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June 28, 2006
I received a call from Chadron coach Jim Webb asking me if I’d be interested in spending the summer in Russia playing softball. Initially I turned down the invitation because I thought that I would be better off attempting to find a job and not be unemployed out of college. However, talking with a few teammates and with my father, I realized I was crazy not to take the opportunity and run with it. So, here I am now playing softball in Russia!
At first I did not know a lot about what I would be doing over here. I had heard a few places we would be traveling, like Amsterdam (which I missed thanks to foreign travel requirements), Italy, the Czech Republic, and Russia, of course. It was, however, very frustrating not knowing all of the details of my first journey out of the U.S. (excluding Canada). Finally when I got all of my papers and was ready to travel, I was a little nervous about traveling overseas, and especially to a country, which in the past has been a U.S. enemy. But the flight went great (even though I traveled for almost 24 hours), and when I arrived, everyone is was nice as can be. The Russians are truly the most hospitable people I have ever met, including my grandmother! The women working at the clubhouse do our laundry, clean our rooms, make us food, do our dishes…they take very good care of us!
My teammates (and the girls from other teams) have taken me under their wings and are teaching me the language. All know some English (some know very little while others know a great deal), but one player speaks English with hardly any accent at all. She played in the U.S. for four years, both in Texas and in Georgia (but I’ll have to ask where). Various people (coaches, clubhouse employees, translators) have spent a great deal of time with me (hours each day), talking with me and teaching me words and phrases. I’m picking it up, but slowly because I can’t read Cyrillic (they use the Cyrillic alphabet, which shares many of our letters, but the letters do not always make the same sound as ours). But, they tell me I get better everyday.
I am staying at the softball clubhouse in a village outside of Moscow called Tuchkovo (Tooch-kovah). It is in the Moscow Region, which is approximately the equivalent of one of our states. With the terrible Moscow traffic (Moscow has about 11 million people, the fifth largest city in the world population-wise), we can make it in about 2-2 1/2 hours. The country is beautiful, and it is different from the United States in that it is very undeveloped. All you can see for miles around are grassy fields and forest.
The food is excellent, and it’s not fatty food like we eat, so I can eat just about as much as I like (including CHOCOLATE) and not get fat. Everyone here loves to cook, so they are forever sharing their food with you. The perfect place for me! But I haven’t found any cheesecake yet, which is my favorite dessert. I’m told that Moscow restaurants will have cheesecake. So, when I go there in a couple of days, I’ll have to find some.
As for playing, I have been pitching a lot, and doing some hitting, but no outfield. The team I’m playing for is the Carrousel Club, which has been the National team for the past 12 years (each year, all the teams in Russia play each other for the national championship title, and that team is the team that receives the funding from the Russian Olympic Committee to be the national team). The Russians have never been to the Olympics, and since 2008 is the final Olympic Games which will include softball, this is the team’s last chance to achieve an Olympic bid. It is very difficult, because the Olympics only allow eight teams, and from Europe and Africa combined, only one can go, and it is usually Italy. So far this year we are seeded in first place in national championship play. I think we are 15-0, and we have 15 more games to play before the championships are over. The next rounds are in late July and August, I believe. Other than Russia, it appears that we will be going to the U.S. (although I probably will not be going along), Italy, the Czech Republic, and Korea, but I am not positive on the dates or specific locations.
Russia is a great place, and I’m having a blast. I’d highly recommend a visit if you ever get the chance. I’m about to go eat some homemade Russian soup! As they say in Russia, “Ooveedumsah!” (See you later!).