Honing my craft

27/1 - After making a fuss about us needing to practice more tackling on Facebook in the football group, we set up an impromptu tackling session this morning at Slades Farm with Coach Charlie, at the expense of some vacation time with his girlfriend. So unintentionally I did some cockblocking on my coach.

But the session was good, though only four of us showed up. It was great to learn basic technique. Though I'm feeling more and more comfortable, I still have a massive amount of trouble when the runner tries to change direction on me. So of course I felt more frustration from that. And at the chalkboard session, we watched video of the Sussex game. I was able to see I was blocked in the back on the play where I dove for the quarterback. That should have been a penalty, but it wasn't called, much like a lot of other plays during the game. It turns out British referees are kind of terrible at their jobs. But I can't be too upset as I know firsthand how difficult that job can be.

28/1 - I think I need to give my body a rest. My thigh is still tight, my shoulder is sore from throwing with Charlie, my thumb was jammed this morning in practice and I rolled my ankle. I'd love a message.

I went to Goldsands Stadium, the home of Bournemouth AFC, to interview Joe Quigley who is on the youth team and on loan at Poole Town. The stadium is pretty cozy and I'd love to go to a game there. But this was another opportunity to explore my city, as the stadium is all the way in the borough of Boscombe, which is known for violent crime. It didn't look too bad, to be honest.

This should probably be written in hindsight (considering the fact I had to Google the correct way to spell "should," but I had a blast at my first social with the American football team. I missed the details of the need to dress in army uniform and bring your own bottle (BYOB). But I got plenty buzzed in the end, as I was forced to drink jungle juice from my own shoe, because of the fact "I'm too good to dress in uniform". Jungle juice is when everyone around the room pours a little of their own drink inside one cup, in my case, my shoe, whether it be beer, wine, spirits or anything else. It didn't taste bad to be honest.

I think I gained a little bit of respect by being there (it was my first social out of many this year) and I learned the team likes me way more than another guy who hasn't been to any socials like me: Jake.

Jake is an egotistical 18-year-old English guy who is one of the most talented players on the team. For example, he demands why he doesn't get the ball after every play. Even his family talks trash about the quarterback who doesn't get him the ball, like what happened on Sunday vs. Sussex. I consider Jake my friend, but I don't trust him, nor do I consider him a good teammate. Coach Charlie said all of Dorset (this county) wouldn't be able to contain his ego, which is very true.

1/29 - I started looking through hosts on Workaway again. This time I sent an email to a family from Nairobi, Kenya. I talked about how a trip there would give me a different perspective in that I'd be different because of my skin color for the first time in my life. I also said I have a roommate from Kenya and how I think Kenyans are very friendly people. I hope they respond.

Sunday we go to Portsmouth for a "home" game against the Portsmouth Destroyers. It turns out we can't play at the rugby club in Christchurch anymore because the rugby team complained about the field getting too torn up from our games. So that makes us nomads for the final two games.

Injury, frustration and awe-inspiring coastline

I had originally written a fair amount for this post, but for some reason the entire post was deleted, thus adding to Sunday's crappiness. When everything was lost, I yelled curse words and slammed things on the ground. Long story short, my football team lost to Sussex in embarrassing fashion in Brighton, and when I got into the game I missed tackling opportunities again, so I'm still a bit upset.

This game has a way of making you realize your body isn't as large as you think it is. Plus, it's expert at destroying confidence, like it did for me today. I hate, despise, abhor, - any other synonym - feeling mediocre at something. That's how it was today. I fucking hate it, especially when I was beaten for a touchdown. I stumped off the field and slammed my helmet on the ground in frustration and anger. The day was made worse when I tweaked my thigh muscle when I dove for a tackle. I had to ice it with frozen food when I got home.

Saturday was much better, as we rented a car to explore the area to the west of Poole. We saw Corfe Castle in all its crumbly splendor, Studland Beach (nude beach) and Durdle Door. I wrote a lot more about all of these, but it's gone now. Essentially, I talked about losing sight of the fact I live in an incredibly beautiful area of Dorset where there's so much to see because of the stupor brought on by schoolwork or extreme boredom. I've realized I don't have to fly to other countries; there's so much to see right here, and I need to appreciate that and make more of an effort to see those things.

Corfe Castle in the village of Corfe Castle.

