Since the last post I have now settled into my permanent dorm. I'm sharing with another girl on the Field Hockey team, Hailey. We all share with athletes in freshman year as they are able to understand the demands of being a college athlete, having to go to training, having games, getting plenty of sleep and 'trying' to eat healthy...etc! I'm even luckier than Hailey and I share the same sports schedule as we're on the same team :)
Most people living in my halls/floor are college athletes, such as baseball, soccer, crew and softball. It's really easy to socialise with other athletes at university as we all have a common ground. Obviously there are 'non-athletes' living with us too, who are (mostly) all really nice. I recently learnt an 'Americanism' for people who aren't athletes at college...they refer to them as 'NARP's) Non Athletic Regular People. Haha! Isn't it great?! Definitely need to introduce that in England!
We had a long bus journey to Maine to start our season! A good 5 hours at least each way. We stopped to cook and eat fresh lobsters for dinner followed by ice cream for pudding. Also the UMass tradition took place on our return. The tradition is that every new person on tw team has to stand at the front of the bus with big headphones on, and sing a song of ther choice through the microphone. I'll spare you the videos...they were all horrendous haha! Obviously I sang One Direction as the team all hate them, I have no one to share the 1D love with! Argh! Haha!
So far we've had a solid start to the season, with 4/4 wins, 3-2, 2-1, 6-0 and 3-0. We are ranked 14th and in our second game we beat Michigan 3-2, who are ranked 9th, a great scalp for us! I'm so honoured to be playing for UMass and I have been given pitch time in every game so far which I'm very appreciative for. I even scored my very first collegiate goal from a penalty corner against Lowell, which was obviously an amazing feeling as I didn't expect to score at all this season haha!
The hockey is going really well, we're practicing from 2.45-5.30, 6 days a week, combining video analysis and lifting also. As you can all imagine I'm loving life playing so much hockey and wing in this team environment, it's the best.
I keep remindig myself that I'm actually here to get a degree also, it still doesn't feel real, I have to pinch myself. A lot of the time I forget I'm actually in America! Classes have started now, so I'm getting used to my schedule and lectures, and trying not to get distracted in class by these American boys hahaa... I've decided to major in Journalism, specifying in Sports Journalism with a minor of psychology or sociology.
This past week I have been having some difficulty...language barrier and all. You wouldn't have thought I'd have trouble with translation, but communication with some Americans has proved problematic at points. Never have I ever had issues with pronouncing my name, yet here it's mind blowing, purely because I actually pronounce the 'a' in Hannah, whereas they say it as if its spelt 'Henah'.
The small difference of how I pronounce words in comparison to the yanks has been a repeatitive problem. This is a conversation I had in the dining hall today with a member of staff...
Me: "Where's the buTTer please?"
Staff: *blank face*
Me: "the buTTer?" *signals to bread*
Staff: *looks like I'm speaking Chinese*
Me: "Do you have any buTTer?"
Staff: "What is that?"
Me: "The stuff you put on bread..."
Staff: "OH, you want buddaahhh."
Just by actually pronouncing my T's, I nearly require a translator!!!
We have another game tomorrow against BC, and should be a tough one. We're on a 'roll', in a winning swing and ready for a battle on the field tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, but right now I'm desperate for a nap! So I'll just add a bunch of pictures for y'all to peak at ;)
Ciao,
Hannah x
