167189402011-09-02T10:02:00.000-07:002011-09-02T10:06:15.389-07:00Random LimogesI have to start this blog by saying I thought there was poop everywhere in <i>Switzerland</i>...at least Switzerland provided baggies and people <i>sometimes</i> cleaned up after their dogs, which is more than I can say about Limoges. There is poop on every sidewalk - I constantly have to remind myself to be careful where I step. Oh, and it doesn't smell very good.<br />
<br />
Today I saw a cat attack a lizard. I'm pretty sure it thought it was a mouse - I mean, <i>I</i> thought it was a mouse, until the cat became distracted by me and the car that was driving by and dropped it. At that moment I saw that it was definitely a lizard, which I didn't know cats liked. I wonder if lizards taste anything like mice or if it's just the hunt that cats like.<br />
<br />
While I was sitting on a bench today playing a very serious game of brickbreaker (with my headphones in), this man walked up to me and asked if I had a cigarette. I told him no. He then proceeded to sit down next to me on my bench. The conversation continued something like this:<br />
Him: <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Êtes-vous marié?</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Me: No I'm not married.</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Him: Vous-avez des amis?</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Me: Yes, I have friends.</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Him: <<French French French>> Los Angeles <<indecipherable French>> Visa <<more French>> la carte.</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Me: ... </span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Him: <<lots more French I didn't understand and some words I did (combien, d'avion, etc.)>></span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Me: ... </span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Him: Je suis 32. </span></span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Quel âge? 34?</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Me: I'm NOT 34.</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Him: Amis? Cafe?</span></span><br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Me: Look at the time, I have to go.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">Pardon my French writing, but the actual conversation was pretty long, with a lot of awkward silences. At one point I tried to continue my game of brickbreaker, thinking he would get the point, but instead he took interest and cheered for me after I cleared a level. </span></span><br />
<br />
I mentioned that I love my apartment. It's huge and right down the street from the cathedral, which is absolutely breathtaking. The main issues with my apartment though are the noise that comes up from the street (there's a lot of cathedral traffic and a trolley goes by every hour ringing it's annoyingly loud bell lots of times) and the construction going on in the building across from me. Not only have I been waking up to what sounds like someone putting a drill through my skull, but the workers are working on the third floor and can see directly into my apartment. They've watched me cook and eat lunch every day after practice this week. I will not miss them when they're done.<br />
<br />
<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="fr"><span class="hps">I really hope I don't look like I'm 34 years old already...</span></span>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-81801583207252732102011-08-29T12:54:00.000-07:002011-08-29T12:54:10.711-07:00Google Translate Sure Makes Articles Interesting!<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.limogesabc.com/&ei=Be1bTo7lPNHFswaZ1tySCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlimoges%2Babc%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DeST%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Divns">Click here to read about our last scrimmage!</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHCk25DZvxFEIT66EwOWAiuCWu4p9yqmhjSkhHExLb61RqWHuxr0F_jUrOWeRI6aaCsXXMmqXKSHSccHqdCSMTETg3uoSMd7eBSxBEop2U_Pqa0BTyhSfxUNymnhEFo9u56bVZguHe4Tp/s1600/Me+%2540+Scrimmage+La+Roche.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHCk25DZvxFEIT66EwOWAiuCWu4p9yqmhjSkhHExLb61RqWHuxr0F_jUrOWeRI6aaCsXXMmqXKSHSccHqdCSMTETg3uoSMd7eBSxBEop2U_Pqa0BTyhSfxUNymnhEFo9u56bVZguHe4Tp/s320/Me+%2540+Scrimmage+La+Roche.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-70889038352738261232011-08-22T11:50:00.000-07:002011-08-22T13:13:11.784-07:00Today I saw a cat on a leash...All right. I have to share my first awkward moment since coming here.<br />
<br />
Well first things first, I did actually see a cat on a leash today, which I've never seen before. At first I thought it was a guy walking a monkey, but when I got closer I recognized my feline friend. The situation reminded me of my friend's dog who has a tendency to "go boneless" (as they say in Psych), or floppy, when she doesn't want to walk. When she's like that my friend usually ends up dragging her across the grass for a good five minutes. The cat's owner was giving a valiant effort to encourage it to get up and walk, but that cat was having no part of it. It just laid there in a ball on the cobblestone ground outside of the cathedral. I wish I had time to take a picture before he saw me, but I'm not so stealthy these days.<br />
<br />