Naomi and I after a short but very steep climb to the top of Durdle Door

Adventure and opportunity

17/1 - Football practice on Friday was really cold. It was so cold, I took my hoody off in the middle of the workout, and about an hour later I came back and there was ice on it! But those two hours went by so quickly. It turns out practice is way more fun when we have pads on and hit each other. In fact, during the scrimmage I made a textbook-perfect tackle on one of the receivers. I think that was the highlight of the season for me. I'm getting more comfortable getting lower and hitting in the right spot. I felt so exhilarated after that practice, and now I'm stoked for Sunday's scrimmage.

I went to another Poole Town FC game today, though they lost 1-0. People were pretty angry after the game, and since the players, coaches and officials have to walk through the crowd to get to the locker room, they got plenty of abuse. Dad called me a soccer junkie, and I think it's true. But I'm going to these games because they're part of my neighborhood. I'm going to try to get an interview with one of the players for the school newspaper. His name is Joe Quigley and he's on loan from the Bournemouth AFC youth team, so that's why we want to talk to him.

20/1 - Sunday's practice left me incredibly frustrated with myself. I missed more tackles, and I was haunted by that the rest of the night. I kept thinking about it and only got a few hours of sleep. It was so bad I decided to learn how to cook Brussells sprouts at 5 a.m.

My final three assignments are turned in. The essay I've been working on turned out to be 4,500 words, not including the 30 references in the bibliography. I worked pretty hard on it, and while there are some issues with referencing within the essay, I don't think anyone will accuse me of plagiarism.

For my sport class, I passed my essay with a 67, which is a merit. For the speech/essay assignment, I got a 50, which is a pass. I'm happy about that. So that class is out of the way. Last night everyone in our course went out to eat at a Brazilian steakhouse and stuffed our faces.

Today was the first day I had to myself without anything to worry about. I chose to go to Gillingham for the day, a smallish town about two hours north of Poole. I chose to go there partly because I found a glovemaker that measures your hands and creates a customized glove for you. It turns out meeting them in person was pretty interesting, as they showed me around their factory where people were cutting leather, sewing and other aspects of glovemaking. I asked if they do apprenticeships and the answer is yes, and they're paid as well. But the guy I met with, Mark, hasn't had great experiences with young people like me because they typically haven't been out in the real world yet and thus don't work as hard. I told him my background so he seemed reassured. He gave me his business card, so that's my opportunity to stay in England after school ends in case I can't find anything else.

In Gillingham I found myself inside St. Mary's Church. It's nothing compared to the cathedrals of big cities I've visited, but it's spire is still visible around the town. There was a sign on the street indicating the church was open, so I stepped inside. I was the only person in there. Since the church is made of stone, it shuts out outside noise really well. Over the years I've found I don't like going to organized church services, but I like to be in churches. They're calming. The silence in them, especially this one, is loud. So I sat on the pew for a couple minutes, breathed deeply and observed; Churches on their own seem to facilitate relaxation in a way that's difficult to explain.

St. Mary's Church was a pleasant surprise. 

It was totally silent inside with just me and my thoughts there. 

I wasn't sure what this meant at first. It turns out it's completely legal to wander around here, just not on a bicycle or anything like that. People walk their dogs here.

World War I memorial in center of town. It gave thanks to the 85 men who died who were from that area. Those are red poppies that are on the statue. They are normally worn throughout November as a tribute to the fallen in the Great War. 

One of the streams that runs through Gillingham.

The whole point of the trip today was adventure; it's more about the journey than the destination. I was able to see a little more of the UK. I saw some rolling green hills at Upwey and rode a rickety two-car train that looked like it should be retired very soon. I had fish and chips in a very stereotypical British pub and explored the little paths and streams that crisscross Gillingham. I saw the pitch of Gillingham Town FC, which, surprisingly, might have less seats than Poole Town. I didn't have enough change to pay the bus fare between train stations, but the driver let me on anyway, and the lady at the snack bar at the train station kindly packed my soup and bread in paper bag like I was going off to school because my train was leaving much sooner than expected. I had a good day today, which was helped along by the friendliness of strangers.

Football practice, research and attitude

1/11 - I'm beat up from football practice today. I'm sore from the conditioning, bruised on my arms and now my right knee is sore after my teammate Antonio kicked the side of it. His leg was flailing around as he was making a tackle and my knee got in the way. I think it's just a tweak and nothing bad. But I made a few tackles in practice, including one on Greg, one of our offensive linemen who was playing as a tight end. He has probably 50 pounds on me, so that was a bit of a proud moment for me. Afterwards the linebackers and a couple of the quarterbacks (Richie, Antonio, Matt [Tebow], Tom, Gideon, Justin, Justice [American] and I) went to the pub by our practice field and had some food and drink. It was a good time.

