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| Can you tell which one is my daughter? Hint: longest legs & hot pink shoes |
Each weekend this fall, our school competes against the other American International schools in Europe in soccer, volleyball and cross country. There is a winter and spring season as well with other sports, too, so the kids can participate in 3 or 4 sports each year.
The part I like is how the teams travel to other schools to compete over the weekends. We host the opponents' team in our home Friday night and take them to the competition along with our own kids. Everyone who has athletes competing is expected to host the visiting teams. Reminds me of the time some team got stranded after a football game at Forsan and I awoke to find several high school boys had spent the night with us--can't remember what team that was or why they were stranded, but I bet those boys were on their best behavior since they ended up spending the night at the opposing coach's house...ha!
So, on Friday afternoon, the Cobham team arrived and their cross country team walked the course. I added some of the pictures I took so you could see our course is a real trail--none of that running around the nicely manicured lawn at Doerre my girls did back in middle school. Yesterday, they ran a 5K on rocks, mud, wet leaves, up hills, through trees, and on trails. It was really cool! (Maybe more of the high school courses in Houston are like this--my family didn't get to experience that--ya'll can let me know if I'm exaggerating about how hard the course seemed to me.) I'm a sissy when it comes to running, so cross country running impresses me quite a bit. I can only run in a tennis match or if someone puts a baton in my hand for a relay. I could possibly run 3 miles if someone was stealing my kids or dogs.
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| St. Cloud is up on a hill, so a great view of the city from here. |
Our school competes in volleyball (boys play here, too) and soccer matches on Friday night and Saturday morning. Cross country is a 5K run (about 3 miles) on Saturday morning. According to the parents I met, the teams usually run in the rain every meet. The rain feels a little Houston-ish except it is NOT one thousand degrees with a million percent humidity--it is cold. And, dogs were all over the course, which I found hilarious and happy. Fun to see big dogs running all over the park and the runners trying to avoid them. Also, cyclists and other runners right on the course. Quite a change from my UIL-controlled sports career back in high school--you Texans out there will remember the many rules & regulations. Heck, the UIL One-Act Play competition has its own complete book of rules--a LONG book.
The Texans were all freezing, but Megan (our Scottish Texan friend, now lately attending the Cobham school) said this weather is MILD. This is her third year there and she loves it--ran a great race, too, and finished in the top 10. Of course, she stayed with us, which was super-fun. She was our neighbor in Gleannloch Farms since she & Laura were about 2 years old. We were able to see the whole McKay family back in June, which was awesome. Hope to ski with them over the Christmas break, too. So all in all, friendly competition and a good time had by all.
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| Ana, Megan & Laura before the meet |
So what do you cook for supper for some kids from Scotland, Idaho and Cleveland? Tex-Mex, of course. I made some chicken tacos along with chips & salsa. 2 of the girls are vegetarians, but luckily, they still eat chicken. We enjoyed hosting and it was fun having a house full of girls.
Here's where Laura & Katherine will be travelling to compete this season:
September 20-The Hague
October 11-Brussels
November 1-Amsterdam
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| Team hugs & congrats |
We host other schools the weeks in between, so looking forward to more friendly competition. Our school is hosting the Cross Country International School Final, so all the teams listed above will travel to Paris in November, along with Luxembourg, St. John's in Brussels; The British School of Paris and the British School of Brussels and several different schools from London. I'm looking forward to seeing my friend, Susan Lidback's boys run with the TASIS team from London. Andrew and Arne were in my piano studio back in the day, so excited to see that sweet family! Seems the international schools are chock full of Texans including another Total family, the Canfields, whose daughter, Cate, plays volleyball in Brussels. No matter where you are, some friendly Texans are there--isn't that cool? So to wrap up, I'll be looking for a warmer coat and a bigger umbrella before the next cross country meet.
Sounds like so much fun! What a wonderful opportunity for your girls and you. As I'm not an official Texan (Air Force brat), I'd just like to say Texans are the best people ever! Love ya, Claudia
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