Well there was not too much going on this week as it was rainy and dreary outside and since we had no game.  As I stated before this was our originally scheduled off week.  Since it was raining outside a few days this week, I stayed in and messed around.  The weather over here is very fickle.  For those of you with a weak vocabulary, fickle means that it changes easily.  It will be hot one day, then cold the next and rain can come and go at the drop of a hat.  During the week I was on the net until my eyes crossed and then I watched some TV as well.  This is when I noticed that the censorship here is not as tight as it is in the states.  That is audio and visual censorship.  It was similar in Finland as well.  We still had practice this week and I lifted weights a time or two, but I was still sore from the game.

I squeezed in my first tennis match early in the week.  I have never played tennis before and if I could keep it between the lines its pretty hard to return, but the keeping it between the lines part gives me some problems.  I went and played with some friends and Ilija and his brother.   When Ilija and his brother played it was like watching 2 professionals.  They made me stand in there for a few hits and the balls were coming so fast I couldn't hardly see them, much less return them.    Tennis is a big sport over here, but soccer seems to be #1 with hockey coming in at #2.  Who knows where American football falls in that sequence.  I also saw a rugby match this week as well.

This week they had a holiday on Thursday, I believe, so everyone was out in the street during the day and out on the town at night.  During the day they have people just singing in the middle of town square to everyone.  Its like a free concert if you like that kind of music.  They seem to draw somewhat decent crowds.   I went to the big mall here called the NK one day with some friends and also went in several other stores downtown.   Lets just say that I will never be buying anything inside of the NK building.  One of my friends here bought a T-shirt that that would equal a price of 40 dollars...just to give you an idea.  Though there were some attractive females on the inside.  On a side note...I don't think that I have my hours adjusted totally as I continue to stay up late and sleep in.  This way I can talk to my friends on line from the states as well as manage my schedule here.  The nights are starting to be lighter longer which makes it hard to adjust to.

On Friday night some of the guys went out downtown.  We went to 2 different clubs/restaurants or whatever you want to call it.  There was a woman in there taking pictures.  I asked her what she was taking them for and so she informed me that there is a nightlife website for Stockholm and so I jumped in behind two girls while they were having their picture taken.  I was laughing, but click here to see it.  Then I was able to get Ilija away from all of the women long enough to get a picture with him.  Check it out here.  Yeah so maybe I should have shaved, but there wasn't anything worth me shaving for in there anyways...hahahaa.

So on Saturday since we didn't have a game we went to  watch 2 teams in our league play.  I also met another guy from my last years team in Finland at the game.  We had planned to meet there and so it was good to see none other than Mr. Kasper Johanson and his woman at the game.  He rode the boat over to hang out with his brother who lives in Stockholm so he just swung right over to the game and watched it with us.  We watched the Stockholm Mean Machines vs Carlstad.  Upon entering the game we got a free magazine that had half clothed women in it.  Another thing you wouldn't see at home.  Carlstad is the team that wore us out in the first week and Stockholm beat them 26 - 21.  Stockholm capitalized on some big plays during the game and were able to hold on for the victory.  There was some pad popping going on in that game too.  During the game one player injured his inner thigh.  So what did they do...he just laid down on the sideline, pulled his football pants down and the female trainer was their massaging his inner thigh.  I mean he still had other clothing on, but it was just something that you would not have seen at home.  At half time they had a punt, pass, kick contest, but I didn't enter though I would have won by a long shot.  I was tempted though.

On another side note Arlanda beat the team from Moscow in the Eurobowl series.  I'm trying to paint a picture here for you so you can see how the deck is stacked.  The team I played for last year ( Turku Trojans ) beat Arlanda 10 - 0 two weeks ago.  The following week we played Arlanda and lost  22 - 21.  Turku lost to Moscow 42 - 0 on that same day and then Arlanda beats Moscow this weekend 17 - 7.  So it seems that on any given day any team can be beat.  Hopefully we'll get our act together and be able to compete.

Today is Sunday and my cousin David Patterson flew into Sweden.  He just recently graduated and this was his first time in Europe and I was present when he sat foot in Scandinavia.  On the way there and on the way back we saw some moose.  We saw a total of 3.  One of the guys, " Diesel " as known by females all over Stockholm, was with us and he said that its not that frequent that you see something like that.  He said that he's seen maybe 3 or 4 in his whole life.  So as you can see whenever you have more than one Patterson at the same place anything magical can happen.  Who knows what will happen downtown this week.  We had some girls at McDonald's giggling already.  I think they notice that you're not from Europe when they see you with baggy pants on.  That's pretty much the tip because baggy is not the style here.  We will try to get some good pictures while David is here and post them on the site next week.

Now we are preparing to play against the Solna Chiefs.  We need to have a good week of practice because its time that we get a W.  Hope all is well for all of you.

Regards,

Clint