Looking back, I'll always be grateful to these guys for welcoming me to the team in September. They helped me settle into my new home and get a routine. And, of course, I made friends in the process. They made moving to a new country easier for me. But it's just like any other team I've ever been on now; I'm pretty comfortable with everyone so I've been able to come out of my shell.

But we keep getting injuries within the team. I found out yesterday one of our best linebackers, Justin, broke his foot and tore a ligament there during Friday's practice. He's a rookie like me but he's just naturally gifted. The game comes easy to him, and it's disappointing to lose him. It's looking like he'll be out for a while; hopefully not the rest of the season. He showed up to practice today in a cast and crutches but in good spirits, however.

12/1 - I read something really interesting today doing research about national culture. According to Geert Hofstede, culture can be defined as "collective mental programming." He says that because it's so easy to make someone see something the way you want them to. I think that's why it's so important to travel and see different things. You have to prove your mental programming right or wrong, and the only way to do that is to meet different people from all over the world.

13/1 - I turned in two of my three remaining essays today. I wouldn't call it a relief because I was never really stressed about them, but I'm glad I only need to focus on one now, which is the 5,000-word individual essay. And even for that essay, I'm not worried at all. I still have a week and I have 2,600-plus words already, and I'm confident it will be done in plenty of time.

Jess had a friend from her home come to visit. They're from Hong Kong, and Kate and I sat down with them and ate dinner. We learned a bit about Chinese culture there, because her friend began doing the dishes after we finished. Kate tried to get her to stop, but in Chinese culture, the guest cleans up after a meal.

14/1 - This essay is taking so much time to write. I'm so glad I started last week. I'm at 3,900 words, and that includes references and other stuff, like graphs and figures. So I'm thinking another 600 or so should do it. But I think the most annoying part will be getting the referencing correct, which is something I've already begun checking. I'm also going to insert graphs and tables to back up my writing. What's going on here? I rarely put this much work into an essay. Maybe this assignment is designed to cram all the work that should have been scheduled throughout the term into one piece of work. I don't know, but I don't mind it at all.

Oh, and my course is a joke compared to my flatmates'. They work their asses off every day with hardly any breathers, while I'm over here relaxing, slowly but surely getting this one assignment done. I'd be more upset about it if it weren't for the fact this is perfect for a terrible student like me. And also because I'm living in another country, which is what I came here to do. I think Stella is so envious of my laid back, I-have-no-idea-what-the-future-holds-so-I'll-figure-it-out-when-the-time-comes attitude. I think I'm too relaxed. Oh well. If I had to describe myself using some sort of body movement, it would be a shrug. That might be a bit critical, but it's the first thing that came to mind.

One more thought: At the grocery store, everything is packaged, even fruits and vegetables. Whenever I buy groceries, I feel a bit guilty because you realize how much is wasted in terms of packaging. Why do stores put apples in clear plastic bags that can't be recycled? Just put them out on their own. It's wasteful and unnecessary.

Adventure, practice and karaoke

1/7 - Today, I felt almost as great as I did in those five minutes in Central London after returning from Barcelona.

Almost. Why?

It was sunny after I finished with Bleacher Report so I decided to go somewhere I haven't been since I came here. I went to the wealthy neighborhood of Sandbanks, which is a narrow strip of land I can see from my window. The property prices there are some of the most expensive in the world, and I could see why. Sandbanks has an absolutely perfect beach, and it was so relaxing there, listening to the crashing waves. There was also a period of time on my way back I was wondering who lives in those houses. Where there any famous people I was close to? I probably wouldn't recognize them anyway if I saw them.

Sandbanks

Haven Hotel in Sandbanks by the ferry to Shell Bay

I came around a hotel on the tip of Sandbanks from the beach intending to find a bus stop to go back to Poole, but I came across the ferry entrance, which would lead me to Shell Bay. I saw it was just £1 for a return trip so I got on. It was another instance of a spontaneous adventure, and it turned out to be fantastic. The ferry took only about five minutes, and it was guided to the other shore with a giant chain.

