SHOPPING!!!!!!!

Today myself and the other Americans.....Chelsea, Caitlin and Jackie decided to try out the train system in Germany.

We took the train from Cloppenburg to Oldenburg on to Bremen. Then we got on a bus and went to the Nike, Puma and Adidas outlet stores!

AHHHHHHHHH!!! I loved it.

#1 - train system rocks!

#2 - bremen is busy and cool

#3 - I love outlet stores!

#4 - I bought my hightop shoes (people here in Germany wear a lot of high tops!) -- So now I feel like I am complete


It was lots of fun today...getting out and having lunch at a cafe, taking the train and bus to the outlet stores and then eating snacks, candy and tea along the way!!!

I'm finding that so many people here in Germany have been so friendly and helpful. To be honest, people warned me before I came to Germany that Germans were at times harsh and not always friendly right away....I find that completely incorrect....so far the Germans I have met have been so gracious, kind and helpful with everything. I hope that continues and I truly believe it will...it has been making my time in Germany that much better :)

OH!!! Funny side note: an older woman in the chocolate store at the train station today was excited to find out we were American! Not only American but two from CALIFORNIA!!! and you know what that means....she said....DAVID HASSALHOF! hahahahahahahaha! I loved every second of it... it was so cute and she was so sweet. She didn't speak English but tried so hard to communicate.

It was a GREAT day and I'm so glad we got out and explored the town.

I will post a picture of my cool new hightop Nike shoes when I load my pics.

Till the next time --- guten nacht (btw - my teammates/coaches tease me because I love to SLEEP!!)

-Kat

Goodbye Spain!!!

I'm happy to report that I ended up feeling much better for the second half of training camp.

This was such a great experience...getting to play games, learn German phrases, aqua jog, play soccer and workout on the beach and get to know my teammates better was amazing!!

We have one last training session tomorrow morning before heading off to the airport for Germany...from what I understand it is -5 grad in Cloppenburg...I am going to be frozen. haha!

Adios Spain...it has been fun!

-Kat

Training Camp so far ...

Hello family and friends ....annnnnd anyone else who reads this!! :)

Well my first day of training camp was not the greatest. Unfortunately, I got really sick on Sunday night and was so sick in bed all day Monday. I missed all the training for Monday. Then I missed the Tuesday morning training session and managed to muster up some strength to play in the game on Tuesday night against a Spanish 1 Division team! I scored a goal in the first half, but was unable to play the 2nd half of the game. We lost sadly, but I'm not sure of the score, either 2-1 or 3-1.

I'm happy to report, my appetite and strength is returning with every new day. I made it through both training sessions yesterday and as well as today so far.

I'm learning German here from the girls and we are telling them our English words. Everyone here is so funny and friendly.

This may sound funny since I've only lived in Cloppenburg for a week, but I miss Cloppenburg and the people. I'm looking forward to heading back to Germany and Cloppenburg.

Hope all is well for everyone in the United States. I miss everyone SO MUCH!! Especially my puppy dog...I miss him so much!

- Kat

Spain...here I come!!

Today was a good day! We woke up and had breakfast just as we usually do ;) Then Lui from the newspaper joined us! He is so nice...we like him a lot -- Hi Lui, if you are reading this! :)


We then took our pictures with our team jersey.





After this, we went for a walk around town and shopped a bit. We all got a pastry!! I love them!!


There are a lot of good treats here in Cloppenburg. We took naps and then had lunch at a nice cafe. The bread is so tasty here. It is so fresh and delicious.





We had our first scrimmage game against a young mens team tonight. It was pretty cold and muddy but the game was good. We only lost 1-0 I believe. I'm so excited to head to training camp and develop as a group. We did well tonight not knowing each other well and not being able to speak the same language. I'm excited to see how it will be after we get used to one another play.





I will post some pictures of my time in Spain once that time is over ;)





Here is a photo from our locker room before the game...we had a picture of us in our uniforms on Jackie's phone, but her backpack was stolen from the locker room and now we lost all those pictures and her phone :(

I got to talk on skype with my family tonight...it was great to see them and hear their voices! :) That really made my evening a good one...well it is really late here...I should be off to bed.

-Kat

Tuesday update!!!

Yesterday I got a bit sick and was stuck in bed. I believe it was a combination of food, lack of water and sleep. I slept most of the day so not much to write about there! haha!
Today we got in a nice 40min run and did a workout at the gym together...we followed up our workout with SUBWAY and a bit of window shopping.
Thursday we have our physicals and then a team meeting. I'm so excited to meet the whole team in person and have our first team meeting together. We have a scrimmage match coming up. I don't know who we are playing, but I'm just excited we have a game! Then....we head off to Mallorca, Spain for our week training camp!! I'm so excited!!
When we come back I hope to have lots of fun pictures and then pictures of our apartment. We will be moving into an apartment after Spain! Lots of exciting things ahead and I'm so excited to get on the pitch.

