Things have settled down considerably since arriving in Osby 11 days ago.  I’d say we feel pretty much at home in our apartment. Jamie, Ola (our roommate and linemate) and I have already established a pretty good routine.  We all chip in for meals and whoever cooks, the others cleans (I’ve actually done quite a bit of the cooking believe it or not).  We all walk to the rink together (it’s only about a 10 minute walk) and we actually all sit in the same corner of the locker room.  I really appreciate living with Ola.  Jamie and I had the option of staying in another apartment which we would have had to ourselves and Jamie and I would have had our own rooms AND our own beds (James and I are sharing a bed.  It’s a king size but we’re sharing a bed no less).  But living with Ola has been great and has afforded us several benefits.  For starters, Ola’s apartment is right in town (a town of about 10,000, not unlike Middlebury.  Again, see Jamie’s intro post for a better idea, jamiemckenna.wordpress.com).  The grocery store (the ICA) is across the street (30..meters..heh, from our front door) which has given us the luxury of buying our meals on a nightly basis rather than having to plan several nights in advance (fresher food and less foresight required).  More importantly, living with Ola has helped us to assimilate more easily, in the team and in Sweden is general.  Ola is well liked on the team and about every other night we have a least one person, if not a group of guys, from the squad over just hanging out.  Jamie and I met everyone the first day we got here and we obviously get to see them at the rink everyday but having guys at the apartment has really given us a chance to get to know some of them better.   And I am really shocked at how nice they are.  I mean genuinely polite and considerate.  They’re not afraid to joke around and take a shot at one another from time to time (it’s usually all in Swedish and I haven’t the slightest what’s going on but someone’s getting laughed at) but when it comes down to it they are genuine and sincere.  The group as a whole gets along very well as well and it makes me hopeful that we might really be able to develop some camaraderie down the stretch.  We have heard stories of previous American recruits who just kept to themselves and never made any real effort to get involved.  Jamie and I have tried to do the exact opposite and I think the team has respond very positively to our presence as a result.  Living with Ola only helps us with this.

As for the camaraderie coming through on the ice, we’re still waiting for it to kick it.  You may have read Jamie’s latest post already but we’re still winless at 0-4.  To be honest though, team spirit isn’t the issue at the moment.  We’re still waiting for a few guys to arrive (I don’t know exactly where they are but I’ve been told they’re coming) or return to the line up (two of our best are expecting children, others have work) and as a result players from the local junior team have been filling in.  Basically, we’ve been playing with a new assortment of guys every game which is not exactly conducive to team building.  We’re also only playing with 5 defenseman and this guy hasn’t been double shifted since peewee’s.  The Sweds also don’t like playing defense the way we might identify it (i.e. back-check optional or lets-have-everyone-change-on-the-back-check but that’s what they do in the show, right?) which leaves the 5 of us to get abused on the odd man rushes.  While Sweds leave something to be desired on the back-check, everyone here can skate and handle the puck.  Lots of smooth stick handling and great puck movement, perfect for an odd man rush.  So, 0-4 we go. And while it doesn’t feel good and while frankly there’s only one team that has been better than us (they were actually very good, top D3-ish (NCAA)), I’m not totally surprised.

Anyway, I really do hope to update the blog on a regular basis so stay tuned. Talk soon.