Football!!!

Gloomy ole London

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Today was yet another gloomy day.  I had another department meeting, this time with the Geography department at 3 PM at the strand campus.  I got there by bus.  The picture is from the upper deck of the bus, a typical day in downtown London.  When I arrived on campus, a fire alarm had been set off so the entire building was evacuated.  Luckily it didn't set me back too much.

This meeting was much more organized than my engineering department meeting.  They had handouts, discussed courses, do's and don'ts, etc.

Sacha had just finished his final exam today and caught me before I left the flat.  We agreed to play some football at the pitch behind the apartment when I got back.  I didn't get back until dark and we couldn't muster up many friends until about 7:30 PM.  We headed down to the pitch with Offam (sp?), Hao, Sacha, and I.

Warning, this is just a re-enactment. My facial expression when asked to play with an English men's team again.

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The field was being used by a kids team (looked like 15 years old or so) and they wouldn't let us join in.  There was an unlit basketball court nearby so we took that up instead.  It was interesting because rather than having normal basketball cour markings, there were football field markings! 

By the way, I've started calling soccer football and I never really talk about American football, just in case you were confused.

It was Hao and I vs. Sacha and Offam for a couple of minutes.  Then the kids team finished playing and a men's club took up the pitch.  They said we could join in their scrimmage so we gladly obliged.  I played left fullback.  It was an astroturf field, roughly 3/4 size I would guess.  Underneath the astroturf must have been asphalt because it was an extremely fast field (ball rolled quickly, easy to run on).  The game was great, I even scored from fullback position.  We all had a great workout and it was a nice friendly competitive game.

This is the field we played on tonight as seen from my window. They call fields pitches.

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Their gamestyle is so much better than any team I've played with in America.  They're calm about setting up their attacks (just like the national team and other great teams, America isn't a part of this category).  They'll play around with the ball in the backfield until an opportunity opens up, then BAM! they're off to the races!  Everything is so quick, their touch is superb, and they can run like heck!  Also, they shoot from near (within 18 yards) and don't try to bomb it in the goal from far.

Anyway, it came to an end when one of their club's players got a cramp in his calf.  We shook hands and their team captain asked me to come back and train with them on Tuesdays and play with them on Sundays!!!  He says they have no left fullback the way I played and blah blah.  I'm definitely going to back to train next Tuesday.  I don't know if I want to be committed to playing on Sundays because I plan on traveling several weekends.  But this definitely gave me confidence for upcoming training with King's College team.  Even Sacha said that I'll be okay with them (King's College team).  I'm so excited I feel like I can run forever with them.  I have to admit that I was huffing and puffing on the pitch, but the adrenaline was pumping for me.  See the picture for a re-enactment of my facial expression after they asked me to play with them again.

Tonight I'm going to watch some movies with Laurenda, Layli, and her friend (can't remember this friend's name either).  Probably another old American classic.  Take care all. 

Oh, classes don't start until Monday in case you were wondering.  And it sounds like changing my classes won't be so impossible. Cheers!