2010 1222 Christmas Vacation

French Alps



Shane and I Skating

Today I am in France! My dad and I travelled here yesterday and will spend a week here including Christmas. My Uncle Mike, Aunt Anna, and 7-month-old cousin Leyla live here in Chamonix near Mont Blanc. My grandfather will come tomorrow before coming back to Sweden with my dad and me for a week or two. I will play three hockey tournaments, one which is the biggest of the year and go to even more practices Right now the weather is very warm in Chamonix as it is 10C or about 50F. The snow on the ground is melting fast but the snow in the huge mountains is still there. The weather here is a relief for now apart from Stockholm where it is -20C and up to about 26 inches now. From all over town there is a great view to see all the wonderful mountains. The last two weeks I have been finishing up school for the holidays, playing more hockey, and preparing for the break. I had another school hockey game the last week too. This time we lost 5-2 to a very good school from south of Stockholm. It was tough for our school as we only had nine skaters including three defense to fill out our squad. Because of this game we missed another day of school. There will be no more school games as we got knocked out of the tournament with this loss. Also this last weekend Shane came over to my temporary home for a day which was fun for Erik, Calle, and I. During the hockey practices we have been skating outside more on a small flooded area. It is fun to play outside in the fresh air. Last, our team has won the last three league games including one huge game against SDE to get into third place, one game from first place. League play will resume again in the new year. 

2010 1208 School Hockey!

 



My House






Me in my Room



Last week we had a school game. The game is part of a tournament that some schools in the Stockholm area participate in. However, you are only permitted to play if you are on a hockey team. Most of our team plays at a very high level for Taby and some from SDE and elsewhere so we were pretty good. We only had 13 players so that made up for the short thirty minute game. We played another hockey school but they were mostly one year younger and we won 8-1. I played pretty well and scored. Next game will be a lot tougher in the quarterfinals. That game is sometime next week. Meanwhile this weekend we as in Taby play SDE who is our rival. Even though they are undefeated in league play and we have two losses we still have a pretty good chance to win. We hope to follow up on a good 6-3 win from last weekend. It keeps snowing here averaging about half an inch per day. It keeps accumulating and also is getting darker. Above are a couple of pictures of the snow, the house, and I. I have gotten used to and like the house, especially my room. My dad also stopped in for a one day visit to see how I am doing and help me out. He will be back some time next week and stay until after New Year's. Also something different that the Swedes do is celebrate Christmas on December 24.