Anyways, on to my awkward moment of the day. Last night was brutally hot. I could NOT fall asleep. I even opened my skylight window and surrendered to the fact that the bugs were just going to get me. At around 3am I was drenched and miserable, so I journeyed downstairs. I opened all the windows to my apartment, again telling myself that if I had to choose between bug bites or heat rash, bug bites were probably the way to go. The problem with opening my windows (other than the bugs) is that the noise from the street carries right up into my apartment. I'm three stories up, but it doesn't seem to matter. Needless to say I feel very involved in the people's lives who pass below my street. At around 4:30am I remembered that the other night I saw a bat flying around outside. I then convinced myself that the cricket noise that I'd been listening to for the last 45 minutes was actually said bat, that the bat was going to fly into my window and get caught in my hair and then I'd have to get rabie shots. I put my curtains over the windows so they were still open but there was something to prevent the bat from attacking me up around 5am. The garbage men came precisely at 5:58am. The construction workers came at 6:30am, and there was no getting back to sleep. Basically, my terrible night lead me to be dead tired this morning, delirious, and miserable. I headed to practice at 9:30am disheveled, sweating, and groggy. We started practice with agility drills. After my first rep of the first drill my teammate said, "Hillary, you dropped..." then proceeded to look down at her hand, and hand me a pair of my hot pink underwear. Really Hill? Really. She gave me a really confused look like, 'how did these fall OFF of you?' They must have been mixed up in my jersey when I was getting ready this morning. Anyways, I snatched them and ran them into the locker room and somehow managed to get back to my place before any of our three male coaches took notice of what happened. Maybe I'm stealthier than I thought ;-). Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-77045059243501688882011-08-21T07:21:00.000-07:002011-08-21T07:21:33.087-07:00“It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.” – Yogi Berra<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">I’m having kind of a tough time settling in here…which also means I’m having a hard time articulating what’s going through my mind. I know I haven’t been writing much, and I just keep thinking about the two sayings, “No new is good news,” and “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all;” I think I could argue a case for either right now. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Things are coming along a little better than they were last week at least. I’ll tell you one thing – this league is no joke, and I have a LOT of work ahead of me. The good news is that now that I'm over here I have the time to put in the work I need to in order to succeed at this level. Even though my August 6<sup>th</sup> departure date seemed really early to me (and it was, since a lot of my American friends who play overseas are just now starting to arrive in Europe)– I’m glad the team brought me out here so soon. It gives me some extra time to focus and work on the things I know I need to improve on personally, and gives the team the opportunity to practice together for a little over a month before our first game. Since a lot of us are new, this time is really important for us to learn how to play with one another and start to become a cohesive unit. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had our first scrimmage on Friday night, which we ended up losing by about ten points. The game is just as fast as it was in Switzerland (probably a little bit faster), with girls that are stronger, more experienced, and taller. Since it was the first time our team got to play with five people (we’ve been playing 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 during practices while we wait for our final two teammates to arrive from the other teams they play on), I saw some really good things. I really like how our team defense looked (our help rotation was pretty good) and I really liked when I got to lob the ball up to our other five player for an easy bucket on offense. I did pick up a solid seven fouls…oops!, so I am going to need to readjust to that European style of play again. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In other news, it’s been really, REALLY hot here. It’s been a solid 92 degrees the past week, only both the gym and my apartment don’t have any air conditioning. On average, I’d say I’ve been sweating through four t-shirts a day, which is pretty miserable. Needless to say I’ve been spending a lot of time in the tub with ice. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That’s all for right now; we have another scrimmage on Tuesday night against a team that’s in our league, which will be a good indicator of the season up ahead. Wish us luck!</div>Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127735023166382073.post-24999456657677998652011-08-16T08:39:00.000-07:002011-08-16T08:39:09.530-07:00PreseasonRight now our team is in the beginning of preseason. This means a few things:<br />
<ul><li>My days consist of working out, sleeping, and eating. Then working out, eating, and sleeping.</li>
<li>Blisters.</li>
<li>My big toe nails are splitting - their ends are near.</li>
<li>Both my basketball sneakers and running sneakers are wearing thin.</li>
<li>My laundry loads have increased due to the number of shirts I sweat through.</li>
<li>Ice baths. Lots of ice baths. </li>
<li>Buying 1.5 liters of water in bulk.</li>
<li> And questioning why I put myself through this. </li>
</ul>Every athlete hates preseason. You just take it one day at a time until the fun starts. Hillary Klimowiczhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12157035957693804148noreply@blogger.com1