Hope everyone is doing well back in the States! I got to speak with my family on the skype and it was so awesome. I miss my family already and my dog! Just seeing them on skype made me feel better!

I will write again soon...

-Kat-

...pictures...

These are some pictures from the first day!

The first is the door of our Locker Room...I like the sign! I want one ;) haha!

The second is a picture of the town center...a street directly across from our hotel room.

The third is a picture of a street sign I liked!!

I'm sure there will be many more photos to come...

HALLO from Germany!!!

Hello everyone back in the US...I made it to Cloppenburg, Germany safely. It was a long day of travel and I'm pretty tired right now.

We got us this morning and went to breakfast down at the hotel. Our hotel is nice and we are staying here for a bit before moving in to an apartment I believe. Instead of going to Turkey for camp, it turns out we will be heading to Spain. I'm really excited to start camp with the team.

After breakfast, we had a short interview with a man from the newspaper and he took our photo. We headed over to see the stadium and met some of the girls at a party. One of the girls got player of the year and they were celebrating for her. It was a nice party, but I felt bad because I wasn't very talkative because I was a bit nervous not understanding the language.

I think I wil be taking German classes so I can learn the language. I love to chat with people as most of you know and would love to be able to understand or communicate effectively with people here.

The town is beautiful and so cute. I love the street in front of our hotel. There are shops and cafes.

Well that's about all for now I think...I'm just resting up and relaxing a bit now...

Looking forward to getting out for a run/workout tomorrow...I want to be ready for Spain.

-Kat :)

the time has come...

This will be my last post in the USA!!

I will be leaving tomorrow and on my way to Germany...It's going to be a loooong trip!

As I was packing tonight, I got a little sad thinking about missing my family, dog, and friends...but I am also soooo excited to get over there and start playing...

So, the next time I will write, I will be in GERMANY!!! YAY!!

-Kat :)

busy busy busy!!!

I have been so busy this week preparing to head off to Germany...




training, dentist appointment, shopping (for WARM things!!) and getting organized with what I want to take...still trying to decide what to squeeze into my suitcase!





Just a couple more days before I head off for a LONG day of travel...





I'm starting to get a little sad...I'm going to MISS something A LOT!! My baby, mi amor, my little Benito ...

This is my little 1 year and 4 month old Yorkie Poodle Mix Benito...He is my best little buddy and I'm going to miss him. Thank goodness my parents are going to watch him for me while I'm gone!

Okay...enough about that sad stuff ;) I'm so excited to get this adventure started!!! I was so excited to wake up this morning from an email from one of my new teammates...and then after my training session, I checked my phone and I had an email from another new teammate. They were so friendly and I'm so excited to meet them and the rest of the team and BVC organization!

Well...that's it for today...I will probably post again the night before or morning I leave. I'm looking forward to my double day of training tomorrow and fun dinner with some close family and friends!!!

Hope everyone is having a GREAT week so far...

<3>

10 days!!! ...really?!

Wow, I really only have 10 days left before I leave to begin a new adventure in another country!!

This week has been a little tough for me so far...after having a lovely Christmas break, I returned to work on Monday. This is my last week of work at Roseville High and Friday will be my last day. I'm sure Friday will be a difficult day for me...I have worked with some truly amazing students and staff in my 5 years at the high school. This past semester saw some huge leaps for some of our students and those leaps have completely melted my heart and I hope the hard work continues for them.

I have also been researching about the team I'm going to be playing for. The above picture is the stadium we will be playing at in Cloppenburg. I'm so excited reading about the team and researching the town and surrounding areas. I can't wait to go and make a difference on the field. I have been training so much and reading articles (translated - of course) about the town and the team. It gives me that extra excitment/motivation to keep training harder!!

I'm so excited to head out in 10 days but also sad to leave my soccer kids for so long...also my family and friends of course ;0 I hope to be able to see as many people as possible before I head out .... BUT, if we happen to miss one another, I hope ya'll will keep in touch through this blog with comments or email me on my yahoo account: kat.brenneman@yahoo.com or my soccer website email (http://www.soccerwithkat.com/ - soccerwithkat@gmail.com)

Happy Late Tuesday Night...off to bed and hope everyone has a lovely Wednesday!!!

- Kat :)

PS...check out the Cloppenburg Time clock at the top right corner of this blog...then you'll see the time difference ... it's gonna be crazy adjusting to the 9 hr change ;)