Christmas Eve.

There's a certain feeling you get as you approach the most anticipated day of your life as an 8 year old. You rush out of your room and sprint down the staircase at a speed far too reckless for mother to approve,  burning holes in the toes of your socks during the transition from carpet to step and knocking over a family portrait or two. Normally this kind of behaviour would result in a disciplinary act, but today's different... because you're a child, and it's Christmas. You gasp with amazement at the mountain of gifts that has somehow materialized at the base of the tree overnight, each tag reading: To "Jimmy" From "Santa".  The scene is perfect, all facilitators have done their job, and now it's up to you to act.

I don't mean to offend by choosing a Christmas metaphor, it's just what I know... and I figure it can be easily modified to represent any event where someone may feel the way I do right now [I also lived in a single story home, but I do enjoy fantasizing]. World Championships start tomorrow, and as I sit here in my hotel room taking advantage of the spotty internet connection, I am reminded of that same excitement I had as a child. This is the biggest stage for me to compete at my craft, what an opportunity... I can tell you, it will be a short sleep tonight.

We arrived in Trieste a few days ago, I'm not even sure... [it was yesterday] via bus from Bled. I stayed awake through the ride this time, there was some great scenery, but I don't often like the result of pictures taken through windows.

We're playing at the "PalaTrieste", the facility is top notch with "Gerflor" taking take of the flooring, high ceilings [under rated] and nearly 7000 seats. Our first practices went well, we look forward to testing the results of our summer.

There have been 2 major issues:

1. Internet. The thing about fancy hotels, and ours truly is fancy, is that internet often comes at a price. There IS some free internet.. "30 minutes" per day per room, and only in the lobby... otherwise you're looking at either 10 euro 80 for "Economy" service or a whopping 18 euro for "Business" [which is highly recommended of course] to get you through the day. This was a massive blow... as "Amateur Athlete in Canada" = Broke. But for the most part, things have a way of working out for me [or at least that's what I like to think], and I appreciate this to the highest degree. As I returned from practice, contemplating when it would be most effective for me to make my purchase, a sign on the front desk read something along the lines of, "free internet for volleyball teams", sweet. Now the only problem is having 4 teams + staff + other hotel patrons logging in at the same time and clogging up the line. Oh well, I should probably cut down on my facebook chat time as it is...

2. Laundry. I took far too few practice t shirts, and have been struggling through the past few days. We got laundry service in Slovenia once, which was excellent, but the mistake I [and I like to think others made this too] was expecting the same kind of thing in Italy.  That was ... until I saw the hotel price list of 7 euro's per shirt... [and I thought internet was bad] Luckily for us, Julien Boucher collected essential laundry pieces from each player, found a laundromat, and got the job done. I encourage people to send him emails, giving thanks on my behalf. [But really, don't do this, he's probably a busy guy].

Anyways, we play at 5:05pm Triestesian [<--I made up that word] time, which I believe is 6 hours ahead of Ottawa, and 7 ahead of Winnipeg. There are a few options on viewing:
www.sportube.tv
www.livesportsevent.com
I can't be held responsible for quality, and I know nothing about these sites except that 1 of them requires a "yearly membership" for like... 12 bucks or something. Anyways, just thought I'd throw it out there.


I feel bad for not providing any pictures, but it's been extremely difficult with the whole "internet not working" part of this blog writing experience. But... I've got a few:

Parliamentary block in Trieste

PalaTrieste

 All the best!!
 -j.duff