When I got to Shell Bay, I saw it had sand dunes. Think back to when you were a child, and how playing on steep sand dunes made you feel. Running up and down, flailing your arms like a moron and jumping off ledges is just a simple, innocent pleasure. I felt like a kid at Dylan's Beach or another California beach with sand dunes. It was so much fun. There was a feeling of pure joy around the moment I did a 360-degree jumping spin off a ledge and fell into the sloping, cold and damp sand. There's something about discovering more details about your home city and being out in gorgeous nature. One of the keys to happiness, in my opinion, is to do things that result in sand in unwanted places on your body.

I'm going to go back to Shell Bay and explore more of it. I saw some jagged cliffs to the east, so I'll focus on getting there next time. But really, I can't believe I live here, where there are great beaches and natural features close by. I'm so lucky to be here!

1/9 - Today was our first football practice of the second half of the season. We all agreed last month we need to get more physical during practice so we won't miss so many tackles during games, and that's what practice was like. We padded up straight away and got to hitting each other. There was a little bit of conditioning thrown in, so after two and a half hours of getting hit and conditioning, I'm exhausted, bruised and battered, but exhilarated. I like the rough nature of the sport, but I find myself getting tentative when it comes to closing down and making a tackle. I need to find the confidence I had in the Southampton game and just go for it. Lower my shoulder into the guy and stop him in his tracks.

And something else strange happened. Isaac and Tebow both complimented me. Tebow said I look twice as good with the new haircut, and Isaac asked if I've been working out (I was wearing a skin-tight base layer at the time). Er...thanks? And no, I haven't done anything for a month. And then Bill complimented me on the haircut. I guess it looks better on me? Yes, the beard was a little bit out of control.

1/10 - I did more work today on essays. Three out of the five people in my group have another language besides English as their first language, so I edited their work, which was pretty annoying. I also went out with Bill, had a drink and watched Crystal Palace beat Tottenham, the team I dislike the most because, of course, I support Arsenal. It was fantastic. My second favorite club, a smaller club, beat a team that was favored. Magical. Especially with the rest of the people inside the pub rooting for Palace and the two Tottenham supporters sitting in the corner quietly after Palace scored the second goal.

But Bill and I continued to drink until we went back to my place and sang karaoke. I sang and danced a bit, but now I need to get some sleep so I can get up and go to practice in the morning!  (I have a massive purple-and-red bruise on my arm, of course.) These people are my friends and family now. I'm totally comfortable with them, and I will do more than I usually do in front of them, now that I'm family. That's all I'll say for now.

Poole Town FC gets in the way of my essay

1/6 - Since I've been back to Corfe House, I haven't done much. I've done a truckload of Bleacher Report editing, and surprisingly, I've started my Managing Organizations essay. It needs to be between 4,000 and 5,000 words and is about what challenges an American company could face merging or forging an alliance with a company in a country with a different culture. It needs theory, of course, which will be the most difficult research because that kind of reading is deadly dull, especially when it's about organizational culture. But I've chosen to merge with a Venezuelan oil company, and I've written more than 600 words so far. The essay is due Jan. 19.

Everyone is back in the flat. I was excited to see Tim, Kate and Stella again. Stella came back yesterday, having driven with friends from Milton Keynes and drinking vodka the whole way. Needless to say, she and her friends were very lubricated by the time I saw them in the kitchen. I had a few drinks with them, and I have to say I think Kenyan people are amazing. All of Stella's friends from her home have been super friendly so far and it makes me want to go to Kenya.

I've been to my third football match since I came to England. I checked out the local soccer club on Tuesday: Poole Town FC. The Dolphins (what is it with the city of Poole and dolphins?) played Sholing FC and won 3-0.

 This is a tiny club at the top of the table of the Southern Football League Premier Division. There were a grand total of 151 people in attendance. Most people were just standing along the sidelines, though there were some covered bleachers. The thing is, when there's so few people, individual hecklers get real loud, especially when they're targeting the keepers. If the keeper has a bad play, there's always that one voice that rings out "ooh, dodgy keeper!" loud enough for all to hear.

But this was fun because these guys definitely aren't perfect. This is grassroots football; they're not the overpaid, soft divas that roll around on the ground in pretend agony like at the highest levels. They just play, not worrying about winning an arbitrary foul in the middle of the pitch. They make mistakes, and that makes the game that much more interesting.

Tatnam Ground (Poole Town's pitch) is about 15-20 minutes away on foot for me and it costs £7 to get in. That's much better than the two-plus hour journey to get to London to see Crystal Palace or Arsenal (an Arsenal game would cost me at least £60). It's another feature of my neighborhood. You have to support the local players.